Crazy For You

Fashion Designer, Ken
dra
Whitaker is leery about the strange and terribly dressed man she meets...and she’s even more skeptical when he explains he’s from the future. She refuses to help, but the offbeat
man charms her into it, and shows her what love is all about.

Eli’s very existence is threatened, and he needs Ken
dra
’s assistance. The man she’s supposed to marry has locked Eli’s father in a mental institution. Joshua Montgomery must be released and put in his rightful spot as president of Montgomery Aisle. If Eli fails, he’ll not only lose Ken
dra,
but life will cease to exist.

I want to thank my readers who know me well enough to expect something different from my stories. This plot is definitely something different!

Kendra
Whitaker was using him. That could be the only reason for her doubts about her forthcoming marriage.

She pressed her back against the brick wall, hiding from the guests inside her soon-to-be mother-in-law’s house.
Kendra
took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool
early February’s
nigh
t
air, hoping to clear the several glasses of champagne she’d consumed already tonight. If she had to put up with more of Lisa Montgomery’s fake friends wishing her a happy future with
Terrel
, she’d be tempted to drink the whole
bottle
of alcohol instead of the goblets Lisa’s butler passed around.

Really, Kendra did try
to be polite, but if she saw one more plastered-on smile, heard one more person call her darling, and endured one more cold-fish handshake, she’d do something completely out of character and scream. Swinging a bat around the room just to clear out Lisa’s friends tempted
Kendra
more than ever.

She giggled from the thought. The champagne was definitely taking effect.

With her mind scrambled, and suffocation overwhelming her, she ran her hand across the back of her neck. It had been excessively warm inside the crowded house. Careful not to disturb the French twist she’d styled her mass of hair in this evening, she patted it to make sure it still held together. Rolling her head, she worked out the kinks in her neck, wishing the knots in her shoulders would loosen, too.
Why can’t I enjoy this party?
Deep down she knew the answer, yet she wouldn’t admit it, because that meant admitting defeat.

From inside the glass patio door next to her, voices grew louder. Her heart thumped against the wall of her chest and she skidded away toward the shadows hovering around the rose garden. She lifted her long black skirt to her ankles to take larger steps due to the tight-fitting length, and hurried toward the garden. Before she reached the edge of the patio, the gazebo caught her eye.
Kendra
changed directions and headed for the get-a-way slightly hidden by the canopied oak trees.

Once inside, she wiped dust off the cushioned benches and sat. She closed her eyes and let the cool air touch her bare arms. Because of the high-neck collar on the satin dress, she was unable to feel the same comfort on her throat. She wasn’t complaining. This design was her
best selling
dress since she’d started her business. In one month, she’d sold over a hundred and fifty dresses.

So why aren’t I happy?

Kendra
touched the collar and ran the pads of her fingers around to the back of her neck where it hooked together. She enjoyed the way the material flowed around her
chest
, leaving her arms and back
completely bare before gathering tightly at her waist. The high slit on the long, beaded black gown displayed most of her right leg and high-heeled matching shoe.

Laughter exploded from the house, and she moved her attention to the windows, only seeing shadowed people. With a sigh, she admitted she couldn’t stay out here forever. Eventually, someone in the party would notice her gone. After all, this was for her and
Terrel
. What were the chances her own fiancé would miss her?

A light wind blew across her face, moving the tendrils by her ears. She lifted her face to the breeze and closed her eyes. Tree limbs scraped the top of the gazebo but didn’t override the chirping of night sounds and croaking of frogs in Lisa’s pond.

“
Pssst
.”

She snapped her eyes open, glancing around the shadowed yard. That didn’t sound like a frog.

“
Pssst
.”

The sound grew louder and was definitely not an amphibian.

Unless it was on steroids.

She stood and walked to the edge of the railing. In the manicured shrubbery a man’s form appeared. Doubting her sight, she blinked, looking again. This time the figure stood, making the shadow larger. Had the frog turned into Price Charming? She rolled her eyes. It was the champagne talking.

She gasped. “Who’s...out there?”

The bushes rustled as the person stepped out.
S
hadows hid the man’s identity well. Her heart raced as she blinked to clear her distorted vision. What if it was Prince Charming, coming to rescue her from...

