Page 7 of Target Me
“Hey, wait up,” he shouted, scrambling out of his truck and pausing for a second to ensure the central locking engaged before jogging after me.
“Seriously, what’s the rush?”
“None of your business,” I said, moving faster and mentally cursing his long legs as he kept up effortlessly.
“You aren’t going to outrun me, hen, so you may as well get used to me.”
We’ll see about that.
I turned into the first lingerie store I found and breathed a sigh of relief as he halted at the entrance, as promised. My backup plan had been buying tampons. That would have taken more finesse, because he would likely have waited at the top of the aisle. Sliding into the changing area out back, I looked around, hoping for a loading dock, an emergency exit, anything that would help get me out of the mall and into the building I actually needed to go to.
“Can I help you?” The sales assistant was a couple of years younger than me. Raven black hair and cat-eye glasses added a pinup vibe to the woman who could make or break my escape plan.
“Um. Is there a restroom around here anywhere? It’s kind of an emergency,” I whispered conspiratorially.
The girl’s face transformed from suspicion to empathy in a heartbeat.
“Not in here, but take that door, and there’s one halfway down the alley. There’s a padlock on it, but no one ever bothers to lock it during the day.”
I thanked her profusely, moving around the stack of boxes that hid the door I needed. Peeking back into the shop, I could see Logan’s large frame looming near the entrance. Still where I left him. Thank God. With more confidence, I slipped outside and ran the perimeter of the mall to a building sitting on the corner of the next block. A converted warehouse, it was easy to miss if you didn’t know the signage.
I pushed through the door and bowed low, straightening to grin at the people inside.
“Sorry I’m late.”
* * *
Two hours later,I was in a much better mood as I entered the mall. I wondered if Logan was where I left him. I’d decided to tell him I got locked outside after going to the restroom or something of the sort. It was close enough to the truth for him to buy, surely.
The mall was relatively quiet, unsurprising, given it was two-thirty in the afternoon on a weekday. Generally, the lunch rush lasted from eleven to two when the nearby worksites took a lunch break. I could have set my watch by the peaks and flows of the mall patronage, the only time it differed was around holidays when people took longer lunches hoping to get ahead on their shopping before the mall became an all-out battlefield on Christmas Eve.
I passed the neon pink sign of the store I had escaped out of two hours before and noticed a distinct absence of tall, dark, and protective. Maybe he’d decided to wait in the food court?
There were several ‘husband chairs’ scattered around the mall, and I imagined for a moment coming across his large frame squeezed into one of the lounges. Could see him checking his watch and sighing in the long-suffering way I had seen so many men do when their wives were absorbed by the lights and sales the mall had to offer.
Before I could find Logan, someone found me.
The heavy body hit me from the side, the weight behind them driving me into the shadows of a service corridor. Instinct took over and, moving with the force of the body, I threw off their balance, aiming a well-placed kick at their crotch and pulling my knee a second before I broke their nose.
“What the hell, man?” I shrieked as Logan doubled over, breathing deeply but not releasing the tight grip on my arm.
His fingers tightened to the point of bruising, and I squirmed in his grip as he continued to breathe through the injury I’d just inflicted on him. Sorry, not sorry. He should have said my name or something like a normal person.
After a moment more of just breathing, he straightened and gripped my other arm, holding me at arm’s length with a thunderous look on his face.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
“Shopping.”
“Bullshit.”
“I got locked outside—”
“Bullshit.”
“I just—”
“Bullshit.”
