Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I set the brush in my hand down on the bathroom counter and walked out to see what she was talking about.
After I had taken a shower in the locker room—allowing a few tears, but not a full-blown pity party—and dressed myself, I made my way back to the apartment, and luckily, I was able to wake Dovie up easily enough. She came after my third attempt at knocking, looking sleepy and confused. I told her I’d thought I heard something, then accidentally locked myself out. She went back to bed without questions.
I hadn’t gone to the window to see if Storm’s black Jeep was out there since coming out of the locker room. I hadn’t wanted to know. Seeing it out there now, as he stood in front of it with his arms crossed over his chest, watching the men who were changing my tires, made my chest ache. Dammit. My chest needed to stay out of this. I couldn’t help my vagina betraying me, but not my heart. I didn’t ever allow a man close to that.
Scowling, I turned away from the window.
Dovie was watching me closely. Too closely.
“What’s wrong?” she signed.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Just glad they got here.”
Although I hadn’t known they were coming. She didn’t need to know that though. I didn’t work tonight, but I could go get Dovie and me groceries. We could go have our beach day. Anything to get away from Storm.
But there was someone tracking me. The car was wired. Crap!
I glared back at the window. I didn’t want to talk to him. He wanted to protect me, but after last night, it was him I needed protecting from. I couldn’t trust myself around the man, and I did not need to be feeling things in my chest about him. That was bad. Very bad. Leaving would be best even if I loved working at Pepper’s bar. If I could find the trackers and wire, I could take them both off. Or I could go trade that one in and get another car without Storm knowing, and then we’d take off again. Get out of Florida. Go north, like I should have done. Leave the South behind.
I wanted a new identity for Dovie, and she deserved it, but did I have time to wait? Probably not if my tires had been sliced and there was a tracker on my car. We had to get out of here. I’d send Pepper a text and hope she didn’t hate me. I didn’t get to have friends, and letting myself think I could had been a weakness. I always needed to be free to run.
“Someone put a tracker on our car, and the tires were sliced. We are gonna have to leave,” I told her.
She didn’t look surprised. Maybe she’d already figured it out.
“Who is the hottie with the Jeep?” she signed.
Of course she’d noticed him. He was impossible not to notice.
“No one,” I replied.
She gave me a look that said she knew I was full of shit.
“Okay, fine. He’s a guy who … who thinks he is helping me but hates me. I don’t know, honestly. It’s … he’s complicated.”
Dovie walked back over to the window, now more curious.
“Don’t let anyone see you,” I warned, now worrying that Storm might have noticed her looking out earlier.
She turned back to me. “He just paid them in cash.”
“Maybe he will leave,” I said.
Dovie backed up farther from the window. Had he seen her? Shit.
“I think he’s coming inside the building,” she signed.
Double shit.
“Go hide in your closet.”
She hurried in that direction without arguing with me.
Why couldn’t he just leave like he had earlier? I was easy enough to cover in cum, then walk away. My chest tightened, and I realized I was grinding my teeth.
Forcing myself to relax my jaw, I scanned the room for any sign of Dovie and saw nothing that couldn’t be mine. Swinging my attention back to the door, I waited for him to knock.
If I could convince him to leave the parking lot, then Dovie and I could pack up and go. I’d only agreed to pay an extra three hundred a month in rent not to sign a lease so we could go quickly if needed. Most of our things were still in boxes. We could get out of here in three hours, maybe even two. New England was sounding good. The Southern Mafia sure as hell wouldn’t be there.
Three sharp raps on the door snapped my attention back to the first hurdle. Getting rid of Storm Kingston. At least with Dovie in earshot, I wouldn’t do anything stupid, like allow him to touch me. Again.
Taking a deep breath, I made my way over to the door and unlocked the three separate locks before steeling myself and opening it up. Flashing a smile, I looked at Storm as if I didn’t want to slap him across the face and call him names.