Safety in Numbers. Carla Cassidy

      “If you dance even half as well as you kiss, then we should have a great time on Saturday night.” He walked over to the table and picked up the file folder. “Sweet dreams, Meredith,” he said, then left the kitchen.

      She stared after him, wondering if she’d ever breathe normally again. Meredith had spent most of her life competing with her brothers, but at this moment she was intensely grateful that she was a woman.

      He’d seen the cars come and go at the West ranch from his hiding place in the stand of trees. The entire family had gathered. But he wasn’t interested in any of the others…just her…just Elizabeth.

      No, not Elizabeth, he told himself. Elizabeth was gone. Dead. But Meredith was wonderfully alive and having her would be like having Elizabeth.

      It had only been in the last month or so that he’d realized that Meredith was the spitting image of the woman he’d loved, the woman he’d been obsessed with.

      Before the last month, Meredith had been out of town a lot and he’d rarely run into her. Then one day he’d seen her walking on the sidewalk downtown, and he’d been electrified by the sight. It was as if Elizabeth walked again, breathed again.

      He’d been unable to get Meredith out of his mind. She was so beautiful. He could almost feel the silk of her dark hair between his fingers. He wanted to drown in the green depths of her eyes. Just looking at her made it hard to breathe. She possessed his every thought.

      He had to have her. His need soared through him, filling him with both a euphoric high and an edge of apprehension. He had to have her. He would have her, but this time he’d do things differently. This time he’d try not to kill her.