Page 1 of Nothing to Tell

ONE

RUNNING AWAY.Smart.Great, Harper.Real mature.

Alone in the bowels of LA’s Grand Hotel, somewhere in a dark corridor, she shook her hands, her arms, fighting to cast off the indignity.

“No.No.No.No!No!”

Good.‘Cause berating herself was productive.She did enough of it in her head, did she have to do it out loud too?Was it her fault madness seeped out when it got too much to contain?

“Is there a problem, Miss?”

Oh, shit.

She stopped pacing.

Alone?Maybe not so much.

The whole idea when slipping out of her sister’s engagement party—okay, fleeing like the room was on fire—was to gather herself.Her thoughts.Her courage.Did she have any of that?She couldn’t even get seclusion right.

This spot had people.

Person.Alone?Hopefully.Judging from the pitch, male.

If she stayed quiet and wished herself invisible, would he go away?Probably not.So much for venting in peace.

Broadening a totally fake smile, she spun around.From one indignity to another.Just don’t ramble.No rambling aloud.Allowed?Either worked.

“No, uh, I’m sorry.”Pressing both hands to her abdomen, she held in the proverbial scream.“I thought I was alone.”

Where had he come from?Not behind, the entryway was too narrow.So in front… with him now moving in her direction, she couldn’t see what was there.Or him, as more than an outline.

His form stopped a few feet away.And, yep, expectation, his anticipation hung in the black stagnant air between them.Amazing what a person could decipher with so few visual cues.For her, it was damn near a miracle.

“Evidently.”Oh, a smirk.Great.No, she didn’t see it.His voice didn’t hide it.He dropped his gym bag, startling her.Under the circumstances, edginess was justified.It was justified.“What’s wrong?”

Oh, just absolutely everything with the world, society, her family… her ex-boyfriend.

“Nothing,” she said because what else could she say to a stranger?“Nothing’s wrong.”

Airing dirty laundry wasn’t her style.She wouldn’t share her thoughts with this stranger when she didn’t even share them with her friends.Or she wouldn’t share them with friends, if she had any friends.

Adara was her decompression conduit.Most of the time.This night was an exception.She wouldn’t put her sister in the middle of the mess.The woman’s engagement party was in full swing.A sibling tête-à-tête wasn’t exactly appropriate.

“Are you a guest here at the hotel?”

“No,” Harper said.“My sister’s engagement party is in full swing upstairs.”

“There’s a problem?”

“No.”

Question after question.All the questions.Was this an interrogation?Move along, Quizzy.Her life was so not his business.

She stepped aside, opening up his view.

Hint, hint, that door right there was the exit.Don’t let it hit ya…

“You’re not having fun?”