Page 5 of The Southern Thirst Trap

She is the only one who knows to what degree Zander Olsen changed my life. She watched me struggle with the consequences of time spent in his captivating presence and saw what the sting of being completely shut out of it when he was done with me did to my confidence. Of course, Paloma would want to rip his eyes out now, even if I just want to disappear from his radar once again.

Javier’s eyes widen. “I thought you looked familiar! You’reHarlowe Sorenson! You were a Guess model, right? You did that iconic commercial in the field of yellow flowers with just cut-off jeans shorts on, the flowers covering your…” he trails off, running a hand through his hair and looking anywhere but at my face. Or my tits, which the yellow flowers barely covered in that particular ad campaign.

I cringe inwardly, thinking of my late teens and early twenties and all the brand campaigns, photoshoots with big names, swimsuit fashion shows, and cosmetic lines I desperately tried to land. It’s still the scantily clad ones that stick with people. Even now, after major self-reflection and work in therapy, all the stinging rejections for being too ethnic, not ethnic enough, too big, too small, too brown, too Asian, too indeterminate, too mixed, not American enough, too loud, not having a recognizable name, and a million other reasons for rejection that were given to me while I was a working model still bubble to mind with the mention of one of the few campaigns I actually landed.

“Harlowe has had a million photoshoots. She was the face of Givenchy perfume, which is truly iconic.” Callie pops a hand on her hip as if to chastise the man for not knowing.

Callie wasn’t a model, but her work on a reality show allowed her to create a clothing line that is still going strong, so she’s just as familiar with the industry as I am. We became friends in LA through Alicia, who manages us both. It was a stroke of luck when she met Myles Klein and he moved her to Atlanta after he put a huge diamond on her finger and bankrolled her fashion line. He is absolutely besotted with his wife, and Callie isn’t complaining. And I like having my friends all in the same city.

“I think I’ll just take some photos and get out of here. I have things to do and spending time on the shoulder of a major highway during rush hour isn’t high on my priority list.” I cast a look back at the traffic crawling by us and pull my phone out of my back pocket to start snapping pictures of the damage. “Ladies, you can get back in the car now.”

I can feel the disappointment from Callie as she turns and struts back to the car. Paloma hesitates, eyeing me but saying nothing, for once. Alicia started for the car before I finished my sentence.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I’ll grab my insurance card.” Javier turns back to the Land Rover, leaving me to face Zander alone.

I feel him staring at me and try hard to ignore him. This morning is feeling more and more like an episode of Black Mirror than my actual life.

“You look good, Lowe,” he says, voice quiet and familiar. Too familiar for not having seen each other in five years.

I don’t even spare him a look. “You look the same.”

“You’re a mom now.”

My spine stiffens as I fight the urge to freeze, but slowly rise back up from the crouch I had taken to get a close-up photo of the bumper damage. I turn towards him in what feels like slow motion, my face set in steel, not giving away that my heart is hammering away in my chest, full of fear. Thoughts race through my mind at what he could possibly know and why he is bringing this up now.

“I am. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Zander’s expression flickers, a bit of the casual openness shutters, replaced by a mask of indifference that slips forward in the blink of an eye. An eye that matches those of my beautiful son.

“Is he...” He blinks, pausing for a moment before a brief shake of his head and continuing with a wry smile. “You’re with a football player, I saw. Is he good to you?”

“You seem a little too knowledgeable of my personal life for someone who doesn’t do attachments.” My voice is calm, but tinged with vicious malice. I don’t confirm anything other than his awareness of me so long after I was told he would never care about me long-term.

“The Atlanta Haute List seems to like reporting on your life right now almost as much as they scrutinize mine. I can’t help but read the stories when I’m ensuring they aren’t spreading too many rumors about me.”

Ah. It always comes back to how things affect him. “Feel free to skip those stories. It's of no consequence to you what I happen to be doing or who I’m with. I know you don’t care about the people you’ve bulldozed in your quest for world dominance. No attachments and all that.”

I’m glib, but the words still taste of poisonous hurts and insecurities. He can’t possibly begin to understand the pain he caused me, even though I knew his “rules”.No attachments. No repeats. Short-term fun only.I’d agreed to them, even. How was I supposed to know we would find something special in the middle of the ocean and it would change me forever? I thought it had changed him, too, but I was wrong.

I can’t have been the only foolish girl to think maybe I was different. That maybe the extra time he spent with me meant something. Maybe I meant something. I quickly learned just how wrong I was to assume he would ever care about anything other than his work and his own pleasure.

Zander’s face gives nothing away, and I’m surprised to feel disappointment when he nods. “Take care of yourself, Lowe. Javi will get this straightened out. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”

Words freeze in my throat when he turns, dismissing me, and returning to the Land Rover as Javier hurries forward, wringing his hands.

“I reported this to my insurance, and they’ll cover everything. But,” he says, looking away from me in hesitation, “I don’t have my card on me. I can text you a photo when I get back to the office. I’m so sorry to take up so much of your morning and for causing this inconvenience.”

“That’s too fucking convenient,” I say, hand moving to my hip. “How do I know you won’t just disappear and leave me with a crazy insurance claim to take care of? Do you work with him?” I ask, nodding at Zander.

“Yes, so you know where to find me. If there is anything insurance doesn't cover, I will personally. I don't want you coming out of pocket for anything. This was my fault. Let’s exchange numbers in case there is anything that comes up?” His voice belies an almost endearing nervousness.

I sigh as I enter his number in my phone, and quickly text him my contact information, just so I can check he gave me a real number. His phone vibrates, and he shows me, an apologetic half-smile softening the rugged planes of his face. “If I have to drag you out of that tower downtown to get your damn insurance card, I'm going to be pissed,” I mutter.

“I promise you won’t have to. I’m so sorry about this. I’ll take care of everything. You won’t have to pay for a thing,” Javier repeats as we finish up.

I can feel Zander’s eyes on me throughout the exchange, and it makes me nervous. More so because he knows about Hendricks. I wanted to stay off his radar for my son’s sake, but fate has other plans, it seems.

When I finally flop back into my seat, I have three sets of eyes glued to me. “What do you nosy bitches want?” I ask, signaling to get back onto the highway in the still gridlocked morning traffic.

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