Sugarbaby by CRYSTAL GREEN Page A

But in a millisecond I was right back to looking outside.
    That slick red sports car I’d seen in the Angel’s Seat parking lot was waiting at the curb, and Simmons was standing by the passenger side door, all boy-bandy and casual.
    I madly texted Noah.
    Jadyn:
    No.
    555-8465:
    No what?
    Jadyn:
    No to whatever Simmons is here for.
    Heart blipping, heart singing, I didn’t know whether to laugh or run. I only glanced out the window again, where Simmons seemed to be getting more impatient by the moment.
    555-8465:
    Jadyn, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you probably don’t trust me. But if you did, I wouldn’t take advantage of it. Can you believe that, just for a couple of hours?
    Wow—was this the guy who’d almost gotten in a brawl last night? I didn’t know if he was coming or going because, at the moment, he sounded rascally, not haunted.
    My instincts shook their emotional heads, telling me to block his number and stay here in the garage until Simmons left, because he’d have to go about his business someday.
    But, as I said, he had my number—and not just on a phone.
    555-8465:
    Just one safe afternoon, Jadyn, that’s all I’m asking. Then I won’t bother you anymore.
    Unreal, this chase, his determination. And I wanted to go wherever that car might take me—yes, I did. Because in forty-five years, when I looked back at all my pictures in the boxes I’d have in my own garage, would I regret saying no today?
    Just one safe afternoon. That was all he was asking.
    So, in spite of all the common sense I had left, I sent a text.
    ***
    Jadyn:
    Simmons is now driving me out to Miller Dock Lake. Still won’t tell me what’s going on. Just keeps saying it’s a surprise and then sighing like he’s seen a lot of Noah’s surprises before.
    I put the phone in my lap. Back in the garage, I’d sent Carley a text, and then another after I’d called to Simmons from the porch about how I needed to get dressed before we went anywhere—and getting dressed had entailed a quick shower, because I was not going to step foot in that hot car all work-dusty.
    I’d sent yet another message after we got on our way, keeping Carley abreast of everything, being a smart girl just in case Noah was . . .
    What? A killer in disguise?
    Uh-huh.
    Simmons had been silent this whole time, even while I’d been worshipfully running my hands over the car’s leather, inspecting the space-aged dashboard, and generally shooting questions at him like he was a cutout in a cowboy-themed gallery with pop-up targets that dinged when you hit them. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t still trying.
    â€œCan’t you give me even a hint as to what Reeves is up to?” I asked.
    He gave me a strange look at how I’d used Noah’s last name. “You know what I’m going to say.”
    â€œThat this is all a secret and he just wants to have fun with the non-coy accidental texter before he leaves town.”
    He nodded, steering us onto the dirt road by the lake. A message from Carley came through, and I gladly accessed it.
    Carley:
    I still can’t believe this! Take pictures, k? Tell me if he’s a good kisser, too!
    Jadyn:
    Kissing=verboten.
    Carley:
    Really? You’re going to make me look that up?
    Simmons was driving the car—I’d found out it was a Ferrari—toward the water. The expanse of the lake, the sun-sparkle of a fall day with Halloween-tinted leaves on the trees, and the stately pines and the dock where kids partied during the summer clutched at me. There’d been good times and bad times here, but I’d grown up swimming in these waters. I even remembered coming with my parents once, so this could never truly be a place I’d avoid.
    Not even with Noah waiting on the shore next to a tent with violet material flowing in the slight wind, a table and chairs set up inside.
    â€œNo