WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.679
Piece of metal appeared in my hand bites, like it had been waiting to ruin my night.
00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.320
One second, the highway stretched empty in front of me.
00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.400
Black asphalt was several beneath the moon.
00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:19.519
The next, something jagged flashed near the center of mine.
00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:22.239
I hit it before I could react.
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:30.160
The tide exploded with a violent pop, jerking the steering wheel hard enough to wrench my shoulder.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:47.840
My car veered towards the guard rail, and for three terrifying seconds, I forgot about the tour, the interviews, the screaming crowds, and every person whose paycheck depended on me making it to the next city.
00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:59.520
There was only the shriek of rubber, my hands fighting a wheel, and the certainty that I was about to wrap a very expensive card around a steel barrier.
00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.880
The passenger side slammed it to the guardrail.
00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:05.120
Then everything stopped.
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.680
I sat there, breathing.
00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.920
My heart was beating harder than it did before I walked on stage.
00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:17.120
I had left the tour convoy because I wanted an hour alone.
00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:18.959
That was the irony.
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:25.040
For the past six weeks, somebody had been around me every waking minute.
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:41.920
Manager, security, dancers, musicians, assistants, people from the label, people whose name I couldn't remember, telling me how proud they were of me.
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.640
My first solo tour was selling out.
00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:46.879
My latest single was Climbing.
00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:56.159
My face was suddenly on billboards, and all I wanted was 60 damn minutes when nobody needed anything from Bryce Peterson.
00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.200
I was strengthened on the side of the highway.
00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.959
I climbed out and stared at the shredded tire.
00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.759
The rear corner panel looked like somebody had taken a can open it to it.
00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.319
My phone showed one bar.
00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:14.080
Perfect.
00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.800
Headlights appeared behind me.
00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:18.639
The car slowed.
00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:24.240
I straightened automatically, already preparing myself to be recognized.
00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:32.240
Instead, the vehicle that pulled onto the shoulder looked like it needed roadside assistance more than I did.
00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:46.639
It was an old sedan with paint, one mismatched hubcap, and a passenger side mirror held together by what looked suspiciously like silver duct tape.
00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.639
The driver's door opened, and a woman stepped out.
00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.719
I didn't know her name yet.
00:02:53.039 --> 00:03:05.199
All I knew was that she was black, with long, straight hair, falling from the middle part and catching the headlights like ribbons of black satin.
00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:11.360
She had a soft, full figure, beautifully proportioned.
00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:18.719
The kind of body that made a simple pair of jeans look like they had been designed around her.
00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:21.599
There was nothing flashy about her.
00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.560
No calculated entrance.
00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.319
She was simply beautiful.
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:33.360
She was walking towards a stranger besides a wrecked luxury car at night.
00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:35.680
That worried me more than the tire.
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:37.360
You okay?
00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:40.800
Her voice carried genuine concern.
00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:42.879
I told her I was.
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:49.520
She looked at the car, and then at me, and her eyebrows lifting.
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.800
That was the moment I waited for recognition.
00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:54.639
But it never came.
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.000
Instead, she studied the damage.
00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.120
Your boss is gonna be mad.
00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:03.439
I almost laughed.
00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:16.399
I looked down at myself, gingless, hoogie, sneakers, no jewelry except my watch, which was mostly hidden beneath my sleeve.
00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:23.600
Apparently, standing beside a six-figure card didn't make me look like a man who owned one.
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.240
It made me look like the hell.
00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:28.160
I should have corrected her.
00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:31.279
My real name should have come naturally.
00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:39.920
But instead, something selfish inside of me reached for the opportunity she'd accidentally handed me.
00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:42.319
Yeah, I'm Miss Driver.
00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.120
The light slipped out so easily that it scared me.
00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:52.959
She smiled, and that smile hit me harder than the guardreel.
00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:00.000
She took the strand of hair behind her ear and looked toward my ruined tire again.
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.519
Like she was already trying to solve my problem.
00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.319
I'm Don Mitchell, by the way.
00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:07.759
There it was.
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.920
The easiest question in the world, waiting for the easiest answer.
00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:18.319
I had introduced myself a thousand times.
00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:27.839
Interviews, radio stations, meet and greets, award shows.
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:34.879
Every introduction was usually unnecessary because people already knew exactly who I was.
00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:37.199
This woman didn't.
00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:45.519
For once I could give someone any name in the world, and she wouldn't attach anything to me.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:54.160
No songs, no money, no headlines, no expectations.
00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:00.079
I hesitated just long enough to know I was making a choice I might regret.
