AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His next breath grazes the tip of my nose, and Christ, chocolate milkshake has never tasted so sweet.
“Why did you bet it then?” I whisper. My voice is so quiet, so tense, that if my forehead wasn’t almost touching his, I doubt he’d hear it over the pounding of my heart.
Bitter amusement passes through his features. “Because I was hoping I wouldn’t be so…sentimental about it.”
His stare has claws and they dig into my skin. It’s too intense, too pensive, and the way it makes my lungs constrict is at odds with everything I believe about men.
As I lean back to draw in air that isn’t contaminated by him, there’s a flash of green and a strong hand grips the nape of my neck, keeping me in place.
“What—?”
“You’re nervous.”
I search his stoic expression in shock. “N-no, I’m not.”
“You’re a bad liar, Penelope.”
I let out a shaky breath, scooping up all the composure I can hold. I attempt to keep it light. “And you’re a bad blackjack player.”
His gaze sparks black. Seconds drip pass, but they feel like minutes. Eventually, his fingers slide off my neck and he puts distance between us. Slipping a poker chip from his pocket, he flips it between his thumb and forefinger as he stares out the windshield.
“Seems like I’m bad at everything these days.”
The air has shifted within the four walls of this car so fast it’s given me whiplash. We’ve gone from sexual tension and sharing food to something that makes the hairs on my arms stand straight.
When Raphael’s silky voice slices through the tension, my shoulders snap into a tight line.
“Kelly seemed to know who you were. Have you met before?”
I feel sick. “No.”
“Odd, because his brother Martin owns the Hurricane bar and casino you used to work at.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
The words I knew it was you flash against the dash, and it feels like someone’s tightened a belt around my lungs. It takes every ounce of discipline to stop my face from showing my panic.
“What a coincidence.”
“Want to know what else is a coincidence?”
“No,” I breathe.
He tells me anyway.
“That casino burned down on Wednesday, and you turned up on the Coast with a suitcase on Thursday.”
I knew it was coming, but I still recoil from the blow. Blood thumps in my temples and my vision dims around the edges; it’s becoming near impossible to keep my poker face.
“Look at me, Penelope.” Stupidly, I do. I immediately wish I hadn’t, because there’s not an ounce of gentlemansoftening his features. Nor does it touch his tone when he grinds out his next question. “What. Did. You. Do?”
My eyes have a way of revealing my next move, so this time, I don’t glance down at the door handle before I tug on it, lurch out, and break into a run.
Slippery pavement morphs into frosted leaves and the wind roars in my ears. I’m running into darkness and I don’t know where it leads. That seems to be what I do when faced with the consequences of my impulsive actions.
I run away without a plan.
The moon disappears behind branches above, and when the silence between the tree trunks echoes louder than my thumping heart, I slow to a stop. As I turn a full circle in a tight clearing, the weight of another dumb decision presses down on my shoulders.
