Page 65 of Seeking Her Studs
I stare out the window, despondent as the flashing cop car lights stream over my face.
Red.
Blue.
Red.
Blue.
It’s the only thing my brain can process right now as I have to focus all my energy on muting the voice inside me that is screaming to get out of the damn car.
I thought that once I crossed the town line, then maybe I’d come to some sort of acceptance of my miserable fate because I’d be too far to walk back to Rile Ranch. But now there’s apparently a police barricade. And it’s taking every bit of will to not break out in a sprint to get back into the Rile brothers’ arms.
“It must be because of all the paparazzi,” the driver shakes his head as he steps back into the car after talking to the police. “They’re probably going to start writing tickets before they can leave forever and never be tracked down. They just don’t know how to deal with this kind of thing here.”
Leave forever.
I blink away another tear, a mixture of relief and aching grief. In just a few moments when the police clear, the paparazzi will be gone and can’t bother the only people in this world I love.
But I’ll be gone too.
“They apparently don’t know how to handle anything,” Patricia says with a scoff. “What did they say, exactly?”
“It was nonsense,” he looks back at Patricia. “Didn’t make any sense. Something about not letting princesses go without a fight. Maybe something they call city people.”
My head whips up at that.
“They said princess?” I scoot myself forward in the seat. “That exact word?”
The driver nods. “Yep. Didn’t make any sense, but the officer wouldn’t say anything else.”
I sit back, wide-eyed, in my seat.
Could it be?
Patricia narrows her eyes at me. I hide the grin threatening to break wide open by looking out the window.
But sober reality hits me hard again. Even if for some reason they come for me, I can’t just go back with them. Nothing has changed.
So what’s going on?
I roll down my window and immediately the camera flashing starts. But I don’t care. I scan the scene. The police barricade is directly in front of us and behind us is the swarm of vehicles that have been following me. But then I spot something else that I didn’t notice before. There’s a line of people. I recognize a lot of them from Solace Springs. A good portion of them are even on horseback. The image is equally striking, as it is confusing.
What in the hell is going on?
I see a small figure darting between all the cars. Her red hair makes it easy to track her in the sea of reporters and paparazzi, who are now getting out of their cars to check out what’s happening.
Lacey arrives at my car door, out of breath.
A security guard immediately approaches Lacey, but I tell him that it’s okay.
“You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?” she says, gasping to catch her breath. “Well, jokes on you because you aren’t going anywhere.”
“Blaire, explain what the hell is going on right now,” Patricia’s voice simmers with anger.
“Ugh, it’s you.” Lacey crinkles her nose in disgust. Patricia isn’t exactly liked around here. Every time she came to town with me in the past, she made an impression at the local businesses. And not the good kind.
“Solace Springs has something to say,” Lacey continues. “And you’ll want to hear it.”