A pair of hazel eyes as wide as Jake’s—and identical to her own—stared back at her. He had a beard and scraggly hair that had been haphazardly pulled back into a ponytail.
He was more muscular than he’d been when she’d last seen him, and his face was older now. Tanned from the sun with a few wrinkles that hadn’t been there before.
But none of that mattered. There was no mistaking those eyes.
Unable to speak—or even breathe—Olivia stood frozen as the man smiled nervously and quietly said, “Hey, Junebug.”
Her vision tunneled. The world began to spin around her. And within seconds, she felt herself falling.
Chapter 9
“Olivia?”
Jake’s voice sounded far away, and there was an annoying tapping on her cheek. She tried to move away from it, to tell whoever was touching her face to stop. Instead, what came out was a low moan.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here. Come on, now. It’s time to wake up.”
“Jake?”
Olivia’s eyes fluttered open. Her head pounded, and at first, all she could see was a big, fuzzy blob.
As she continued to blink, Jake’s face slowly came into focus. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Welcome back.”
Her mind struggled to remember what had happened. She’d been shopping with Mac, then—Ah, man—her moment of total craziness at the mall.
They’d come here, to Jake’s cabin. She’d gone down to the barn, and then...what? She couldn’t remember anything after that.
Looking around, Olivia realized she was back in the house, lying on Jake’s couch. He was crouched down in front of her, and he looked really worried. But other than a headache, she felt fine. She started to sit up.
“Easy.” Jake slid his arm around her waist to help her. “Not too fast.”
Once she was vertical, Olivia closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself. She actually felt okay, now. She looked back at Jake.So, why does he look so worried?
“What happened?”
