Page 12 of Will to Run

I just look at him, silently begging him to change his mind. Because I don’t want to ask him to stay, but I really, really, really don’t want to be by myself.

“You okay?” he asks, reading my face.

I shake my head, and I can’t stop the tears that well up.

No. I’m not okay.

He stands up to meet me at the sink and wraps his arms around me. I don’t intend to, but I melt into him and close my eyes. God, he smells good… and I feel all those muscles I saw today. But beyond the wall of strength in front of me, this man I barely know is comforting me in ways Tripp never even tried to. Unbelievable. The thought adds to the reasons I’m crying into Jaxon’s chest, releasing everything in an embarrassing emotional tsunami. But he just stands and holds me tight, giving me support he has no obligation to give. When I get myself together, I pull away and look at him.

“How about I stay in the second bedroom tonight? I’m a terrible snorer, and I’ll most likely steal the covers from your bed from a room over just because, but I’m a formidable opponent to any four, or two-legged creature,” he smiles the kind of warm, charming smile I’m sure has made many a women fall at his feet.

“That would be…” I close my eyes and sigh, “Yes. Thank you for being so great to a stranger.”

“Psssh. Based on everything that we’ve talked about tonight, I know your middle name, your deepest darkest fears… which is coyote calls, your astrological sign, that you hate avocados, and I have your tears on me,” he points to his shirt. “Hardly strangers.”

The smile spreads across my face. I’ve gotten so used to the world beating me down, as it has over the last five years, that this feels foreign. Maybe he, and the entire family, were put in my path to remind me that there is still good in this world.

And my next thought, right after that is… maybe this storm will last longer than three days.

8

JAXON

There’s lots of things I didn’t expect to happen today.

For it to be this damn hot.

To cancel my weekly drink with my uncle.

To have a runaway bride appear at my hobby garage. That’s strange enough in itself. But to feel such immediate chemistry and attraction that I have to stop myself from reaching for her to kiss her is something else entirely.

In any other situation, I would have done it… but not to someone who was supposed to marry someone else today. That doesn’t stop me from thinking about what else is under her sweatshirt every time it slips off her shoulder and the straps of that tank top tease me, though.

Sitting with her tonight was enchanting. There’s no other way to describe it. The way her nose crinkled up when she laughed, or the way her dimples popped out when she smirked. We were just in cosmic sync or something. She was incredibly intelligent, funny, and easy to talk to. Flirty in a not-desperate way; hell, I don’t even know if she knew she was doing it. But it sure left me wanting more.

I can’t pretend to know what she’s feeling or why I asked her if she was okay, but I’m grateful I did because it was clear she needed that release. When she stopped, she seemed genuinely nervous about being alone, so I offered to sleep in the spare room. The relief was immediately evident in her voice when she agreed.

It’s not my smartest move because I have to wake up early tomorrow. A few weeks ago, I ran out of chips in a family poker game and started betting various things, including my time. Thanks to my brothers, everything spiraled, and I amassed three weeks of barn chores because they teamed up on me to be dicks. It especially sucks because I have to get that done before I get to my office for my actual workday. But a bet is a bet, and I’m not one to back out.

After her door is shut, I retreat to my room. It’s been a while since I’ve stayed in the cabins, and I forgot what a great job we do here. We have fifteen of these luxury cabins, thirty standard ones, and fifteen long-term rentals. The sixty of them bring in the majority of our profit, and every once in a while, it’s neat to take a step back and look at how amazing they are.

When I stop hearing movement on the other side of the wall, I’m grateful she’s found sleep. That woman has had a day. I’m not quite as lucky because I have a never-ending to-do list rolling around in my head as we speed towards our high season. After I sneak down for a midnight string cheese, sleep takes me, too.

“Jaxon!” A scream wakes me up right before she pounces on me in bed. Della is hysterical, and I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Her phone is in her hand, and I see 9-1-1 on it; she’s ready to connect the call while I’m shaking off the cobwebs from being woken up like this.

“Della!” I say, trying to mitigate the panic and figure out what the fuck is happening. “What’s wrong?”

She’s out of her mind. It’s like she’s experiencing the night terrors that my nephew gets, almost speaking in gibberish. I put her face between my hands to try to get her to look at me, but she’s not responding. Instead, she’s in full-on hysterics.

Then I hear it: the spine-chilling sound of a cougar wailing. Della screams again when she hears the blood-curdling noise and buries her head in my bare chest, trying to crawl inside. “Someone’s being murdered!” she shouts between sobs. “We have to call for help!”

Sheer terror has her body convulsing in my arms. I’ve never seen someone look like this before.

“Della. Della,” I say more forcefully, shaking her shoulders, hoping she registers my touch and pulls out of her head. “Del, that’s a cougar. No one is being murdered. That’s a cougar.”

The cougar screams again, and it sounds like it’s right outside our cabin. Della shrieks and scrambles to get up, but I contain her in my arms. That sound makes even the most experienced ranchers pause, especially because it can carry for half a mile across our open terrain. It’s no surprise it scares the shit out of someone who’s never heard it before, but Della is out of her ever-loving mind as she thrashes about.

Her body is still shaking, and I’m not sure if she even registered what I said because she’s still mumbling as if she’s partially asleep. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I know I need her to snap out of this. Since I’m not going to hit a woman or go get a cup of water to douse her with, I do the next thing that comes to mind.