Everyone swung around except for Serena, who’d noticed the man as soon as he’d stepped into the room. After so many weeks of checking every new face that crossed her path, the habit was ingrained.
But no matter the circumstances, she would have noticed this man. He was a large man, and stunning, with short-cropped hair and intense dark eyes, not to mention a magnetic energy that seemed to pulse off him. Wide-shouldered and slim-hipped, he wore an extremely expensive looking coat over a black turtleneck. She itched to paint him.
Nicole broke the silence first. “Lyle, thank goodness you made it. I was a little worried about the state of the roads.”
“No problems at all.” He was wearing black leather driving gloves, which he tugged off, revealing hands that looked much more calloused than s
