Broken Course (Wrecked and Ruined #3)(5)

I don't make excuses for what I did or the people I hurt. Those actions were my own. I chose them—even if it wasn’t with a sound mind. That woman fired a gun at the only person to stand by her side—that is what I am capable of. I may not be her anymore, but she still lives inside me. And that alone terrifies me more than anything else.

So, yeah. I’m a real catch. Leo James should count his lucky stars that he got called away for work. He figuratively, and maybe even literally, dodged a bullet tonight.

"So what do you say? Me, you, Caleb, Leo—double date?" Emma asks while making kissy faces, snapping me out of my inner pity party.

"Nah. I think I’m going to pass. He wasn’t all that good-looking anyway," I answer flippantly.

"Shut up. I believe your exact words were, ‘f*ck-hot,’" she says, tossing a pair of air quotes in my direction.

"I lied," I snap, rolling my eyes.

Leo: cricket cricket

Peeking over my shoulder to read Leo’s latest text, Emma says, "Well, he’s persistent."

"I don’t want go out tomorrow night," I whine.

"Say whatever the hell you want, Sarah, but you were stoked when he asked you out."

"I was just excited. I didn’t think it through. Maybe I should talk to one of my counselors before I jump right back into the dating world." I cautiously turn to look at her, knowing she’s not going to be happy with that answer.

She curls her lip in disgust. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously," I answer as my phone starts ringing in my lap. "Shit," I mumble to myself.

Emma starts laughing when she sees Leo’s name flashing on my screen. I groan but click the little green button.

"Hello?"



"YOU GONNA answer my text?" I ask as soon as I hear Sarah’s sultry voice across the line.

"Yeah. I was just busy. That’s all," she responds, but I can hear a woman laughing in the background.

"Look, I’ll be out of the loop the rest of the night, so I just wanted to make sure you were good for tomorrow night." I pull into the underground parking garage at my apartment.

I was on my way back from the florist when I got an emergency call from Johnson. Some celebrity client decided to make a stop over in Chicago to hit one of the strip clubs. He wants a full security detail, and with two guys on vacation, I’m understaffed. I love my job, but as I walk upstairs with flowers in hand, I absolutely resent the interruption.

"Sarah?" I question when she doesn’t respond.

"I’m here. I’ll have to let you know about tomorrow. I just started that new job, and…you know."

"You work on Saturdays?" I ask, knowing that the Tribune doesn’t have office hours on the weekend.

"Well, no," she answers nervously, and I hear more laughing in the background.

"Okay, well, I’ll pick you up at seven. Text me your address." I walk into my apartment and toss the flowers to Johnson, who’s standing in the corner with a grin that’s showing off two gold teeth.

"I’ll just meet you at the restaurant," she whispers as the laughing fades.

"Why do I feel like you aren’t going to show up?" I ask, unbuttoning my charcoal-gray dress shirt while heading into my bedroom to change.

"I’ll be there," she assures me, but the slight quiver in her voice reveals her lie.

"Look, if you’ve changed your mind, you can just tell me. I’m really not used to forcing women to go on dates with me. This whole conversation is not doing good things for my ego right now," I joke, trying to put her at ease. Her anxiety is unexpected based on the woman I met earlier this week.

"No, it’s not that. I’m just nervous," she confesses just as Johnson walks into the room, temporarily tearing my attention away from the phone.

"Yo, Leo. We need to move. Sanders arrives at O’Hare in an hour."

"Load up the truck and get the men briefed. I’ll be right out," I respond before focusing back on Sarah. "All right. Talk to me. What are you nervous about?"

"No, it’s okay. I’ll let you go. I’ll see you tomorrow night."

"Are you really going to show up? At least tell me how long should I wait before ordering dinner to go?"

"An hour," she says with a sigh.

"Sarah—" I start to let her off the hook, but she interrupts me.

"I mean, given the way we met, we’ve established that punctuality is not exactly my strong suit. An hour will give me plenty of time in case of a hair emergency, wardrobe malfunction, or cabbie sabotage. I should definitely be able to make it there by eight." Her teasing answer makes me smile.

"Well, you want to plan on eight then? Ya know, just to be safe."

"No way, because then I won’t be there until nine. Let’s just stick with seven, okay?" I can almost hear the laughter in her voice as she pretends to be annoyed.

"So, I’ll see you at seven fifty-nine." I look down, shaking my head. Thank God we are on the phone because I wouldn’t be able to contain my shit-eating grin otherwise.

"On the dot," she responds. "Oh, and, Leo, I am looking forward to seeing you. I wouldn’t want your clearly sensitive ego to go un-stroked."