Secret Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 5) by Marysol James Page A

and thought about standing up.
    “Hey.” A woman’s voice right outside the door. “Hey, you OK in there?”
    “Fine,” Tessa responded, trying to sound it. “Just a bit of food poisoning, I think.”
    A pause, water running, and then a plastic glass of water was handed under the door. Tessa took it gratefully, and rinsed out her mouth.
    “You want me to get someone?” the woman said. “You work here… you’re Tessa, right? Maybe you want me to get Gabi or Kenleigh?”
    “No.” Tessa scrambled to her feet now, scared to death. “No, I’m fine.”
    “You sure?”
    Tessa opened the door, and tried to smile at the two customers standing there. “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks.” On unsteady legs, she walked over to the sinks. She washed her hands, rinsed her mouth again. The other women watched her closely and exchanged glances.
    “Maybe you should go home,” one woman said. “You look really sick.”
    Tessa looked at herself in the mirror above the sinks and blinked. Actually, she did look sick. She was deathly pale, and under the fluorescent lights, the dark circles under her eyes were even more pronounced than they usually were. Her skin looked gray and flaky, and her hair looked stringy. It had started falling out two weeks earlier and she’d ignored it – but now she saw its loss clearly.
    Stunned and shocked at just how bad she looked, she stared at herself. She’d just decided to go get her makeup bag from her locker when the bathroom door opened. She glanced over and when she saw Gabi, Curtis and Mac standing there, she froze.
    “Ladies,” Mac said, his husky voice warm and sexy. “You mind stepping out for a sec? We need to have a quick word with Tessa.”
    “She’s sick, I think,” the one bitch tattled on her. “She was throwing up a minute ago.”
    “She said it was food poisoning,” said the second traitor helpfully.
    “Did she now?” Mac said. His voice was still calm, but his face was hard, and his blue eyes were nailed on Tessa’s face. “Well, I’ll check her out, yeah?”
    They nodded and stepped out, closing the door behind them. And there Tessa was, trapped in a bathroom with three people who just fucking refused to leave her alone. Quite literally backed in to a corner – they were between her and the goddamn door, after all – and with nothing to lose anymore, Tessa went on the offensive.
    “Fuck off, Mac,” she said. “This is none of your business.” She glared at the other two. “It’s none of anybody’s business.”
    “Wrong, sweet thing,” Mac said, his tone steel. “You’re way, way wrong. If you’re making yourself throw up, then this is absolutely our business. We’re involved, and there’s exactly jack-shit you can do about that, believe me.”
    Flabbergasted, Tessa stared at him. “Just who the hell do you think you are , Mac?”
    “I’m your friend. We all are.” Mac stepped a bit closer, but she moved away. Her back hit the wall, and she started to panic. Mac saw it on her face, and he became very careful, very gentle. “Let us help you, hon.”
    “I don’t need help.” Christ, how many times had she said this? Also, it was getting harder to breathe now, for some reason. “I don’t need anything .”
    “Tessa.” Gabi was in tears, Tessa saw. Oddly, she found that she didn’t care in the slightest. “Please let Mac take you to the hospital, OK?”
    “No.” She crossed her arms, and shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere except home. And I’m sure as hell never coming back here , I can tell you that. I fucking quit.”
    “Tessa.”
    Startled, she jerked her head up to meet Curtis’ eyes. God, the way that he’d just said her name… she was sure that in the whole of her life, nobody had ever said it so softly. That rough voice just caressed the two syllables, and she felt his caring as strong and sure as if he’d physically reached out and touched her.
    “What?” She struggled to sound removed and disinterested. “ What ,