I tossed the open yogurt in the back and held my breath as I turned the keys, praying that Amanda had been wrong and the “broken thing” was not the ignition fuse.
THEY PUKED ON ME AT work. They laughed at me at the car shop. And after seven hours of staring at my eviction notice, I was beginning to think that even the cosmic forces were having a bit of a chuckle.
Having had my lunch hijacked by what turned out to be a leaking coolant system, I was absolutely starving by the time I finally pulled into the lot back at my apartment. I hopped out of the car with kitchen tunnel-vision, hoping there was still some leftover Chinese I could heat up before heading out to my open casting in thirty minutes. Amanda was no doubt already there, saving our place in line. Either that or her breakfast date with Barry had gone better than expected, and I was about to get evicted from my apartment twice in one day.
I was so wrapped up in these thoughts; I didn’t even notice the dark outline of the man until it was clear he was following me. My breath caught in my chest as my hands snaked down into my purse. I was too far from the apartment door to run for help. Too far from my car to double back again. My heartbeat thundered. Okay, I had to admit, I was scared shitless!
This cannot be happening. You have to be getting this wrong.
But the man obviously had me in his sights. I walked as quickly as possible without breaking into a run, but still he was gaining on me.
Take a breath. You’ve rehearsed this a million times in your head. You know what to do.
I slowly, deeply filled my lungs—keeping my eyes on something steady. The echoing footsteps grew louder, but it wasn’t until I could actually feel the warmth of the person behind me that I pulled out my pepper spray and opened fire.
...right into Marcus Taylor’s eyes.
Chapter 9
“For goodness’ sake!”
His hands flew up to his eyes. My hands flew up to my mouth. What did I just do? I wasn’t super close so he didn’t get the full blast, thank goodness. I don’t think that much got into his eyes, but enough to sting some.
Shit! I’m an idiot! “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
He stumbled a few steps back, clutching at his face.
“I thought you were an attacker!” I dropped the pepper spray.
“You’re the attacker! I’ve never met anyone with such a violent streak!”
He pressed his fists into his eyes and cursed. Despite my guilty panic, and despite the fact that I had no idea how he’d found me here at my apartment, I resisted the urge to bolt. He was obviously hurt, and I couldn’t just stand there. My medical training kicked in, and I gently tried to pry loose his hands. “Here, just let me see.”
“Take your hands off me, Rebecca!”
Guess he wasn’t thinking my name was so beautiful now.
“I’m trying to help—I’m a nursing assistant.”
“I’m familiar with the Westwood facility. I’ve seen you there before.”
It seemed like a simple enough answer, but in fact, it raised a hell of a lot more questions.
I leaned back on my heels. “And how did you know I work there?”
“I saw you there last month. Remember the big meeting and all that Chinese takeout?”
“All those suits? Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, I was there. I saw you pushing an elderly lady who was crying. You were hugging he
r and consoling her, and I thought it was so moving. It really touched my heart. It was genuine and sincere.”
“Her husband had just passed away. My heart went out to her.”
“You were very compassionate.”
“I bet you’re not thinking that so much now.”