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Very gently Blaina rotated her wrist.  See. Just fine, she lied.
 Now, move it forward and back.
Oh damn, damn, damn that was going to hurt. Blaina clenched her teeth and fought back the
automatic wash of tears and did as the doc requested.  See. No problem, she bit out.
 You re a bad liar, Blaina.
Blaina huffed and leaned back against the wall.  It s the last day of filming, Lynn. I can t
hold up production. I swear, I m fine. It s nothing to worry about.
Lynn glared, indecision washing over her face. Blaina was ready to drop down on her knees
and beg when the door was yanked open. For one excited heartbeat, Blaina thought it was Jay.
She tried not to look disappointed when Lukas stepped inside.
 How s my girl doing? he asked.
Blaina stood.  Ready to get this done, she said enthusiastically.
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Driven to Distraction
Lukas smiled, but his concern was still evident.  You gave us quite a scare back there. You
sure you can do this?
 No doubt.
 Lynn? Lukas questioned.  Is our girl good to go?
Holding her breath, Blaina looked at the medic. Lynn tossed the used gauze into the trash.
 She s a trooper.
 That s what I like to hear. Lukas stuck his hand out to shake Blaina s.
Blaina held up her scraped palm, using it as an excuse to avoid shaking his hand.  It s bad
form to bleed on your director.
Instead, Lukas patted her on the back Ow. Ouch. Ow. and said,  If you ever get tired of
working for Meleta, let me know. There ll always be an opening for you on my films.
 Thanks, Lukas. And tell Jay I ll be ready once I get a replacement costume and Timmy
fixes my wig.
Lukas halted before walking out the door.  Jay s gone. Smitty s getting costumed up right
now.
 Jay s gone? Blaina blurted, wondering if her hearing had gotten screwy when she d hit the
ground.
 Yeah, he signed out a few minutes ago, Lukas confirmed. Outside, someone called his
name. He excused himself and left the dressing room.
Jay hadn t stayed. He hadn t bothered to check on her. Hadn t bothered to apologize.
So much for thinking things were better between them. If he d cared even a little bit, he
would ve made the effort to see things through with her and the movie. And that hurt a hell of
a lot more than the rest of her injuries.
The empty beer bottle made a satisfying clank as Jay added it to the collection littering the
patio table next to him. So how many was that now? The bottles blurred together but it looked
like there were five of them.
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Ashleigh Raine
He blinked. Now there were six. Maybe seven. The sun made the dark glass shine reddish
brown, the same shade as Blaina s hair.
Blaina.
The Jaguar hurtling toward her. The crunch of metal screeching against fiberglass. Her body
flying backward.
The damning sound of silence as the motor cut out and his heart stopped beating.
Voices shouting for help, Smitty and Cash kneeling on the ground. A crowd gathered and
Jay hadn t been able to see her. Hadn t known if she was alive or dead.
Just like the day Jordan died so many years earlier, time had slowed to a relentless crawl and
terror eclipsed Jay s every move. He didn t remember getting out of the car. Didn t remember
forcing his way through the crowd. Didn t remember anything other than interminable fear until
he saw Cash carrying Blaina and heard her reassuring everyone that she was fine.
But Jay wasn t. Doubted he ever would be again.
He reached into the cooler for another beer. If he could still remember, he wasn t drunk
enough.
God, he was a fuck-up.
His black lab Bo lifted his head and whined pitifully when Jay popped the top on a fresh
bottle and downed half of it in one long swallow.
Even his dog thought he was pathetic.
Jay leaned back in the lawn chair and closed his eyes, not wanting to see condemnation in
his mutt s stare. But the memories waited for him behind his shuttered eyelids. Jordan and
Blaina. The two most important people in Jay s life. One dead and one lost to him forever.
Halfway through second grade, Jordan s family had moved to Southern California from
Louisiana. On his first day of school, Jordan had walked in with a wide smile and a thick
Southern accent, charming everyone he met. Within five minutes all the kids were fighting to be
his friend. For some reason he d taken a liking to Jay and from that day forward, he and Jordan
were thick as thieves.
It was Jordan who d convinced Jay they should get into stunt driving. It had made an [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]