Not unusual—sometimes those white zebra lines are just a suggestion.
But paired with the flash of light and…
I take a second look.
The woman is tall and blond and slender, wearing dark clothes and sunglasses, even though the sun has set. And she looks familiar.
She looks like Angela Rosseau, Jean-Michel’s ex-wife.
A horn beeps behind me and I realize that I’ve stopped in the middle of the road.
I look back at the woman.
But she’s gone.
“What the fuck?” I whisper before pushing on the accelerator so the guy behind me doesn’t have a conniption.
Then I drive home—with no further flashes of light or strange women in dark clothes and sunglasses or horns being blared at me.
I pull into my spot, hurry over to the elevators, impatiently waiting as it brings me up to my floor.
It seems to take forever—and I don’t know if it’s because of what I found or because I’m looking forward to seeing Jace.
I worry it may be the latter.
But, after last night, maybe not as much as I should.
The doors open with a ding, and I step off, not even stopping at my place, just going straight down the hall and around the corner to Jace’s condo.
My heart starts pounding as I lift a hand, start to knock.
Then stop.
Because even though I can all but hear Jace’s annoying as hellbawk-bawkingin my head, I’m a chicken shit.
This is me going to him.
This isn’t me waiting at home, speculating whether or not (or maybe hoping) that he’ll show up, demanding to be let in.
This is…another step toward potential heartbreak.
“Or it’s finally solving this shit with Angela, you drama queen,” I mutter, “and helping out two companies under attack in the process.” A beat as I shore up my spine. “So, quit dicking around and knock on the fucking door.”
Suitably chastised, I lift my hand again, ball my fingers into a fist, and I knock.
Is it barely audible and completely pathetic? Yes.
But do I hold my ground and not retreat back down the hall to the safety of my woman cave? Also, yes.
Unfortunately, even though I count to ninety, Jace doesn’t answer.
So, I’m forced to knock again.
And this time to do it with more authority.
It echoes through the hall and I pair it with the doorbell a few minutes later (see? I was totally being a chicken shit).
But both of those go unanswered.
