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“I…” Don’t know what to say.
We’re all allowed boundaries. Perhaps ours are conflicting.
He needs to know who I am, and I need to remain anonymous.
Or maybe he’s changed his mind. Maybe my breath smells weird. Maybe when he saw me up close, he realized I’m nowhere near as perfect as all the other women around here can afford to be.
“You’re…a beautiful woman.” His hesitation is endearing.
This man doesn’t seem to be the type to be at a loss for words. Ever. Perhaps this is just a rare moment for him.
“Goodnight.” He nods again, leaving in the direction of the staircase. His shoes clinking against the metal, going down, down, until…nothing.
I gasp, breathing again after having the air sucked out of me, mind racing and reeling. What the hell was that?
I brace myself against the wall for balance.
It’s for the best that he left me. Regardless, we could never be truly anonymous.
And this job…I need it to work. I need it to stick.
I’m already going to be spread thin trying to get all my debts paid, even with the six-figure salary. I can’t do anything to jeopardize my role at the Lyons Club.
If I want to avoid doing anything else stupid, I think it’s time I make my exit.
I hurry down the hallway back to the stairway leading to the main room and down, wade through all the drunken members who are dancing, hollering, touching, laughing, and I don’t stop rushing until I’m bathed in moonlight on Lyons Court where the noise of the club is but a distant memory.
I rip off my mask and look down on it.
Phoenix met Swan. He didn’t meet Sonia.
Sonia doesn’t do things like that.
My night of fantasy is over.
Time to face the crushing reality.
5
EDWIN
“I toldyou not to come in today.”
Solomon is at my office door. Coffee cups in his hands. My friend smiles as he lowers his head, eyes avoiding mine for a second. “I owed you a thank you for saving my ass last night.”
I laugh, swiping my coffee from him. “All I did was pick you up off the bathroom floor and walk you out back to your driver. Nothing to it.”
I should have gone with him instead of coming back inside.
Then I wouldn’t have found Swan looking at the stairway down to Lyons Club.
I wouldn’t have felt powerless to her as I pictured her in The Underground. I wouldn’t have cornered her, wouldn’t have almost kissed her. And wouldn’t have looked like a fool when I walked away from her.
“Yes, well, Seth told me I was screaming because I thought his tie was a snake.”
“You know what? That partistrue, yes.”
Solomon winces. “How embarrassing.”
