Page 7 of Out of Bounds
As if I’ve completely lost my mind, the same thing happened to me even after every terrible high school prank. The worse two—which I never forgave him for—was stuffing my car with dead fish that stank so bad I had to ditch my car, and the worse prank of all was listing me up as a stripper called Muffin on a phone sex line.
That’s what he did to me nearly seventeen years ago.
The man is gorgeous with the type of looks Hollywood would pay an arm and a leg for. It’s thatmerefact which forces my brain to bypass the obvious truth that Ethan Carson is the devil incarnate.
He was my childhood nemesis. My very own high school bully. There’s not a single memory from the past that included him that I could say was good. it was all bad, bad, bad, and this situation is bad, bad, bad.
Now I’m at his mercy.
He who wrecked the town and was always in and out juvie. It’s me who’s the criminal now and as I look I know he wouldn’t have passed up this opportunity to see my downfall.
What the hell is going to happen to me now?
“Bree Dawson, now this is sight I never thought I would see,” he states striding in. He takes the chair before me and plants his muscular frame into it.
Metal scratches against concreate as he straightens and sets his large hands on the table between us.
I’m finding it hard to talk even to say hi because I think I might cry. I’m fighting back tears as I sit here, praying to the good Lord in his high heavens that he’ll deliver me from evil.
“Anddressed like that,” he comments arching one thick brow.
I cross my hands over my breasts. I’m showing way too much skin to be taken seriously and I need to get my head out of my ass to save myself.
“I didn’t do anything and the least those Neanderthal cop friends of yours could have done is allow me my coat.” There, that sounds like me. If I keep it up, I’ll be able to explain things and get myself out of here.
“Bree, I don’t know if you understand the seriousness of this situation. I’m the second in command here. So, the reasonI’mquestioning you because this case is about to go federal.” He says in a matter-of-fact tone that makes every ounce of bravery I summoned dissipate into the ether.
“Federal?” I stutter.
“Yes. Federal as in FBI, which means if you’re taken to prison it will be the maximum-security type.”
My stomach lurches and my hands fly up to my mouth.
Oh my God…
I can’t let this happen to me so I can’t smart mouth him or talk my way out of this.
I don’t want to go to prison. Last week all I wished for was getting my business underway before I turn thirty. I don’t have the husband and the kids I saw myself with at this age, and I didn’t even have the business per say. I made choices and the steps to fix my business was my way of fixing things.
If I go to prison, it’s over.
And my parents would … no things are bad enough with them as it is.
“Ethan, I can’t go to prison. I didn’t do anything. I swear to you. You have to believe me. I’m sure we can put aside our differences and talk about this.”
The beginning of a smile tips the corners of his lips, but it doesn’t quite come.
“Put aside our differences? Like when I asked you to dance at Logan and Quinn’s wedding and you said you didn’t dance with assholes.”
My lips part and I don’t know what to say. I still stand by my word, because he is an asshole, but I need to change things up if only for tonight.
“To be fair, you called meMuffin.Right there in front of our friends and I was just upset.” I try for a smile, but really I still want to slap him.
He chuckles and I want to slap that grin right off his handsome, perfect face even more than I did months ago.
“It’s not funny,” I say.
“But it’s supposed to be.”