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.959
Brian Peterson, Bryce and Brian.
00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:09.519
Close enough that I maybe I could convince myself it wasn't really a lie.
00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.240
Her smile deepened.
00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:14.879
Nice to meet you, Brian.
00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.360
Hearing the wrong name in her voice did something strange to me.
00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:20.959
I liked it.
00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:27.120
Because of the way Don said Brian belonged to a man she had just stopped to help.
00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:32.399
A man with a flat tire and a pissed-off imaginary box.
00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:38.079
For the first time in longer than I can remember, I wasn't a celebrity.
00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:43.759
I was just a man on the side of the road talking to a beautiful woman.
00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.240
And I was not ready to give that up.
00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.360
Don offered to drive me to a gas station.
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.120
I tried to tell her roadside assistance was coming.
00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:59.120
She pointed out that my phone barely had a signal, and hers was to do it much better.
00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:03.360
Ten minutes later, I was sitting inside her car.
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:12.000
It smelled faintly of vanilla, coffee, and something more that I eventually realized was her perfume.
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.639
The passenger seat had folders stacked on the floor beneath it.
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:19.920
One was labeled Family Services.
00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.800
She caught me looking and explained that she was a social worker.
00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:27.600
That made sense somehow.
00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:33.279
She had stopped because helping people wasn't an interruption to her life.
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.600
It was her life.
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:41.519
The engine turned over, then coughed, and then died.
00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.319
Dawn closed her eyes.
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.120
I bit the hits out of my cheek.
00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.279
She tried again.
00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:53.439
You better not laugh.
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.560
And I failed immediately.
00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:03.600
Her head turned towards me, and the look she gave me should have made me apologize.
00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:08.160
Instead, she started laughing too.
00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:18.720
There we were, a supposedly broke chauffeur sitting in the car that refused to start beside a luxury vehicle that couldn't move.
00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:24.000
For the first time in weeks, I lasted until my stomach hurt.
00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:26.800
Then a pair of headlights appeared behind us.
00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.680
At first, relief loosened my shoulders.
00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:34.240
Then I saw the black SUV.
00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:36.720
My black SUV.
00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:39.600
My security team had found me.
00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:45.679
And the lie I had been enjoying for all of 20 minutes was about to die.
00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.320
The vehicle rolled closer.
00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:53.440
I could already imagine one of my guys climbing out and calling it Bryce.
00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:58.559
Don would look from them to me, then from me to the wrecked car.
00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:03.759
And Brian Peterson would disappear as quickly as I'd invented it.
00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.759
I wasn't ready for that.
00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:07.679
Now yeah.
00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:09.759
My phone vibrating.
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:11.120
Where are you?
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:12.799
I typed fast.
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:14.799
Stay back, I'm good.
00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.120
The SUV slowed.
00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:18.960
My pulse cried.
00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.120
Dawn glanced through her rearview mirror.
00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:29.120
For one long second, the vehicle idled fifty yards behind us.
00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:31.519
Then it pulled away.
00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:33.200
I exhaled.
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:35.919
I should have felt relieved.
00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:41.039
Instead, I realized something more dangerous.
00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.360
I wanted more time with her.
00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:52.639
The tow truck eventually found us, and the driver agreed to take Dawn and me to a 24-hour gas station several miles away.
00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:54.799
Her car got a jump.
00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:57.120
Mine got hauled off.
00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:04.960
When it was time to leave, I stood beside her battery today, feeling an unfamiliar reluctance.
00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:10.240
I could perform in front of 15,000 people without getting nervous.
00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.320
Asking Dawn for her number made my phone sweet.
00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.320
But she gave it to me.
00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.600
I watched her type my name into her phone.
00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:20.559
Ryan.
00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.919
Seeing it on the screen made the lie suddenly feel more criminally.
00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:30.000
For one second, I almost stopped her.
00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.799
I could have told her everything right there.
00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:46.240
My real name, my real job, why that SUV had slowed down behind us, why the car she'd assumed belonged to my boss actually belonged to me.
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:50.720
And then she looked at me with those warm brown eyes.
00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:57.519
And I realized that she was looking at me without knowing anything that usually came attached to Bryce Peterson.
00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:05.360
No sales numbers, no streaming numbers, no VIP access.
00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:07.200
Just me.
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.919
I couldn't gear that up yet.
00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:12.639
Do you want to know what happens next?
00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:23.039
Go to Darkhoneyromance.com slash subscribe to hear the steamy conclusion and to gain access to our full romance library.
