Page 59 of Jessica, Not Her Real Name
SIXTEEN
“Daniel?”
Julia reached up and tapped on the door of his trailer. She called his name softly again. No response.
His car was here, but the trailer’s lights were off, and the curtains were closed. She had a sudden, terrible feeling that he was here, but he wasn’t alone.
The thought of that felt like a hot poker being jammed into her gut. And then twisted. The pain brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes.
Coming here in the middle of the night wasn’t just stupid, it was potentially heartbreaking. As if her heart needed any more of that.
But she’d had to. After she’d escaped from the DEA woman in the bathroom, she’d come straight here, not even taking the time to get changed. She’d just hugged her sister goodbye and fled the party before anyone could stop her.
She just knew she needed to see him. To tell him he was in serious trouble.
Except now, it seemed like it had been a wasted trip.
She descended the steps to the grass. The full moon illuminated the area better than streetlights. Tequila whined and wagged her tail from her bed on the grass nearby. Julia went over and gave her a pat. On cue, the dog started drooling on custom Valentino.
“You have good taste, girl,” Julia whispered.
Behind her, the trailer door opened, and a wedge of light fell out onto the grass.
“Julia?” Daniel’s voice was soft. “What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night.”
She whirled around. Opened her mouth to speak, but all she could do was stare at him. He was standing in the doorway, one arm propped against the jamb. Barefoot and shirtless, just wearing low-slung loose jeans over white briefs, the glint of silver from the chain at his neck.
“Daniel, I…” She trailed off, just letting her eyes drink their fill of him. It had only been three days since she’d last seen him, but God, that had been too long. One second felt like too long. Blinking felt like too long.
His eyes tracked over her too, taking in her dress, her shoes dangling from one hand. His gaze shifted from the street, then back to her. “Where’s your car?”
“I didn’t drive.”
“Why not?”
“I… I had two glasses of champagne.”
He looked away quickly, like he was trying to hide a smile. “How’d you get here then?”
“A taxi. Two, actually. The Lake Forest guy wouldn’t take me west of Chinatown. Not at this time of night.”
He straightened from the doorjamb. “Baby. You should have called me. I’d have come pick you up.”
Maybe it was hearing him call her ‘baby’ again or maybe it was the low concern in his voice, but she felt like crying all over again. “You would have?” she said in a small voice.
A tremor of emotion moved across his face. “You know I would have.”
She practically ran up the steps. He moved back, letting her in. Kicked the door shut with his heel behind her.
They stood and stared at each other under the yellow light of the single overhead bulb. They were both breathing heavily, even though neither of them had said anything yet.
Julia tried to remember what she’d come here to tell him, but when she opened her mouth, those words weren’t the ones that came tumbling out.
“Daniel, I’m sorry. About everything I said. If you thought I was judging you, because I wasn’t. I mean, maybe I was, but…” She shook her head, frustrated that none of the words were coming out right. She couldn’t afford to mess this up again by saying the wrong thing.
She exhaled. ‘I know I’ll never know what it’s like to be you. I know my life is impossibly privileged and that I have about as much right to judge you as…as… Well, I have no right to judge anyone.”
He said nothing for a long moment, and she thought she might have offended him even more with her little speech. Then he said bluntly, “Are you done?”
