“How’s operation fishbait going?” Jesse asked.
“Operation fishbait? What are you, Dad, twelve?”
Jesse laughed. “Uh-oh. Somebody doesn’t have a sense of humor.”
“I’ve got a great sense of humor, just not about this. What do you want?”
“I want to know how it’s going. Has she succumbed to the Bloodworth charm?”
Ty sighed. Why now, of all times, did his dad turn into a cheeseball? “The plan is not to bed her as fast as possible. Besides, I think she’d deck me if she thought that was all I wanted.”
“Is it?”
“No.” He thought of Jill, sitting at her desk as the sun turned her hair to ebony. “She’s funny, and smart, and she has no idea how beautiful she is. Coming back was the right thing. I just need to be patient.”
“God knows you didn’t get that from me. How’s everything else?”
“Good. People are nice out here. The fishing’s good.” Ty eyed the time and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “What’s going on at home?”
“Nothing much,” Jesse said. “Your mom and Bryce are cooking up some kind of plan with the vacant space across the river from The Pizza Den. I’m not sure, but Angelita seems to think they want to open another restaurant.”
“Really? That’s…weird.”
“I think so, too, but no one asked me. Season’s shaping up to be a good one. I’m looking forward to seeing your ugly mug when we come out there in a few weeks.”
“I called and got your reservations all set. The kids are going to love it.”
“They miss you, Ty. We all do.”
“I miss y’all, too. Listen,” Ty straightened in the seat and pulled the keys from the ignition, “I’ve got to run. Call you in a couple of days?”
“Sure, sure. Don’t be too patient. If I’d waited on Angelita to make the first move, I’d probably still be waiting.”
“Thanks, Dad, but I think I’ve got this.”
He changed in the grocery’s small restroom and pulled into Jill’s apartment complex ten minutes later. Hers was the far top unit. He took a deep breath and prayed he wouldn’t embarrass himself by running with a professional.
When she answered his knock on the door, his mouth went dry. She wore a fitted racer back tank and black shorts. Her hair swung from a high pony in the back and she offered him a shy smile. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” He couldn’t stop his hand from reaching for his belly. She looked so much as she had last year when he’d scooped her off the ground in pain. He snuck a glance at the three-inch scar on her right leg. “You ready?” he asked.
“Yes.” She pointed behind her with a thumb. “Do you need a water or anything?”
“No. I’m good.”
“You kids have fun,” Olivia called from the couch where she sat with a book cradled in her lap. All he could offer was a lift of his chin in acknowledgment.
They jogged down the steps. “Olivia reads?” he joked.
She knocked the back of her hand against his stomach. “Very funny. She’s studying.”
“What? That mommy porn everybody’s reading now?”
“It’s a textbook. She’s studying to be a teacher.”
Ty stopped at the base of the stairs and stared. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. She’s actually pretty smart.”
“I thought you two were the same age. What’s taken her so long?”
“She took a few semesters off here and there when she felt overwhelmed. I think she regrets it now.” She grabbed hold of the handrail with her left hand and pulled her right foot with the other to begin stretching her quad muscles. Ty mimicked her position on the other side of the staircase.
They switched legs, did a few lunges on the stairs, and then Jill stood up straight, clicked a button on her watch, and glanced at Ty. “You ready?”
He ignored the flutter of nerves in his stomach and tried to concentrate on her shapely legs. “Whenever you are.”
She began at a slow jog. “How far do you want to go?” she asked.
“How far do you normally go?”
“I usually warm up for about a mile and then run five or six more.”
He did his best not to gulp. “Uh, that sounds like a challenge.”
“Do you run on a regular basis?” she asked.
“It’s been a while,” he confessed. Over a month, he figured as he matched his stride to hers. If she ran this fast in warm up, there was no way he’d make it more than three miles. “I ran a couple days a week when I was at school.”
They passed the grocery store and she led them down a side road that fed into an upscale neighborhood. He looked around and tried to get his breathing under control. “This looks like a nice neighborhood.”
“It’s mostly vacation homes for the ski crowd. They get rented out a little in the summer months.” She wasn’t even breathing heavy. This was the worst idea in the history of bad ideas.
They continued on in silence, or what little he could hear over the in and out of his puffing breath. “Look,” he said. “You go on ahead if I’m holding you back.”
“No, I’m fine,” she lied. She was talking to him as if they were sitting across a table from one another. She wasn’t even out of breath.
“Jill. Go on. I’m going to slow my pace, enjoy the view, and I’ll meet you back at your apartment.”
She gave him an impish smile. “Are you sure?”
“Please, before I truly embarrass myself and pass out.”
“Don’t do that,” she teased. “Just lengthen your stride and concentrate on breathing from your diaphragm. You’re all chest right now.”
Maybe that’s why his chest felt like it was going to explode. “Good idea. Go on.” He waved her off. “I want you far enough ahead so you don’t realize when I turn around and head back.”
