Chase had been so funny and sweet. Smart and sexy. And to this day, she’d never seen eyes as piercingly blue as his.
Yep, for a minute there, Scottie had been stupid enough to believe she could have everything she wanted in life. Love. Marriage. Kids.
Happiness.
Then the realities of her decidedly uncharmed life had hit yet again, and she’d lost him. Just like she’d lost everything else that had been good in her world.
You’re about to lose your entire damn life if you don’t focus on getting past this guy and out of this room!
And just like that, Scottie’s attention snapped back to the terrifying present. Back to the very imminent dilemma of what the hell she was going to do to get herself free.
How the hell, indeed?
She was in a standoff with her stalker, dressed in nothing but a robe, as she attempted to keep a safe distance between them. So far, it was working. But the room was only so big, and Dustin Whoeverhewas was still standing between Scottie and her only means of escape.
You need anything, I’m right next door. All you have to do is call.
Her pulse spiked when she thought of Mitch, who was right there on the other side of the wall. She wanted nothing more than to call out to him. To scream that her stalker was here and she was in immediate danger.
But the hotel’s landline on the nightstand behind her was out of her reach. And while the weight of her cell phone called out to her from the robe’s left pocket, Scottie didn’t think the maniac would be willing to wait while she made the lifesaving call.
You don’t have to pull the phone out of your pocket to call, remember?
Hope flourished as she recalled what Mitch had shown her during his first night on the job. The former cop had been going over his own safety protocol when he showed her an alternative—and hopefully unnoticeable—way to call for help.
“We’re meant to be together, Scottie.” Dustin inched closer. “You and me. We’re finally free to pursue the life we’ve both been wanting. You can move into my place. It’s not huge, but there’s more than enough room for the two of us. We should get married right away, so that everyone can share in the celebration of our love! And as soon as you’re ready, we can start trying for our first child. I’m hoping for a girl first. She’ll have pretty blonde hair and green eyes, just like yours…”
Dear God. This man truly is certifiable.
While Dustin continued rambling on about things that were never,evergoing to happen, Scottie pretended to listen, holding onto his gaze as if she hung on his every word.
In reality, while the man who’d been terrorizing her for weeks stared back into her eyes, she was slowly sliding her left hand down into the robe’s slightly gaping pocket.
Her throat worked with a nervous swallow as her fingers searched for the right button. The phone’s slightly raised, circular lenses on the back let her know which way the device was facing.
Find the button on the left.
Thanks to Mitch’s overbearing insistence, she’d practiced this exact scenario a handful of times. After moving from her previous hotel to this one, he’d gone over several different potentially dangerous scenarios. And then…he gave her detailed instructions on the best ways to make it out of each and every one unharmed.
Unharmed is good. Let’s definitely go for unharmed.
Scottie found the button she needed on the phone’s outer left edge. As Dustin went on pleading his case as to why she should leave this room with him and never look back, she pressed her finger to the button, holding it down as she spoke.
“Dustin, please. If you don’t go now, I’ll have no other choice but to…call Mitch.”
She made sure to emphasize those last two words, speaking a touch louder as she did with the hope her phone was listening and would follow the hidden command.
Dustin’s expression dropped, shifting from excited to almost angry when he heard the other man’s name fall from her lips.
“Who the hell is Mitch?”
“My bodyguard,” she answered truthfully. “And if you don’t leave my hotel room right now, I’m going to go to that phone behind me and call him. If that happens, you’ll be arrested and hauled off by the cops.”If he doesn’t beat your ass first, that is.“You don’t want to go to jail tonight, do you Dustin?”
“That’s not going to happen. You wanna know why?” He shook his head and smiled. The curve of his lips forming in a slow, almost sinister way as he slowly reached behind his back. “Because I won’t let it.”
When his hand came back into view, Scottie’s entire system locked down.
Oh, god!