full of helpful tips like that. And Lord knew I needed all the distance I could get from . . . Reeves.
555-8465:
Whyâd you leave the Club so fast?
Okay, clearly the only way I was going to get through to a hardheaded tycoonâjeez, a
tycoon
âwas to lay everything out there and give it to him straight, like a memo or a report. Something heâd understand.
Jadyn:
Listen, Iâm not trying to play hard to get. Iâm simply not interested.
Was he laughing uproariously yet? How many waitresses had turned him down lately?
555-8465:
Interested in what . . . ?
Cute. It was the dot, dot, dot that told me he was stringing me along, wanting me to admit to what we were really talking about here. Attraction. But the doubts crept up on me, anyway: What if I was reading too much into him? What if he was just looking for a temporary chat buddy right now or . . .
Rightâthatâs why heâd set up that VIP room at Hellfire: to chat. But I still couldnât believe heâd be into me, Random Miss Sexter.
Jadyn:
If you donât know what youâre interested in, thatâs not my problem. Iâd see a therapist about it, STAT.
555-8465:
See, youâre VERY fun.
Jadyn:
And youâre the sort of guy I try to avoid.
555-8465:
What kind is that? The kind whoâs fun, too? Come on, Jadyn, you *know* Iâm fun. Everyone needs some of that in life.
Jadyn:
Iâve had my fill.
555-8465:
You certainly seem to want more of it right now.
Dang it, he had me there. If I didnât need some of what he was bringing, why couldnât I keep myself from answering these texts? And why couldnât I stop breaking off into la-la land via the Noah Reeves scenic route every five minutes? I couldnât get him out of my head.
It probably wouldâve taken superpowers to stay away from him, but I drew upon the only power I hadâthe truth.
Jadyn:
I donât know why Iâm still chatting. You remind me of an exâor twoâand letâs just say they didnât leave a good impression.
555-8465:
How do I remind you of them?
Jadyn:
Too much charm, not enough sincerity. Weâre gonna leave it at that.
So far, I hadnât experienced any text-pauses with Noah, not like I had before when Simmons had been messaging. Was it because weâd face-to-faced and Noah wasnât just a bunch of words on a screen like Simmons had been?
I wished he wasnât so easy to talk to, so easy to like.
His answer buzzed me.
555-8465:
Youâre one hell of a guarded woman.
Ah, so he was finally getting it. I wasnât sure if I should be happy or bummed about that. From the way something in my chest sank, I knew whatever I was feeling wasnât happy.
555-8465:
Guarded and unhappy is no way to live. Believe me.
Now I was the one who hesitated. He seemed to be saying a lot more about himself than what was on the surface, and damn me, but I wanted to know what he was truly getting at. I wanted to rest my hand on his, just as I would with anyone who needed a good listen, but with Noah . . .
I was one-hundred percent certain it wouldnât end there. He was surely the type who took, and Iâd always been the kind to giveâat least before Iâd learned the hard way.
555-8465:
Do me a favor?
Jadyn:
Depends.
555-8465:
Just look out your window.
Dear God. What now?
I glanced down at myself. I had on a dust-covered T-shirt, jeans with holes in the knees, old kicks. My hair wasnât any neater in the haphazard ponytail Iâd put it in, and a jolt of panic sent me to my feet. If Noah had done something impulsive like search out my address and come to my house, I was gonna die.
With my heart in my throat, I dragged over a stepstool, climbed on it, and peered out one of the dirty rectangular windows of the garage.
Shit
.
Even though Iâd just thought it, not said it, I still covered my mouth and ducked.
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley