A breath stuck in my throat and anger burned inside me. I wanted to hit something. But then, that anger turned to panic and pressure clamped onto my chest as I thought of Omar. It wasn’t just my secret I was keeping. I yanked my arm from his hold. “Oh, my God.”
“That’s what was in your contract.”
“The one I didn’t read,” I whispered, lifting my eyes to the soft, golden light in the center of the room. “Shit.”
“It’s not too late for you to leave. If we leave now, chances are we won’t run into anyone in the hallway. As long as you don’t see anyone, I’ll tell Chloe that you changed your mind. You still can’t tell anyone about me or this room, but it’ll be a much easier secret to maintain.”
I hissed a curse, pushing the hair out of my eyes as I shot to my feet. “Yes.”
He seemed startled and pushed off his knees to stand as well. “Yes?”
“Yes. Get me out of here. I won’t tell a soul, but I can’t be a part of something that might reveal my secret to the world.”
Jude reached out to touch me once more, but I flinched, pulling back. His face tightened and a sharp breath traveled into his flaring nostrils. “Okay.” He bent, lifting my bag and cracked open the door, peeking into the hallway. “Come on,” he said, without looking back and stretched out his hand behind him. Practically beckoning me to grab hold of his.
This time, I did. Despite every cell in my body screaming that it was a bad idea. Our palms connected, all warmth and tingles and a wave of electricity surged from the point of contact up my arm. The tips of my breasts tightened and a stab of breath pushed through my lips as he tugged me gently into the hallway to follow him.
We barely made it two feet before Ash Livingston, the director I had just auditioned for, turned the corner.
“Shit,” Jude hissed.
Shit didn’t even begin to cover it.
