On Her Own

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CHAPTER ONE

    Darci Hart awoke with a shudder. It took her a few seconds to realize where she was and what she had done. It took her half that time to figure out how she was going to get out of there unnoticed and in one piece.                 Scooping up her clothes, left in a heap on the plush carpeted floor, Darci slowly tiptoed towards the bedroom door. Luck was on her side, the door had been left ajar, making her escape easier and quieter. She remembered from cleaning out the cabin years ago, that this door squeaked loud enough to wake the dead.
    Looking back at the man passed out dead to the world in the king sized bed, she breathed a small sigh of relief. The last thing Darci wanted to do was wake him because then she’d be the one that would be dead.
    Once word got out where she was, her brothers, Doug and Derek, would throttle her neck. Darci gently rubbed her fingers across her throat anticipating the pain. They were so over protective of her and the repercussions would be awful if they ever found outabout this night.

    Stealing into the tiny hallway, using the wall to brace herself she slid into her underwear, denim jeans and tee shirt. She shoved her bra into her jeans waistband and slinked towards the front door of the little cabin. Using the wall as a guide, she madeher way to the door.
    Carefully opening the door, Darci stepped out onto the small front porch and breathed a sigh of relief in the crisp early morning air. Realizing she had no way home, her car was still parked at the Stumble Inn Bar, Darci began the half-mile trek home.
    The moon was still out, but over the crest of the eastern sky she could see the sun starting to make its appearance for the start of a new day. She needed to hurry to get home before her brothers woke up and discovered she’d never come home last night.
    Darci wrapped her arms across her chest to ward off the cool morning air. Wishing she’d thought to wear a jacket last night, Darci cursed herself for all the errors she’d made in her life.
    First and foremost, forgetting to be an adult and take a jacket.
    “Like you knew you were going to be out all night,” Darci’s voice quivered.
    Next, for ending up where she did last night.
    “Like you saw that one coming,” she quipped.
    “Me and Rand Bartlett, who would’ve thought,” she chided thinking about the man she’d just left sleeping in his bed. The list of her mistakes went on and on but she pushed them all aside.
    She rushed across the open farm field with one thing on her mind. Getting past her brothers without being seen.

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