The Real Mrs. Price Read Online Free PDF Page B

“A tarot reading, some of that foot cream and body lotion that you gave me for Christmas, and one of Shou Shou’s caramel cakes.”
    Marlowe laughed. “Deal.” Marlowe took Abby by the hand. “Come on inside and have some tea. My own personal brew. Does wonders for the skin.”
    Abby had been able to cross Marlowe’s barrier spell because Marlowe had invited her across it. That was the only way a person could get past it. The uninvited were stuck on the other side, most without realizing that they were unable to progress any farther.
    As the two of them were about to go inside, Abby stared across the yard and muttered under her breath, “Giiiirrrrllll,” and stopped.
    Marlowe froze at the sight of him. Be mindful of me. And watch … The words from her dream came back to her.
    He crossed the street and the yard in long, effortless strides that made him look like he was floating. It was him, the ink-black figure from her nightmare. The one the bones warned her about. Everything about this man was supernatural, and—
    â€œLadies,” he said, stopping just outside her barrier.
    â€œHi,” Abby said, sounding like she was a high schooler instead of a woman with a master’s degree in engineering, capable of building a house from scratch with her own two little hands and a nail file.
    He stopped short of the invisible line separating him from the two of them. Marlowe was safe as long as that barrier held. Sometimes she had her doubts about some of these spells, but this one was like a repellent to unwanted creatures, and she would have to remember to make up a little of it to carry in her purse from now on.
    And just when she was about to gloat a little bit, Abby went and did the unthinkable.
    â€œAbby,” Marlowe said, reaching for Abby’s arm to stop her, but Marlowe was too late.
    â€œI’m Abby Rhodes,” she said, holding out her hand across that line for him to shake.
    He immediately grabbed hold of it. “You can call me O.P. or Plato, like the philosopher,” he said, glancing at Marlowe and casually stepping inside the sanctity of Marlowe’s protective barrier.
    Since she had invited Abby in, Abby had transferred that invitation on to him. If Marlowe didn’t know better, she’d have sworn that he knew it was there and how to get past it. He turned his attention back to clueless Abby.
    â€œSo very nice to meet you, Ms. Rhodes,” he said cordially.
    â€œYeah.” Abby grinned, still holding on to his hand. “You too. Boy, is it nice.”
    She looked absolutely smitten, before finally coming back to her senses and turning to Marlowe. “So I guess I’m going to take a rain check on that tea, Marlowe,” she said, excusing herself, turning to face Marlowe so that the man couldn’t see her. Abby mouthed the word Damn! to Marlowe.
    Everything Marlowe wanted to say caught in her throat all of a sudden.
    â€œI’ll send Ward over this afternoon. You gonna be home?”
    Marlowe nodded, but Marlowe was locked onto him.
    â€œI’ll be here,” she absently muttered.
    â€œLook for him at around three,” Abby said, walking past the tall man, admiringly looking him up and down. “It was nice meeting you, for real.”
    When he didn’t respond, Abby shrugged and left.
    Marlowe stood paralyzed, left alone at the mercy of this devil.
    â€œMrs. Marlowe Price,” he stated. Dark eyes raked over her from head to toe and then back again, and a chill flooded her veins. His essence was as overwhelming now as it had been when she’d dreamed him. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face.”
    People say things like “It was only a dream. It wasn’t real,” or they’ll tell you that monsters don’t exist. Marlowe knew better, standing here with a monster in the flesh.
    â€œForgive me for not calling first,” he said as if he actually had