And just when I think it can’t possibly be him, that he doesn’t even know I’m here or would even care if he did, I get that feeling again.
Like tonight with the truck.
Could it have been Axton?
Stripping out of my sweats, I start my shower and wait for the water to warm up as I look at my reflection in the mirror. I don’t take in my naked body. I’ve seen enough of that for the evening.
Instead, I look at my face as it reflects back to me. I’m covered in the thick makeup from work. I hate it. I hate the way it makes me feel when I see myself, when I really look. It’s a mask.
Though it helps me do my job, it’s not me. And when I’m alone like this, when I really take in my reflection andappearance, I hate it. All of it. Tomorrow, I will wake up and feel different, but right now, I hate it.
I’m not ashamed of my career. In fact, I’m the exact opposite. I have worked very hard to become one of the best dancers out there. Men and women came from all over to see me perform in Vegas.
Maybe it’s the place that makes me hate my reflection so much. I’m not in Vegas anymore. I’m not raised on that pedestal. I’m not around the friends and family I made there. I’m here, in North Carolina, so close to home and yet so far away.
I’m here, and it’s not really by choice. It’s by necessity. Perhaps that’s what I hate, not the actual makeup or mask itself. I think that could tell me more of what I’m feeling right now, and I’m just hyperfixating on the makeup itself.
After removing my makeup as the water continues to warm, I flick my gaze to the mirror again, this time seeing my fresh face and smile. Better. But still very much not my old self. I wonder if she’s gone.
I lost myself once before when I went to Vegas. I transformed who I was, and maybe that’s what’s happening again—a transformation. The job is the same, but I’m not the same as I was a few months ago.
I’ve changed.
And that makes me feel very uncomfortable in my own skin. I just don’t know how to fix it. It’s not going to happen tonight, though. What is going to happen is me taking a shower and then going to bed to sleep for a minimum of ten hours, maybe more if I can.
CHAPTER TWO
MILLIE
The buzzing soundon my nightstand is the first thing I hear, although I don’t realize what’s happening. My eyes are still closed, and I’m lost somewhere between a dream and reality. The buzzing seems so very far away, and then it stops, only to start again.
That’s when I realize it’s my phone dancing around on the nightstand. When I force my eyes open, the only light in the room comes from the dancing rectangular device a few feet away from me. My blackout curtains are putting in the work, keeping this place dark.
Reaching for the phone, I squint as I attempt to focus on who is calling me. I’m not about to answer if I don’t know who the hell is on the other end of the line. I’ve made that mistake before.
Honestly, with everything that happened in Vegas that sent me packing, I probably should have dumped my phone somewhere along the side of the desert highway and bought a burner.
The name takes a moment to register. It’sHeidi. I haven’t spoken to her since I arrived here in Raleigh. She was one of my mentors in Vegas, though she’s only about fifteen years older than me, but she turned into more than just a mentor.
She’s my friend.
Mybestfriend.
But the last thing I ever wanted to do was make my friend a target, and I’m afraid I may have inadvertently done just that by leaving her there, because they are naturally going to go to her to look for me, and I didn’t even think about it at the time. But now that my head is somewhat clearer, I’m wondering what the hell I’ve got her mixed up in.
“Is everything okay?” I demand the moment I touch the speaker icon to answer the call.
My phone clock reads that it’s noon in Raleigh, which means it’s nine in the morning in Vegas, and there is no way in hell that Heidi is voluntarily awake at this hour. She’s still working at the club, though in more of an admin role, but she’s there every single night, all night.
“A couple suits came looking for you.”
I don’t even have to ask her what they wanted. I already know, and by her tone, she’s not happy about it. They wanted me. And they wanted to kill me. I saw something I shouldn’t have, and now I’m being hunted.
I just hope they won’t be able to track me down.
It’s the main reason I didn’t tell anyone, not even Heidi, where I went.
I’m not that smart, and the fact that I came not only to my home state but also to a place less than an hour from my hometownis probably not a great idea. I just didn’t know where else to go. I was scared out of my mind, and I panicked.
