Then he buckled her into a seatbelt and hopped into the front seat. Alex put the car in gear and they were suddenly bouncing backwards down the steep muddy decline. Olivia could see the bear standing on its haunches looking bewildered, but it didn’t follow them. As its silhouette grew smaller in the fading light, Olivia’s trembling eased and she began to take steady breaths again.
“Slow down!” she instructed.
Alex was moving much too fast on the slick roads. The shoulders were soft from the rain and getting too close to the edge would be just as dangerous as facing the bear. Olivia felt the car slow and her mind raced.
“Wait, stop!” she yelled.
Alex slammed on the brakes and they skidded to a halt mere feet from another downed tree. They were trapped. This was as far as the road could take them. They’d maybe gone a mile from the bear. Olivia just prayed it was far enough.
Alex glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Any other ideas?”
Olivia glanced around taking in their surroundings. They were in the middle of the road, a cliff face on their left, and steep wooded drop off on their right.
“See that cliff face?” she said pointing to the left. “I think we should park close to it. It’ll help protect us if anymore trees come down.”
Alex nodded and chewed his lip as he pushed the car into drive. The tires spun for a frightening moment before catching, but slowly they made progress. Olivia helped guide Alex as close as possible to the rock wall. When satisfied, he parked the car and turned off the lights and wipers. He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned back against the headrest, letting out a deep breath.
They were both silent for a while. Olivia let the relief of their narrow escape wash over her as she tried to calm her frantic heartbeat. But relief was fleeting as the full impact of their situation settled over Olivia. They were going to have to spend the night in the woods. The gas would run out and all they would be able to do was pray that the bear, the flood waters and falling trees would direct their attention elsewhere.
Olivia closed her eyes and tried to think of things that made her happy. She was going to need a steel resolve to make it through the night. But each time she closed her eyes she saw herself running through the woods, clinging to Alex as the bear’s hungry growl rumbled like thunder behind her.
Olivia’s eyes flew open and she stared at Alex. His eyes were closed.
Was he reliving the same horrible scene?
She found herself fixated on the fact that Alex never once let go of her hand. He could have easily outrun her, but he’d stayed with her and kept her on her feet.
Why?
He didn’t owe her anything. He barely knew her. And she was the one who dragged him into this mess. If it weren’t for her, Alex would still be at the house, dry and warm.
Olivia wondered what she would have done if the roles had been reversed. Would she have gone back for the slower, weaker stranger? Or in the heat of the moment, would she only have thought of herself? She liked to think she would have been like Alex. But the heavy guilt she held in her heart told her otherwise.
“Thank you,” Olivia said breaking the silence.
Alex turned in his seat to look back at her. “For what?”
“Not leaving me in the forest. I know I slowed you down.”
He looked at her strangely, like the thought had never crossed his mind. “Not bad for a city boy, huh?” he said jokingly.
Olivia was surprised she was still able to laugh. “I bet you’re missing the city pretty bad right now.”
“You can say that again.” He scrubbed his face with his large hands. “Who would have thought my first trip would have been so adventurous?”
“You’ve really never been outside New York before?” Olivia asked.
“Nope. This is pretty much my first time anywhere. Tell me, is the rest of the world this fun, or is it only because I’m hanging out with you?”
Olivia sighed. “I’m sorry. This really is my fault. You should be at the house still, warm and dry and safe.” But Olivia shivered, realizing that if Alex hadn’t come with her, she might not be alive. The thought made a tear slide free from her puffy eyes.
“Hey,” Alex said climbing into the back seat. “I wasn’t blaming you.” He settled next to Olivia and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. “If you recall, I think I’m the one who asked if I could come with you.”
Olivia looked up into his green eyes. They seemed to glow as they caught the last of the fading daylight. Just being close to him made her feel so much less alone and she hated herself for it. She’d always been weak—craving contact and affection. And the fact that she was only now feeling that she could breathe, in the arms of a man she didn’t even know, only made her hate herself more. She supposed it was some genetic flaw.
Weak! You are a weak and needy girl.
She couldn’t explain it. She’d always been that way. But when she gazed up at Alex, she couldn’t help but think he didn’t see weakness when he looked at her. His expression was one of wonder. Every time she caught him glancing at her, it was as though he’d just remembered something. That’s how he was looking at her now and she didn’t like the effect it had on her. She felt hot and tingling everywhere.
“Everything’s going to be fine, Liv. Tomorrow we’re going to hike out of here, take a hot shower and eat until we’re fat, okay?”
Olivia nodded.
“Try and get some rest.”
Chapter 18
Alex
The sounds of birds chirping, slowly rustled Alex from sleep. He was warm and comfortable, stretched out in the backseat with a beautiful half naked girl draped over him. If he was dreaming, he wasn’t ready to wake up. But as the veil of sleep lifted, the truth flooded in, making Alex even more hesitant to open his eyes.
