Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
“See you.”
I slid my sketch into a large portfolio folder and put away my easel and the stool. Most of the other students had already gone, and I didn’t want to walk through the dark parking lot alone. Before I left, however, I took one last look at Jackson. He was talking to Carl in his office, still wearing his robe.
A fantasy flashed through my mind. It involved Jackson coming out and offering to model while I finished my drawing. But that quickly morphed into a more adult scenario in which he took me in his arms and pulled me down on top of him on the platform in the middle of the room, and—
I shook my head to clear it. Art class was over, and there was no point in thinking about such an impossible scenario. But as I made my way out into the parking lot, I couldn’t keep a small smile from my lips. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d thought about a man in a sexual way. Having a broken heart didn’t lend itself to that kind of thing very well. Heck, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d smiled, but I sure had tonight.
It had been accompanied by a blush the size of a small nation-state, but hey, at least I’d smiled.
That kind of thing didn’t happen to me much these days.
Maybe Jackson had brought me some good luck.
2
PENNY
Ten minutes later, as the engine of my ancient station wagon started to make an unhealthy but familiar sound, I was less convinced that the handsome male model had brought me luck. Or at least not good luck. I guided my car onto the shoulder of the dark road that led from the community college. My car was a complete piece of crap, but thanks to my friend’s mechanically inclined boyfriend, it hadn’t had any problems in the last few weeks.
Until now.
The engine sputtered to a halt, but my first thought was gratitude that at least it wasn’t blocking the road. That had happened to me more than once this past year. I was long overdue to get a newer car, but that had been out of reach even before I’d lost my job. So there was no chance of it now.
The smell of burning rubber floated through the vents, but I was used to it now. The first time my car had broken down like this, I’d scrambled out, expecting it to burst into flames at any second. But now, sadly, this was familiar territory.
That didn’t mean I knew what to do, however. I checked my phone. It was nearly ten. That meant I would be waking my parents if I called them, so I ruled that out. My first choice was my friend, Lila, but she was out at the inn this week, which was well over an hour’s drive. Plus, she’d feel obligated to bring Gideon, and he’d already spent far too much time fixing up my joke of a vehicle.
I did a quick survey of who lived nearby. My parents both came from big families, so I had aunts, uncles, and cousins spattered throughout the Chicago suburbs. But a recent family rift made me hesitate to reach out. It was too hard to remember exactly who’d sided with me and who’d supported my awful cousin, Tanya.
Obviously, I had to do something, but for the moment, I just sat there in the dark. It was quiet—a rarity in this part of the state. A car went by every minute or so, but mostly it was dark and strangely peaceful. Except for the fact that I was stranded, it actually wasn’t that unpleasant.
I focused on what sounds I could hear. Cars on a distant highway. An owl hooting softly. Some kind of chirping—crickets or frogs or something. And then the sound of a car on the road behind me.
I flinched as the headlights swept over my dashboard, waiting for it to pass, but it didn’t. Instead, it slowed down.
I glanced in the rearview mirror when it pulled onto the shoulder behind me. Was it a police officer? Or, hopefully, a passing tow truck? Not that I knew where I’d find the money to pay for that. But with the headlines shining brightly, I couldn’t see a damn thing. But I did hear the car door slam shut and footsteps crunching on the gravel.
Fear flooded my mind, like it would pretty much any other woman in this situation. Gone were the days where people could just assume a stranger meant no harm. I rolled down the window just a crack and edged away from it as much as I could.
“Need some help?” The figure’s jeans and button-down shirt were unfamiliar, but his voice wasn’t. I leaned toward the window at the same time he bent down to get a better look. “Penny?”