Page 102 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

It was a look that had won over a generation of men and women alike and had left a lasting impression on her. She couldn’t wait to tell Logan she’d had another memory! She sighed happily, hugging herself.

“I wouldn’t look so pleased if I were you,” a male voice sneered close to her ear. “He’s probably off shagging some chick in the bushes.”

Her eyes flew open.

She jumped, senses on full alert at the hostility from the man who had just spoken to her. With a jolt of wariness, Jane saw the face of Jon, the man from Logan’s earlier altercation.

The hours hadn’t been kind to him.

His bowtie, askew and loosened before, was now absent altogether, as was his jacket. His sleeves had been rolled up at some point, but now dangled messily around his wrists, while remnants of whatever he had eaten stained his shirt.

He lurched drunkenly on his feet, bristling with self-righteousness.

Jane knew she had to tackle this head-on. Replaying Logan’s comment in her mind that he was bitter but harmless, she forced herself to stand taller. She would not cower to this bully.

“I don’t want to talk to you, please leave.” She was proud of how firm and in control she sounded, with not a hint of the nervousness she felt.

His face turned as hard as stone.

“You don’t tell me what to do. What, do you think you’re one of them?” He gestured at the guests in the distance. “If I can tell you don’t fit in, you can be sure those pompous asses can.”

The flutter of nervousness was churning now. She glanced around her, noticing how isolated she was. She could see Logan, but he was out of earshot, his back to her, talking animatedly with Stonewall and Adele. None of them were looking her way. No one was.

She was alone with this man.

Chilled, she wrapped her arms around herself, forced herself to speak again.

“If you don’t leave, I will have someone remove you.”

The ultimatum was meant to give him pause, instead his face grew redder.

“You don’t threaten me, girl. Not when I know who you are.” Spluttering with anger, spittle flew out of his mouth when he spoke.

There was nothing he could have said that would have shocked her more. She froze like one of the stone statues around them, eyes wide open.

“What do you mean?”

His eyes slid suggestively up and down her body, making her feel as if she was naked. Despite her best intentions, she found herself withering under his gaze.

“You’re clearly new to the scene but tell me, what agency are you with?”

Jane had no idea what he was talking about, but she had decided he was full of it and she wasn’t going to stick around to hear any more. She started away, not bothering to pick up her discarded shoes. She only needed to get away from him.

He followed.

“You’re very good at playing innocent and coy… then again, maybe he’s paying you more for that.”

Suddenly, he lunged and slipped an oily hand around her waist. His grip was surprisingly strong. Pulling her into him, he hissed into her ear.

“How much do you charge for an hour, maybe we can work out a deal?”

His words struck panic into her, but it was nothing like the terror that took over as a forgotten memory flashed into her head.

Water… there was water all around her, but Jane wasn’t in it. She was leaning over the side of a boat?

No…

It was a yacht.

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