It was the kind of money that made my head spin.
It was adding up quick. Quicker than I ever could have anticipated.
Hope filled me, pressing and pulsing, while my heart hammered like a war drum that warned of a coming destruction.
No doubt, I was in over my head, but I was praying with all of me that I could swim.
The only thing I had to do was keep coming here for a few more weeks, six max, make enough to chip away a little of the debt, then I would walk.
I’d earn enough to buy us time. Get the creditors off our backs and the overdue payments up to date.
Then I’d leave this place and never look back.
Still, my spirit warned if I continued to work here, I would never be the same.
If I stayed, I would be changed.
Changed in a vital, fundamental way.
Maybe I was only fooling myself, anyway. It wasn’t like I could outrun Trent Lawson any time soon. The man haunted my nights here at the club and assailed my days at the school.
Worse was the way he’d begun to infiltrate my dreams.
The darkest hours spent tossing in my barren sheets aching for something I shouldn’t want.
I gulped, my head dropping against the cold metal locker as I struggled for a breath. It had to be the loneliness. That was it. The first attention I’d received in years had me contemplating crazy things.
It wasn’t real.
It couldn’t be.
Pushing it aside, I tossed my bag over my shoulder and headed out of the locker room and down the hall.
Milo, one of the bouncers, held open the big metal door, standing guard over the employee parking lot and ensuring each of us made it safely to our cars, the same way as he did night after night. The man was truly terrifying at first sight, but as nice as could be when you got to know him.
“G’night, Miss Eden, you drive safe, now.”
“Goodnight, Milo. Thank you, and you, too.”
“Always, sweetness,” he said, his enormous, tattooed body leaned against the door.
I slipped out and into the darkest, quietest night. The heavens were aglow with the vestiges of city lights and the mountain air had cooled to an almost cold.
Even though I knew Milo watched over me, I still felt unnerved as I walked toward my car parked on the other side of the lot.
My boots crunched on the gravel, and my heart beat too hard, too fast, my nerves alight. Trembling, I rushed a little faster. That sensation was only amplified when I was impaled with a sudden streak of energy.
With a rush of raw, unbridled intensity.
I was the fool who found some sort of comfort in it. In the way my thudding heart raced. A desire for more as I heaved a breath and stole a glance back at the dingy backside of the club.
I already knew he would be there.
That he’d be waiting. Watching.
The man stood against the wall to the devil’s lair. Hands shoved in his pockets and a single boot kicked back against the wall.
Casually king.
The ruler of that wicked kingdom.
In the shadows cast by the building, he seemed even darker than normal, his eyes like black daggers that gleamed through the night. They were trained directly on me.
I felt suspended for a moment, my feet no longer touching the ground. My stomach in knots and my knees stupidly weak.
Somehow, I managed to tear myself from the grip of his stare. Pressing the lock to my car, I fumbled to get inside, threw my bag to the passenger seat, and jammed at the ignition button. I attempted to control the way my hands shook when I put my car in reverse, feeling frantic when I backed out of the spot.
Hating that maybe Trent was right. I didn’t belong within those walls.
I whipped my car out onto the street and accelerated in the direction of my house.
What had to be less than ten seconds later, a single headlight appeared in my rearview mirror. Coming close, eclipsing sight.
As if his darkness had turned into a blinding light.
In an instant, my pulse thundered, this pounding mayhem that rushed.
Faster and faster.
“What is he doing?” I wheezed it aloud, my hands gripping the steering wheel like it could keep me steady as I glanced in the mirror again, unsure if I should welcome this or flee.
My soul and spirit warred.
Any sane person would know the clear-cut answer would be to run.
Put as much space between us as I could.
I sped up and took the next turn a little sharper, knowing it was useless because there was no chance that I could ditch him. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.
A thrill lit with each turn that we took.
I made a right and then a left, winding my way through our small mountain city.