Page 15 of Broken-Hearted

In my mad dash through the kitchen, O’Shane was busy on the grill, so that must be why he hasn’t followed to find out why I sprinted out of the building. And Megan is working, so at least I didn’t leave him high and dry.

When Nathan’s steps slow, I decide I need to encourage him to keep going.

I yelp as I let my left leg give way beneath me.

Nathan catches me, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

I glare at the ground. “Not sure. I caught my ankle on something. But I’m okay.” I take another step and wince.

“You are not fine.” I’m in his arms a split second later.

I’m not going to lie, but it feels really good. “You don’t have to carry me.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh, okay. If you don’t mind.” I steal a peek over his shoulder as he strides toward the motel. No one has left the diner. I can only hope that Adrian thought I was in the back or something and decided to take a seat at a table.

I aim to be out of Rosenwood in the next two minutes, so I hope he’s nice and comfortable in there.

“And you’re sure everything is okay?” Nathan asks, distracting me.

“Hmm-mmm. We can get going right away. No need to head to the motel room for anything.” Mostly because I left Dawley with just the clothes on my back.

His frown deepens. “You didn’t say a word to your boss. You just took off.”

“He’ll understand.” I strangle my guilt. My boss did me a big favor giving me a job and a place to stay, and I don’t feel good abandoning him mid-shift. What would be worse was if I stayed and he wound up with his throat torn open because of me.

This is the lesser of two evils.

“But maybe we could stop at the motel reception so I can leave a message for him?” I suggest.

Nathan gives me a probing look as he walks to the reception, keeping a tight grip on me as he swings the door open.

Kevin, the motel owner, is a sweet older man in his fifties. He rises from behind the counter, frowning. “Everything okay, Clara?”

“Fine.” I smile. “I’ve just had something come up. It’s kind of a big deal and it means I have to leave town right now. I didn’t get a chance to thank O’Shane for everything, but could you let him know I appreciate all his help? He doesn’t have to worryabout paying me for the work I did today, and I’m okay. Can you tell him that?”

Nathan listens quietly as I apologize. I don’t really have time for this. Adrian could literally be walking this way right now, but I can’t just take off and say nothing.

“Sure, I can pass the message on.” The motel owner's eyes narrow on Nathan. “He mentioned something about a boyfriend.”

Uh...

That big fat lie I told about a boyfriend dumping me in Rosenwood.

“Oh, it wasn’t this one.” I snap my mouth shut when Nathan’s arms tighten around me. Smiling brightly, I wave. “But everything’s okay now. Thanks.”

Nathan doesn’t ask me any awkward questions even though he must have a bunch of them.

“What was that?” he asks as the reception door slams shut behind us on the way across the parking lot to his car.

“Nothing.”

“It sounded like something. And you said something about a boyfriend back in the diner.”

“You’re reading too much into things, and you need to stop eavesdropping. It’s rude.” We stop beside his car. “You can put me down now.”

Nathan lifts me higher in his arms and fishes his car keys from his pocket. He doesn’t seem the least bit aware that I’m wiggling to get free as he unlocks the passenger door and puts me inside. Then he drops into a crouch and reaches for my seatbelt.

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