I pull out my phone to call 911 or the state troopers or whoever the hell you call in the wilderness, but when I stare down at my phone, there is no fucking reception.
“Motherfucker!” I curse as I throw my cell in anger.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK.
It’s going to be okay, Hendrix. You have this. You can do this. It’s not the first time you’ve slept rough, but it will be my first time sleeping with the threat of wolves and bears eating me in the middle of the night. I inhale in a deep breath and try to calm my anxiety.
Now think. What direction did they go?
I stare down and see the Jeep’s tire tracks.
Yes!
I follow the tracks and head off down the hill in the blazing sun.
I can’t believe she left me.
What kind of person leaves another human being in the middle of the fucking wilderness? Everly Nash, that’s who.
When Vanessa and Christian hear about this, little Miss Cowgirl is going to be fired and sued for gross endangerment. Maybe I should call them and tell them what’s happened. I reach into my pocket to grab my cell and realize it’s not there.
That’s because you threw it away, stupid.
I scramble around in the grass, looking for it. I can’t be out here without a phone. What happens if I get reception, I’ll need it to call for help. Eventually, I stumble upon it and raise it up in the air like a beacon of hope. This edible is not helping my mental state right now. I should be chilled, enjoying a fucking walk in the sunshine, being at one with nature. Instead, I’m a ball of fucking anxiety, and every little noise is making me jump.
I continue following the Jeep’s path down the hill for what seems like forever.
Fuck nature and its sounds.
Fuck the sun, too, which is beating down on my skin.
I grumble as I continue to stomp, each step making me angrier. What kind of person leaves someone like me in the middle of nowhere? A mentally unstable one, that’s for sure. Why the hell did I think Everly Nash was hot? She’s insane.
I need a break. So I stop near a cluster of pine trees and shelter from the sun’s rays. I pull out my cell and dial Vanessa’s number, hoping on a wish and a prayer that it connects.
It doesn’t connect.
I scream at the top of my lungs again and pray a bald eagle comes down, snatches me from the ground, and eats me, putting me out of my misery.
I collapse again beside a pine tree and swipe the sweat away from my brow. It feels like hours since I was abandoned. Is she seriously leaving me here to die? Does she hate me after that kiss the other night?
The sound of a car’s engine echoes through the valley.
Yes.
I’m saved.
The same black Jeep from earlier is hurtling toward me. I stand up from my cool spot under the pine trees and wave it down, which is pathetic. The Jeep skids to a stop right beside me. The tinted window rolls down, and a smiling Everly pops her head out.
“You’re fucking crazy. You left me here,” I scream at her.
“Here,” she says, shoving a bottle of cold water into my hand.
Greedily, I take it. “Something could have happened to me.”
Everly rolls her eyes. “So dramatic, even for a rock star. You were perfectly fine.”
“You realize who I am?” I ask, thumping my chest angrily.
“Yep,” Everly says, making the ‘p’ pop between her lips.
My hands ball into fists. I would never hit a woman, but I’m dangerously close to losing it.
“And?”
“And what?” she asks.
Is this woman for real? Most women would scramble to accommodate me if we were back in LA. I splutter for a couple of seconds unable to speak.
“Stop whining and get in the car,” she scolds.
Does she have no remorse for what she’s done to me? I could have gone in the wrong direction. I could have fallen off a cliff, been eaten by a bear, or stumbled upon some redneck and shot. Reluctantly, I get into the car slamming the door behind me.
Everly puts the car into gear and hurtles through the valley at top speed.
“Slow down. You’re going to fucking kill us,” I yell as I hold on to the seat white-knuckled.
Everly ignores me.
“When I get back into cell service, I’m calling Vanessa,” I warn. I’ve had just about enough of this treatment.
Everly slams on the brakes, and thankfully, I am wearing my seat belt. Otherwise, I would have flown through the window.
Fucking crazy woman driver.
“Let me get one thing very clear … I’m the boss of the three of you for the next month. Vanessa has approved everything I’m doing. So, if you want to be a little bitch and tattletale, then go right ahead,” she yells angrily at me.
One fucking month? We are supposed to be in this hellhole for one whole month.
Oh, hell fucking no.
Not with this woman.
“Is this some kind of revenge for me kissing you the other night?” I yell back at her.
Everly’s fingers tighten around the steering wheel at my question. “Your ego is out of control if you think I’m doing all this over a kiss. That kiss meant nothing. It wasn’t anything to get my panties in a knot over, especially one that was not worth remembering.” Everly huffs.
Unmemorable. Bullshit! That kiss blew her mind.
“I’m here to do a job, not be your friend or anything else. I don’t care if you love me or hate me.”
“I’m leaning more toward hate,” I grumble.
“The feeling is mutual. But I see someone has already beat me to the punch,” she says, her green eyes looking over my bruises.
“It was therapy. The way me and the boys like to settle things.”
“How very rock star,” she replies while rolling her eyes.
She’s trying to change the subject, so we don’t talk about the kiss.
She wants me.
I can tell.
“Nice deflecting. Prove it,” I say.
“Prove what?”
“That the kiss meant nothing.”
“You’re still going on about this. I don’t have to prove anything. I’m sorry if it meant something to you,” she says, raising an arched brow at me.
“It didn’t.”
“Good. Then we have nothing to prove.”
My eyes narrow on her. “I still call bullshit.”
Everly throws her hands up in the air in frustration. “Oh my god … you are the most self-absorbed asshole I’ve ever met. This world doesn’t revolve around you, Hendrix Meyer,” she says, enunciating my name as if each letter is a pointed barb directly at me.
“See, you can’t do it,” I argue.
“Are you still going on about that stupid kiss?”
“Yep,” I reply, making the ‘p’ pop like she did to me earlier.
“Then you’re going to be waiting till your dying breath because I don’t kiss my clients. I’ve signed a contract giving Vanessa and Christian my word that nothing nefarious will ever happen between us,” she explains.
“Do they know about the kiss in the garden?” I ask because I bet they don’t.
“No. I didn’t think it prudent as it happened before I signed the contract. And I know nothing will ever happen between us ever again,” she says stoically.
“How interesting.” I chuckle as I rub my chin.