Yeah, that’d go over real well.
Tamping down her annoyance, Cami climbed in and sat on the center console with her legs hanging into the back seat. “No, it’s Cami. Are you okay?”
A groan filled the cab, and West jolted his body against the seatbelt. His eyes shot open wide with panic. “Shelby. I need to get to Shelby, before it’s too late.”
Cami reached out and grabbed his shoulders, trying to stop his thrashing. “West, it’s okay. You’re okay, we’ll get you to Shelby as soon as we can.”
“No! It’s not okay. We have to help her. Get her out first.” His eyes widened and voice cracked as he pleaded with her. “Please! Oh, baby girl, please just hold on”
The pain in his voice broke her. She’d never heard West sound so scared. So defeated. She wished she could take it all away.
Cami quickly realized West was stuck in some sort of flashback. She’d seen it before with her dad, who had served in the Gulf War. Reaching out, she gripped his arm tightly to act as a grounding rod. “West, it’s Cami. Come back to me. No one is going to get hurt. You’re safe.”
West calmed and shifted toward her, his face stopping inches from hers. Her breath hitched and she couldn’t help but stare at his full lips. Not the time, Cami.
“Red?” His voice held a tone of confusion. She pulled her eyes to meet his and saw they were only half focused. “Where am I?”
“You just left the outfitter. A snow ledge collapsed, and you ran into it. I think you hit your head pretty hard.” Cami noticed blood trickling from the spot that hit the window. “Shit West, you’re bleeding.”
He averted his gaze from her and reached up to touch the spot on his temple. When he pulled his hand away, blood smeared across his fingers. “That explains the headache.”
“Does anywhere else hurt? Don’t move anymore. I’m going to call for help.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone.
“No. I think I’m fine. I just need to get out of the truck.” She didn’t miss the hint of panic in his voice or the frantic way he tried to unbuckle himself.
“Weston Elijah James, don’t you dare move another muscle until I talk to EMS.”
He stilled at the use of his full name, narrowed his eyes on her and clenched his jaw tight, but ceased any attempt to free himself.
“Please, Red. I need to get out of the truck.”
She hated not giving him what he wanted. It was possible he had a concussion and needed to be checked over, but she also didn’t want him dragged back into his mind.
West reached out and grabbed her shoulders, his fingers digging into them almost painfully. “Please, I’m so close to losing it. Let me get out of the truck and I will do anything you fucking want. I just can’t be in here right now.”
She looked him over, trying to decide if it was safe for him to move. Sweat dripped from his brow and his lip trembled slightly. He didn’t seem hurt, but it went against every bone in her body to let him out without calling EMS first. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to him.
She searched his eyes, trying to determine what the best course of action was. Risk physical injury or bury him so deep in a flashback he couldn’t climb back out.
“Fine.” She sighed in defeat. “Carefully scoot out of the truck and sit on the tailgate of mine so I can call EMS.”
He looked her dead in the eye. “Thank you.” When he didn’t add her nickname to the end of that statement, she knew he was close to losing it.
Cami reached for the stack of blankets in the back of the truck, knowing they’d be there. His mom lectured West many times about keeping them there. She would say “You never know when you’re going to need a blanket to lay under the stars or to keep someone you love warm.” They used them many times when they’d been together as kids, and Cami was thankful for them now.
She climbed out of the truck and watched like a hawk as West followed her. His feet hit the pavement and he tested his weight. While he was able to walk on his own, his muscles were stiff and he winced as each of them stretched.
Halfway to her truck, West stopped and his breathing picked up in pace. She rushed to him, wrapping an arm around him she spoke words of encouragement. His eyes met hers and he inhaled deeply, his eyes widened, searching hers as if they were the only thing holding him there. When he finally exhaled, a whispered thanks fell from his lips. Breathing at a normal pace once more, they walked together.
After depositing West on the tailgate and wrapping him in a blanket, Cami pulled her phone from her pocket to dial emergency services. She dialed the first number when West jerked forward, and pulled her to his chest, cocooning her in the blanket with him.
“Just let me hold you for a minute, Red.”
“I don’t think—”
“Don’t think then.” West shushed her.
Cami kept her body rigid, refusing to lean into him. This didn’t feel the same as helping him to the truck. She tried to ignore that he felt the same as she remembered, and yet different. He was more. Less scrawny country boy and more muscular military man. Rough around the edges, but still his arms held a safety she’d lacked all these years. She refused to admit she was happy to be in his arms, because that scared the shit out of her. He wasn’t hers to feel safe with. She repeated that mantra over and over, ignoring his delicious arms around her. He belonged to another woman.
That thought shocked her like a bucket of ice water. She tried to push away from him but West only held her tighter. She craned her neck upward, trying to get a look at his face to gage where his head was. To make sure he was still with her there.
West stared out at the dusk lit forest surrounding them. It was that beautiful time of day she knew he loved. The blissful moment between day and night when magic filled the air. But his expression remained solemn, as if his world had lost all the magic it once held. What happened to him in the past fifteen years that left his mind fractured?
“I need to call EMS, West.” She tried to reason with him.
His chest rose against her cheek and he released a heavy sigh. His arms loosened but he still kept her pressed against him.
“Are you okay?”
“No.” He leaned his head against her forehead.
Screw it. She silently wrapped her arms tightly around his broad frame and leaned into him, letting him take whatever comfort he needed from holding her in that moment. As long as she remembered her place they’d be fine.
At least that’s what she told herself.
After a time, she didn’t know how long, his grip loosened and he allowed her to step away. “Thank you, Red.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“If I say no, will you leave it alone?”
“Probably not.”
“Maybe later. For now, let’s call EMS and get the slide reported.”
By the time Cami got off the phone with EMS personnel, the sun had nearly set. About halfway through the litany of questions needed to ascertain West’s condition, she’d moved him to the cab of the truck to keep him warm. He nodded off and Bear rested his head on the center console, keeping watch over him while she talked on the phone.
After EMS felt sure West wasn’t seriously injured, Cami was given the all clear to take him back to the cabin for him to take it easy, with strict instructions to call if he showed any other signs or symptoms.
West was not thrilled about being fussed over, but he’d have to get over himself. She was responsible for his well being, since getting him off the mountain was going to be next to impossible, and she took that responsibility seriously. No way she was going to have his mother after her if something happened to him.
Quiet seeped through the cab on the way back to the cabin. West was still asleep, and she was thankful for the moment to think. When they got back to the cabin, she’d need to make a few calls, to each of their families, to let them know what happened. It was almost three days before Christmas, and EMS crews didn’t think they would be able to h
ave anyone out to clear the roads until after the holiday. Even then, it could be upwards of a week.
Lucky her.
Panic gripped her as she came to terms with the fact she’d not only be missing Christmas with her family, but she would be spending it with West.
Karma was a fucking bitch. Not more than an hour ago she was wallowing in loneliness. Now she was stuck with the only man who had ever made her heart flutter, and the kicker was, she couldn’t even take a trip down memory lane with him for the holidays because he was married.
Cami tried to breathe deeply, but every time they came out short and erratic.
“You okay?” West picked his head up from the headrest and looked toward her. She’d thought he’d been sleeping. He didn’t need to see her freak out. He’d want to know why, and that was the last conversation she wanted to have.
Her grip tightened on the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“About as fine as a sinner in church. I know panic when I see it. What’s up, Red?”
“Don’t call me that.” Too many memories came with that name. “My name is Cami.”
“I know what your name is. You’ll always be Red to me. Or maybe little fawn would be better. Though you aren’t gangly anymore.” She didn’t need to look at him to feel the heat of his eyes raking over her. “I like the name of the outfitter, by the way.”
Cami slammed on the breaks and glared at him as he jerked against his seat belt.
“What the hell, Cami? It’s not like I wasn’t just in a fuckin’ wreck.”
“You listen here, West. You don’t get to come in here and call me by every pet name you once used as a term of endearment. You lost that right when you left me standing on the porch fifteen years ago.” She tried to keep it together, but she could practically feel the steam erupting from her ears. “Seeing as we are stuck together for the foreseeable future, you can call me Cami or you can freeze your ass off outside.”
West cocked a brow at her, and she hated that she found it sexy. “You aren’t panicking anymore.”
Smart ass. Cami seethed, hating with every fiber of her being that he was right. She focused her gaze forward and continued toward home, ignoring the tickle of warmth and familiarity brought on by the ease at which West settled her.
When she pulled up to the cabin and threw the truck in park, West reached across the cab and grabbed her arm. She turned and his expression softened. “I’m sorry, Cami. I didn’t mean to upset you. I know this isn’t ideal, but thank you for taking care of me.”
Cami lowered her eyes, trying to find her next words. Every part of her wanted to fight with him. To pull every emotion she’d felt when he left and unleash it on him.
It would serve him right.
She thought she’d moved on from Weston James. Why couldn’t he have just stayed gone?
Seeing him. Hearing him call her by the names he’d whispered against her ear while they made love in the bed of his truck. It stirred feelings within her that were better left where she’d buried them all those years ago.
Where she would keep them buried. Even if it was the last thing she did.
She raised her eyes to meet his, the mask she wore to hide her feelings firmly in place. “You’re welcome. Let’s get you inside. You can call whoever you need to and let them know where you are.” She exited the cab and walked around to his side of the truck, using the time to breath in the mountain air and steady herself.
Although he likely didn’t need it, she helped West from the truck and up the stairs to the cabin. Each step, Cami managed to steel her heart and mind against the man at her side. She didn’t know if she’d be able to make it through the holidays unscathed by him, but she was sure as hell going to try.
Chapter Three
The world felt right with Cami tucked against him. Even if he was using her as a crutch after he’d wrecked his truck. And used her as emotional support through a flashback. And barged into her life unannounced, effectively ruining her favorite holiday. Damn. He was zero for three, and the odds of evening that score were not looking good.
