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The wheel jerks to a stop again in midair as the attendant swaps riders below us.
“I need to get off.” I search for a nonexistent escape route.
“You aren’t going to jump, are you?” Rose’s eyes stretch wide until the whites are exposed all the way around.
“No.” I laugh, but the idea has merit. “Not from the top, anyway, but maybe once we get close to the ground.”
“I have a better idea.” Daisy leaps into action. Shoving the other ladies aside, she scoots all the way over to the small doors keeping us from falling to our deaths. She waits until we’re almost at the bottom, then rattles the cage and shouts to the man at the controls. “Help! I think my friend is having a heart attack!”
Rose quickly slumps into the seat and clutches her chest, as if they’ve practiced this maneuver before.
With a sly grin, I join the charade. “Hurry! She’s turning blue!”
The dark-skinned attendant freezes, his mouth hanging open. Then, after giving his head a quick shake, he brings the wheel to a standstill before guiding us to the bottom. A small crowd rushes the gondola.
“Go!” Daisy whispers. “Find your Superman.”
When the attendant opens the doors, I slip out unnoticed. As soon as I’m free of the wheel, I hop the fence and break into a run, slamming into people as I fight my way back to the midway. Like a roadblock in the middle of town, a couple holding hands blocks my path. A quick glimpse of a blue shirt near the Scrambler sends a jolt of electricity straight to my heart. Please don’t let this be another hallucination! For half a second, I consider hurdling their linked hands, but thankfully, they move to the side, letting me pass. With my eyes locked on the back of the blue shirt, I crash into a Steelers jersey. The familiar scent of Old Spice Fiji deodorant curdles the cotton candy in my stomach.
Oh no, no, no . . .
My brain shuts down for a full second, my next breath caught in my throat.
What the hell is he doing here?
“Whoa.” Damian grabs ahold of my shoulders to steady me before pulling me in for a tight hug. “Thank God I found you.” His confident swagger makes it clear he expects me to be happy to see him.
A host of emotions flickers through me, but happy isn’t one of them. What the hell did I ever see in him? Everything I thought I liked about him—his hulking muscles, his bossy personality, the overpowering stench of piña colada—suddenly turns my stomach. It takes every ounce of my self-control to keep from slugging the cocky grin from his lips.
Across the park, Dash turns toward me and our eyes meet. His face lights up, and every fiber in my being screams to go to him.
“I’ve missed you, Zo.” Damian’s grating voice breaks the spell, and reality crashes down like a suicidal armadillo.
I know the second Dash realizes I have another man wrapped around me. The corners of his mouth take a sharp downturn, and he pivots toward the exit and stalks away before I can get his name past my lips.
This can’t be happening.
“I need to go.” I break free of Damian’s embrace and take off running.
“Zo!” Damian shouts. “Wait!”
Ignoring his pleas, I shove my way through the growing crowd, racing toward the place I last saw Dash. Damn him and his freakishly long legs.
Relinquishing every drop of self-respect, I cup my hands around my mouth and scream his name until my ears ring. But between the chattering voices, the tinkling carnival music, the bells, the whistles, the sirens, the ocean, and my own heart hammering in my ears, I can’t hear the sound of my own voice.
Once upon a time, I thought I wanted easy, but absolutely nothing about falling for Dash Hammond has been easy. He’s a risk to everything I always thought I wanted. A risk I’m more than willing to take. Because in just a few short days, he’s reignited the spark I’d buried beneath layers of grief and helped me find myself again.
“Where the hell are you going?” Damian grabs my arm and roughly spins me toward him. “I used the last of my frequent flyer miles to get here. I think you owe me more than five minutes of your damn time.”
“I don’t owe you anything.” Fighting back angry tears, I wrench my arm free of his painful grasp. “Why are you here, Damian?”
“What do you mean, why am I here?” His brow wrinkles, his lips forming a tight smile. “Where else would I be?”
With the imprint of his hand raising a bruise on my skin, I cross my arms, creating a barrier between us. “I can think of at least a dozen places more likely than the Santa Monica Pier.”
He dips his head to catch my eyes, and his cocky smile boils my blood. “But you aren’t in any of those places.”
“I never asked you to come.” I hold his gaze, willing him to take the hint. Absolutely nothing he says will change my feelings. We’re over. I think we’ve been over almost since we began. “How did you even find me?”
