Page 10 of Whispers and Wildfire
I stepped back so I wasn’t on the road while she got in her car and backed up enough that the other guy could get around her. I gave him an apologetic wave, and he nodded as he drove by.
Melanie backed up a little farther, then seemed to change her mind about which direction she wanted to go. She cranked the steering wheel in one direction, pulled forward a couple of feet, then hit the brakes.
Her scowl of frustration as she tried to correct made me chuckle. Served her right.
For what, I didn’t know, but that wasn’t the point. She just pissed me off.
Crossing my arms, I watched her go. She shot me a glare as she passed, as if the whole thing was my fault.
“Great to see you again, Mel,” I called out.
She flipped me off through the window.
That made me laugh. Fucking Melanie.
Her car was out of sight, but the heady buzz of adrenaline hadn’t abated. I still felt the tingle in my limbs, and my heart thumped in my chest. I wasn’t sure what that was about. A close call on a side street wasn’t a big deal.
Seeing her wasn’t a big deal either. She was probably in town visiting. Last I’d heard, she lived in Seattle and was married to some lawyer guy.
She’d go back to her life, and I’d go back to mine. I wouldn’t think about her again.
And when I got in my car, I actually believed that was true.
CHAPTER 4
Melanie
Of all thepeople who could have almost hit me—fine, I’d almost hit him—it had to have been Luke Haven.
Seriously, universe? There were like eight hundred Havens in Tilikum. Why did I have to pull out in front of that one?
A fiery mix of emotions swirled through me as I drove away. Why did he have to be so aggravating? I hadn’t seen him in years. You’d think we could have handled a chance encounter like adults instead of immediately launching into an argument. But he made me so mad.
Flipping him off had been satisfying, though.
I shook out my hands and rolled my shoulders, hoping to release some of the tension. Seeing Luke Haven—even almost crashing into Luke Haven—should not have made me feel anything, let alone the overwhelming combination of frustrated, flustered, and, dare I say it, aroused.
But could anyone blame me? He’d always been a masterpiece of masculinity. Thick hair, strong stubbly jaw, broad shoulders, and those hands. They were probably still rough and calloused. He’d always been full of contradictions—easygoing but opinionated, calm but stubborn, rough around the edges with a soft heart.
“What have you done to me, Luke Haven?” I said, slipping into my Queen Ione voice. I fully admit that one of my weirdest habits was talking to myself as characters I’ve voice acted. “Your presence is a thorn in my foot. One that I will pluck out and cast aside.”
A thorn in my foot. The made-up line made me laugh a little. It sounded like something Queen Ione would say. The writers had created her to be a quintessential evil queen—powerful and haughty, jealous and angry. She was fun to portray.
Luckily for me—and everyone else involved—Enchanted Hollowhad been renewed. At first, it had flopped. Ratings and reviews were great, but that didn’t matter if no one was watching. Somewhere along the way, about two years after the show originally aired, it took off. Kids started watching, and so did parents.
I’d since been contracted to reprise my role as Queen Ione in seasons two, three, and four. It was amazing news and almost in the nick of time. But not quite. Things were moving slowly, and I wasn’t set to start recording for another couple of months. Which meant I wasn’t getting paid for another couple of months. And that was if there weren’t any delays.
There were always delays.
The bank account situation was a much bigger issue than almost crashing into Luke Haven, no matter how jittery or frustrated or whatever it was he’d made me feel. Granted, the encounter had been inevitable. Tilikum was too small for me to avoid him forever.
Besides, he was just my high school ex-boyfriend. That wasn’t a big deal. It had been so long, I hardly remembered anything about our relationship.
Okay, fine, that was a lie. There was plenty I still remembered.
But I wasn’t going there.
What I really needed had nothing to do with Luke. I needed a temporary job. I’d signed the contract forEnchanted Hollow, and it included a noncompete. That meant I couldn’t take on any other voice acting jobs until I’d finished recording for them. Studios didn’t always do that, but in this case, it would be worth it—once I finally started getting paid. After all the lawyer fees and moving expenses, things were looking bleak.