00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.320
New content is published every week.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.679
Piece of metal appeared in my hand bites, like it had been waiting to ruin my night.
00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.320
One second, the highway stretched empty in front of me.
00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.400
Black asphalt was several beneath the moon.
00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:19.519
The next, something jagged flashed near the center of mine.
00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:22.239
I hit it before I could react.
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:30.160
The tide exploded with a violent pop, jerking the steering wheel hard enough to wrench my shoulder.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:47.840
My car veered towards the guard rail, and for three terrifying seconds, I forgot about the tour, the interviews, the screaming crowds, and every person whose paycheck depended on me making it to the next city.
00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:59.520
There was only the shriek of rubber, my hands fighting a wheel, and the certainty that I was about to wrap a very expensive card around a steel barrier.
00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.880
The passenger side slammed it to the guardrail.
00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:05.120
Then everything stopped.
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.680
I sat there, breathing.
00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.920
My heart was beating harder than it did before I walked on stage.
00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:17.120
I had left the tour convoy because I wanted an hour alone.
00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:18.959
That was the irony.
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:25.040
For the past six weeks, somebody had been around me every waking minute.
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:41.920
Manager, security, dancers, musicians, assistants, people from the label, people whose name I couldn't remember, telling me how proud they were of me.
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.640
My first solo tour was selling out.
00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:46.879
My latest single was Climbing.
00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:56.159
My face was suddenly on billboards, and all I wanted was 60 damn minutes when nobody needed anything from Bryce Peterson.
00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.200
I was strengthened on the side of the highway.
00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.959
I climbed out and stared at the shredded tire.
00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.759
The rear corner panel looked like somebody had taken a can open it to it.
00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.319
My phone showed one bar.
00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:14.080
Perfect.
00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.800
Headlights appeared behind me.
00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:18.639
The car slowed.
00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:24.240
I straightened automatically, already preparing myself to be recognized.
00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:32.240
Instead, the vehicle that pulled onto the shoulder looked like it needed roadside assistance more than I did.
00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:46.639
It was an old sedan with paint, one mismatched hubcap, and a passenger side mirror held together by what looked suspiciously like silver duct tape.
00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.639
The driver's door opened, and a woman stepped out.
00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.719
I didn't know her name yet.
00:02:53.039 --> 00:03:05.199
All I knew was that she was black, with long, straight hair, falling from the middle part and catching the headlights like ribbons of black satin.
00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:11.360
She had a soft, full figure, beautifully proportioned.
00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:18.719
The kind of body that made a simple pair of jeans look like they had been designed around her.
00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:21.599
There was nothing flashy about her.
00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.560
No calculated entrance.
00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.319
She was simply beautiful.
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:33.360
She was walking towards a stranger besides a wrecked luxury car at night.
00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:35.680
That worried me more than the tire.
00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:37.360
You okay?
00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:40.800
Her voice carried genuine concern.
00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:42.879
I told her I was.
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:49.520
She looked at the car, and then at me, and her eyebrows lifting.
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.800
That was the moment I waited for recognition.
00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:54.639
But it never came.
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.000
Instead, she studied the damage.
00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.120
Your boss is gonna be mad.
00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:03.439
I almost laughed.
00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:16.399
I looked down at myself, gingless, hoogie, sneakers, no jewelry except my watch, which was mostly hidden beneath my sleeve.
00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:23.600
Apparently, standing beside a six-figure card didn't make me look like a man who owned one.
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.240
It made me look like the hell.
00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:28.160
I should have corrected her.
00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:31.279
My real name should have come naturally.
00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:39.920
But instead, something selfish inside of me reached for the opportunity she'd accidentally handed me.
00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:42.319
Yeah, I'm Miss Driver.
00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.120
The light slipped out so easily that it scared me.
00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:52.959
She smiled, and that smile hit me harder than the guardreel.
00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:00.000
She took the strand of hair behind her ear and looked toward my ruined tire again.
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.519
Like she was already trying to solve my problem.
00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.319
I'm Don Mitchell, by the way.
00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:07.759
There it was.
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.920
The easiest question in the world, waiting for the easiest answer.
00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:18.319
I had introduced myself a thousand times.
00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:27.839
Interviews, radio stations, meet and greets, award shows.
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:34.879
Every introduction was usually unnecessary because people already knew exactly who I was.
00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:37.199
This woman didn't.
00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:45.519
For once I could give someone any name in the world, and she wouldn't attach anything to me.
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:54.160
No songs, no money, no headlines, no expectations.
00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:00.079
I hesitated just long enough to know I was making a choice I might regret.
