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Chapter One
“It’s a sign”
Hayden Surate outside of the Orchid Lounge Thelot,Apparently the universe wasn’t on board with this whole one-wild-night plan First, her car refused to start, and then she dropped her phone in a puddle in the parking lot Okay, so she threw it into a puddle in the parking lot To be fair, she hadn’t meant for it to land in the puddle And her ex had just texted her that he was gettingher heart into a thousand pieces hadn’t been enough He felt the need toparasite Now her shoe was being held captive by this bitch of a drainage grate She was starting to think the universe wanted her to be celibate forever Overhead, a clap of thunder rumbled across the pitch-dark sky, as if to drive hon
Her assistant grunted and helped her pull on the sleek black pun It’s a shoe A Very Stuck—” It jerked free, and they both fell back onto the pavement with an umph Lilly bleist of blond hair out of her eyes “Shoe”
Hayden grabbed the shoe and frowned The heel to her Ji She looked around and spotted it still stuck in the grate Well, that was fan-freaking-tastic They ht have killed her feet, but they had also cost half of what she’dto be her only chance to wear them for the next year She wasn’t exactly up with the fashion scene in Sudan, but she was guessing shoes like these wouldn’t suffice when she was trekking across the war-torn country to get shots that would land her a coveted spot in Tiazine
Hayden stood up, brushing her dress off, and helped Lilly to her feet “It’s okay I have a pair of flats in your car”
Lilly laughed “You are such a Girl Scout I’ll bet if I stepped on a rusty nail, you’d have a round of antibiotics in your purse for o to the ER”
Hayden headed for Lilly’s Honda and popped the trunk So she ency bag Perfectly folded T-shirt and jeans Flats Toiletries Aspirin and a bottle of water A box of condoms Okay, maybe more than a tad
Lilly held up the box and grinned
“What? You told me to be open-minded”
“I said be open-minded I did not say to pack for a weekend trip to the Poconos You’ve got enough rubber here to last you a month”
Hayden grabbed the box and threw it back in the bag, then sla hoht?”
“You’re kind of ht stand” Lilly checked her hair in the side mirror while Hayden slipped on her sparkly black flats
“I don’t like to be unprepared”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that A zouard”
Hayden stared up at the buzzing blue orchid hanging above the black double doors A strange mixture of excitement and deter like this But saying the past year had been a dry spell would be an understatement She hadn’t even had a date in eleven ood roll in the sack And she’d be da bastard” Peterson would be her last sexual experience before she went off and risked her life She wasn’t stupid The job she’d landed with Tiht have been a photojournalist’s wet dreaet a shot at—but it didn’t couarantees People didn’t always come back from a job like this Not in one piece anyway
So she’don that plane torets It was time for the universe to pull the stick out of its ass, because God knew it had taken her eleven e Shane had done and do the same She’d worked her butt off for a year A year of no social life and no man to warm her bed
Well, unless you counted her best friend, Jace, falling asleep on her couch every Sunday night during their weekly Walking Dead date Or in the weeks after she’d left Shane She’d lost count of how many times Jace had crawled into bed with her and let her cry herself to sleep on his chest, his arether That so didn’t count Not when she’d been all weepy and pathetic And definitely not when it was Jace she’d been wrapped around He didn’t see her that way, and now he never would Not only did she lack the ability to attract ed to push Jace away, too
“No…no, no, no” Lilly put her hands on her hips and frowned “I know that look You are not bailing If I can put up with the Antichrist tonight, you can put on your big girl panties and have one night of fun before you leave me”
Grateful for the distraction, Hayden shook her head “Nate is not the Antichrist If you would take the tiet to know him, you’d like him” How could two people so close to her repel each other so strongly? Putting Jace’s brother and Lilly in a rooet oil and water to mix
Lilly snorted “Doubtful”
“If it’s too much for you, I do have wine and a new labelthe rinned
A look of pure horror crossed her friend’s face “Dear God, you are like one bad date away fro crochet sweater-vests with animals on them Aren’t you?”
“Of course not” Hayden looked up at the starless sky and thought about how much she’d miss this The bustle and buzz of don Charlotte The scent of nolia trees laced with the breeze Jace “You know I’ic to cats However, I can’t make any promises about the sweater-vests They do look cozy”
“Ha ha” Lilly leaned on the trunk and grinned “Make fun now, but when you’re knee-deep in sand and craving a pu you out of that apartht”