“Hi, Claire? It’s Joshua.”
“Oh hey, Joshua.”
“Where are you? It’s more crowded than I thought.”
“I’m on my way up right now.”
“Okay. Meet me by the Ferris wheel. Can’t miss it.”
“See you soon.”
He hung up and I looked at Nathan.
“We good?” he asked.
“We’re good.”
“Okay.” He pulled me against him, surprising me with his tenderness. “I’ll be right behind you. Don’t do anything fucking stupid.”
I nodded into his chest, breathing his smell. I felt better knowing he’d be nearby. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know,” he said, pulling away, “because I’ll be right behind you the whole time.”
I took a deep breath. “See you soon.”
“Good luck.”
He grinned. I turned and walked away, my heart fluttering in my chest.
It was too late to back out. I was committed. Joshua knew I was coming, and if I did anything suspicious now, then the game would be over. Our biggest asset was the element of surprise. They didn’t know we had figured out who he was, and we were banking on it staying that way.
I walked into the crowd, trying to calm my nerves.
“Claire! You look great.”
Joshua kissed both of my cheeks, and I had to hold back my momentary anger. He looked exactly like I remembered, though maybe a bit more tired. He was dressed like a young business executive, minus the tie and the jacket, but he still radiated a smarmy superiority that pissed me off.
“Thanks. You do too.”
He smiled. “Of course. Shall we?”
“Lead the way.”
He walked off toward the carnival games, and I had to struggle to keep up. He figured out pretty quickly that I wasn’t used to walking in heels and slowed his pace down.
“So, Claire, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“I’m going to be blunt, because I value that in others. What’s the deal with this?”
I looked at him, terrified for a second that he had found me out.
Instead of trying to take me right there, he laughed. “By the look on your face, I’m guessing you’re not sure what I mean.”
“Sorry. I don’t.”
“I mean, why is your father pushing us together? Does he always do this with clients?”
I let out a breath and did my best to smile awkwardly. It wasn’t very hard, considering how uncomfortable I felt.
“Actually, no. Well, he likes me to entertain the clients sometimes, but he always gets a little pushy with the younger guys.”
“I see. Why is that?”
“I don’t know. He probably wants me to marry one of you.”
Joshua smiled at that. “And what do you think?”
“I think that I’m not averse to spending time with handsome men, but that I’m not interested in marrying my father—if you understand what I mean.”
His smile grew broader. “I can understand.” We approached a booth and he nodded at the kid working it, who nodded back as if they knew each other. The kid turned and walked away, leaving the booth unmanned.
“Let’s play,” he said.
“Did you know that guy?”
“Friend of a friend.”
He sat down on a little stool and I sat down next to him, our thighs touching gently. I could have moved but decided not to. The game was the one where you shoot your squirt gun into a little hole to make your horse move down a fake track.
The lights came on and we started shooting our guns. For a second, I forgot that I was out with a man that wanted to kidnap me and blackmail my dad. I watched as my horse crossed the finish line inches ahead of his. I laughed and he pretended to be disappointed, although I suspected that my winning didn’t have much to do with my aim.
“So, where are you from?” I asked him as we began to play again.
“Trying to distract me so you can win again?”
“Nope. Just trying to get to know you.”
“Well, I’m from around here, actually.”
“A local, huh?”
“That’s me, local boy, born and bred.”
“I guess that explains why that kid knew you.”
“Well,” he said, laughing as I won again, “that’s more because I own this place.”
I stopped and stared at him. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “Seriously. Bought it just this year. So far, not the best investment I ever made, but definitely the most fun.”
My heart skipped a beat as I realized what sort of trouble I was in. Not only was I out with the man that wanted to kidnap me, but I was in a place he owned. Still, too late for me to back out, and so I had to move forward. I reached down into the pit of anger that had been sitting in my stomach since the first time they had tried to kidnap me and harnessed that.