And someone was there. At the edge of the lot, crouched behind a few snow-covered bushes, their form mostly hidden by shadows.
Maya cocked her head. There was something oddly familiar about the figure. About their movements, their posture, the way they were hiding just out of sight. A stalking predator, waiting for prey to walk past.
Then the back door of the Lucky Penny swung open.
Chapter 2
Harper stepped into the alley, cursing against the cold and hurrying towards the street. The only good thing about the Lucky Penny was that the parking lot was close by, making the walk from club to car mercifully brief. Her own sedan was at the far end, a single streetlamp beaming down on it like a spotlight.
No one had been in the back when she got ready to leave. Patricia was in her office, trying to convince Darryl that hiring useless family members was bad for business, and Nell was in a private room, spellbinding a regular through the tender art of conversation. She had made a career out of nodding along to men’s problems, sprinkling in words of encouragement, validation, or whatever else the situation called for.
The other girls had been too busy to pay Harper any mind. For once. She’d changed clothes and wiped off her makeup with no disdainful glares accompanying the process.
She should be used to it by now. Liking her was a challenge in itself, made even harder by her dumb mouth. If someone said something mean, she said something mean right back, and it always came out much harsher than whatever she’d been subjected to.
Only three people had the patience to deal with her bullshit. Only two were still around, and she wouldn’t blame them if they cut her off instead of letting her drag them towards rock bottom. She was familiar enough with it to know she was getting close.
“Hey!”
She stopped in place. Thelastthing she had been expecting was that voice. As rough and irritated as when she’d heard it last.
Turning, she looked towards the edge of the parking lot. Underdressed for the weather in just a t-shirt and jeans, Kieran stepped out of the shadows. With his wide shoulders, graceful gait, and shaggy dark hair, his silhouette was immediately recognizable.
She glared at him. “You’re stalking me at work now? That’s a new level of desperate.”
“We need to talk,” he said, still moving closer. “I want to fix this. You avoiding me is making that real difficult.”
“There’s nothing tofix, Kieran. If me blocking your number and locking you out of my apartment wasn’t enough of a clue, let me make it abundantly clear. I already threw the relationship in the trash.”
That made him stop, upper lip tensing. He had over a head on her, was over a hundred pounds heavier, and, unfortunately, everything about how he was acting was exactly what had made her want him in the first place.
She had a little more sense now. All she wanted right then was a Taser and some pepper spray.
“Careful.” The streetlight gave his eyes a yellowish tint. “We’ve talked about that attitude. You know I don’t like when you provoke me.”
“The truth is provoking now, is it?”
“Fucking stop with the backtalk. This is serious. You vanished from your apartment, and then you were gone, for aweek. Do you have any idea how worried you made me?”
“Worried?”
Harper let out a dry laugh, a thousand eviscerating comments flooding into her mouth, but the one that made it to her lips first was both simple and intended to end this goddamn conversation.
“Go fuck yourself, Kieran.”
She turned on her heel, continuing towards her car. If this prick thought he could get a chance at redemption by cornering her in the parking lot, he was impressively moronic.
“Stay away from me,” she snapped when he fell in beside her.
“I’m sorry about last time, alright? It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“Damn right it won’t. Can you guess why? It has something to do with us not being together anymore.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Oh, but I do. In fact, every time you make me repeat it, I mean it alittlebit more.”
Kieran closed his hands into fists, veins popping against his tan skin.
