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“Hey! You!”

I turned around to see who was yelling at who and realized immediately they were yelling at me.

It was the guy from Danny O’s with the fresh tattoo.

I jumped and started walking in the opposite direction.

“Don’t walk away from me!”

I didn’t.

Instead, I ran.

TEN

Running away would have beena great strategy except my car was in the opposite direction.

Science said we had a fight or flight response in stressful situations.

It was safe to say that my body always reacted with flight.

But it also had me turning off the main road and running down a side street of residential homes that was probably forty houses long. It was the road to nowhere and I’d panicked and taken it.

I didn’t have to look behind me to know the guy was still following me.

He made it very clear by yelling, “Hey, stop! You’re not going to get away with this.”

His voice sounded harsh and irritated.

Why was he annoyed? I was the one being forced to run down the sidewalk in kitten heels. I cut down someone’s driveway, hoping they had already left for work as I went straight into their backyard.

Unfortunately, they had a fence blocking access to the yard abutting theirs.

Fortunately, it was chain link.

Taking a deep breath, I stuck my foot into the links and hauled myself up.

“Are you serious?” the guy yelled from the bottom of the driveway. “You’re trespassing!”

The man chasing me was worried about trespassing? Apparently, he was very layered. “I am not. I’m looking for my cat,” I said, in case the homeowner was listening or had a camera pointed at their backyard. “Come help me.”

“What? No way. I have charges on me right now. I can’t be on someone’s property.”

“Good to know.” Especially since I was stuck. I had one leg over and one leg was left behind. I couldn’t sit on the fence because of the rust and some random spiked bits sticking up and I couldn’t seem to figure out how to get the lingering leg over and where it needed to be.

“Do you need help?” he asked.

Thank goodness I was wearing pants. This would be downright dangerous in a skirt. I debated. The tattooed bad guy boyfriend of the aggressive blonde seemed genuinely concerned I might injure myself. Yet at the same time, he was the one chasing me in the first place.

Right? Hewaschasing me. I think.

Maybe not.

Huh. That would be embarrassing if he wasn’t.

“I thought you can’t come on someone’s property.”

“I will if you’re stuck. I can’t just leave you hanging like that.”