Page 136 of Need You Now

“ ... the offer is open ... no one else ...”

She keeps her tone firm, no room for bullshit. “Colin, no. I meant what I said.” She frowns when there’s silence. “Hello? Colin, you there?” she says into the phone, but all that greets her is crackling static. “Ugh.”

“Can’t get service, angel?” a dry voice says from behind her. “Join the club.”

Lacey turns, shoving the phone into the pocket of her parka. Surprised he’s still here, she sighs as she takes in Beau’s haggard form. He wears a thin jacket and an even expression. “You shouldn’t be here, Beau.”

He lifts a flask. “Lot of things I shouldn’t be doin’.”

She crosses her arms. “Luke’s inside. If he finds you here ...”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll run fast.” He swaggers closer to her. “Came to see if I could use the house phone. I’m gettin’ snowed in over there. I ain’t got no service and I want to get the hell out of here, y’all bein’ so accomodatin’ and all.”

Lacey rolls her eyes and turns back to the water. Too distracted by her conversation with Colin to tell him to get lost.

Her mind running wild, she stares out at the choppy lake. The current’s fast, churning out whitecaps and foam. A thin shell of frost crusts its glittering surface. Lacey shivers. It’s cold out on the dock, but it’s nothing compared to how she feels after her conversation with Colin.

Beau settles beside her. Lacey makes a face. He reeks of booze. “You wanna get out of here? Go get a drink?”

“You’re already drinking,” she says, threading her hand through her snarled hair and giving a defiant chin lift. “Besides, I’m with Seth.”

“You sure?” He peers at her, a sly smile on his face. “One night with me, I’m bettin’ I could persuade you otherwise.”

Lacey avoids his gaze, instead glancing over her shoulder at the cabin. The warm glow of the lights. The chimney puffing up white smoke to the gray sky. The people inside, laughter, love, music. And where is she? Out here, freezing her ass off and talking to the slime of the earth.

Suddenly, a contentedness like she’s never known settles over her. Even though her brain, her irritatingly obnoxious type A brain, is screaming at her to be a responsible adult, to choose stability over romance, her heart tells her she made the right decision about Colin’s offer.

She’s in love with Seth. They have a plan, a future.

She closes her eyes and breathes.

A forever.

She turns around fully to face Beau. “I’m going back to the house. I’ll ask Luke about the phone.”

“Ah, c’mon now,” he says, taking a step backward to block her path. “We just got started talkin’.”

She stares at the man who ran Seth off the road, who’s been an asshole to her sister and her friends, and she balls a fist. “I’m not talking to you.”

Beau’s eyes go flat, a sadness, a strange something shining in their depths. Then, as quick as it came, it’s gone, and he grins at her. He reaches out, his eyes lighting, his hand lifting for her throat. For an excuse to touch her. Sweeping a thumb over the locket, he says, “Hey now, this is pretty.”

The words rip through her like a wave.

Hiswords. The man. The mugger from the alley.

He may be off the streets, caught, gone, but his memory isn’t.

Lacey’s hands fly up to clasp the necklace around her neck protectively. She backs up on the dock. Wanting to get away. Needing to get away.

How do you swim a wave if you’re drowning, Lacey?

“Leave me alone.” Her voice is a raw whisper. “Don’t touch me.”

You break through it.

Fear swarms her, cutting off her senses. She doesn’t know what to do. All she knows she has to get out of there.

Beau’s bloodshot eyes go wide, as if realizing he’s finally crossed the line. “Shit. Hey, listen, I didn’t—” He staggers forward, too fast, too close, stumbling and knocking Lacey off-balance. Knocking her back hard against the wooden railing.

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