Page 64 of Meet Me at Midnight

Once I’m outside the club, I only have to wait a few minutes before my Uber appears, Lance driving a Silver Expedition. I double-check his license plate with what’s showcased in the app and after a short but friendly greeting hello, I climb into the back seat and put on my seat belt.

He heads toward my condo building, and I try to relax as he manages to hit the lights on green at every intersection.

When we’re about ten minutes from home, I open Midnight and scroll through the last messages that led me here.

ThunderStruck: I’m so glad you agreed to meet. I live in the 72 Park Building. 580 72nd Street, Miami Beach. The gym is on the fifth floor.

ElizaBeth: Okay.

ThunderStruck: I’ll see you at Midnight. Right?

ElizaBeth: I promise. I’ll be there.

When Lance pulls his Expedition to a stop in front of the entrance toourbuilding, I have to take several deep breaths just to be able to get out of the car. My whole body feels like a shell of itself.

My fingers tingle, and my legs are numb as I pass through the lobby to the bank of elevators at the back of the building. I have no idea what’s going to happen or how Beau is going to react, and the mere thought of him beingangrywith me is enough for me to push a different button than I’m supposed to inside the cart. Instead of heading to the fifth floor, I head to the thirty-second, where our condo is located, and unlock and close the door behind me without taking a single full breath.

I walk straight into my bedroom and slide off my heels and little black dress and change into a pair of workout leggings and a sports bra.

I don’t know why, but looking the part somehow feels better.

I grab my phone, AirPods, and water bottle and head back out of my condo without giving myself any time to second-guess.

The elevator is still waiting from my earlier arrival, so I step on and push the button for the fifth floor as fast as I can.

Somehow, I’ve managed to do all of this without running into Beau, and that, in and of itself, is a minor miracle, given our condos are on the same floor. I check the screen of my phone for the time. Five minutes until midnight.

Am I really going to follow through with this? Am I really going to walk into the gym and tell Beau that I’m the woman he’s been talking to on Midnight this entire time?

It sure looks like it, but for the life of me, I still can’t be sure.

The elevator dings its arrival, and I step off, my feet somehow managing to move straight for the gym’s door. I walk inside. The door closes shut behind me.

It’s empty, which is the point of the late hour, but still, it’sempty. No Beau in sight. I fiddle there for a few long moments before walking over to a bench press machine and pulling blindly at the little pin that sets the weights.

I don’t know what I’m doing, but at least I’m doing something. Time drags and silence rings in my ears, and growing more nervous by the minute, I sit down on the bench and wobble my knees back and forth.

I check the screen of my phone again, a compulsion I can’t stop.

Two minutes until midnight.

Maybe he’s changed his mind. Maybe he’s—

My thoughts come to a screeching halt when I hear the elevator ding and the gentle whir of the stainless-steel-fronted doors opening. A shock of adrenaline hits when I hear footsteps moving down the hallway.

Shit!

I panic, jumping up from my bench and rocking back and forth on my toes, my mind trying to figure out what I should do. Any second, Beau could walk in here. Any second, he could find out the truth.

In a rush, I jog over toward the racks of dumbbells that sit in front of a massive floor-to-ceiling mirror, and I snag one into my hand, not giving a shit how much weight it is. The door opens, and I shut my eyes for the longest moment before I can muster the strength to take a peek into the mirror.

Handsome as ever in his undeniable reflection, the man of my dreams is here.

I expect Beau to be searching, to be checking every crevice of the gym, but instead, his warm brown eyes are locked and loaded, right on me.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

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