Theo stooped down to brace her foot up on his knee and started rubbing the knotted muscles there firmly with his thumbs until she felt it ease up. “Just take it easy. It will go away.”
“I knew I wouldn’t finish it,” she said sadly.
Theo crouched down in front of her. “Quitting isn’t an option, Hart. You’re crossing that finish line if I have to carry you over.” He had his stern all-business mayor look on his face and that eyebrow spiked up. She gave in to the impulse and reached up to kiss it. His skin was so warm and inviting, she did it again, on his cheek this time.
Theo sat back with a smile. “I can’t run with a hard-on, honey. How do you want to finish this?”
She tested her leg. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I want to try running again.”
“That’s my girl,” he grinned, those sexy dimples creasing both of his cheeks.
She had to slow her pace down after that, and it had shaken her confidence, but the cramp held off. It was getting hotter, and her breathing felt tight and constricted in the humid air, while Theo didn't even look winded by the end ofthe second mile marker.
One by one, the doubts in her head came back and no amount of positive self-talk could beat them out. She stopped abruptly and blurted out, "I don't think I can do it.”
“Come on, Hart, push!” Theo turned back, grabbed her hand again and tugged, but she dug her heels in.
She was panicking now. “I can’t do it after all. I’ll just cut across the green and meet you at the finish line.”
“We’re not doing that.” He half pulled, half dragged her along for a half a mile, prodding her and teasing her the whole way until she was forced to follow or be dragged. “I didn’t fall in love with a quitter,” he said so casually she almost missed it.
She stopped moving. “What did you just say?”
Theo grinned at her. “You heard me, Red Hot. I’m in love with the woman who’s going to finish this race.”
He loves me.
“Stop panicking and run,” he said. “Look how close you are.”
They were so close to the finish line now. She could see the balloon arch waving in the wind and hear Puddin’s excited yips waiting for them. The sight energized her, and with a renewed bust of confidence, she started to move again.
She smiled up at Theo. “We’re almost there,” she said, laughing with the sheer joy of seeing the end in sight.
She found herself grinning as she ran.
Fifty yards from the finish line. Forty yards. She had her groove back now. The warm breeze didn’t feel suffocating now, and she could appreciate the run for what it was. Mental stamina as much as physical. Maybe her legs were made for more than sashaying, after all.
She was so going to finish this race.
Theo let go of her hand and dropped back. “What are you doing?" She whipped her head back in confusion.
“Go on,” Theo said from behind her. “Run,” he yelled. He had dropped back even farther.
She started to panic. “I want to do this with you,” she said.
He shook his head, still smiling. Those fucking dimples. Her heart quivered. “Do it for yourself, Amber.”
She looked back at the arch where her family was screaming her name, and oh good lord, they were holding cardboard cutouts of her head.
She looked back at Theo and felt a surge of something so deep, so vast, it scared her. He had dragged her, pushed her beyond what she thought she could do, and now he was letting her go to take the last steps to finish on her own. He must have seen the emotions on her face because he nodded and gave her one last push. “Go get that medal.”
She took a deep breath, lifted her chin, and ran through the ribbon.
Annette reached her first and hugged her fiercely. "I knew you could do it."
Amber half cried and half laughed. "You did?” she asked, dazed. “I didn't even know if I could. How did you know?"
“Because you’re my daughter,” Annette said simply. She dabbed at her eyes with an Hermes handkerchief. “It was you who had to believe it.” And then her sisters were hugging her and making jokes about how she was only second to last after Mrs. Ludlowe, number 105, who strolled across the finish line while gabbing on her weekly phone call to her sister.
