Troublemaker - Lisa B. Kamps Page 0,4

I must have been more exhausted than I realized because sleep came pretty fast.

Until the guy scared the living daylights out of me.

And for reasons that made absolutely no sense at all, he'd let me stay here while he went out to meet some friends.

Yeah, definitely not very bright and entirely too naive and trusting—which was a bonus for me since I still had no idea what to do next. I should probably call someone to come get me, or at least send me some money so I could get home.

Except I didn't have anyone to call. I hadn't talked to my mother in at least two years, not since she ran off and married husband number three. Was she still with him, or had she moved on to number four by now? With Mom, it was hard to tell. If I had to bet, I'd place my money on husband number four.

Calling my father was out of the question, considering I had no idea who he was.

Cassie? Probably not. I hadn't talked to her in almost a year and we were never really close—obviously, since I hadn't even known she didn't live here anymore. Maybe she never had. Maybe she'd lifted the key from someone else and had given it to me as a kind of joke.

Yeah. Ha ha. Very funny.

Maybe it was good thing the guy—Dylan—was too trusting for his own good. If it had been anyone else, I'd probably be in jail right now.

Or at least tossed out on the street.

While I was grateful that neither of those had happened, it didn't really help my current situation. I needed to get out of New Orleans but I had no money to leave and nobody I could call for help.

I really needed to work on my relationship building skills.

Would Brandon help me? Probably not. I mean, why would he help the woman who had left him the morning of their wedding? Yes, he'd known what I was planning—we had talked about what a huge mistake it would be for both us if we went through with the charade. That didn't mean he'd be willing to go out of his way to help.

Maybe...

I stalked toward the bedroom area and stared at the wedding gown neatly laid out on the bed. It was a gorgeous gown, made with yards of satin and lace and decorated with sparkling accents that would have caught the multi-colored lights coming through the stain glass windows of the cathedral as I walked down the aisle. And I looked good in it, too, like a princess in some fairytale. A warped fairytale, maybe, but did it matter?

I reached out and traced one finger along the full skirt of the gown. The dress had probably been pretty expensive. If I could find someone interested, maybe I could sell it. I didn't need much, just enough for a bus ticket, or maybe a train ticket, with enough left over to get by for a week while I figured out what to do.

Maybe I'd go west this time, to California. I'd never seen the west coast so it would be a nice little treat. The weather would be a bonus because I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with cold and winter.

Yeah, that would definitely be a bonus.

My mind made up, I reached for the gown then had to swallow back a scream when the door burst open with a bang. I spun around, struggling to keep my heart in my chest while I fought to catch my breath.

The burst of fright quickly evaporated, replaced by irritation when Dylan hurried into the apartment like a warrior rushing into battle. He stumbled to a stop in the open kitchen and stared at me like he'd never seen me before.

"You're still here."

"Yeah."

"I thought..." His voice trailed off as he slowly climbed the steps into the living area. He looked around for a few quiet seconds before turning his gaze on me. His eyes were a deep hazel, the kind that could be green or brown or maybe even kind of gold depending on what he wore. Right now, they were more of a green and I wondered if the color might have something to do with the confusion I saw in his gaze as he watched me.

"You're still here."

I frowned and took a cautious step back. Maybe he wasn't as safe as my initial instincts told me. Or maybe the word I was looking for was sane instead of safe, because