A Case of Extreme Mistaken Identity - Victorine E. Lieske Page 0,33

could say something like that. But now she’d said the one thing he was dreading. His heart beat loudly in his eardrums. He didn’t know what to do.

Had Dani heard? She stood there, looking at him funny. Time slowed. He had to do something. Anything. “Your turn,” he said to Claire, motioning to the clown.

“What?” Dani said, taking a step back. “Professional football player?”

He swallowed, unable to say anything. Dani stared at him, waiting for him to respond. He just needed to tell her the truth. It was a simple misunderstanding, that was all. It didn’t have to be a big deal. Right?

But his lips wouldn’t move. He couldn’t think. All he could do was stare at the way Dani’s lips turned down, and the unspoken question in her eyes. The one that said, Did you lie to me?

“Wait, you didn’t know who he was?” Claire’s voice broke in and Austin wanted to shove her away from them, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even breathe. All he could do was watch as Dani’s expression slowly changed from bewildered to hurt.

“What do you mean?”

Claire laughed, a cutting sound that made Austin flinch. He didn’t want to hear what was coming next. He wanted to sink into the Earth and let it swallow him up. But Claire’s words rang through the fog in his head. “He’s Austin Scott. The quarterback for the Los Angeles Demons. You didn’t know this?” She laughed again.

Dani blinked and took a step back, like she’d been struck. Her face said it all. She’d trusted him, and he’d lied to her.

Daggers stabbed at his chest. Words wouldn’t form. All he could do was stand there and watch Dani’s expression fall.

And then she turned around and walked away.

Chapter 16

Dani had no idea where she was going. She just knew she had to get away. Claire’s laughter could still be heard as she jaunted down the stone steps that led to the parking lot. She turned down the sidewalk, the laughter echoing in her head.

Austin wasn’t a maintenance man. And not only that, but he was a super famous football guy. Quarterback? Wasn’t that the most valuable player in the game? How could she have mistaken him for a maintenance man? How stupid was she?

Heat rose to her face as she walked. She’d made an innocent mistake, but Austin was the one who hadn’t corrected her. Was he trying to hide his identity from her? Why hadn’t he told her the truth? It didn’t make sense.

She rubbed her arms as the breeze from the ocean chilled her. It was a cloudy evening, no stars peeking through. She kept walking, her pace picking up in case Austin decided to go after her. She didn’t want to talk to him right now. He’d lied to her.

What was his motive? Did it have something to do with him being so nice to her? She could only imagine that he had ulterior motives. What they were, she had no idea. Was he trying to get candid shots of her to sell to the tabloids?

He didn’t seem to be the type. But, Rafael hadn’t seemed like the type either. He’d really gotten her good. She didn’t want to fall back into the same stupid trap.

She slowed her steps, looking around at the restaurants around her. Where was she? Had she turned a corner without thinking? Unfamiliar surroundings gave her a shiver. Why had she not been paying attention to where she was going?

Maybe she should turn back and head in the other direction. If she found the golf place, she could get herself back to the resort. She turned back, trying to remember which corner she’d accidentally taken.

As she walked, the bright streetlights seemed to get farther and farther apart. Where was she? Surely she hadn’t gotten that far away from the resort. It had to be around here somewhere. She turned a corner and found herself on a dark residential street. There were brighter lights ahead, she could see them, but it made her nervous to walk down the darkened area. Still, she needed to get back to the resort and figure out what she was going to do.

She’d be fine, right? There wasn’t anyone on the street that she could see. Just a few dark homes along the way. She just needed to walk past them and get to the resort. The place that was lit up had to be it.

But after walking down the darkened street, she came to the bright