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“Jeans,” she replies. “And t-shirts. I don’t need anything but the basics.”

Kara smiles and reaches out. To my surprise, Sadie lets her loop an arm through hers and lead her away.

The fact that she doesn’t pull away from her tells me one thing.

Whoever hurt Sadie was a man.

I clench both hands into fists at my sides as the images of what she must have gone through flash through my mind. While I may not know the details of what happened, I do know one thing.

I’ll put him six feet down if he touches her again.

SADIE

“Okay, so try these on, too.” Kara carries another two pairs of jeans and a couple of sweatshirts into the dressing room she set up for me at the back. I look inside at the stack she has ready for me, and then my gaze lands on the back door leading out.

I swallow hard.

It would take less than ten seconds for someone to come in and grab me. And this cloth dressing room divider will do absolutely nothing to stop them.

My heart begins to pound, my vision swimming as panic takes root.

A cloth pressed against my mouth and nose.

The darkness closing in.

Waking somewhere unfamiliar.

Cold.

Damp.

“Sadie?

I suck in a breath and try to clear my head, but the panic has a hold on me.

“Hey, Maverick? I’m not sure what’s happening, but—” the woman says—Kara, right?

“What is it?”

Three words.

One voice.

The panic begins to subside, and I suck in a full, unrestricted breath. Maverick doesn’t touch me; he just lowers himself so that he’s eye level with me. It’s ridiculous, but with him right in front of me, I feel…safe.

It makes no sense. I tell myself that it’s only because, logically, I know if he were going to hurt me, he would have already. But I can’t help but feel like it’s something more, too.

“You’re safe with me, Sadie.” That’s what he’d told me.

His gaze holds mine, and he doesn’t say anything. Just remains there, a solid wall of strength, while I get my feet back under me. And then it hits me—I just had a panic attack in front of two strangers.

One whom I had never met before.

My cheeks heat, and the embarrassment shoves the rest of the panic aside.

“She’s okay, just still reeling over what happened,” he tells Kara.

“Oh, of course. I’ll just be right over here if you need different sizes, Sadie.” She doesn’t wait for me to respond before stepping away.