The Handsome Stranger

By Ted Stetson

Allison has given up looking for Mr. Right. Then she turns and in the checkout line behind her is a handsome stranger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ted Stetson
• Release date: Jul 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311926760

Ted Stetson

Ted Stetson is a member of SFWA. He was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island and went to Seton Hall and Hofstra. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas. He was awarded First Place by the Florida Literary Arts Council and First Place in the Lucy B. McIntire contest of the Poetry Society of Georgia. His short fiction has appeared in Twisted Tongue, MysteryAuthors.com, Future Orbits, State Street Review, and the anthologies; One Evening a Year, Mota: Truth, Ruins Extraterrestrial Terra, Ruins Terra and Barren Worlds. His books include: Night Beasts, The Computer Song Book.

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The Handsome Stranger

By Ted Stetson

Published by Three Door Publishing

Copyright © 2014 Ted Stetson

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Cover art by Bartek Ambrozik

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Contents 

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The Handsome Stranger

by Ted Stetson

1

Allison was standing in a checkout line at Albertson's when this guy walked up behind her.  She felt his presence, but sensed nothing unusual about it.  The cashier was busy trying to help a customer three people in front of her, but all the other registers had several people waiting so it made no sense to change lines.  She turned to the side to peek at him and sort of give him a can-you-believe-this look. 

He shrugged and when she turned to the front, it hit her.  He was so good-looking.  It pulled her out of the complacency that had taken over her life.  She gripped the cart and took a breath.  Now she wasn't sure what she had seen.  Was he really that good-looking? 

She turned to the side, ostensibly to look for her friend Tracy Wilde, couldn't miss her bushy peroxide blonde hair.  Tracy could be found among ten thousand cheering Duck fans in ten seconds at Autzen stadium.  There was Tracy over in produce flirting with the produce guy.  She shook her head; Tracy couldn't be left alone if there was a good-looking guy within a hundred miles.  She paused and took another quick peek at the guy behind her. 

He sort of half smiled at her and it hit her again, oh my God; he was better looking than she had first thought. 

She turned to the front again and tried to visualize him, a cross between James Dean and DiCaprio, only a little taller with light brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes. 

She had to grab onto the grocery cart handle to steady herself.  What could she do?  If Tracy were here, she'd have a dozen ways to meet him, but without her, she was a little shy.  She was always shy when the guy was handsome. 

She needed Tracy to give her a hand. 

She turned to him again, felt the blush rising in her cheeks.  He looked at her with a curious half-smile. 

Can you save my place a moment? 

Sure, he said like she could have asked him anything and he would have agreed.  How ‘bout coming over to my place? Sure. 

She hurried over to produce.  He could have said something to prolong the conversation.  Maybe flirted a little.  Maybe even a lame I’ll be waiting, comment.  Instead he just looked at her with those charming blue eyes. 

She glanced over her shoulder to look at him and saw him watching, staring at her.  Was that a hurry-up look? An interested look? What type of look was it?  Some guys make things so difficult. 

As she got close, Tracy started walking away with that I made another conquest smirk on her face.  She wasn't nicknamed Swifty for nothing. 

By the time she reached the produce section, Tracy was almost at the back, swinging her hips like she