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She rubbed her arms as the breeze from the ocean chilled her. It was a cloudy evening, no stars peeking through. She kept walking, her pace picking up in case Austin decided to go after her. She didn’t want to talk to him right now. He’d lied to her.
What was his motive? Did it have something to do with him being so nice to her? She could only imagine that he had ulterior motives. What they were, she had no idea. Was he trying to get candid shots of her to sell to the tabloids?
He didn’t seem to be the type. But, Rafael hadn’t seemed like the type either. He’d really gotten her good. She didn’t want to fall back into the same stupid trap.
She slowed her steps, looking around at the restaurants around her. Where was she? Had she turned a corner without thinking? Unfamiliar surroundings gave her a shiver. Why had she not been paying attention to where she was going?
Maybe she should turn back and head in the other direction. If she found the golf place, she could get herself back to the resort. She turned back, trying to remember which corner she’d accidentally taken.
As she walked, the bright streetlights seemed to get farther and farther apart. Where was she? Surely she hadn’t gotten that far away from the resort. It had to be around here somewhere. She turned a corner and found herself on a dark residential street. There were brighter lights ahead, she could see them, but it made her nervous to walk down the darkened area. Still, she needed to get back to the resort and figure out what she was going to do.
She’d be fine, right? There wasn’t anyone on the street that she could see. Just a few dark homes along the way. She just needed to walk past them and get to the resort. The place that was lit up had to be it.
But after walking down the darkened street, she came to the bright lights only to find it wasn’t the resort wall. It was some kind of construction site, a chain link fence around the area. A couple of guys leaned up against the fence, staring at her.
She quickly glanced around, trying to find out which direction she should go, but there wasn’t any street except back into the darkness where she’d come from. One of the men nodded at her. She gave him a quick nod and broke eye contact. His gaze made her feel uneasy.
Since there was no way to go except back down the residential street, she turned and headed into the darkness. Footsteps sounded behind her, and she picked up speed. Were the men following her? She was too afraid to look. Fear chilled her as she tried to get past all the dark houses to the better lit part of the street.
A pair of headlights shone on her, and the vehicle slowed and then stopped beside her. A shadowy figure stood and approached her. Was that one of the men? Were they going to grab her and put her in the car? She sprinted, wanting anything to get back to where people were walking casually down the street.
A hand grabbed her arm and she screamed.
“Dani.”
Austin’s voice came from the darkness and relief coursed through her. She threw herself into his arms.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Austin hugged her to his chest.
She was so happy it was Austin and not one of the men from the construction site that tears stung her eyes. “I’m okay,” she choked out.
“I tried to follow you, but you weren’t anywhere I could see. I got worried when I couldn’t find you, so I went back to the resort and grabbed the golf cart. What are you doing here?”
She took in gulps of air, which made her sound like she was having a panic attack. Maybe she was. Her heart was beating so fast, she was dizzy. “I got lost.”
“Come on. Let’s go back.” Austin helped her into the cart. She gripped the handle next to her seat. Austin drove forward in order to turn the cart around. The men were still at the fence, leaning up against it. She’d imagined the footsteps. Now she felt foolish.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’re going to throw up.”
“I’m fine.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek. She’d been stupid to run from him. But what else could she do? She’d been so upset. She wrung her hands together. “Where’s Claire?”
“I don’t know. I left her at the golf place.”
“Oh.” Man, Claire was going to be mad. Maybe they wouldn’t run into her again. Dani could only hope.
“Listen, I’m sorry about earlier.” Austin cringed as he turned a corner. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you.”
She stiffened at the mention of his deception. “You just say it,” she muttered.
“The first time we met, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. So it wasn’t a big deal to let you think I worked at the resort. But then, after we ran across each other again, it was awkward. I didn’t want you to feel bad about your mistake.”
She jerked toward him. “You’re blaming me?”
“No. Did it sound like that?”
“Kind of.” Was she being too sensitive? She rubbed the space between her eyes, a headache beginning to form.
“Well, if it did, I’m sorry. I just wasn’t sure how to tell you, and then it got to be too weird. But you’re right, it was my fault, not yours. I should have said something.”