“Listen to your body, Ty,” she called over her shoulder. Now that he’d given her the green light, she took off like a gazelle. The sight of her flying in front of him, the slender yet powerful muscles of her legs pushing her forward, made his breath hitch for a whole new reason. She was magnificent.
He slowed his pace and ran another ten minutes with the sights and sounds of the quiet neighborhood for company before turning around and heading back to her place at the first hint of dusk.
He stretched against the same staircase, lumbered up the stairs, and knocked on the door. Olivia answered wearing short shorts and a hoodie sweatshirt. “Well, well, well,” she purred. “Look what the cat dragged back in.”
Chapter 18
“Water,” Ty panted. “I need water.”
Olivia chuckled, opened the door wide, and sauntered into the kitchen using her most feline walk. Much to her dismay, Ty was too busy wiping his brow with the end of his shirt to notice. Oh, well. At least she got another glance at his chiseled torso. “Back so soon?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve run. I need a little practice before I offer to tag along with Jill again. I swear she’s got jet fuel in her veins.”
“Always has.” She plucked a bottle of water from the refrigerator and tossed it at Ty where he leaned against the counter.
He unscrewed the cap and guzzled half the bottle before coming up for air. “Christ, that tastes good.” He set the bottle on the counter and leaned back, taking huge sips of air. “I’d like to clean up before she gets back. Can I use your bathroom?”
“My bathroom?” No way was she letting him see all the things she used to make herself beautiful. “No. Jill’s is down the hall, second door on the left.”
“Thanks,” he called.
“Don’t even think about stealing her underwear.”
His answering grunt made her laugh out loud. She huffed out a breath as he disappeared inside Jill’s room. Tyler Bloodworth was totally hot and totally uninterested in anything but Jill. She couldn’t work up much of a pout considering her friend needed a hot distraction even more than she did.
As much as she hated to admit it, Olivia was quickly becoming bored with the men in the valley. She’d always loved the different factions of men. The guides, both fishing and rafting, shared her love of the outdoors and the laid back lifestyle. If she wanted a more mature, thinking type, there was Westmoreland and the college. Farmers and ranchers abounded in Hailey and Del Noches, providing a hard working distraction.
The sound of Ty clearing his throat brought her back to reality. He smelled like Jill’s soap and held a towel in his hand. “I was going to splash some water on my face, but decided a shower was necessary. Where do you want me to put this towel?”
“You can toss it in the laundry room, thanks.” She pointed past the kitchen to the small closet that housed their stacked machines. When he came back to the den, he walked straight through instead of stopping to chat. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to wait for Jill outside.” His eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. “She should be back soon.”
“I won’t bite, you know.”
He hesitated and then turned back. “I’d like to watch her come back.” He leaned toward the window to scan the horizon. “She’s so beautiful when she runs.”
Olivia couldn’t keep the grin from her face. “You’re really into her, aren’t you?”
“You think I shouldn’t be?” He glared at her, his eyes narrowed.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I just…I guess I’m not used to being around a guy so willing to admit he’s interested.”
“I don’t play games. If I like someone, I’ll be the first to admit it.” He shrugged. “I really like Jill.”
“She’s lucky, Ty, that it’s you. She’s special. I don’t think she could handle any games right now.”
His teeth flashed as he looked out the window. “She’s coming. Do you mind if I grab another water for her?”
“They’re her waters.”
He jogged to the kitchen and was gone before she had time to reach for her book and settle it in her lap. “Lucky Jill.”
***
Jill’s stomach clenched when she saw Ty leaning against his truck tossing a bottle of water between his hands. Despite his wet hair, he looked like he’d just stepped out of the shower instead of run a few miles. She probably smelled like a locker room.
She slowed her pace to a jog, then to a walk, and clicked off her stopwatch. Not bad, she thought, considering her slow start. Her leg felt stronger and her endurance was improving daily.
She pulled the hem of her shirt up to wipe the sweat from her face before realizing she’d just flashed her stomach at him. He rubbed the center of his shirt as she approached. “How’d you do?” she asked.
“Let’s just say I had time to hydrate and shower before your return.”
“I knew you didn’t look or smell as bad as I do. No fair.” She took the bottle he offered and sipped.
“You don’t look or smell bad, Jill. Strangely enough, you’re not even breathing hard.”
She shrugged. Years of training had her recovery rate, especially on an easy run, down to nothing. “I wasn’t exactly killing myself.”
“I’d hate to try and keep up with you when you were. I couldn’t run that fast if someone was chasing me with a gun.”
She evaded his stare and stretched her quads. “You’re not used to the altitude. And I’m not that fast. Trust me, I’m mediocre at best.”
“Hello? You just broke your leg.”
“Nine months ago. I can’t really use that as an excuse.”
“An excuse for what? You’re amazing.”
She couldn’t have stopped the blush if she wanted to. She only hoped her overheated face hid her embarrassment. “I appreciate your compliment, but I’m not that good. If I was, I wouldn’t be considering giving up the dream.”
He shrugged. “So you’re a little burnt out. Happens to everyone. Doesn’t mean you’re done forever.”
