A Taste of Pink (Shades Book 4)

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  It was a blue car.

  I sped up even more, but so did the other car.

  We were almost bumper to bumper, but it was too dark to see the driver in my mirror. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

  I didn’t know what to do. I had no phone and there was nowhere to pull into on this stretch. I grew tenser with every second that passed, my eyes continually flashing to the rearview. It didn’t matter how much I sped up, the other car stayed right with me, and I couldn’t go much faster. I was already going too fast for my comfort. Several times the blue car came close enough that I braced for impact, but it never happened.

  All I could do was keep driving until I found somewhere safe to stop. We hit a windy part of the road and I had no choice but to slow a little. The other car backed off, but then it started flashing its lights at me.

  What the fuck?

  I kept going, gripping the wheel anxiously as I sped around the curves.

  Then they turned their high beams on.

  “Fuck,” I cursed out loud, unable to see shit. I started to panic even as I told myself to just keep driving. That’s when I came around the corner and saw the deer.

  Twelve

  Riley

  I blinked my eyes open and instantly it was like someone took a hammer to my skull. I groaned and squeezed them shut again.

  “It’s okay miss, we’ve got you.”

  I blinked my eyes open again, and this time there were faces there. One male and one female. Paramedics? They were leaning over me and then they were lifting me. I couldn’t move my head. In a panic, I tried to sit up.

  “Woah, easy, you’re okay, but you need to lie still,” the female held me down until I stopped struggling. Yup, paramedics. They were loading me into the back of an ambulance.

  I realized my neck was in a brace and everything hurt as my body was jostled.

  I groaned. “What happened?”

  “You were in an accident miss,” the guy answered. Just like that it all flooded back.

  The other car.

  The deer.

  The crash.

  My head throbbed and even though I could see the paramedics’ mouths moving and hear their voices, I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Everything was groggy, like my ears were full of water. Things started to blur in and out of focus and the last thing I remembered was the door of the ambulance being slammed shut.

  The next time I came to I was in a hospital room. My eyes fluttered open and I winced against the lights. A little whimper escaped and then I realized I wasn’t alone.

  “Oh, thank God, you’re awake.” Jayne appeared over me.

  “Hey,” I croaked.

  “We were so worried.”

  We?

  I glanced around the room at the other faces. Luis . . . and James. I quickly tore my gaze away from him and looked back up at Jayne. “I’m okay. I think.” Jayne’s eyes welled with tears. “I am, right?” I glanced down at my feet. All my body parts were still there, and I could wiggle my hands and toes. Despite the awful headache, I was only in a moderate amount of pain.

  Jayne didn’t say a word. She just covered her mouth with her hand and lowered herself into the chair at my bedside.

  I looked at Luis. “The doctors say you’ll be fine. You’ll be out of here in the morning. We’ve already arranged for you to be admitted to a great facility.”

  “A facility?” I tried to sit upright and regretted it instantly when my head throbbed harder.

  “We’re getting you the help you need, Riley.”

  “You mean rehab?” I spit.

  “It’s a great facility, Riley.”

  “You said that already, but I don’t need rehab, Luis. I’m not on drugs.”

  “Riley, this isn’t the place to have this conversation. We could have talked about it this morning if you hadn’t run off and disappeared to God knows where. You’re lucky to be alive right now, and even luckier you didn’t hurt someone else.” Luis shook his head like he was so disappointed in me. “We’re doing our best to keep the details of tonight’s incident from the press. Angela is already on top of it, and I’ve made sure there won’t be any blood tests that can be used against you, so you can’t be charged with anything.”

  “You think I was on drugs tonight, and that’s why I crashed?” This was all one big nightmare. “Did you even bother to look at a blood test before you paid off the doctor?”

  “I just don’t understand how you could do this, after the way your mother died.”

  How dare he bring up her accident.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong!” I shouted.

  “Help us to understand what’s going on with you, Riley.” He set his hand on mine, not listening to a word I said. “We want to help you.”

  I yanked my hand out from under his. “I want you to go. All of you.”

  “Riley,” Jayne whispered.

  “My head is killing me. I need to sleep.” They weren’t going to listen to me, so there was no point in trying to defend myself. I just wanted them all gone.

  “Okay, if that’s what you want.” He hesitated like he thought I might change my mind. “I’ll be back in the morning. Get some rest.”

  I watched in relief as he turned and shuffled out of the room. Jayne stood and gave me a helpless look before she followed him. James, who had been silent the entire time since I woke up, stood and walked over to the bed.

  “What are you even doing here? Didn’t I fire you?”

  He ignored the question. “What happened tonight?”

  “Haven’t you already jumped to your own conclusions like everyone else?”

  He shook his head and muttered, “Get some rest, Riley,” before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

  I shoved the blankets off and looked around, thankful to see my purse sitting in a chair in the corner. I bet Jayne grabbed it. She would think of that.

