Page 66 of Kept in the Dark

She sighed. “I almost died twice.”

Gavin arched a brow. “I wasn’t expecting that. I had hoped prison wasn’t that bad for you.”

“I wish.”

He eyed her neck. “Is that where you got the scar?”

“Yes, and I’ve got a lot more.” She pointed to her side but didn’t show him the jagged marks that lay just underneath the thin cotton. “Long story short, a girl hated how pretty I was. And after that, my cellmate was jumped and I helped her.”

He studied her for a moment, and she looked away, ashamed of her past.

“That explains why you’re always on edge. I get that. We may have different reasons for it, but we’re both a little high strung.”

Sara smiled. “You’re not judging me for being an ex-con?”

“You said you didn’t do it.”

She tilted her head. “How do you know I’m not lying?”

“Because, you wouldn’t have told me about the scar.” He gently traced the jagged edges on her neck, and she sucked in a breath, quickly jumping back from his touch.

Sara’s heart pounded and she wondered if Gavin could hear it. Her palms began to sweat as heat crept through her body. Her voice caught in her throat, and she realized they had stopped walking.

He nodded toward a door behind him. “Well, this is my office. Thanks for letting me walk with you.”

“You didn’t give me much of a choice,” she said.

They stared at each other for a moment, and she wondered if he’d kiss her. A part of her hoped he would. Another part of her felt foolish for even entertaining the thought. The last thing she needed in her life was a relationship. Her last one went up in smoke and almost took her with it.

“I’d like to see you again.”

She furrowed her brows, taken aback by his comment. “I don’t know, Gavin. I’ve got a lot going on. Plus, I’m not the type of girl you bring home to your mother. I guarantee you deserve someone a lot better than me.” She smiled. “Even though you're cocky and arrogant.”

He laughed. “It’s a good thing my parents disowned me then.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, a twinkle in her eye. She turned and walked away, feeling like she was on cloud nine.

Gavin called out, “I’ll call you!”

“You don’t have my number,” she called back.

She locked eyes with him again and that same reaction from earlier simmered.

Sara didn’t know what to do or how to feel. She had once been a magnet for boys, even as a teenager. She could easily suck them in and spit them back out, the male brain and body something she understood well.

Not now, though. Now she felt awkward and almost uncomfortable.

But the butterflies in her stomach were undeniable.

Sara was surprised to find herself feeling so alive again. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

Trey was glad to be back in the air conditioning. He sat at his desk, filling out a form to request the files from Morgan Gallagher’s investigation. Hailey and Sara sat in the chairs across from him, eager to see what he might find in the decade old files, their tiff from earlier at an impasse.

He thought back to seeing Hailey and Gavin together at lunch. It had taken him by surprise and old feelings seemed to float back to the surface. Even thirteen years ago he felt like he had to fight for Hailey, that he wasn’t good enough to simply have her. Gavin was a man who had everything, and Hailey had truly cared for him.

Part of him was jealous. She hadn’t been that happy to see him when she came back. To be fair, though, he had also ripped her heart out and stepped on it.

Still, he didn't like Gavin getting cozy with Hailey now any more than he liked it thirteen years ago.

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