“Just wait here a second,” I said to the cab driver. There was a quiver in my voice that I couldn’t mask.

“I aint got all night, lady.”

I nodded and ran to my car. The thing that scared me most, even more than not having the money to pay the cab driver, was being left alone in the parking lot of Crawford Beauty Cosmetics.

The place had such a sinister feel to it now, especially after the way Rob had treated me at the club. Did he honestly think I was that kind of girl? I glanced at my reflection in the glass of my car and sighed. I did look like that kind of girl.

I tried the driver’s door and to my enormous relief, it opened. Thank God.

Inside were my clothes, my purse, my phone, my wallet, everything, just as Cassie had said. At least she hadn’t lied about that. I pulled out my wallet and took out forty dollars for the driver. Then I ran over to him in my ridiculous heels.

“Sorry for the wait.”

“No problem,” he said. “I was afraid you weren’t going to have any money to pay me. You’d be amazed at the kinds of offers I get from chicks that don’t want to pay their cab fare.”

“I can imagine,” I said.

“Not that I’m calling you that sort of chick,” he added.

I nodded. “Of course not. Would you mind waiting until I get my car started?”

“You’re scared here?”

“A little,” I said.

The driver nodded.

“Thank you,” I said and hurried back to my car. I had to take off the heels to be able to drive safely.

The key was there and I turned the ignition. I’d never been so relieved to hear my engine start. I pulled out of the parking lot at a higher speed than was safe. I didn’t care. By the time I was back on the highway, a flood of relief rushed through me.

I had to call Grant. I’d managed to send him a text from the phone of one of the chicks at the club without her noticing, but I didn’t know if he’d received it or not.

I glanced at my phone. No missed calls. That was weird. I dialed Grant’s number, swerving dangerously around a pothole I didn’t notice until the last minute. I hated using my phone while driving, I knew it was a bad habit, but I was too nervous to stop.

I held the phone to my ear and listened to the dial tone. It rang and rang but there was no answer. It wasn’t like Grant not to pick up. Didn’t he care? Wasn’t he worried about me? Had he received my text?

Things had been so strained between the two of us for the past few weeks. Maybe I should have texted Jackson, or Grady, or Forrester. Maybe Grant had decided that whatever happened to me on dates from now on was my own problem. I guessed I couldn’t really blame him. I’d told him in no uncertain terms to butt out of my business.

I threw the phone down on the seat next to me and got onto the freeway.

A moment later it started to ring.

“Grant?” I said.

There was a confused voice on the other end of the line. It was a woman’s voice.

“Grant? No. This is Cassie.”

“Cassie?”

“Is that you, Lacey?”

“Yes,” I said.

I was too surprised to say anything else, too taken aback to tell her where to go.

“Thank God. I was so worried about you. Something awful has happened.”

I thought about Rob and his buddy trying to warm me up for a threesome.

“Really?” I said, noncommittally.

“Yes, Rob’s in hospital. Someone beat him up at the club. He’s in a bad state.”

I wanted to tell her that I didn’t give a crap what happened to Rob, but I found myself instead saying, “That’s awful, Cassie.”

“Yes, and Lacey?”

“Yes?”

“The only person he’s asked for is you. Will you come? We’re at Mercy.”

I didn’t know what to say. I’d just escaped Rob. I thought he was a scumbag. I’d been terrified at the club with him and his friends. And I didn’t trust Cassie as far as I could throw her. She was the last person I wanted to be talking to.

My mind went to Grant. Why hadn’t he called? Why hadn’t he responded in any way? He wasn’t even picking up his phone, and I’d told him I needed help. Was he that angry with me? Was he really done with me?

I’d blown it. I never should have slept with him.

If there’s a guy who feels unattainable, a friend you feel is always going to be beyond your reach, then for God’s sake, don’t ever sleep with him. It will ruin everything.

A friend is someone you can count on. It’s rare in today’s world to have a true friend. You don’t want to screw that up for one night of passion. I hadn’t just lost my chance at having a relationship with Grant. I’d lost him as a friend too.

“Lacey?” Cassie said. “Are you coming?”

I sighed. I had to face facts. My life wasn’t going to get any better on its own. I was the only person who could change it. I was thirty-four, I’d been cheated on in all my previous relationships, and the man I loved couldn’t have been less interested in me if I’d told him I was dying. He didn’t even respond to pleas for help anymore.

“Yes,” I said weakly into the phone. “I’m coming, Cassie. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”