  I gingerly climbed from the bed, wincing at the various aches and pains as I hobbled over to search my bag for my phone, relieved to find it. I took a few minutes to check the web, but it was what I thought. Despite what I’m sure were Luis and Angela’s best efforts, my accident was all over, and people were already speculating about drugs being involved. It said a passerby saw the accident and called it in.

  Was it the blue car?

  I shuffled back over to the bed and found the nurse call button. She came in, followed by a doctor.

  “It’s good to see you up, but you really should be resting. You were in quite the accident. You’re lucky your injuries weren’t more substantial.”

  I ignored his advice and instead told him exactly what I wanted. He and the nurse both tried to argue, but ultimately, I got my way. The doctor left to draw up the discharge papers while the nurse took some samples before leaving the room. Those tests would prove I hadn’t done anything wrong. Luis be damned.

  By the time the doctor returned with the papers for me to sign, and my mother’s necklace which they’d removed, I was anxious to escape this place. I wouldn’t put it past Luis to have paid the doctor for more than just a destroyed blood test. I was afraid he might have already called him. The way the doctor tried to stall only further convinced me. I signed the papers and grabbed my things, only coming to a halt when I saw James sitting outside my room.

  I huffed out a breath. “Luis tell you to babysit me?”

  “Not here for Luis.” He stood. “I take it you’re busting out of here.”

  I nodded and folded my arms across my chest in the thin hospital gown I wore. I had no idea where my clothes were, but I didn’t have time to find out. “You going to try to stop me?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head and then spun his keys around his finger. “But you might need a ride since yours is totaled.”

  “You want to help me?” I raised a skeptical brow at him.

  He shrugged. “Unless you’d rather call an Uber in your state.”

  “Come on.” I started down the hall, and then stoppe
d when I realized I didn’t actually know where I was going. I turned and found James still standing right where he’d been.

  “Parking garage is this way.” He shrugged out of his jacket and held it out to me. I stomped over and snatched it from his hand, pulling it on over the gown. I didn’t even have shoes on.

  “Where to?” James asked once we were in the SUV.

  I leaned my head against the window and shut my eyes. “Just take me to my place.” I could take it from there.

  “Is Baby really totaled?”

  “’Fraid so. Now do you want to tell me what happened tonight?”

  “Not really.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “So, you can call me a liar too? No thanks. I’ve already had all I can take.”

  “Riley,” he clipped irritably, as if he was the one with the reason to be grouchy, “just tell me what caused the accident.”

  I pried my head from the glass and sat up, looking over at him. “It wasn’t drugs.”

  He never took his eyes off the road. “I didn’t ask what it wasn’t.”

  “A car was following me. I think . . . I think it might’ve been . . . it could have been paparazzi, or . . . Warren.” My gut said it was him. “I was driving too fast because I was scared and then I turned a corner and there was a deer in the road. I swerved and that’s all I remember until I woke up as I was being loaded into the ambulance.”

  James said nothing, but I noticed the muscles in his jaw tighten. He remained silent, so I laid my head back and closed my eyes for the rest of the ride. It wasn’t long before my phone started buzzing. Luis. I dismissed the call and willed James to drive faster.

  When he pulled up to my house, he shut off the vehicle and unbuckled before I could say thanks and see you later. I turned to him with my hand on the door handle. “You don’t need to walk me in.”

  “You think I’m dropping you off and leaving?”

  That’s exactly what I thought. I looked at him expectantly.

  “You just told me someone tried to run you off the road tonight. I’m not leaving.”

  “Look,” I sighed. “This is California. Shitty drivers, assholes and road rage are nothing new. It could have been nothing.”

  “You really believe that?” It was clear he didn’t.

  “Doesn’t matter, because I’m not even staying here. I’m going inside to pack a bag and then I’m hopping on the first flight to Montana. I’ll call a car to take me to the airport, so I don’t need you anymore.”

  “You’re going to your dad’s?”

  “Yes, and I need to get inside to call him, because for all I know, he’s freaking out and trying to get a flight out here. Also, I’d like to be long gone when Luis shows up. I appreciate the ride. Have a nice life James.” I threw open the door but stopped myself from climbing out when James laughed dryly.

  “What?”

  He ignored my question and unfolded himself from the vehicle. I watched him walk all the way around the front of the car before I jumped out myself. The world spun for a second, but then righted itself. I snagged my purse, and slammed the door closed behind me. James was stalking toward my front door and I hurried after him, stubbing my bare toe on a rock. “Shit,” I hissed and hopped on one foot as I hollered after him, “What the hell are you doing?”

  He stopped, turned, took me in still hopping, zeroed in on my bare feet and then quickly strode over to me and scooped me up in his arms. Despite my angry protests and futile struggles, he carried me all the way to the front door. Supporting me with one arm, he used the other hand to dig in my purse until he came out with the keys to let us in. Only then did he set me down.

  “That was completely unnecessary,” I growled.

  He glanced down. “Your toe is bleeding.”

  My eyes dropped. Angry drops of red were indeed gushing from my big toe. Okay, gushing may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but it was bleeding pretty good. I huffed and stomped my way upstairs to my room, not caring that I was probably leaving a trail of blood on the way. I marched into my bathroom, tearing off James’ jacket and the stupid gown. I dug through my cupboards until I came up with some gauze and medical tape and went about cleaning my injury.

