Page 16 of Reverb
The answer hit him sharp and hard, and the echo of it was in his past, too.
She wasn’t going home because that’s what society told her to do. Run. Be safe. Don’t enjoy life. Be afraid.
David’s gut twisted. In her place, he’d have done the same thing to prove that he wasn’t afraid. Hell, he had been in those shoes and done the same back when he wasn’t read as masculine. He understood, and ithurtthat he understood. Fucking stung that he’d wanted to push Mish to be safer, though that was his job.
At least by trailing her, he could do that part, and she could be herself, even if that meant walking blocks and blocks in the process.
Between dancing at practice and this kind of walking, no wonder she had legs made of sculpted muscle. Whatwasa wonder was when DSLR Dude dropped off the hunt after about ten blocks. Guess hiking through the streets wasn’t really the photog’s thing. There really wasn’t that much to capture. Just Mish striding ahead. Pausing at lights. The normal.
There also didn’t seem to be, as far as David could tell, anyone else following. He even dropped back a few times to make sure no one was trailing him, but no. The only person trailing Mish was David, and she really would kill him if she found out.
Why she was walking straight toward Times Square, he had no clue. The place was packed full with tourists this time of day, especially now that the weather was warm and summer was around the corner. It wasn’t a place for a star to go and get lost. Thankfully, she veered away and headed uptown.
At this rate, they’d end up walking to her apartment, and maybe that had been the plan after all. He almost thought that it was when Mish slowed down in front of a bar, one that wasn’t far enough off the tourist trail.
Oh, baby, no. Not that one.Especially not with a gaggle of tourists pointing their phones at Mish.
Of course, Mish went inside.
“Shit.” He spoke the word to the sidewalk and pressed up against the wall of a building, pretending to check his phone while people moved past. If he went in, she’d know. On the other hand, pretty sure she might end up causing a scene, especially since the group that had spotted her also went into the place.
Fuck. David tucked away his phone into the front pocket of his jeans and waited another minute before strolling in.
Mish sat at the bar, toying with the edge of her glass, a frown pulling down her glossy red lips. Her shoulders were hunched forward, tension evident. Yup, there were people, both coyly and obviously, watching her. Taking photographs. The bartender came over and said something, and Mish shook her head.
She’d figured out the issue. Probably pretty fast once she’d taken stock of the place. God, it was hard to watch her sitting there, tense and angry. At the world. Maybe at herself, too.
Seemed like no one had the balls to sit next to her. Good...and bad. Because he was about to blow his cover and probably get reamed for it.
But hey, he had balls to go with his dick. Couple of sets of them, actually.
David slid through the crowd and plopped himself down on the stool to the right of Mish. “Hey, princess, come here often?”
Mish started, then turned, her expression full of exasperation but also a hint of gratitude. “I’m gonna fucking kill you, David.”
“Figured you might want to.” He eyed her glass of beer. “Should I order one, too?”
She grunted, then nodded. “I hate drinking alone, even when Iwantto drink alone. And I miscalculated this place.” She glanced around. “Should have gone over a couple more blocks.”
“Yeah, this ain’t the kinda bar to be in if you wanted a nice quiet beer and to disappear into the scenery for a while.
“Don’t I know it.” She twisted her lips. “Lot on my mind.”
“I know.” He flagged the bartender and ordered a lager off their draft menu. They had a decent list, too. All in all, if it weren’t for the tourists, it would have been a fine place to linger.
She took a pull on her own beer, leaving behind a little lipstick on the glass. “So tell me, why thefuckare you following me?”
Shit, shewaspissed. Rightfully so. He toyed with his own beer. “You’re probably not going to believe me, but I was making sure you weren’t being followed.”
Her laugh was sharp and bitter, and David flinched. “Great, so the guy protecting me is stalking me, too.” Mish closed her eyes and drank more of her beer.
A sympathetic-looking bartender eyed them both. “You two okay?”
Mish waved him away. “Yeah, he’s a friend. Just a fucking annoying one at the moment.”
Friend. Okay,thatwas good. “I know, and I knew it would piss you off. The problem with trailing trails is that Ihaveto trail you, too.”
She contemplated that as David drank, then took another slow pull of her own. “So,” she said once she’d set the glass back down, “was I being followed?” A hitch in her voice.
