“Nice weather today, isn’t it?” he asks with a friendliness in his voice. His cologne intensifies as he steps toward me. Even though this cologne smells divine, my stomach’s churning like smelling old, raw chicken.
“Yes,” I say. “I have lunch reservations outside today. I’m glad, otherwise my boyfriend might have to cancel.”
I don’t have lunch plans with Tristan, and I don’t have lunch plans, but pointing out that I have a boyfriend may make him back off. I’ve thought about wearing a fake wedding ring to deter some guys. It’s not foolproof, but it deters the good guys, leaving me with only the assholes to handle.
Fifth floor. Come on, hurry up.
“You have a boyfriend?”
I face this guy, staring him square in the eye and round my shoulders, not backing down. “Yes. Why do you care?”
He shrugs. “I’m surprised. I would have thought the tabloids would’ve caught onto the fact that the President’s daughter is dating. I thought you’d still be grieving Brent Sokolov after all.”
The doors part, and it’s like I can breathe again as I step out of the coffin-likebox.
It shouldn’t worry me that he knows who I am. I’ve had my pictures posted on every international news outlet. But the way he said it slithers through my stomach like a rattlesnake, vibrations shaking like a warning.
I remain silent as I walk out of the lobby and into the blazing mid-August sun.
I’d planned on stopping at two bookstores Downtown and in the Inner Harbor. It gives me a chance to film a vlog. I’ve been binge-reading and filming nonstop this last week, and I’ve got solid momentum going for me.
Awareness pricks the back of my neck like a mosquito. I glance over my shoulder and find the man in the elevator a block behind me. His black hood is up, but I recognize the American flag design from here.
Shit.
Adrenaline ices my stomach, and I don’t know what to do. I told Tristan I’d be on my own today—and that now feels like an incredibly stupid decision.
I tug my phone from my purse and call him.
“Hey, Princess.”
“I’m being followed,” I hiss into the phone, and I glance back over my shoulder.
The man’s gotten closer because my short legs will only take me so fast unless I run, which will look sus as hell.
I dart across the street and continue walking, grateful that there’s enough traffic going by that we’re not fully alone.
“I’ll come get you.” Urgency thickens Tristan’s voice, and his worry doubles mine. If he’s worried, this is bad. “I’m ten minutes away at the hospital. Is there a store you can go into?”
I enter a shop that’s open for lunch. “Yeah, I’m at Ruby Garden now. It’s a Chinese restaurant.”
“Order one sweet and sour chicken, one beef lo mein, and one of whatever you eat so you don’t look suspicious. Tell me if he follows you inside.”
I go up to the counter hidden behind bulletproof glass and place an order. As I take my change, my stalker walks in behind me. I see him in the glass’s reflection, and he innocently looks up at the faded menu like he’s deciding what to order.
“Yes,” is all I say into the phone as I walk to the other end of the restaurant. I sit at the one table with a plastic lawn chair and keep my gaze outside.
“Listen to me carefully,” Tristan says. From the window’s reflection, my stalker leans against the wall and stares down at his boots. He cracks open a can of Pepsi and takes a sip.
“When the food is ready, order an Uber. I’ll be double-parked outside with my blinkers on. Get in the back seat of my car like I’m your Uber, and I’ll drive you out of there.”
“Okay. But why the hos?—?”
He cuts me off. “I’m visiting Tuck on his lunchbreak, but I’m leaving right now to come and get you. I’ll be in his car, a black Volvo. Tuck’s got a thing for car safety.” There’s a long pause. “Do you want me to stay on the line until the food’s done?”
“Please,” is all I say.
“I’m pulling out of the parking lot now. Let me know if he does anything or if anyone else comes in with him.”