  I heard James’ footsteps ascend the stairs, but he passed by my room and went to the room that had been his up until this morning when I fired him. A fact he seemed to have forgotten.

  After my toe was cleaned, I dressed and made the call to my dad. It took some time to convince him I was alright. He really only calmed down when I told him I was going to be on my way to him soon.

  I dug my luggage out of the closet and hurriedly began throwing things inside. With every passing minute, the ball of tension in my stomach tightened. I was sure Luis was on his way here. I didn’t pay attention to half the things I threw in the suitcase, but once it was full, I zipped it and attempted to lug it downstairs. I made it out into the hall before James stopped me.

  “What the hell did you put in this thing?” he asked, taking it from me.

  I shrugged but let him carry it, noticing he had a duffel on his other arm.

  He stopped at the base of the stairs but didn’t set my bag down. “Did you book your flight?”

  “Yes, I’m on a flight out of here at six a.m.” Which was just over four hours from now. I needed sleep more than anything, but it would have to wait.

  “I’ll drive you to the airport,” he offered.

  “You don’t have to. I can call a car.” And hope it got here before Luis.

  “I’m going there anyway. I’ll take your bags out to the car. Go try to eat a little bit so you can take something for the pain.”

  “It’s not that bad.” My face must have given me away.

  “Go,” he slid my purse off my shoulder and ushered me into the kitchen while he carted our bags outside. I went to the fridge and must have stared at the contents for five minutes before I grabbed a banana off the counter and met James out at the car. He was on the phone, so I climbed in and waited. It was only a minute before he climbed in and handed my purse to me.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as we pulled away from the house and made a clean getaway. My phone was silenced somewhere in the bottom of my bag where it would stay. I closed my eyes, hoping to get a reprieve from the headache. I didn’t open them again until James was pulling the car into the rental place at the airport. I hung back and waited while he turned it in because he had my bag.

  It was an awkward walk from there to the terminal. I didn’t know how to say goodbye. This could be the last time I saw him. I didn’t know how that made me feel.

  Devastated.

  Twenty-four hours ago he was sleeping next to me in my bed, and now . . . this was it? Adios, see you later, have a nice life?

  That seemed so incredibly, utterly disappointing.

  James handed off my bag and we said the most awkward goodbye in the history of goodbyes.

  “Well.”

  “Well.”

  “I guess this is it.”

  “I guess it is.” What the hell, was he just going to echo everything I said back to me? I stood there like an idiot waiting for something more, maybe even hoping for an apology, but I got nothing from him.

  I finally gave up. “Have a safe flight.”

  “You too.”

  The difference between real life and the movies, it doesn’t always get resolved by the final scene and end with a kiss. Sometimes it ends with two people walking off in separate directions at the airport.

  Thirteen

  Riley

  I swirled what remained of the bitter amber liquid around the ice and stared at nothing. I didn’t even like whiskey. Why was I drinking it?

  James likes whiskey.

  Shut up. Just sip your damn drink and keep your head down.

  The executive lounge wasn’t overly crowded at four a.m. and with the beanie pulled down on my head and fake glasses, nobody had recognized me, or at least I’d yet to be called out. The last thing
I needed was anyone taking pictures of me at the bar. On drugs and in a car crash one day, drinking at the airport the next. How the mighty fall.

  Too bad I was all out of fucks to give. James took the last of them with him. So, let the masses say what they wanted and tear me down. From where I was sitting, there wasn’t much further I could fall.

  I’d have plenty of time to ponder my fate in Montana. But first, I tossed back the last few drops of Jameson and waved my empty glass at the bartender, who was quick to pour me another. As he slid it across the bar to me, someone slipped onto the stool next to mine and intercepted it.

  I watched in annoyance as he raised the glass to his lips and threw it back. “Ah, the good stuff, Black Barrel.” He returned the empty glass to the bar and then signaled the bartender, slashing his hand in front of his throat in the sign for cut off.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Stopping you from making things worse. Come on, we need to get you away from the bar while it’s amateur paparazzi hour in here.” My eyes did a lazy sweep of the bar and noticed a few sets of staring eyeballs with cell phones in hand. James curled his hand around my bicep and lifted me from my stool. I shook his arm off and dropped back onto my seat.

  “Why should I care what anyone does or thinks at this point?” I waved at the bartender, but he turned his back and ignored me. I slumped with a huff. “Thanks for that,” I grumbled.

  “You’re welcome. Now get up. I can’t watch you sit here like this any longer. It’s depressing and it’s not you.”

  I spun around on my stool. “How long have you been watching me? Shouldn’t you be waiting for your own flight.”

  His brow lifted. “The alcohol slowing your brain down that much? Maybe if you were more observant you’d have noticed I’ve been here the whole time.”

  I frowned. “You followed me from security?”

  He smirked like, duh.

  “Wait, are you even flying to Seattle?”