Page 23 of Unmasking You

She seems to have a mind of her own. She sniffs the air and then looks at me, and her tail does a little dance once again, then she resumes pawing her way towards me.

I shake my head at her, and instead of following my instructions, she barks. With an under-my-breath profanity, I hide behind the wall so Jamie doesn’t spot me. After my behaviour each time we’ve met, and ruining his days out, I don’t want him shouting “stalker” or worse in my direction ever again.

When I don’t hear Jamie’s voice, I poke my head out, and the dog is still walking towards me as if she has all the time in the world.

I watch her moving from the pavement to the road, indifferent to whatever is happening around her. I frown when I don’t hear Jamie’s voice calling for Queen to stop. She’s still wearing the red bow on her head, keeping her hair standing up straight, making her look like a real queen.

She turns her head up and sniffs around like she has all the time in the world, as if there aren’t any cars around and she’s still in the park. I’m surprised nothing has happened to her yet.

I usher her with my hand to go back, but I only have the opposite effect, and she moves towards me. Those small legs are not covering as much ground as I would like, and every second she spends on the road has my blood pressure rising.

I hide again behind the corner, hoping that if she doesn’t see me, she’ll go back to Jamie. I count to thirty and then spy, without sticking my entire head out, to check if she’s made the right decision and turned on her tail to go back to her owner.

I don’t understand why Queen likes me so much, and if I wasn’t trying to hide, I would have been excited by her behaviour. I’ve never been wanted before as much as she wants me right now.

Liar, my brain reminds me. Jamie was as excited as she is to spend his time with you.

I ignore it and focus my attention on the dog.

Queen is sitting in the middle of the road, looking back and forth between where Jamie is speaking with his friend—I really hope he’s only a friend—and my hiding spot.

She jumps to her paws as soon as she spots me again and begins her slow walk towards me. Defeated and preoccupied, I coax her towards me, as she’s better off with me than on the road. Her pace doesn’t quicken, and she wastes even more time by looking around and following some scent only she can smell.

That’s when I spot the car. I’m sure the driver is going to see Queen and come to a halt. Instead, the car keeps coming at a fast speed, and my worry grows. I look at Jamie and pray he calls her back, but inside I’m conscious there’s no time to waste. My brain clocks out, and I’m running towards the dog. My only thought is that I can’t let anything happen to her because it will destroy Jamie.

After leaving my hiding spot, I jump out into the road without thinking. My entire focus is on making it in time to save Jamie’s dog. I won’t forgive myself if something happens because it will be my fault. If I wasn’t here, Queen wouldn’t have followed me. What I can’t stand, though, is the thought of Jamie suffering more and having to live with the guilt. He’ll never forgive himself if something happens to his precious dog. He’s had enough bad things happen in his life, and he doesn’t need this too.

I could jump out of my skin in relief when I’m in time to pick the dog up from the ground. I hug her tightly, happy she’s fine.

“Shane!”

Fuck, I’m screwed. He’s going to get upset and tell me off again…and we’ll be in this stupid circle forever.

Until the urgency and fear impregnating his tone chills me to the bone.

To save Queen, I launch her out of the way, and watch as she lands like a cat on her paws. I look up, knowing I can’t get out of the way in time…or without a scratch…

Fuck! This is going to hurt.

Chapter 9

Jamie

My throat still hurts from screaming Shane’s name over and over, shouting at people to call an ambulance while I rushed to his side.

My mind was blank, my heart racing, and my body sweating. It was only the prayers I said while running to him, needing to check if he was okay, that kept me standing.

The face of my companion had sent chills down my spine. I glanced down to check on Queen, and not finding her next to me had petrified me to the bone. I turned around, just knowing she was in trouble. That’s when I saw Shane, there in the middle of the road with Queen in his arms.

My first stupid question was, “What is he doing here?” Then the danger they were in hit me like a slap to the face, and I recoiled so hard I nearly fell on my arse.

The first “Shane” was just a whisper, getting louder as my fear mounted. Then it left my mouth as an explosion of sound when the car barrelling down on them didn’t change its course.

The car was going way too fast because the driver was clearly distracted by something happening on the side of the road. There was swerving, then chaos. People were screaming, and the roaring sound of brakes came too late. The slide of the car on the slightly wet road was the last thing I heard before the ear-splitting sound of metal hitting flesh.

My voice screaming Shane’s name died at the impact.

His body was propelled upward, arms flailing like broken wings. He flew like a rag doll only to slam down onto the ground, first landing on the car with a sickening thud before coming to rest on the hard asphalt.

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