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.I pull out a stack of cash I keep under my bed for emergencies and count it.I hope I have enough.“I’m on my way.” He gives me directions to the station, and I jump in my car and speed over there.When I arrived, a large crowd of photographers are huddled along the sidewalk.Someone must have tipped them off.Oh great, like this isn’t embarrassing enough.I throw an old baseball cap over my hair and make sure there isn’t any smudged mascara under my eyes.Even though it’s night outside, I put on a pair of sunglasses.The second I jump from the car, the paparazzi flock to my side.I do the usual, keep my head down, and ignore their questions.How did they find out so fast?“Ginger, are you here to bail Barrett out?”“Were you at the club or did he call you?”I ignore them all until I hear something that causes me to stop walking and look down at the short man asking it.“What did you say?” I ask him.“How do you feel knowing that Barrett got into a fight with someone over another woman?”“That’s ridiculous,” I tell him, even though I wouldn’t put it past Barrett.I walk the rest of the way in silence.Barrett has humiliated me for the last time.I put on a flirty grin and eye the cop behind the desk.He’s not bad looking.Young, brunette, buff, probably straight out of the academy.“Hey there.”“Can I help—“He raises his eyes to meet mine, or better yet, my breasts and immediately stops talking.Good grief, this is going to be easier than I thought.“You’re G—Ginger.G—inger Teague,” he stutters.“Yup.That’s me, honey.”“I take it you’re here for Barrett?”I nod.“I know this usually takes a while and there’s a whole process, but seeing as it’s the middle of the night I’m hoping you might help me out?”I lean forward to give him a better look at my chest.“I would really appreciate it.”“Fill out this paperwork,” the cop sputters.“He should be released soon.It’s been a busy night, but I’m sure we can hurry it along.We don’t need a pretty young girl like you wandering around in the middle of the night.”Caspian’s face comes to mind, and I remember his first words.“What’s a pretty young thing like you doing wandering the streets all alone?” Swallowing, I try to concentrate on the stack of paperwork in front of me and thank the officer.Why can’t I get Caspian outta my head? He’s just some guy I met halfway across the states.He’s already made it clear that we are just friends.I’ve never been inside a police station before, and whatever Barrett did, he better have a good excuse.It takes over three hours of waiting, but they finally release him to me.By the time we get outside, the sun is rising over the horizon.Same story.Rush to car.Avoid cameras.Barrett looks beat up.He pushes his hair off his face and rubs his red eyes.He doesn’t say a word the entire drive home, but I can feel that something is off.I pull into his driveway and turn off the engine.“Are you going to explain what happened?”“I’d rather not talk about it.I want to go inside and take a long shower.”“I just bailed you out of jail.I’m responsible for you now.I think I deserve some answers,” I demand.“The paperwork said you were arrested for assault and public intoxication.”“I got into a fight at the club, nothing major.I wasn’t even drunk.God, the press is going to have a field day with this one.” He runs his hands down his face.“This affair isn’t going to “die down” if you don’t stay out of the public eye.I want to announce our break up soon so quit screwing this up!”“Well so-rry, didn’t realize this was such an inconvenience for you.Even though we’re technically not together, thought we were friends.”“Inconvenience?” My blood is boiling.“You cheated on me, and out of the goodness of my heart, I’m not slandering your name all over town.I want to be rid of you for good.”“Fine.Give me one more week.”“Did you already call James?” I ask, referring to his lawyer and brother.“Hell, no.I don’t need him telling me how to run my life.I only called you.That’s all.Just drop it.”“Great,” I mumble.I lean my head against the steering wheel, and close my eyes.I’m in no mood to talk anyway.I sit up and start the car back up.“Thanks, babe,” he says while unbuckling.He leans over to give me a kiss.When his lips touch mine, all I can smell and taste is the stale alcohol on his breath [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]