Page 22 of Blurred Lines

My family.

The strangers I’d written about.

The bottom dropped out of my world right then.

I hadn’t wanted those men. They’d just piqued my interest, had the right look for a book boyfriend, and sparked off thoughts that I could turn into a scene. The only exception had been Cristian. My body craved him, even as my head clanged warning bells. Did he use social media? What if he recognised himself in my twisted words?

Planet Health had become my happy place over the past few weeks, but now I’d have to lie low, probably with copious quantities of chocolate cake and several bottles of wine. No, not wine. Not after the Kane/Connor incident. I could lie low with diet cola.

More messages arrived with every passing minute… From Macie, from Lucas Collins, from Charlotte at work. How long before Mario got wind of the images? The thought of him reading my innermost thoughts and jacking off as he did so left me nauseated.

I needed to get out of Planet Health, pronto.

CHAPTER 9

LAUREN

My eyes were already prickling as I ran through the gym, heading for the ladies’ locker room. But I didn’t make it. Instead of reaching safety, I bounced off a fifty-something gentleman wearing blue swim shorts and landed on my ass. Just one more indignity in the soap opera of my life.

“Sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Where you goin’ in such a hurry, little lady?” His accent told me he came from Texas, and the way his gaze slipped to my breasts told me that he was a sleaze.

“Home. I’m going home.”

Or maybe to the Bahamas if I could get a flight, because I really, really needed a hug from my bestie. I ignored the man’s outstretched hand and scrambled to my feet.

“Well, don’t let me keep ya,” he said.

And then he squeezed my ass. He actually squeezed my freaking ass, and for a moment, I just stood there open-mouthed as he disappeared into the Spa Zone. Then I saw red. The scarlet of a waving muleta, because I’d had enough. I’d had enough of being harassed and taken advantage of. Actions have consequences, jerk. I yanked the door open, only for my glasses to steam up. Taking them off wouldn’t have helped—I was blind as a bat without them, and I’d never gotten along with contacts. But it didn’t matter. I spotted the blue shorts and the blurry outline of a body and head attached to them, raised my hand, and slapped the pervert as hard as I could.

“Keep your filthy hands off me.”

“Baby, I haven’t even touched you today.”

Oh, no.

My heart stuttered because that wasn’t the pervert. No, it was the object of more than one of my filthy little tales.

“Cristian, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I… Shit.” The tears came, and I sank onto a chair beside the pool. “I didn’t mean it. A man groped me, and I thought you were him because I can’t see properly and you have the same colour shorts, and I’m so freaking sorry.”

“What guy?”

“I don’t know his name. Some middle-aged Texan who came in here right before I did. I bumped into him because…because…my ex said horrible things about me online and I wasn’t looking where I was going, and he squeezed my ass. Not my ex, the Texan, even though I apologised, and…ugh. I’ve just had enough of life.”

Now I sounded like a child telling tales. Please, sir, someone was mean to me on the internet and then a boy couldn’t keep his hands to himself. I’d been groped a hundred times when I used to waitress in a sports bar, but I’d never let it get to me the way it had today.

“Come with me.”

Cristian sounded furious, and I couldn’t blame him. I’d slapped him for no good reason, and I deserved to be thrown out. Kicked right onto the street. He’d gifted me a membership, and this was how I’d repaid him. But instead of heading for the exit as I’d expected, he took my hand and tugged me toward the steam room, and now I couldn’t see anything at all.

“Did you just touch this woman against her wishes?” he asked a wall of billowing white.

A pause, then, “She fell right in front of me, and I helped her to her feet.”

That slimy liar. I might not have been able to see his face, but I sure recognised his voice.

“That’s not true. I got up by myself, and you squeezed my butt.”

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