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“Pepper?”
My heart tumbles and I run. I run like I’ve never run before. Faster than I ran out of this town. Faster than I raced out of that hotel room minutes before the ceremony. Faster than I left the cottage, so I’d stop being such a burden to everyone.
If I didn’t leave, Chase eventually would.
Everyone does. Hell, even my fiancé put it in writing that after three years, we’re free to part ways.
That’s just fine.
I can make it on my own.
My shoes are soaked. My hood falls off again and I’m not certain I lost Beau. But I am certain that I can’t breathe anymore. Pulling behind a building, I break, resting my hands on my knees.
I hear the distant footsteps splashing against the wet pavement.
He’s still heading toward me.
I’m in tears that won’t stop streaming down my face and with a deep breath, I swipe them away and stand up straight.
I can’t keep running.
I turn and collide with a hard body, but it’s not Beau’s.
“Pepper.” Chase grabs my arms to steady me. He’s breathless and soaked. “You alright?”
“B—Beau. He—saw me—”
He looks back toward the street and his eyes flash. It’s familiar. Too familiar. Like I’ve been here before. Chase standing in front of me. Beau heading toward us. Chase’s jaw working like he’s regretting coming near me.
And it hits me.
That day outside the cafeteria. When I’d waited three years for Chase Reeves to talk to me and the first time he does—I took it as pity.
I got defensive and mean. I remember it because of the look Chase had when he looked back at me. Disappointment and regret.
“Chase, I’m—”
He turns back to me and snakes a hand under my ear and around the back of my neck, gripping me as he pushes me against the brick wall. Then presses his lips to mine in a heated kiss. His mouth is hot against my cold skin. His body is a weight I didn’t know I needed. Anchoring me. He presses harder into me, shifting his hands from my face and casually lifting the hood back over my head. I’m tingly all over. My throat burns with the threat of more tears because of just how good this feels. And how fleeting I know it is.
He breaks the kiss I could have gone forever without breaking.
Chase doesn’t look at me when he pulls away. He glances up the hill where I came from and scans the street. “He’s gone.” Stepping back, he runs his fingers through his wet hair. God, it’s sexy. He’s in a plain white T-shirt and dark denim jeans. His jaw is tense like he’s about to pop a vein or two.
I’m about to ask him what that was. But I can’t even think straight. I realize he was shielding me but—am I so delirious that I’d imagined the intensity of it? The way it shook my body? The way I—
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” he growls.
“Wh—what?”
“Stop. Fucking. Running, Pepper. Just stop it. I swear to God, you are on your fucking own if you pull that shit again.” Lowering his voice, he draws close. But not in a sweet way. In a very threatening way. “I’m going to say this one more time and you’d better listen. I’m going to help you. I don’t fucking pity you, I never did. Maybe others did, but my family didn’t. I don’t know how it happened, but you’re my problem now.”
I open my mouth, but he holds up a hand. “Shut up. I will not let you walk yourself into a trap. Especially after you publicly humiliated a man with growing power.”
His eyes dip down to my lips like he can’t help himself and pulls back again. “We’re going to go back to the cottage. We’re going to change. And then we’re going back to the Inn. My father, Levi and Noah are going to be waiting for us. He’s closing for lunch and sent the staff home.
My voice is small when I speak. “It’s a million dollars, Chase. For one anonymous phone call.”
He releases a breath, his shoulders falling as he looks down at me. “I know.”