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.959
Brian Peterson, Bryce and Brian.
00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:09.519
Close enough that I maybe I could convince myself it wasn't really a lie.
00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.240
Her smile deepened.
00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:14.879
Nice to meet you, Brian.
00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.360
Hearing the wrong name in her voice did something strange to me.
00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:20.959
I liked it.
00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:27.120
Because of the way Don said Brian belonged to a man she had just stopped to help.
00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:32.399
A man with a flat tire and a pissed-off imaginary box.
00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:38.079
For the first time in longer than I can remember, I wasn't a celebrity.
00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:43.759
I was just a man on the side of the road talking to a beautiful woman.
00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.240
And I was not ready to give that up.
00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.360
Don offered to drive me to a gas station.
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.120
I tried to tell her roadside assistance was coming.
00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:59.120
She pointed out that my phone barely had a signal, and hers was to do it much better.
00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:03.360
Ten minutes later, I was sitting inside her car.
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:12.000
It smelled faintly of vanilla, coffee, and something more that I eventually realized was her perfume.
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.639
The passenger seat had folders stacked on the floor beneath it.
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:19.920
One was labeled Family Services.
00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.800
She caught me looking and explained that she was a social worker.
00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:27.600
That made sense somehow.
00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:33.279
She had stopped because helping people wasn't an interruption to her life.
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.600
It was her life.
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:41.519
The engine turned over, then coughed, and then died.
00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.319
Dawn closed her eyes.
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.120
I bit the hits out of my cheek.
00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.279
She tried again.
00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:53.439
You better not laugh.
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.560
And I failed immediately.
00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:03.600
Her head turned towards me, and the look she gave me should have made me apologize.
00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:08.160
Instead, she started laughing too.
00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:18.720
There we were, a supposedly broke chauffeur sitting in the car that refused to start beside a luxury vehicle that couldn't move.
00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:24.000
For the first time in weeks, I lasted until my stomach hurt.
00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:26.800
Then a pair of headlights appeared behind us.
00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.680
At first, relief loosened my shoulders.
00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:34.240
Then I saw the black SUV.
00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:36.720
My black SUV.
00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:39.600
My security team had found me.
00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:45.679
And the lie I had been enjoying for all of 20 minutes was about to die.
00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.320
The vehicle rolled closer.
00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:53.440
I could already imagine one of my guys climbing out and calling it Bryce.
00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:58.559
Don would look from them to me, then from me to the wrecked car.
00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:03.759
And Brian Peterson would disappear as quickly as I'd invented it.
00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.759
I wasn't ready for that.
00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:07.679
Now yeah.
00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:09.759
My phone vibrating.
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:11.120
Where are you?
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:12.799
I typed fast.
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:14.799
Stay back, I'm good.
00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.120
The SUV slowed.
00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:18.960
My pulse cried.
00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.120
Dawn glanced through her rearview mirror.
00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:29.120
For one long second, the vehicle idled fifty yards behind us.
00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:31.519
Then it pulled away.
00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:33.200
I exhaled.
00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:35.919
I should have felt relieved.
00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:41.039
Instead, I realized something more dangerous.
00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.360
I wanted more time with her.
00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:52.639
The tow truck eventually found us, and the driver agreed to take Dawn and me to a 24-hour gas station several miles away.
00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:54.799
Her car got a jump.
00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:57.120
Mine got hauled off.
00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:04.960
When it was time to leave, I stood beside her battery today, feeling an unfamiliar reluctance.
00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:10.240
I could perform in front of 15,000 people without getting nervous.
00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.320
Asking Dawn for her number made my phone sweet.
00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.320
But she gave it to me.
00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.600
I watched her type my name into her phone.
00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:20.559
Ryan.
00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.919
Seeing it on the screen made the lie suddenly feel more criminally.
00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:30.000
For one second, I almost stopped her.
00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.799
I could have told her everything right there.
00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:46.240
My real name, my real job, why that SUV had slowed down behind us, why the car she'd assumed belonged to my boss actually belonged to me.
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:50.720
And then she looked at me with those warm brown eyes.
00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:57.519
And I realized that she was looking at me without knowing anything that usually came attached to Bryce Peterson.
00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:05.360
No sales numbers, no streaming numbers, no VIP access.
00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:07.200
Just me.
00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.919
I couldn't gear that up yet.
00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:12.639
Do you want to know what happens next?
00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:23.039
Go to Darkhoneyromance.com slash subscribe to hear the steamy conclusion and to gain access to our full romance library.
00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.320
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