Page 38 of One Big Little Secret

I just know I have to get away from the source of it right now.

The stark panic fades by the time I reach my car, a battered old Toyota. I unlock it with trembling fingers and shoot him one last glance.

He’s still sitting right where he was, watching me in his rearview mirror with a startled look on his face.

I don’t know what he expected.

I don’t know whatIexpected.

Did I want him to apologize?

To fall on his sword for reading my mind and instantly knowing all the ways he’s doomed me to life on hard mode?

To suggest we do it again?

God.

The very idea drives a painful giggle out of me—a desperate, breathy, hurt thing—as I throw myself behind the wheel and buckle up.

Yep, I’m blowing this.

Blowing itlike a balloon animal specialist.

He won’t want to work with me if I can’t handle talking about a one-night stand we hadsix years ago. I don’t know how I can even look him in the face after this.

If it weren’t for Kayla recommending me through her dad, I’d be fired by now. No questions asked. Just a quiet letter asking me to leave before I ever really started.

I let my head clunk against the steering wheel, hoping it stops spinning at some point.

Angry emotions rise up again like old enemies you thought you’d never see again.

The nausea packs a punch, coiling in my stomach. Then more panic, lashing through my body like a current, straight to my fingertips.

Finally, the ache in my chest that attacks my tear ducts.

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to scream.

So much for Patton Rory calling me lucky.

I have the worst luck of anyone I know, and the bad stuff just keeps piling on. Keeps on smacking me in the face.

When my forehead hits the horn and makes me jump, I jerk back up.

He’s gone now. Thank God.

Driving away in that enormous, sleek SUV that purrs rather than rattles every time you run the A/C.

What the hell ever.

Maybe he’s right.

Sure, he could’ve said it nicer—or decided not to say it at all—but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong. Not even about the way I’m stumbling my way into an unknown career for the hundredth time.

Oh, I wouldlovefor him to be wrong just once.

But the truth is, I don’t know much about this business.

I’m a guest in his world and I wish he was someone else.

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