Devastate Me novel Chapter 1

"Who is that?" Ophelia Wescott asked her new neighbor as they finished carrying in the last few boxes of Ophelia's belongings into the starter home she'd just purchased.

"Who?" the neighbor in question, Miranda Oakland, asked with a grunt as she set the box she'd been hauling down on the living room floor. Miranda was older than Ophelia, close to forty-five, as opposed to Ophelia, who was twenty-four, but Miranda was fun and energetic, and the age difference didn't even seem to exist between them. Ophelia had taken to her instantly when she'd introduced herself a few hours ago after the moving van had pulled into the driveway.

Ophelia approached the wide window in her living room and pointed to the house on her left. "That. Who is that?"

There, mowing the lawn, was the most attractive man Ophelia had ever seen. He was at least six foot three, with dark hair the color of chocolate and a body that made a woman's thighs clench.

Miranda shadowed her at the window, and when she saw where Ophelia was pointing, she chuckled.

"Oh. That, my dear, is Colt Henshaw." Miranda sighed. "Isn't he gorgeous? Wait until you see those whiskey colored hazel eyes of his."

Ophelia leaned against the window as Colt stopped pushing the lawnmower and pulled his shirt up to wipe the sweat away from his face. The simple action showed the sharp vee of his abdominal muscles as they disappeared beneath his black basketball shorts. There wasn't an ounce of fat on Colt, as far as Ophelia could tell.

Miranda pretended to fan her face. "He has that effect on all of us. But don't expect him to notice you. It's not personal. He keeps to himself. Robert talked to him at one of the homeowners' meetings when he first moved here two years ago. He's a former Navy SEAL, I think."

"Really?"

"According to my husband, anyway."

Ophelia sighed. A Navy SEAL, just like the heroes in those romance novels she read. Of course, reality was nothing like those books. It was still fun to dream, though.

"Come on," Miranda said. "Let's get the rest of the boxes from your porch so you can send the movers home early."