Chapter 3
The single party was at the wildest club in the city: Muse.
Deafening music, flashing strobe lights, a dance floor packed with bodies. Everything was new and strange.
Jess ordered me the strongest drink on the menu. It was called Paradise Lost.
“Drink it! Forget the past! Welcome to your new life!”
She raised her glass like a pirate captain.
I lifted mine and drained it.
The burning liquor scorched my throat all the way down to my stomach.
My new life had less than three days in it.
Jess looked at me, a little heartbroken. “Nora, don’t do this to yourself. He’s not worth it. You’re going to meet someone so much better.”
I smiled and poured myself another. “Let’s not talk about him. Tonight we’re just having fun.”
A few strong drinks later, I’d gotten brave.
I dragged Jess onto the dance floor and moved with the beat, letting go of the version of me that had been locked down for so long.
Men were throwing me admiring looks. A few even came over to try their luck.
“Hey, gorgeous. All alone? Let me buy you a drink?”
The old me would have panicked and said no.
Now I just smiled, shook my head, and pulled Jess into dancing even harder.
I just wanted to know what it tasted like: freedom, when you’re not “Mrs. Locke.”
Right when I was having the time of my life, someone grabbed my wrist.
The grip was so hard it felt like he was trying to crush the bones.
I turned around and looked into a pair of eyes blazing with fury.
Adrian.
What was he doing here?
Not far behind him stood Sienna, positively glowing with glee, and a few of the friends they had in common.
So they were partying here too.
“Nora, you’ve really outdone yourself!”
Adrian snarled through gritted teeth, his voice nearly drowned out by the music. “First day after the divorce, and you’re already running wild in a place like this! Are you that desperate for a man?”
His eyes landed on my fire-red dress. They darkened for a second, then turned to even deeper contempt.
[He’s here.]
[He saw me in this dress.]
[He’s angry. That’s hilarious. What right does he have to be angry?]
[Still… he’s kind of hot when he’s angry…]
His face got even uglier.
He’d probably translated my thoughts into, I wore this on purpose to get his attention.
He yanked me off the dance floor and dragged me to a dark corner.
“Nora, what exactly are you trying to do?”
He pinned me against the wall, arms braced on either side of me, caging me in.
The alcohol was rising to my head. I looked at his face, inches away, and laughed so hard I shook.
“Mr. Locke, we’re divorced. Where I go, what I wear, who I drink with—none of that has anything to do with you anymore, does it?”
“You—!”
That shut him up.
“Or is it…”
I reached up and tapped one finger lightly against his chest, feeling his heart pounding. “Mr. Locke… can’t let me go?”
[His heart’s beating so fast.]
[Does he still feel something for me too?]
[Forget it. Stop kidding yourself.]
He went rigid. Something like panic flashed across his eyes, quickly buried under an even thicker layer of arrogance.
“Can’t let you go? Nora, you think a little too highly of yourself.”
He gave a cold laugh. “I just don’t want my ex-wife degrading herself this fast and embarrassing me!”
“Embarrassing you?”
I laughed even harder. “Mr. Locke, your people are either in Paris at fashion week or waiting for you to find their dog. Since when am I one of them?”
That landed like a knife, right in the sore spot.
His face went gray.
“Nora, do you have to talk like that?”
“I’m just stating facts.”
I stopped smiling and looked straight at him. “Adrian, stop trying to read me through your own self-centered logic. You don’t understand me. Not even a little.”
Then I pushed him away and walked off.
Jess was already waiting for me outside. The second she saw me, she rushed over. “Nora, are you okay? Did that jerk do anything to you?”
“I’m fine.”
I hooked my arm through hers. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere else.”
I didn’t look back. But I could feel his eyes on my back, like two blades nailing me in place.
I could almost hear what he was thinking: That woman. She’s getting more and more out of control, just to get my attention.