When he finally gave in to the morning light he decided he rather liked what greeted him. Olivia Crain was curled up against him. Her long dark hair, now dry, resembled waves of chocolate spilling down her back. Her cheek pressed against his chest and her warm hand rested comfortable in the crook of his neck. Alex felt every curve of her against him. The firmness of her breasts, the flat plane of her stomach, the arc of her hip, and most of all, the softness of her thigh as it pressed against the hard, throbbing length of him.
Alex closed his eyes and tried to quiet the roaring in his blood that thirsted for Olivia. But it was useless. There was nothing but skin and lace between them and touching Olivia like this made Alex hard at once. He was acutely aware that his hand rested on Olivia’s lower back, keeping her pinned to him, while his fingertips flirted with the lacey hem of her panties.
Fuck!
This was embarrassing.
And precisely why Alex preferred to be on his own. He couldn’t even think straight with his massive erection nagging him.
He took a series of deep calming breaths and looked down at Olivia’s peaceful sleeping face. Alex could have watched her like that forever—her beautiful face rising and falling with his breath. But he knew he didn’t have that luxury. His body could only take so much punishment. Alex tore his eyes from Olivia to look at the forest. Rain fell in a light mist around them. It seemed they had survived the night but they still had to face a long hike back to the cabin.
Alex took one final glance at Olivia. He wanted to memorize her face before waking her. He was transfixed by the color of her lips. They looked like they’d been constructed from the same delicate skin of a grapefruit’s flesh. Her lips looked positively delicious and he longed to taste them, but settled for gently pressing his lips to Olivia’s forehead before moving his free hand up her slender arm to roust her from her dreams.
“Morning,” Alex whispered when Olivia’s eyelashes fluttered to life.
She looked at him, doe-eyed and mildly dazed for a moment. But it was clear when the events of last night snapped back into place, because she shot up so fast she fell off the edge o
f the backseat. Alex sighed with frustration when the blanket went with Olivia, revealing his boastful appreciation of her sex appeal. There was nothing he could do to hide it. He clamped down his embarrassment. They were both adults, and they had bigger things to worry about.
Alex sat up and grabbed his clothes from the floor. They were still sopping wet. If he’d been thinking, he should have laid them out so they could have stood a chance of drying out a little. He settled the heap of cold clothes on his lap and offered his hand to Olivia, helping her back up onto the backseat.
“Did you get any sleep?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so.” She still looked a bit dazed. “Did you?”
“A little.” He forced a grin and jutted his chin toward the window. “The rain’s lightened up. Should we get started?”
Olivia nodded.
Putting cold wet clothes on did little to improve morale, but within minutes, Alex and Olivia were standing outside the Range Rover preparing to trek back to the cottage. The gas had run out in the middle of the night and so had Olivia’s cell phone battery. She assured Alex it didn’t matter. They were in a dead zone and even if they could get a signal, no one would be able to get to them with the roads like they were. They were on their own.
Olivia left the keys in the car, saying she’d phone the sheriff’s department when they got to the cottage so the police could move the car once the roads opened. She also suggested they bring something with them to make noise so they didn’t accidently stumble upon any dangerous wildlife this time. Alex found the tire kit in the Range Rover and they decided to use that. Out of excuses to delay them, it was time to start their journey.
Alex held his hand out to Olivia. “Lead the way,” he said offering her a bright smile to lift her spirits. She took his hand and they walked up the muddy road together.
They’d been hiking for hours, working together to strike the tire iron against the jack every few minutes. So far they hadn’t run into any wildlife other than birds. Alex had gotten Olivia talking again to keep her distracted. He asked her all kinds of questions. He imagined he sounded like a pestering toddler, but it helped pass the time and Olivia knew a startling amount about the forest around them. For example, she told him birds were a good sign. As long as they were chirping that meant they didn’t perceive any danger nearby. She pointed out how nearly all the trees that had fallen last night were the same type—cottonwood.
“How do you know so much about this place?” he asked.
“I used to spend every summer out here with my grandparents. They took me hiking a lot. Grand knows so much about the woods. He loves nature. I think if he hadn’t become a musician, he would have been an environmentalist or something.”
Alex smiled as he watched Olivia talk. Her face lit up when she mentioned her grandparents. He found himself praying for a miracle for Olivia’s grandmother. The girl had already lost her mother and it sounded like Cassidy was the only other person who’d been there to help fill that void. Alex knew all too well what that kind of pain was like. He’d barely survived losing his mother. He didn’t think he could go through something like that twice.
As they hiked, the path got steeper and their conversation ebbed so they could concentrate. Alex took the lead, helping pull Olivia over the steep terrain. He glanced down at the ravaged forest below them and became increasingly aware of how lucky they’d been last night. They passed dozens of giant downed trees and areas of the road that had been washed away by raging flood water. He tightened his grip on Olivia’s hand, suddenly grateful that he wasn’t alone.
Alex considered himself street smart and level headed, but if he’d been trapped out here without Olivia, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. He glanced down at their laced fingers and searched for something to say, but Olivia suddenly shrieked.
“We made it!” she said pointing past Alex.
