Page 31 of Head Over Wheels

“Why does it matter who I’m seeing? It’s still so new, I’m not sure I want to talk about it yet.” I can hear my voice shake, and I’m hoping he thinks I’m nervous about this conversation.

And then it happens. His phone vibrates again, and his eyes dart down to the screen.

CHAPTER 23

I see it in his eyes the moment he realizes I know who he is. He looks up, and his sharp gaze cuts right through my layers of protection. My body starts to shake, and I look around to see if there’s anyone close by if I call for help.

I’m in a public place, I remind myself. The barista is five feet away if I’m desperate. Nothing will happen to me here. Now that he knows, I can just leave, right?

“So, you figured it out.” There’s no question in his tone, no uncertainty left for me to dance around.

“Yes, I know who you are. And now that we both know, I’m going to walk out of here, and I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from me for the remainder of the event.” Thankfully, my voice comes out stronger than I feel right now.

His sharp laugh makes me flinch. “Ella, you aren’t going anywhere.”

“Jeff, we’re in a cafe. There’s no way you can keep me here. I’m leaving now.” I move to stand, but before I know what’s going on, he’s moved to my side and has my arm in a vise-like grip. He pulls me back down beside him.

“Before you take off, let me just show you a couple of things. After that, if you still want to leave, you’re free to go.”

All traces of happy, easy-going Jeff are now gone. In his place is a complete stranger whose cool gaze is terrifying me. He nods towards his phone, and with his free hand he pulls up the photo gallery.

“Give me a second to just get this ready.” He tilts the screen, hiding it from my view.

I use this moment to see if anyone is watching so I can signal that I need help. Everyone is engrossed in their conversations or mobile devices, and even the barista has his back turned while he cleans the espresso maker.

“All weekend, I’ve been watching you, even documenting your new relationship.” He says the last word with such a sneer, I swallow hard.

“And?” I’d like him to just get to the point. His words are creeping me out even more.

“While I’m sure you and Jace are both just overjoyed with your newfound love, I wonder how the rest of the world would feel about it. So soon after his breakup? Would people be able to forgive their darling Jace for moving on from a very heartbroken Deb?”

“What’s the point of all this? Get to what you want to show me already.” I gesture for him to keep it moving.

“The point, darling Ella, is that I have photographic evidence of late-night visits between you and Jace, and of Deb in tears because of them. And we all know that Elevate doesn’t want its instructors dating members.” His mouth turns into a frown, and he runs his index finger down his cheek.

I was afraid this is what he wanted to tell me. Would anyone really care? Jace said he was going to speak to them first but these pictures will definitely cause him trouble and that’s the last thing I want. Then I think about how much I would have cared before I got to know everyone in person, and my stomach sinks.

“I can see you understand how this will look. Would you like to see the pictures?” Now Jeff is smiling at me, and he sticks his phone out.

My hand reaches out, thinking maybe I can delete them without him noticing, but he’s on to me and pulls it slightly out of my reach.

“No, no, no, Ella. This is a look don’t touch scenario.”

“Okay, got it.” I fold my hands in my lap, keeping them out of the way so he’ll show me the pictures.

He opens up the first one, and I see Jace and me standing outside my room. There’s a timestamp visible, showing it’s after midnight on Friday. We’re standing so close, and it’s obvious there’s something going on between us. Even if nothing had really happened yet, it looks like it. The next picture is us hugging, and my stomach churns, knowing someone was watching this innocent moment and making it ugly. He keeps moving through pictures, documenting us falling for each other.

There’s one of Jace letting me into his room, and another of us coming out of it together. My cheeks are flushed in the picture and my hair seems mussed, and it looks way more damning than it really was. And then there’s a series of pictures of Deb. Her wiping a tear away, another looking at Jace longingly, one dancing with Jace at the club looking completely in love.

The last few are from late last night starting with me letting Jace into my room. Then Jace leaving later on, smiling and tired, all with obvious time stamps. No matter how you look at it, it never looks good when there’s a man in your room after midnight.

“What are you going to do with these?” I let out a tired sigh, since I have a pretty good idea where this is going.

He bares his teeth at me. For a second, I wonder how I ever found him attractive at all. He’s been hiding his true self well. “Well, Ella, I’m pretty sure you and your precious Jace wouldn’t want this dalliance all over social media. I can destroy his reputation like that.” He snaps his fingers.

“If that was all you wanted, you’d already have posted them though, right? So tell me what you really want.” I’m past fear now, and my blood is pounding at this invasion of my privacy.

Jeff looks straight at me, unflinching. “What I really want, Ella, is you.”

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