Keeping Score by Sara Rider

Author:Sara Rider
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Star

16

COMING BACK TO SEATTLE felt like stepping into a fog of stress and uncertainty. As the escalator rolled Jaime down to the baggage claim area, she toyed with the idea of turning right around and buying herself a ticket to anywhere.

Running away from her problems sounded a lot more appealing than taking a city bus home to her dark basement suite apartment. But at the bottom of the escalator waited the one person who would have no problem dragging her kicking and screaming toward her responsibilities.

Alex.

Her heart went all warm and melty as she approached him, like someone had taken it out of her chest and popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. He grabbed her small carry-on bag from her like they were an old married couple doing this for the hundredth time, and escorted her toward the exit. “How was the photo shoot?”

“Good, thanks. So, ah, what are you doing here?”

He laughed. “I didn’t think you’d get my message in time, so I came to pick you up.”

“What message?” She dug into her pocket for her phone without bothering to wait for his answer and turned the airplane mode off. The phone buzzed with text and voice mail notifications. She scrolled through until she found a single text from him. Tension pinched her shoulders as she read. “A specialist appointment? What kind of specialist appointment? You know what? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“It’s in an hour. I figured you might need a ride to get there in time.”

“Do I have to?”

“No, but I promise to stop for a milk shake on the way home if you do,” he said with a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes.

“That sounds like entrapment.”

He placed his free hand on her lower back and ushered her forward. “It is.”

“That’s got to be against the rules,” she said, trying to mask how much his touch affected her.

“I think we’ve already established that I’ve got a bad habit of breaking rules when it comes to you. Come on, my truck’s this way.”

All her brainpower syphoned out of her head, gathering like a fireball shooting straight down to her lady bits. She followed him in silence the rest of the way to the short-term parking garage, where he helped her into his truck and walked around to the driver’s side.

“I already went to the doctor,” she grumbled futilely while he started the engine.

“You did. And that doctor recommended you see this doctor.”

She ran her suddenly sweaty palms along her jeans. “That doesn’t sound good.”

He didn’t offer any platitudes or reassurances. He switched the radio on to her favorite station, cranked the volume, and then squeezed her hand, not letting go until they arrived.

The clinic Alex brought her to was too sleek to be taken seriously. How was she supposed to trust the doctors here when the front-desk staff sat behind a shiny black counter that looked like it belonged in a nightclub? Even the walls were coated in some shiny plastic veneer. What was wrong with plain old white paint?

Minutes ticked by as they sat in the waiting area.

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