Page 74 of No More Secrets

Lucas chews a bite and looks at her over his half-eaten burger. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

She picks up a fry and nibbles on the end. It tastes bland without ketchup, and she doesn’t feel like reaching across the table for the bottle. She drops the fry on the plate.

Lucas frowns. “What’s wrong? Food not good?”

“It’s okay.” Delicious, she’d bet. It’s been years since she had a diner burger. She was five when her mom took her for a late lunch after visiting a museum. They used to spend time together before she got into drugs. Then Ellis came along, and they didn’t do anything together at all.

“How was the shake?”

The best. She almost finished it. “Fine.”

“The burger? Have you tried it yet?”

She shakes her head.

“Want ketchup with those fries?” He grabs the bottle.

“No, thanks.” Her shoulders droop.

Lucas puts down his burger and wipes his hands with a paper napkin. He crumples the napkin, tossing it aside, and wipes his hands on his jeans, glancing around and looking uncomfortable. Then he clears his throat and leans his arms on the table. “Talk to me. What gives?”

“Nothing.” She mopes. She can tell it was difficult for him to ask and that he doesn’t really want to talk. She’s not in the mood either.

“Bullshit.”

“Stop bugging me,” she says, annoyed.

“Shiloh—”

She stares at her plate. “I don’t want to talk.” She’s too embarrassed, making one naive decision after another ever since she left home.

“Something is obviously bothering—”

She lifts her head. “Why’d you leave?”

As soon as she says it, she realizes that’s what bothers her most. Almost as much as the fact that she can’t return home. She really thought Lucas was different from the other men she’s met. He promised he’d help her. He said she could stay with him if she wanted. Then he took off.

Lucas lets out a long sigh, leaning away from the table. He presses his back into the seat back and stares out the window. Down the road is Warner Bros. Studio. They drove past on the way here and Shiloh told him that’s the studio producing theTabby’s Squirrelmovie. Lucas went still. After that, he got very quiet until they arrived here and sat down.

But he turns to her now, his expression resigned. “I thought Sophie was after me.”

She frowns. “Sophie? You mean Zea?”

He nods. “You were right. Her real name is Sophie Renau.”

“She’s here for you?”

He frowns, his gaze turning inward. “Apparently not.”

Her heart starts beating very fast. “Then she’s after me. Ellis sent her.”

“No.”

“She tell you that?” She doesn’t know whether to believe him.

“Yes. Bounty hunters chase criminals with warrants, not fifteen-year-old runaways. Unless you got a warrant?” He gives her a look.

Her eyes widen. She shakes her head hard. She doesn’t. But he does; otherwise, he wouldn’t have left her. She remembers how he reacted when she told him Sophie was a bounty hunter, how wild his eyes were.

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