Page 55 of When Glitter Meets Gold

The engine draws closer until the car stops a few inches behind us and the sound of a door opening echoes throughout the alley.

“If it comes to it, take your shoes off and stab them in both ears with your heels. Like cymbals,” I whisper to Amber, unlinking my arm to perform the gesture with my hands.

“That’s disturbingly specific.” A familiar deep voice comes from behind us.

I’m squinting into the glare of the headlights when I see none other than Jack.

“What areyoudoing here?” The words startle out of me.

“Seeing if you need a ride, and also preparing to be mugged, I suppose.” He stands motionless with his hands inhis pockets before squinting over at Amber who’s wandered off and is now leaning against a dumpster, attempting to take off one of her shoes with one hand and performing a drunken karate chop with the other.

“Oh jeez, Amber, get off the dumpster in my dress, would you? And keep your shoes on, it’s just,” I hesitate over what to call him, then in the most sarcastic tone I can manage, I say, “J.”

He doesn’t reply immediately, the silence giving pause to a shiver that wriggles up my spine from the midnight chill.

“I should’ve told you.” He moves forward, removing his suit jacket and closing the gap between us until the scent of his leathery cologne fills my senses. “I thought I’d never see you again after Maine.” He wraps the jacket around my shoulders before I can refuse it, and I do my best to ignore how warm and comforting it feels.

“But if you’d told me, I’d be one step closer to stealing all your money. Thank the lord you kept your identity a secret!” I narrow my eyes.

Jack exhales. “I was an asshole. I deserve whatever you want to hurl at me.” He pauses, allowing me time to do just that. I don’t say anything, however. I’m too busy wondering why he left his own launch party to stand out in the cold with me. “I wasn’t lying when I told you how crazy my life can get. My job can get in the way of reasoning and judgement. Watching my back is how I’ve survived until now. You have no idea how…”

“Lonely at the top it is?” I offer. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me? That you can’t make friends because everyone’s hell-bent on robbing you?”

He makes a sound somewhere between relief and frustration.

“I just don’t know who I can trust.” There’s a vulnerableedge to his words. “I’m sorry I mixed you up in that.” He steps forward, his eyes fixed on me. “Look, what I said back at the bar was inexcusable. And the way I behaved…I’m not that person Sara. I’m not the jerk you saw back there.”

My chin lifts and I know I’m pouting.

“Really?” It comes out brattier than I want it to. “Because telling me I’m trouble in front of hundreds of people sounds like jerk behavior to me,” I say while my teeth chatter because the temperature has dropped yet again despite the jacket.

“I can explain that part too,” Jack says, eyeing my shivering shoulders with irritation. “Can we just get in my car? Where it’s warm.”

“I’m not cold,” I say whilst continuing to quiver. “In fact,” I pull off his jacket, and thrust it at him. “I feel extremely hot actually.”

At precisely that moment, a gust of icy wind that could freeze a lake, blasts through the alley.

“Ahhh!” I squeal, clutching my dress and patting down my hair that sticks to my eyelashes and lip-gloss. Each escaped strand blinds me and knocks me off balance. I twist on the spot, but my heel has become imbedded between two cobblestones which causes me to topple. “Ahhh!” I squeal again before I feel Jack’s arms wrap around my waist to steady me.

Heat floods me as his hands find the exact spot on my hipbone he gripped back in Maine. He holds me in the same protective way he did during the rainstorm when I lay shaking on top of him. I forget about being mad at him when something unfamiliar forms in my chest…

“Get in the car, Sara.”

“What?” I snap as Jack’s voice pulls me from my daydream. “No.”

“You’re turning blue, get in.” Jack guides me toward the rear door of an expensive looking Mercedes.

“Iwillhurt you if you touch me again,” I say as he opens the door.

“No problem,” Jack says in that frustrated tone I recognize from Maine. “Hurt me frominsidethe car.” And with that, he bundles me in the back seat and slams the door behind me.

I’m about to open the door again when I realize how comfortable and warm it is in here, and suddenly the thought of returning to the cold isn’t so appealing after all. Instead, I shoot Jack a scathing look for good measure when he gets in the other side and say, “I can’t leave Amber out there.”

Jack nods to the guy in the driver’s seat, “Go get her.”

The man doesn’t look up from scrolling on his phone when he snorts, “Not in the mood for kidnapping.”

I almost gasp when I realize the driver is none other thannotMountain Rescueguy. He’s extremely handsome now that I see him up close…which means Amber will be easily lured by him. I sigh. “She’ll come if you ask her nicely.”

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