Page 51 of The Two Last Moments

“Here he is at my law school graduation. See?”

She points to a man in his late forties or early fifties. Dark hair going silver at the temples. His beard is almost fully gray. And she’s right, he’s hot. Ruggedly handsome. Not smiling, but he’s got that intense gaze that can stop men and women equally in their tracks.

“He’s got way bigger muscles than most older guys,” I say.

“He’s a bodyguard for Bennett Security.”

“That’s the company that ran the background checks on me and the woman who claimed to be my aunt. The bodyguard life is clearly working for Mr. Easton.”

“And on the side, he volunteers for a disaster-response team to use his ex-Army Special Forces skills.” Quinn puts her phone away with a sigh. “I’m doomed.”

“Thank you for reminding me that things could be worse. I could be in love with my best friend’s dad.”

“Oh, you’re harsh. I like it.” We both laugh. “So you see? You have nothing to fear from me where Danny is concerned.”

Quinn tops up my tequila again, adding more to hers as well. She clinks our glasses together.

“I’ll admit I feel…something for Danny,” I say. “I can’t blame him for having a past. I certainly do.” I think about the old bruises that the doctor thought could be evidence of abuse. “The thing is, Danny is so determined to help me get back to my old life. But what if I don’t want it? What if that’s the whole point of me coming to West Oaks? If I wanted to escape, why would I ever choose to go back?”

“Then don’t. Move forward. Make more friends, think about a job. I can look into how you get new identity documents. And if you ever happen to need another place to stay, we’ve got Danny’s old room here. It’s open.”

“I don’t want to leave Nina. But thank you. I’m glad to have a new friend.”

“Me too. Could I get your number?”

“Absolutely.” Danny got me a phone right after the incident with Kathy Sullivan.

Quinn programs me into her contacts, and a text appears on my phone from her.

It’s me. Your awkward new friend who has questionable taste in men.

“I’m not questioning it,” I say aloud. “Mr. Easton is hot.”

“Then stay away, because I called dibs.” She bumps her shoulder playfully into mine. “Come on. Let’s go help Aiden with the grill and enjoy some of that eye candy. After all, the man’s giving it away for free.”

19

“You’re staring,” Cliff says.

“So the fuck what?”

I’ve had my eye on Lark for the past hour. But so has just about every other guy here. She was talking to Quinn inside the house for a while, and now they’re at the grill with Aiden.

Aidan’s my roommate and a friend. But is he allergic to shirts? It’s not even that hot out.

He’s over there grilling his skewers and displaying his usual gives-zero-fucks attitude. Not overtly flirting. But Aiden never flirts, and women still seem to flock to him. I never had an issue with that before. But at the moment, everything about my friend is annoying the shit out of me.

I take a swig of beer.

“So,” Cliff says, “I can’t tell what’s going on with you and Lark. If she’s your girl, why don’t you go over there with her?”

“She’s not my girl. She’s a friend I’m helping out, and at the moment she’s grumpy at me.” Though I don’t even understand the reason.

“But you want her to be your girl?”

I wipe a hand over my face. “I don’t know.”

For the past three weeks, I’ve been trying to do right by Lark. I’ve done whatever I could to help get her memories back, whether it’s driving her to therapy sessions, ordering different kinds of food for her to try, or listening to music in the hopes that it’ll strike a chord with her. Shake something loose in her mind. But it’s a more difficult process than I could have imagined.

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