Still, West wasn’t upset at the prospect of doing so. He’d have to thank his mother for sending him to the outfitter. There was no way the meddling woman could have known there would be a snow slide and he’d get stuck on the mountain with Cami, but there was no doubt in his mind she planned on the two of them reuniting.
He should have known something was up when he saw the name of the place. Little Fawn. It was his nickname for Cami when they were growing up. Before he’d ever noticed her as a woman. Before they’d fallen in love. Before he’d royally fucked everything up.
Before.
Their families had been close, with their moms often volunteering for the same church duties. Cami was tall and gangly as a child. He used to enjoy watching her run when they played, because she looked like a little deer who hadn’t grown into its limbs. Which is why he dubbed her his little fawn when he was eleven and she was nine.
She hated him for it. But maybe not as much as she’d let on.
West looked down at the woman pressed to his side and held on to her a little tighter. She was definitely not a lanky little fawn anymore.
He knew that though.
He’d once been well acquainted with every inch of her body. Every freckle. Every curve. He knew the way she arched her back when she experienced pleasure at his hands. The way she mewled softly as she came down from the throes of passion.
She wasn’t that girl anymore though, and he wasn’t that boy.
Time had been kind to her. Cami went from beautiful to drop dead gorgeous. Each of her curves filled out, begging to be caressed. To be used as grips for a man’s hands as they were intended.
For his hands.
Damn, I need to get my head on straight.
Cami was not his. Not made for his hands. Not anymore.
“Watch your step.” Cami helped him up the porch steps to her a-frame cabin. It was small and cozy, nestled between towering pines. Not what he would have pictured for her.
“You’ve got a nice place here. Is it just you out here alone?” He fished for any information he could about her life.
She nodded, confirming the status he’d hoped she would. “It’s not much, but it’s home.”
Leave it to Cami to be humble.
She’d always told him she wanted a ranch like her parents. A ranch filled with animals of all shapes and sizes, with the large ranch style home, wrap around porch and white picket fence. He’d pictured her over the years buying her ranch, settling down with a husband, having their two point five kids and adopting a dog from the local rescue.
Well, he got the dog part right.
West smiled to himself considering if it made him an asshole that he was happy she hadn’t settled down.
It most definitely did. She deserved to be happy. Even if it wasn’t with him. But damn if a small part of him didn’t want to be the man who gave her that life. It was always supposed to be him.
He fucked up fifteen years ago when he’d left her, knowing damn well he couldn’t give her the life she’d wanted. Mom depended on him after Dad died. His brother and sister helped with the farm, but Dad had his woodworking business on the side to help make ends meet. Without that and unable to take on more livestock, West did what he had to do to provide. Cami promised she understood, but he knew she didn’t. Her tear stained face said it all as he drove away. She tried to be strong, but he never forgave himself for the way he broke her heart. Hell, she probably never forgave him.
Staying away was never the plan. He just needed time to get his shit together. Funny how life didn’t get the memo. Shelby came along and his life changed forever.
Now he had more baggage than an airport carousel. He may currently have the job to provide Cami the life she deserved, but he also had a fucked up brain and an even more fucked up ex-wife.
Cami got a front row seat to just how messed up he was when she witnes
sed his flashback to the crash. The moment that would haunt him for all eternity. His biggest failure.
West didn’t think he could ask her to take on that part of him. He could barely handle it himself. While he’d gotten better over the years, and could generally anticipate and fight off his demons, Cami didn’t deserve the moments when he couldn’t. When the memories became too much.
No. She didn’t need his baggage. Cami seemed to be happy making a life for herself — a life that fulfilled her. He needed to get better and get off this mountain before he got it in his head he could have her in his life again.
Wasn’t that secretly always his plan though? Why he’d decided to interview for a position based out of Aspen?
He told himself it was to be closer to his family. To help them as his mom got up there in years. He could have continued to tell himself that everyday, as long as he didn’t run into his redheaded vixen and feed his delusional idea he could make up for lost time.
It was too late for that, though. He’d seen her. Felt her. Remembered what her presence did to him.
“You okay to stand on your own?” She checked on him when they’d reached the front door.
“Yeah, I’m not quite as sore.” It wasn’t true, but she didn’t need to know that.
Cami left his side and unlocked the door, swinging it open. Bear charged from behind them, dodging through the small space between their legs, knocking Cami off balance. She tried to grab for the door frame, but instead landed in West’s waiting arms, pushing him against the cabin.
Her body tensed, and she looked up at him. An awkward smile pulled at her lips reaching her baby blue eyes, and for a moment, she was the Cami he knew all those years ago. God, she was fucking beautiful.
West backed his hips away from her to hide the growing bulge in his pants.
“Sorry, Bear has absolutely no manners, like at all.”
He laughed and helped her upright. West winced when he stood up straight. The adrenaline was wearing off, and his body was beginning to relax enough to really feel the lingering soreness from the wreck. Add in adjusting to the altitude and the mental marathon of the flashback and he felt as though he could sleep for a week.
Stocking Stuffers: A Five Story Christmas Anthology Page 2
