21. Lacey

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

lacey

I 'm sitting at the front counter making bows when the bells over the shop door jingle. I hop off my stool and greet the customer. It's a young man with sun-kissed skin and clothing suggestive of manual labor employment.

"Hi, what can I do for you today?" I ask as he approaches the counter.

"I ordered some flowers for my mother," the man says.

"What's the name on the order?" I bring the computer screen back to life and click over to look up the customer's name.

"Jared Compton."

"Perfect. I'll grab those for you," I say with a smile. I head to the cooler where his arrangement sits ready to go and bring it back to the counter with me.

"Have you worked here long?" Jared asks me.

"I've been here for a few months."

"I thought I would have remembered a beautiful face like yours," he says, making me blush.

With some flirty banter back and forth, Jared eventually asks me for my phone number. I hesitate momentarily. The whole dating thing hasn't gone well for me. Then again, that's mostly been my own fault. Jalynn's words about not all men being like Ben ring in my head. Maybe it's worth giving it another chance. I end up jotting my number down for him on a notecard. He's barely gone for five minutes when my phone buzzes in my pocket.

Jared: Are you free tonight?

Me: Depends . . .

Jared: Go out with me.

Me: What do you have in mind?

Jared: Dinner and a movie?

Me: Sounds great.

I rush home after work to get cleaned up and changed for my date. Jared didn't want to drive out to my place to pick me up, so we made plans to meet at the gas station in town. With nearly an hour's worth of driving to get home and back to town, I don't have a lot of time to get ready.

I hurry inside my camper and head straight to the bathroom to refresh my hair and makeup. I sort through my limited wardrobe for something date-worthy. Finally settling on an outfit, I finish it off with a pair of stilettos and head back out the door. My stomach grumbles as I climb back into my truck. Hopefully dinner is first on the agenda.

Jared is already at the gas station when I pull in. I leave my truck in one of the spaces off to the side so it will be out of the way and climb into Jared's truck.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Jared asks, preparing to pull out of the gas station.

"I thought we'd already decided to go get dinner and see a movie," I reply, thinking back to our conversation via text.

"I was hungry so I already ate. You can't talk and get to know each other in a movie, so I thought maybe we should do something else."

"Oh. That's fine." My stomach growls in protest. "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know. I do need to go to Walmart, though. Do you care if we run out there really quick? Then we can do something in the city since we will already be out there anyway."

"Okay. That sounds good."

The entire drive to Bozeman, Jared talks incessantly about himself, telling the same stories repeatedly—each time painting himself as a hero. My stomach rumbles again, wanting food.

"A good woman is hard to find these days," Jared says, finally moving away from the stories of grandeur. "I need a good woman. She wouldn't have to work or anything. I would take care of her. She could lounge all day by the pool if she wanted to while I'm out working hard. All I would ask from her is that she cooks me dinner and warms my bed. I'd take care of everything else for my queen."

"Oh. Sounds like you have it all figured out," I reply, feeling awkward and unsure of what to say.

We finally make it to Walmart, and I'm already weary of this date. Inside the store, Jared walks at a fast pace, leading the way. I'm struggling to keep up on the slick floors in my stiletto heels. They look good, but they aren't made for running marathons. Jared finds the items he needs and we check out.

"Have you decided what you want to do?" Jared asks.

"We could go bowling," I suggest.

"Nah. I don't feel like bowling, either."

"We could go for ice cream or something."

"Is that really what you want to do, Lacey?" he asks.

His eyes bore into me, making me shift in my seat. At this point, I can't deny my discomfort. Even if I could look past his obsession with himself, this whole date is rubbing me wrong.

"Honestly, I don't care. I'm fine with almost anything," I say, giving up on finding a solution.

"I know a park just down the road from here. Let's go see what's going on down there tonight," he suggests.

The park is completely dark. The top parking lot has a single lamp that allows us to see the last family packing up the car to leave. Jared drives down to the lower lot, though, where it's completely dark and abandoned. He stops the truck and leans over toward me, looking deeply into my eyes. My palms are sweaty, and nervous energy is burrowing into my bones.

"Lacey?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want to know what I want to do?" Jared asks.

"Sure," I say, all patience out the window.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, Jared. I really want to know."

I'm drowning in regret over agreeing to this date. I've really been batting a thousand lately. Jared motions for me to come closer. Rolling my eyes, I lean in so he can whisper his secret into my ear like a damn child. My heartbeat becomes more rapid as I get closer to him, my whole body screaming at me to get away.

As his vulgar wish is whispered into my ear, I freeze in terror, not knowing what to do. This man is not stable. I silently assess my odds of getting away from him. It's too dark for me to see where I'm going if I get out of the truck. Plus, I'd have to kick these damn high heels off if I have any hopes of making a run for it.

Jared tries to plant a kiss on my mouth, but I shrink away to dodge it. Annoyed, he leans in to try again. When I resist, he grabs hold of me and starts climbing over on top of me. The hairs on my arms stand at attention, and a paralyzing chill trickles down my spine.

"I need to pee," I blurt out. "Can you take me somewhere with a bathroom?"

"Later," he says, close enough now for me to smell his rancid breath.

"Dude, I'm telling you, I've been drinking heavy all day trying to fight a urinary tract infection which means I'm ready to piss like a racehorse. If you don't get me to a bathroom now, my ammonia-smelling pee is going to seep into the seat and carpet of this truck, and you'll never be able to wash away the smell."

"Um..." Jared sits back, momentarily processing my warning. "Yeah. Okay. I guess we can take a quick bathroom break."

Jared settles back in his seat. He puts the truck into gear and heads toward the lights again. A few minutes later, Jared pulls into a Starbucks and insists on walking me inside. Once inside, I convince him we can't use their facilities without making a purchase and persuade him to get into the long line. That will hopefully buy me extra time to figure out what to do next.

Once inside the bathroom, I lock the door and pull out my cell phone. With shaking hands, I select Jalynn's name in my phone. No answer. I move up to George's number. No answer. I haven't talked to Caleb in a while, but I'm sure he would help me. I dial his number, but again, no answer. Not knowing what else to do, I go to Jacob's number and press the call button.

"Hello?" Relief washes over me when I hear his voice.

"Hey, Jacob. It's Lacey. I need help, and no one else is answering the phone."

"What's wrong?" Jacob asks, and I can hear the concern in his tone.

"Can you come get me? I'm out with a guy, and I'm not safe. I'm hiding in the bathroom of a Starbucks. Can you please help me?

"Send me your location, and I'll be right there. Just stay in the bathroom until I call you, you hear me?"

"Yes. Please hurry."

I'm not sure how long it took Jared to get through the line, but after about thirty minutes of occupying the bathroom, his big paws bang on the door, startling my nerves all over again.

"Lacey? Are you in there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I'll be out in a minute," I say.

"You've been in there a long time. What are you doing?"

"I'm not feeling well."

"Lacey, open the damn door!" Jared demands.

"I told you I'm almost done."

"I'm going to get someone to unlock this door," Jared says. I hear his footsteps trail away from the small alcove of the bathroom door.

Shit.

Panicking, I look around for an escape. There's no windows to climb out. Nowhere to hide. I could try to sneak out the door, but I don't know where Jared is exactly or if I could get by without him noticing. I have to figure something out.