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Slamming my back against the door, I catch my breath, sucking in a lungful of air. It hurts to breathe, my pulse racing painfully. God, what the fuck was all that!

After a moment, I take my shoes off, leaving them at the door. Next, my jacket and purse, hanging them on the back of the chair. I strip out of my wet clothes and toss them into the dirty laundry.

I need a shower to wash as much of this night away as possible. Turning the water on as hot as I can get it, I scrub my body until it’s pink and sore to the touch.

Exhaustion hits me as soon as I’m in clean clothes. Crawling into bed, I bury myself under the covers. But I can’t sleep when my mind is racing, replaying everything that happened over and over again.

“It’s just a dream, Cove. Close your eyes, and when you wake up, it will have all been a dream,” I whisper to myself in the darkness. I really hope that’s true because I’m not sure I want to know what this means for me if it’s not.

After a while, sleep wins, and I’m out cold.

If these guys are real, I don’t think they’re done with me. I didn’t escape; they let me go. But why? And for how long?

Chapter Four

Cove

My eyes flutter open as my mind awakens for the day. Smiling up at the ceiling, I raise my arms over my head, groaning as I stretch. Man, that was one of the best sleeps I’ve had in a long time. I’ve never felt so refreshed after sleeping.

Looking over at my alarm clock, I see that it’s already one in the afternoon. I almost start to panic before I remember it’s my day off. Letting out a sigh, I close my eyes. I’m not one of those people who can just pop out of bed and start my day.

I’m not really one to sleep in late either, but I’ve been so overworked at the bar that I must have needed the rest.

Like a movie flashback, everything from last night rushes to the forefront of my mind. My eyes snap open as I shoot up into a seated position. “No,” I whisper. “It had to be some kind of dream. There’s no way any of that happened.”

Scrambling out of my bed, I rush over to my dirty clothes hamper. Piece after piece goes flying as I dig around to find what I wore last night. I remember stripping down and tossing it in here, telling myself that I’d wash them today with everything else.

They’re not here. Where the hell are the clothes I wore yesterday?

Forgetting about the clothes on the floor, I go to my closet, throwing the doors open. “No.” I shake my head. “No fucking way.” Hanging there, looking really fucking clean, is my leather jacket and the shirt I was wearing. Running my hand over one, then the other, I blink in disbelief.

If they’re clean, what about my jeans?

Pulling open the bottom drawer of my dresser, I find the pair of pants I was wearing, clean and folded neatly.

Falling to the ground on my ass, I stare at them, more baffled than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

I fell in the mud when I ran home last night. It was pouring rain, I was drenched. There’s no way any of this is happening right now.

Did I dream everything up? If so, I need to get my head checked because that’s some pretty fucked up shit to be conjuring up.

“I need to stop working so hard.” I sigh, grabbing another pair of pants before getting off the floor.

Just as I finish changing into my clothes for the day, my cell phone rings. Looking around, I find it on the bedside table, plugged into the charger. I know that I left it in my purse, not even thinking to charge it when I came into the house last night.

I took my shoes off, put my jacket and purse on the back of the chair, then stripped down, tossing my clothes into the dirty hamper before taking a shower and going to bed.

Right?

I don’t even know anymore. Grabbing my phone off the charger, I look at the caller ID. It’s the auto shop. “Hello?” I answer.

“Hi. Is this Cove?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Hi, Cove. Your truck is done and ready to be picked up whenever is good for you.”

Closing my eyes, I let out a breath of relief. “Thank you. I’ll have to walk, so it might take me a half hour to get there, but I’m leaving now.”