Regret Came Too Late

Lyle slid into the passenger seat, breath fogging up in the freezing air. His lashes hung low as he stared at nothing in particular, clearly lost in thought.

Grace didn't start the car right away. Lately, she'd had this gnawing feeling-like someone was following her. She got the feeling more than once. She didn't know if it was real or just paranoia.

She leaned back in her seat and cranked up the heat. "Where's Zack? Why are you out here by yourself?"

And more importantly, what the hell was he doing tailing her in the middle of the night?

Lyle kept his eyes on the window. What flashed through his mind was the day someone kidnapped them. The guy didn't kill them, of course-but Zack had been taken.

Zack was the calm and rational one, always thinking two steps ahead. Lyle, on the other hand, was reckless and loud. The two weren't blood-related, but they might as well have been. That man had held Zack back to keep Lyle in check, to stop him from running his mouth.

Grace reached over and handed him a bottle of water. "Lyle, you're technically one of my signed artists, but sneaking around and following people? That's creepy as hell. Do you realize that?"

Lyle took the bottle, downed a few gulps, and didn't say anything.

too much,

cocky edge Lyle always carried wasn't there anymore. Something had happened, and she could feel

you home,"

road, Lyle shut his eyes and exhaled,

later, Grace spoke again. "You two aren't just regular performers,

up like a spark had hit dry grass. It was

kept her eyes straight ahead,

And what, you just happened to stumble into her? Doesn't add up. If you

first time, I had this weird feeling-like maybe we've crossed paths before. I don't know your story; maybe you can't tell me right now. But I know this much. You've never meant

the water bottle

froze. He remembered that man's

they reached his apartment, Grace got out first and opened the passenger door for

back. He took another few steps, then turned again back and forth like a

the streetlight, her arms folded, and a small smile tugged at her