Chapter 22 Scarlett
SCARLETT
I swear to hell, my heart left the room. Ran away screaming, leaving my body behind to deal with this unimaginable new reality.
No. No. Dear sweet baby Jesus, no.
Any hope of becoming invisible evaporated when Jace’s eyes found mine in the crowd, like out of five hundred people, his internal GPS had decided I was true north. Because of course it did.
Universe: 1, Scarlett: 0.
Some women might squeal at catching the hot CEO’s attention.
Maybe flip their hair, shoot knowing glances at their besties, and start planning their power-couple Instagram aesthetic.
Me? I was calculating the fastest route to the nearest toilet before my breakfast made an unauthorized public appearance.
This was my worst-case scenario, wrapped in a nightmare wearing a designer suit. Because one weekend of no-strings-attached fun had just turned into a tangled web of oh shit, what have I done. The universe wasn’t just laughing at me. It was rolling on the floor, crying tears of joy at my expense.
My carefully constructed world of independence was crumbling beneath me.
I’d spent my entire life calculating every single step with one singular purpose: to never let a man have any control over me.
Having a successful career meant financial freedom, and financial freedom meant no man could ever hold power over me like my dad held over my mother, who lacked the financial resources to leave her abuser.
My career was my freedom. My safety net. My everything.
And now? The guy who’d seen me naked less than twelve hours ago had the power to destroy it all.
He could take away my paycheck. He could take away my ability to pay for my rent, keep a roof over my head.
Not to mention my mom’s. He had the power to take away my ability to keep Buttercup fed and happy.
Worst case, and this thought was making the instant thundering of my heartbeat slam even harder, I wouldn’t even be able to find a new owner for her in time, and she’d get slaughtered because when people couldn’t afford to take care of horses anymore, there wasn’t an animal shelter on the corner you could drop them off at, and—
“Good morning.” His voice carried through the room with wavelengths made of sex. “I’m Jace Lockwood.”
“Holy crap.” Dakota’s eyes widened, and for a second, I swore there was something more behind her reaction than just shock about my weekend.
But I couldn’t focus on it long enough to figure it out. I was too busy, you know, having a panic attack.
“Scar?” Dakota’s voice was echoing in my head. A seriously bad sign.
So was the cold sweat on my forehead and the rebellion brewing in my stomach. I bet I wouldn’t even make it to a countdown from ten before catastrophe happened.
Ten. I stood, eyeing the escape route through ten people on my left.
“Excuse me, need to get by.”
Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.
Nine.
“Scarlett?” Dakota whispered.
Sorry, can’t talk. Emergency evacuation in progress.
Eight. I tripped over someone’s legs. Fantastic. Nothing said professional like stumbling through a company meeting.
Seven.
I could feel eyes on me, so many eyes, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up at that stage.
Six.
Finally, I broke free from the aisle and ignored the glowers as I speed-walked toward the door.
Five.
I hated that I was racing out of here. Because make no mistake, I was not racing out of here with my tail between my legs. It was just that the only thing more pathetic than the current state of my life would be vomiting in front of five hundred people.
Four.
I made it out of the room.
Three.
I opened the ladies’ room door.
Two. I made it to the stall.
One.
Liftoff.
After my stomach finished its exorcism, I slumped against the cool tiled wall. Note to self: Ask Blake, Tessa’s doctor boyfriend, why the stomach was basically anxiety’s personal punching bag.
After cleaning myself up, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, wondering how the hell this happened. Here I thought the biggest problem at work today was gonna be a meeting with HR. Now I had a whole new problem:
That HR team now reported to Jace.
And I had no idea what was about to happen …