“I wonder sometimes,” she muttered before sipping from the water again. “It’s always been about the competition. I don’t know if I can love it without that aspect.”
“Always?” He bumped her arm with his elbow. “Even back when you first started?”
“You mean when I was ten?” She leaned against the truck facing him. “No, I guess not. I just knew I was faster than everyone else and it made me feel good. Powerful, I guess. I knew who I was when I was running.”
“My mom’s a runner,” Ty said after tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. “She’s a bear when she doesn’t run. It’s a part of her, a part of who she is, and she’s never competed, other than a fun run or two.”
“My mom says the same about me when I haven’t run. Get outta here and go run around the block, she used to yell at me when I’d get under her skin. She was right. I’d run off some steam and everything just kinda leveled out.”
He reached his arm around her neck and softly pulled her ponytail. “You hungry?”
As if on cue, her stomach grumbled. “Starving.”
“Why don’t you go take a quick shower and I’ll buy you dinner?”
“You can come up and I’ll attempt to make us something.”
“I could, but Olivia’s up there and I’d rather spend time with just you.”
A handful of butterflies took flight in her stomach. She held out her hand and felt that same powerful feeling she’d just described when he linked their fingers. “Come up while I shower?” she asked.
“Lead the way.”
***
Ty took her to Del Noches to a hole in the wall place with the best Mexican food he’d ever tasted. Or maybe everything was better when Jill was near. Ty couldn’t be sure.
The cab of his truck had never smelled better than when she’d slid in beside him, her minty soap mixing with whatever alluring fragrance he’d hinted in her bathroom. It had taken every ounce of restraint not to dig through her personal things and discover more of the woman who’d entranced him with her quiet beauty. The need to discover the places she held deep inside was overpowering, but he wanted her to open up and show him herself.
They shared a love of hot food, each devouring the meals on their plates. He watched as she shoveled in bites of her enchiladas like she’d never eaten before, and then sit for long stretches and let her food go untouched while listening to him tell a story.
“You’re not the typical summer guide,” Jill said after shoving her empty plate away. She sat back in her chair and twirled a piece of hair around her finger. She’d left it to air dry and he marveled at the loose curls that popped into place as if by magic. “There aren’t many guides with a master’s in economics and a teaching job waiting on their return.”
He shrugged. “Would you prefer if I lived in a tent and spent the summer yearning for the ski season?”
“No,” she said emphatically. “If those were the kinds of guys I found attractive, I’d have probably been married and divorced three times over by now.”
“I doubt those guys would have married you. Just had their way and moved on.”
“How right you are.” She folded her arms on the edge of the table and leaned toward him. He could see the lights from the take out counter sparkling in her eyes. “So with all the things you could be doing over the summer, why come here? Why spend another summer fishing in nowhere Colorado?”
He didn’t want to lie to Jill, but everything in his gut screamed telling her the truth would send her running. “I like to fish and I really like working for Tommy. My dad and I are opening up a fly shop in the fall to go with his rafting operation.”
“Are you going to guide and teach at the same time?”
“I want to do both. Between the two of us, my dad thinks we can handle it. I have to trust him, trust that as a successful businessman, he wouldn’t put his family at risk on a whim.”
“You’re his family.”
Ty smiled. “I’m a very small part of his family.”
She frowned and Ty had to fight the urge to run his fing
er along the ridge between her brows. “What do you mean?”
“My parents are divorced. Have been for a long time. They’re both remarried and have young kids. My dad has three daughters under eight and my mom has six-year-old twin boys.”
“Wow. That must be…weird. My brother is only five years younger than me and I feel like we have nothing in common.”
“They’re all great. I can come by, play around with them for awhile, and then leave before they get on my nerves.”
“So where do you live back home?”
“When I was at school, I lived on campus. When I came home, I’d switch off between my mom and dad’s houses. When I go back for good, I’m going to stay at one of the rental cabins on my grandfather’s property. He’s getting older and it’ll ease everyone’s mind knowing he won’t be alone all the time.”
“You’re very close to your family,” she said, staring down at her hands where she twiddled her thumbs. Something about the way she said it made him think she had trouble at home.
“Yes. They’re coming in a couple of weeks to visit. The whole lot of them, except my granddad.”
“That’s great.” The corner of her mouth lifted in a halfhearted attempt at a smile. He reached across the table and put his hand over hers.
“What is it?” he asked. “Is everything okay with your family?”
She lifted her shoulders and shook her head. “Not really. I told you I fired my coach. My dad was my coach. I kind of blindsided him with the news and I haven’t heard from him since. My mom’s laying on the guilt trip. He could have taken on another class this summer, blah, blah, blah.” She pulled her hands back and shoved them under the table. “We’ll get past it, but I’m feeling especially guilty right now.”
“You had to do what was best for you. Sometimes we hurt the ones who love us the most by spreading our wings.” She stared at him with her sad eyes, but didn’t say anything more. “My dad didn’t understand why I wanted to come back here this summer. I didn’t tell him until right before I left.”
Mending the Line Page 10
