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missed rear ending the luxury vehicle in front of her. She wanted to scream but she was just grateful for not smashing into them. Her heart thumped against her chest. She waited for the car to move forward but instead the driver got out of his car and walked back to see her.
    “I’m so sorry, Miss Bloom,” he said. “Mr. Evers noticed you behind us and asked me to stop but I know it was sudden-“
    Scarlet’s heart sank. Barrett was in front of her.
    “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m fine. Y’all can go. No harm done.”
    “He was wondering if he could join you.”
    Scarlet swallowed.
    “In my car? Join me? I’m heading home-“
    “He said it would just be a few moments.”
    Scarlet sat there frozen behind the wheel. She wanted to peel out of there but she was trapped behind Barrett’s Maybach and the walls of the parking garage next to her.
    “Tell him I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she finally said, shaking her head so he could see her refusal. She knew he was watching.
    “Okay, Miss Bloom. I understand. Again, I am so sorry.”
    “It’s fine.”
    As he walked back to the car, the back door opened and there was Barrett. He stood, all six foot and three inches of him, buttoning his jacket as he looked at her. He motioned for the driver to go and walked back towards her car.
    “Scarlet,” he said. “I’m coming in.”
    Her face flushed with anger, “No!”
    He looked at her again, his face pleading.
    “I just want to talk for five minutes. It doesn’t have to be about anything from before. Scarlet, please.”
    The Maybach had pulled away now and onto the traffic of Industrial Road. She looked at him, tempted to drive past him, leaving him stranded. Something she was positive he had never been in his entire privileged life.
    But then she thought about her mom. Her aunt. She didn’t want to fuck things up for them at work. And part of her desperately wanted to be near him again, she hated to admit.
    “Fine.” She unlocked the passenger side door.

Chapter Eleven
    B arrett couldn’t believe it when she said yes. Or fine. Or at least acquiesced, something she rarely did when pressured for anything.
    “Thank you,” he said as he sat down in the seat next to her. “Have you eaten?”
    “I’m not hungry,” she said flatly. “I’m trying to get home so I can rest and decompress from the flight.”
    “Well, can I ride with you? You can drop me off at Green Valley Ranch, I’ll catch a town car back,” he smiled. “You can stand twenty minutes with me, at least?”
    “I guess,” she said, putting the car into drive.
    They pulled forward and were greeted by backed up traffic on Industrial heading towards Tropicana.
    “Just my luck,” she muttered. She leaned her head against her window, hoping he wouldn’t talk. She could feel his staring which was uncomfortable enough.
    “Are you just visiting?” he asked.
    “Yes,” she said. “Not for very long.”
    “That’s too bad, I know Michelle and your dad must be thrilled you’re here,” Barrett said, looking forward again. It was hard to look at her.
    “I don’t know if they are this time,” she answered. “Thrilled, that is.”
    Barrett looked at her, confused. She sighed.
    “I quit my job in Atlanta,” she confessed, not really knowing why. “Which disappoints them. And coming here was a surprise gone bad I guess.” She glanced over at him.
    Ah. Bad because of his presence he supposed, something that hurt him.
    “Not because of you,” she said, like she was reading his mind. “I just should have told them. I shouldn’t have dropped in on her at work.”
    Barrett didn’t say anything for a moment. He’d decided to leap back into her life (and her car) in a spontaneous burst of bravado and confidence but now he wasn’t sure what to say. Nothing quite got to him like Scarlet Bloom. He was calm and collected in heated board room meetings, in litigation, and even on television. But in front of her, he was completely