He turned to see the angled roofline of the cottage rising up in the distance. Alex had never be so relieved. “Oh, thank God!”
Olivia threw her arms around Alex’s neck and he lifted her off her feet as a wave of happiness flooded him. When he set her down she took his hand again. “Come on,” she said. And they both ran to the house.
Chapter 19
Olivia
Once inside, Olivia called the sheriff’s department to let them know what happened and where she’d left the car, while Alex headed to the bathroom for a much-deserved hot shower. She was just hanging up the phone when Alex padded out of the bathroom, a white towel slung low around his bare waist. Olivia’s eyes immediately traveled south, to the smooth lines of his abs and beyond. Her throat dried up at the memory of the healthy bulge she knew lay beneath the towel. His excitement hadn’t gone unnoticed this morning, though she’d thought it was more polite to pretend she hadn’t seen anything.
Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal—probably just an involuntary reaction.
Guys couldn’t help that kind of thing, right?
There was no way a guy as devastatingly handsome as Alex Tine would be interested in her. She was so plain, with her brown hair, pale skin and slight frame. Gran was forever telling Olivia she had beautiful blue eyes. But Olivia thought they were just average. She did think she resembled her cousins, who were very pretty. But Olivia, lacking her cousins’ confidence and fashion sense, always felt like the knock-off version compared to them.
Olivia noticed Alex was giving her a strange look.
Shit, had he asked her a question while she was daydreaming about if she was pretty enough for him?
“Hmmm?” Olivia murmured.
“I said, is everything all right?” Alex asked. “With the police?”
“Oh, yes. I let them know about the car but they said we’ll most likely be stuck up here for a few days until they can clear the roads.”
Olivia felt her bottom lip begin to quiver as her own words sunk in. She was stuck at Carter Ridge while her grandmother lay in a hospital dying. She might as well be on another continent. She slumped against the kitchen counter in exhaustion.
Alex moved toward her and placed a warm comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll be okay, Liv. We have plenty of food and we’re safe now.”
“I know.”
“Why don’t you take a shower? It really helps.”
Olivia nodded and trudged off to the bathroom to shower. At least there she could let her tears out without Alex seeing her cry.
Alex was right. The shower really did help. She cried until she felt drained and then she stood under the hot water until she felt feverish. After, she towel dried her hair and wrapped herself in a fluffy white towel. She did a mental catalog of her overnight bag. She had two clean outfits left. One was a dress and the other involved skinny jeans. Neither option was appealing and she made up her mind to just hop into bed and sleep until the roads were open and this nightmare was over. But when Olivia opened the bathroom door the tantalizing aroma coming from the kitchen hijacked her brain.
She watched Alex slaving over the stove with a spatula in hand. He was dressed this time, wearing a black v-neck tee and faded jeans that hung loose on his hips. Olivia didn’t know what she was more attracted to, Alex looking like a domesticated sex-god or the smell of melting cheese.
“Are you making grilled cheese?” she asked, her stomach rumbling with hunger.
Alex turned around and his smile made her knees sway. “Yes! And ramen too. Sit down it’s almost ready.”
She walked to the table in a trance and sat down like she was in some sort of dream.
How did he know her favorite foods?
She watched Alex rush around the kitchen before setting a plate piled high with grilled cheese in front of her. He returned with a steaming bowl of ramen noodles for each of them and joined her at the table.
“I hope this is okay. I remembered you saying grilled cheese and ramen were the only two things you could cook, so I figured it was a safe bet you liked them.”
Alex gave her such a genuine smile, but
all Olivia could manage was a grateful nod. She ate in silence as a fond memory she shared with her grandmother haunted Olivia’s mind.
“The boy that really listens to you is the one you should give your heart to, Olivia. Remember that. It’s important.”
“How will I know if he really listens, Gran?”
“He’ll remember all of your favorite things.”
“Like what?”
“Like your favorite flower, your favorite food, your favorite song. Sometimes he’ll know you better than you know yourself. And if he knows all those things, he’ll know your heart and he’ll be the right boy to take care of it.”
Olivia couldn’t have been more than ten or eleven when she’d had that conversation with Gran. She’d forgotten it until just now. But sitting here with Alex, the conversation came flooding back to her as clear as day.
It came about because Brooks had brought her first boyfriend to the lake house that summer and Olivia and Bex had caught them kissing. Being typical little girls they ran back to tattle on her. Of course Gran had taken the opportunity to talk to her granddaughters about love. Bex had rolled her eyes and made barfing sounds until Gran sent her to her room. But Olivia had stayed and asked her grandmother how to find someone to love.
It had never occurred to Olivia that Bex’s reaction was more typical for a ten year old. Even back then, with her family intact, Olivia had still been searching for love.
“Liv?”
Alex’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she realized she’d paused with a spoon partly to her mouth and tears streaming down her face.
Shit!
How long had she been like that?
“I’m sorry,” Olivia said pushing back from the table and standing.
Alex stood too. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I shouldn’t have brought up your grandmother.”
Retreat Again (The Retreat Series Book 2) Page 7
