Page 37 of Endless Love

She shakes me off before I can tug her out of the booth, standing up on her own as she quickly turns her back to the large window. I’m impressed by her quick response, but there’sno time to tell her that. Bradley is striding towards the diner, and I have no idea if he actually thinks we’re here, or if it’s just bad timing that he decided to stop and eat at the same place that we did. A hell of an unfortunate coincidence, if so, but not impossible.

Charlotte moves quickly towards the back entrance, not bothering to wait for me. I catch up to her in two strides, my hand brushing against the small of her back, but she once again shakes me off. It makes me grit my teeth, because there’s nothing more I want than to protect this woman. I want to keep her safe, to make sure that men like Bradley never get to lay a hand on her.

I’d hoped that what I just told her would have softened her towards me a little. But it only seems to have made her more determined to push me away.

“We’ll loop around the diner once he’s gone in,” I murmur, as we burst out of the side door of the diner, the door closing behind us just as I hear the chime of the front door opening. I can’t be sure that was Bradley, and I pause, wrinkling my nose against the smell of the dumpster next to us. There’s a stand of trees just ahead, the dumpster to my left, concrete under my feet littered with cigarette butts from the staff. It’s hardly pleasant, but I hesitate, moving slowly toward the corner to look and see if Bradley is still in the parking lot.

He’s not. I turn to Charlotte, about to tell her to take a stealthy peek around the back to see if he’s slipped back there to lie in wait for us, but she’s already pressed to the corner, glancing ever so slightly around it.

Once again, I’m thoroughly impressed. That feeling tangles up with every other complicated emotion that she makes me feel, and I curl my fingers into my palms, suppressing the urge to cross the space between us, pin her to the diner wall, and kiss her until she forgets her name and only remembers mine.

The setting is less than romantic, but right now, I couldn’t fucking care less.

Charlotte glances back at me. I mouthdo you see him, and she shakes her head, chewing on her lower lip. I glance towards the parking lot once more, and when she looks again, she still raises her hands as if to say she doesn’t know where he’s gone.

He’s inside. And our car is parked out front.

Stupid. But I wasn’t thinking about Bradley being right on our heels when I made that mistake. I was thinking about an hour with the woman who seems to be the only one in the world who addles my better sense, and makes me do things solely because I want a few more seconds with her.

She could very easily be the death of me. But I can’t seem to bring myself to care.

Not enough, anyway.

I move towards her carefully, poised for the side door to open and for Bradley to come bursting out. “When I tell you,” I murmur quietly, “go around the far side to the car. I’ll go around this side, and get it running. Run as fast as you can, and jump in. Bradley is going to see us, and we have to get a head start. Just run. Don’t stop.”

Charlotte nods, and I can see her pale slightly. Her lips are pressed together in a thin line, but she says nothing, looking around the corner again. I move slowly back to the other side, and when I see the parking lot still empty of people, I glance back at her.

“Go,” I mouth, and she darts off without arguing, jogging behind the building as I take off for the car.

There was no other side door, so I feel confident she won’t be surprised on that side. I bolt for the car from my side, and I see a glimpse of Bradley sitting in one of the vinyl booths. He hasn’t looked up yet, and my breath catches in my throat as I yank the door open.

I’ve had to hotwire cars in a hurry before, but never under this kind of pressure. I fling myself into the driver’s seat just as Charlotte comes running from the other side of the diner, allowing myself one more look to see if Bradley is still staring at his menu before I duck down and reach for the wires to start the car.

Charlotte flings herself into the passenger’s side just as the engine turns over. I sit up, and the moment I do, I see Bradley’s eyes lock with mine through two sets of glass.

The sound of the engine alerted him. “Lock your door!” I snap, throwing the car into gear just as I see Bradley rising from his booth, already reaching for his keys. My heart is hammering, adrenaline flushing my entire body, and I can hear Charlotte panting next to me. Out of the corner of my eye, as I swing the car hard to the left, I see her gripping the side of her seat with one hand, the car door with the other. She’s frozen straight, and I think I hear her shuddering gasp as Bradley’s voice shouts across the parking lot.

I can’t hear what he says, and I don’t fucking care. All I care about is getting us out of here.

Charlotte is trembling in her seat next to me. I can hear her trying to breathe, in through her nose, out through her mouth, and I want to stop and comfort her. But right now, all I can focus on is getting us as far away from him as possible.

I’ve been taking surface roads and back roads, making our route as far off the beaten track as possible to throw off any scent. But it hasn’t been good enough, apparently, and I take the highway instead this time, if only to put as much distance as I can between us and the chase that’s started.

“He’s going to catch us, isn’t he?” Charlotte asks, her voice trembling, and I shake my head sharply in a quick jerk.

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” I tell her grimly, flooring it as we merge into traffic on the highway.

Charlotte lets out a high-pitched squeak as the car jolts forward, and I grit my teeth with frustration. I’m pushing the little sedan we’re driving to its limits, and I’d give anything right now for my Mustang, or the Aston Martin, or that RSX I had to leave abandoned in the trees. This car isn’t any better than Bradley’s, maybe worse, and the only benefit we have is that I got a head start.

I keep looking in the rear-view mirror, watching for Bradley’s black car to come up on us. I think I see one that could be his, but it’s too far back to tell. Instead, I veer in and out of traffic, trying to get as far ahead of any possible pursuit as I can. Charlotte is white-lipped next to me, both of her hands clutching the seat now, but I can’t think about that.

At the next exit, I get off of the highway, my pulse in my throat as I wait for a black car to do the same. But as I turn right, driving onto a side road, nothing appears in my rear-view. After another ten or fifteen minutes, I feel my shoulders start to come down from around my ears, my pulse slowing down. We’re not safe by any means, but we’re out of the woods for a little while.

When I look over, Charlotte is chewing on her lower lip, agitated. “Are you alright?” I ask quietly, and she’s quiet for a long moment before she finally nods.

“That was terrifying,” she says softly. She looks out of the window, her nails scratching at the edge of the seat, like a nervous tic. “And thrilling.”

The last is said softly, so softly that I almost don’t hear it, so softly that I think I’m meant not to. I see a faint flush on her pale skin, and I realize it’s something she’s grappling with. She feels that she should be horrified by all of this. But there’s a part of her—a small part, that found it all exciting. Thatdidn’thate it. And I know her well enough by now to see the guilt written on her face because of that.

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