Page 332 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

“W-wait, Dominic?” Her voice faltered. “Is that you? Isaac’s friend from when we were kids?”

“It’s me, Lara. I’m in Denver now, but I’m on my way to keep you safe.”

He heard her swallow. A faint sigh of relief followed. “I’m forty minutes away in Springfield.”

“Then I’ll meet you in twenty. Text me the address.” Moments later his phone pinged, and he tapped it into his GPS.

“You’re not in this alone,” he vowed.

Silence.

“Lara?”

“I’m here.” Her tearful voice wrung his heart. “Dominic. I’m so glad it’s you.”

“Always.” Then he whispered, “Remember?”

“Yes,” she said thinly. “I remember.”

“Don’t move. I’ll be there before you know it.”

Two

Twenty-two angst-filled minutes crawled by.

Lara spent the time peering out from her concealed location in the phone store. During that time, seven police cars, two fire trucks, and an ambulance rushed into the lot with lights and sirens blaring.

Firemen doused the car, and the fire subsided, leaving behind an ashen, skeletal heap of metal.

Her great job, her new car, her perfectly ordinary, blissfully routine existence—all had gone up in flames, leaving behind devastation that sank to her core.

How would she ever recover?

Somehow, knowing that Dominic Aiello would be there soon saved her from a complete emotional collapse.

“Miss, I need to start closing up,” the young man helming the store said, his voice carrying a hint of apology as he began dimming the lights.

She sent him a pained smile. “Okay.” She noticed the hours of the store plastered on the window read 9 am – 6 pm. “Thanks for letting me stay as long as you have. You’ve been a godsend for me tonight.”

He hesitated before reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. “Seems like you’ve had a hard day. I hope the phone I set up for you will work out, and your person gets here soon.”

She clasped the burner phone he’d sold her in her hand. She’d already sent Isaac and Dominic, her person, texts from the new number. “It’s great.” She swallowed. “In a day of misery, you’ve been a light shining through the gloom.”

With an aw-shucks grin, he said, “Glad I could do that for you. I hope you get the help you need.”

A black Dodge Charger swooped into a parking space directly in front of the store. “I think the cavalry has arrived.”

Twenty-three minutes. How many speed limits and traffic laws had Dominic violated to get there in record time?

A weary, grateful smile rose to her lips.

An instant later, Dominic burst through the door. His sharp gaze scanned the interior until his eyes landed on her.

This wasn’t the reunion she’d imagined.

In some long-lost fantasy, she’d pictured them meeting again at a party hosted by mutual friends. Their eyes would lock across the room. They’d drift closer together throughout the night until they “accidentally” bumped into each other at the drink station. They’d exchange pleasantries, rehash old times with a few laughs. Later, as she walked to her car, he’d catch up to her outside. He’d back her against her vehicle, set his hands on either side of her, and confess he thought they were always meant to be. Then, with the same heart-melting passion he had when she was a freshman and he was a senior, he’d kiss her. Age meant nothing now, he’d tell her, and he’d never forgotten her. And he wanted to whisk her away into a fairy tale life she’d envisioned with him since the moment they met.

Those whimsical thoughts flashed by in seconds, but the reality of seeing Dominic again stirred entirely different feelings within her.

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