“I’m looking for
Kendra
Whitaker.”

She hitched a breath.
Her imaginary dream-like hero talks!
Then again, maybe this wasn’t a dream after all. “What do you want with her?”

“If you’re
Kendra
, I want to know if your father is Edward Whitaker, the writer of the book,
Away in Time
.”

Her pulsating heart slowed and she took in a deep breath. Another fan of her father’s no doubt. Although she wasn’t an avid Science Fiction reader, she would always be polite to her father’s admirers. “I’m sure you know that answer or you wouldn’t be out here.”

He stepped closer—
close
enough to see him better now. Inwardly, she groaned. He definitely didn’t dress like any Prince Charming she knew. More like the male version of Cinderella.

She crinkled her brow, running her gaze over him. By his tattered appearance, he couldn’t be one of the guests from the party. As a fashion designer, she knew his black, overly-large short-sleeved cotton
shirt and faded black Levis wouldn’t blend well with the tuxedos the men
wore
inside the mansion
. This
strange man resembled a hoodlum. And why wasn’t he wearing shoes? Her fashion tastes kicked in, making her want to teach him how to dress. Of course she couldn’t do that.
Heaven forbid s
he’d have to touch him.

His hair was almost as
dark
as his clothes
—except it looked more brown—but
it hung to the end of his neck, barely brushing his shoulders. A shaggy goatee shaped his mouth and his square jaw. Her in-the-latest-fashioned sense roared into high gear, and she itched to find a pair of trimmers to help him with that problem.

“I take it you’re
Kendra
Whitaker then?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Eli.”

She nodded a silent greeting. “I’m assuming you’re not one of Lisa’s guests.”

“I’m not,” he said.

“So what are you doing out here?”

“I was watching you, hoping for a private moment alone.”

Her heart rate climbed a notch higher.
He’d been watching me?
“Why?”

“Because there’s something very important I need to discuss with you.”

She studied him through a narrowed stare. Was he some sicko-perverted peeking Tom?
A rapist?
Murderer?
She shivered and glanced around the gazebo to find something to use as a weapon if necessary. “What is it you need to talk to me about?”

He shook his head.
“Can’t talk here.
Can we meet after the party?”

Oh sure!
Did she really look like the kind of woman who meets strange men after parties? She hoped not.
If so, she needed to change that look about her mighty fast!
“Why can’t we talk now?”

“It’s not a good time. Too many people are around. I don’t want our conversation to be interrupted.”

She gulped the golf ball-sized knot in her throat. He obviously didn’t want witnesses. Panic surged through her. She needed to get back to the house—in one piece. “That’s not a good idea.” Her voice trembled. “Just tell me now.”

He released a heavy sigh and folded his arms.
“If you insist.”

“I do.”

A smile stayed on his scruffy face, and the skin around his eyes seemed to soften. Even his shoulders relaxed. Too bad her pulse wouldn’t do the same.

“I came to tell you your family is in grave danger.”

Her heart jumped to her throat. “
Wh
—
what do you mean?”

“If I can’t put a stop to something that’s going to happen soon,
your family will be in danger.
”

“How do you know?”

A heavy sigh came from him as he ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. “Believe me, I know.”

She cocked her head. “Has anything happened now?”

“Not yet.”

“How will I know when it happens?”

He growled, folding his arms over his chest. “Miss Whitaker, will you please stop asking questions for now and listen to me?”

She nodded, twisting her hands against her stomach. “Sorry. Please continue.”

“You may think this sounds crazy, but...if I can’t stop you from marrying
Terrel
, your family will be in grave danger.
It might not be now, but it will be.
..in the future.”

It took a moment for her to register what he said, but as soon as her fuzzy mind unscrambled his sentence, she let out an uncontrolled snort. Gaining control over her reaction, she straightened her shoulders. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. I’m more serious than I’ve ever been in my life.” He took another step closer and leaned against the frame of the gazebo.

“Why are you telling me this?” She scowled. “What makes you think you know what’s going to happen in the future?”

“Oh, believe me, I know. And I also know what’s going to happen thirty years from now.”

“Ha! How can you know what’s going to happen in thirty years? Are you a psychic?”

“No. The reason I know is because…” His lips pulled into a straight line.