“Screw Rick. I’ll deal with him later. But you, Joy . . .” He stared down the highway before turning his attention back to her. His eyes drank her in. His lips drenched with rainwater parted. He wiped aside wet hair plastered to her forehead and stroked her cheek. “I never expected to meet someone like you. You make me want to dance in the rain every day and skinny-dip on a whim. There is so much you make me want. What if—”

A succession of honks blared from a passing car, drowning out his words. Joy shot an irritated glance at the highway and gripped his wet shirt. “What did you say?” she said loudly, desperate to know.

He pulled her into his chest. His mouth skimmed her ear. “What if this trip—?”

A shrill alarm sounded from inside the car the same instant something hard hit her head. “Ow.” She rubbed her crown.

“Hail!” Dylan grasped her shoulders and spun her around. “Get in the car.”

She dived into her seat, drenched. The alarm blared again. Dylan slammed her door and ran to his side. She dug through her purse. Dylan dropped into the driver’s seat, spraying water everywhere, and shut the door. He turned off the radio.

“What the hell is that noise?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I think it’s my phone.”

She found the shrieking device at the bottom of her purse. An unfamiliar notification glared on-screen.

“What’s going on?” Dylan asked, buckling his seat belt. He leaned across her and buckled her belt as she read the message.

“It’s an emergency alert. It says there’s a tornado.”

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 24

AFTER

Joy

Joy stares out the twenty-second-story window at her lab workstation at Vintage Chic. Her views of New York’s skyline are stunning, especially at night when she works late. Lights sparkle, disguising the city’s filth as a fairy tale. Behind her, the quarterly sales report glows on her monitor beside an open email from the department head congratulating her on the success of Judy’s Lip Rouge. Lilah Carney wants to promote Joy to senior cosmetic chemist, a vice president–level position. Joy would oversee a team of chemists for not one, but all six of Vintage Chic’s lipstick brands with plans to roll out two more lines Product Development has proposed.

Joy is proud of her achievement. She imagines Judy would have earned a similar promotion, if not sooner. Mark will be ecstatic when she shares the news. Too bad she doesn’t want the promotion, or any other job at Vintage Chic.

Says the girl who doesn’t wear lipstick.