Page 73 of Beautiful Killer

Julia handed me some cash. “My treat.”

“You don’t need to do that . . .”

“I want to,” she said.

I smiled and look her money. “My treat next time then. Be back soon.”

I headed out and onto the street. Everything was working out great with Julia here. Well, besides the surprise visits from Bobby, not that that was her fault. I was able to make more jewelry during the day, which meant my evenings were free to do other things. With more stock, I was selling more pieces, and I’d already been making enough to cover both my and Julia’s wages.

I pulled my phone from my bag and checked for messages. Of course there weren’t any. I’d ended things with Zeke, and it looked like he’d taken it to heart.

Now is as good a time as any.

Nerves exploded in my belly and I sucked down a few shaky breaths to work up the courage to hit that button. Don’t be a damn coward.

It was tempting to just text to set up our meeting, but that didn’t feel right. I hit the CALL button before I could chicken out.

The phone rang twice. “Sunny?”

Zeke’s voice was low and gritty and God I’d missed the sound of it.

“Sunny?” he said again. “You okay?”

Speak! I cleared my throat. “Yes, um . . . hi.”

“Is something wrong?” he asked, voice even rougher.

“No, I, ah . . . I was actually wondering if you were free tonight? I have something I need to talk to you about that I’d rather not discus over the phone.”

Silence. Then, “Where?”

“Can you come to the apartment? Julia won’t be there between seven and nine, if you’re free then?”

More silence. “I’ll be there.”

I squeezed the phone tighter. I didn’t want to hang up, I didn’t want to say goodbye. “I’ll see you tonight then?”

“Yeah.”

“Bye, Zeke.”

There was a pause, then finally he said, “Bye, Sunshine.”

It took everything I had in me not to cry as I ended the call and shoved my phone back in my purse. God, that had been so damn hard, and it wasn’t even the hard part yet. How the hell was I going to tell him I was carrying his baby? A hot tear streaked down my face and I quickly dashed it away before anyone saw. Shit.

I bought our lunch and headed back to the shop. I was just crossing the street, nearly at the door, when I heard the rev of an engine. I turned in time to see a car barreling down on me full speed. I screamed as I dove for the sidewalk. I stumbled and fell to my side, hitting the pavement hard.

The car sped past, tires screeching, and disappeared around the corner.

The shop door flew open and Julia rushed out. “Oh my God, Sunny, are you okay?”

My palms were a little scraped and my hip hurt. “I . . . I’m not sure.”

Julia helped me to my feet and led me into the shop. She sat me down in the chair by the counter. I could see the fear in her eyes. “Someone tried to run you down. Holy shit, Sunny, you could have been killed.”

I sat there stunned, pretty sure I was in shock. My hand dropped to my belly. “I hit the ground hard. My baby. What if I hurt the baby when I fell?”

Julia took my phone from me and hit a few buttons. “I’ll call your doctor.” I listened while she called Dr. Evans and explained what happened. As long as I wasn’t in any pain, she thought I would be okay, but to let her know if that changed.

Julia hit another number and waited. “Ruby?”

She quickly told Ruby what happened with the car. When she hung up and looked over at me. “Ruby wants us leave the shop now in case it’s not safe. She said for us come to the agency, they’ll watch your store security footage there. She’s hoping they’ll be able to ID the guy who was driving.”

We quickly locked up and left, Julia tucking me against her side and leading me out to get a cab.

As we drove across the city my mind raced and fear was a tight coil in my stomach.

Someone had just tried to kill me.