Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 92474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“Wait. Go back. She tried to set you up with her boyfriend’s friends?”
“Yes, apparently, she thinks I need a lot of help in that department. Can’t blame her for thinking that.”
“I can blame her for calling you old and fat,” he said in a cold voice.
She opened her mouth to say it wasn’t exactly wrong, but the look on his face had her shutting her mouth once more. Yeah, that probably wouldn’t go well for her.
“I’ve got to use the bathroom.”
“Go straight there and back,” he told her.
“Have you always been this bossy or is it special just for me?”
“Straight there and back.”
As if she was going to go off somewhere else. Shaking her head at him, she headed into the women’s bathroom. Whoa, even the bathrooms in this place were gorgeous.
When she came out of the stall, a gorgeous, well-dressed woman with dark hair was standing by the sinks.
“I can get you out,” she whispered to her.
“I’m sorry, what? Get out of where? Oh, no, are we locked in? That’s my worst nightmare, to get locked in a public bathroom. Or my own bathroom, I guess. Still, I guess at least I’m not locked in the stall. How did we get locked in here?”
“We, uh, we didn’t.”
“Oh. Sorry. I just assumed when you said you could get me out . . . I’m sorry, you probably weren’t even talking to me.”
Jeez. This had just become hugely embarrassing.
She turned to walk out of the bathroom, aware that her face was flaming.
“Wait, no! I was talking to you!” The other woman reached out and grabbed her wrist. “I was saying I can get you away from that guy.”
“What guy?”
“The one you came in with.”
“Victor? Why would I want to get away from him?” Frankly, all she wanted was to get closer to him.
“Because of what he did to you, of course.”
This conversation was really confusing.
“What did he do to me?”
The woman was staring at her like she was a few cards short of a deck. “Your face.”
“My face? Oh.” It finally clicked. “I am such a doofus, you’re talking about my black eye.”
“Yes.”
“Wait, and you’re offering to get me away from Victor because you think he did it?”
“Yes. But we really have to go now before he comes for you. Come on.”
“No, no, Victor didn’t do this.”
The other woman’s face filled with a mix of pity and sympathy. Gracen studied her, there was something slightly off about her. “You don’t have to lie about it. I can help you. I can get you to somewhere where he won’t find you.”
“No, no, I’m not lying. He really didn’t do this. My friend kicked me in the face. It wasn’t Victor.”
“Right . . . that’s a version of ‘I walked into a door’ I’ve never heard before. But you shouldn’t put up with someone hurting you.”
“I’m not. I promise. But thank you for caring. It’s actually really brave of you to help a stranger you think is being abused.” That wasn’t an easy thing to do. A lot of people would prefer to ignore an injustice rather than put themselves out there to help someone.
“Thanks.” The other woman had gorgeous dark hair and mesmerizing green eyes. Not many people had true green eyes and Gracen wondered if they were contacts. “When I needed help, someone came to my aid. Not that it worked,” she muttered so quietly that Gracen knew she wasn’t supposed to hear. “So, I’m trying to pay it forward by helping as many women like me as I can. I can help you. You don’t need to be afraid.”
“Thank you, but I’m not lying or making up excuses. Victor didn’t hurt me. This really was dance-related.”
“Right. Look, I’m sure your, uh, man will be looking for you soon and I don’t want you to get hurt. I know the way this goes. My name is Lilia. Here’s my phone number if you ever need help. Call me. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you away.”
Lilia slipped a piece of paper with her number on it into her hand, then stepped out of the bathroom.
Gracen slid the piece of paper into her front pocket. Not that she needed it. But somehow, it felt disrespectful to Lilia to just throw it away. When she walked out, Victor was waiting outside the door.
“Oh, hi.”
He frowned, running his gaze over her. “I was about to come into the bathroom. Are you all right? You were taking a while.”
“Yep, I’m fine. Sorry I took so long.”
Great. He probably thought she’d been pooping or something.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Sure thing. Are you sure that I can’t go dutch with you?”
His look would have sent a lesser person on fire. Luckily, she was made of tougher stuff. Well, not really. Which is why she caved immediately.
7
Victor escorted her through the quiet restaurant then out to his vehicle. He watched their surroundings, hovering close to her as he guided her back to his massive truck.