Page 19 of When Glitter Meets Gold

The family had been devastated, but now, at the age oftwenty-nine, J could see that his father’s departure was the best thing that ever happened to his family. He might have lost a parent, but he also gained a type of twisted role model. He examined every unbearable trait of his father’s and swore to do the opposite.

A stray curse slips from his lips as a pang of irritation courses through him; he’s angry that he’s allowed his mind to meander to a place he vowed never to revisit.

He glances over at Sara who, wide-eyed, is plucking a single cobweb from the kneecap of her leggings, blissfully unaware that the rest of the silvery web spans the back of both thighs—best not to tell her just yet, delivering such information would only invite more shrieking.

Instead, he contemplates the other reason he didn’t admit he remembered her.

The life he’s built, and the man he’s become, came with a price.

People tended to disappoint him, usually by exploiting him in one way or another. Create false narratives, twist, and manipulate any given scenario. Everything could somehow be used against him. He’d learned the hard way enough times over the years, which means it wouldn’t hurt to tread carefully.

For all he knows, the car crash could be a setup, and Sara could be lying about who she is. Or maybe everything is a scheme to collect money she thinks she’s owed. She mentioned a therapy bill after all, so nothing could be ruled out just yet.

When he’s sure she’s not looking, J surveys her with more scrutiny. Sara had changed a lot over the years, and he’d never have picked her out of a lineup as the shy little eight-year-old with dark, frizzy hair from all those years ago.

Now she’s twenty-five, still not a nature lover clearly, butmore confident, and far sassier. Lighter hair and more defined features, and decently put together, considering the whole car wreck thing. He also can’t deny how pretty she is. Piercing hazelnut eyes, sun kissed skin, full lips, full breasts…fullgorgeousbreasts.

Wait, what?

Oh, no. No, no, no. Not thinking about her like that because above all, she’s whiny and irritating and she makes a lot of noise. Pain in his ass for sure.

But…there’s also an innocent side to her too. A side that makes him want to make sure she gets out unscathed. Hard when she won’t stop flinching every time the wind blows.

Now she’s using her sweater to swat violently at a furry thing at her feet. He doesn’t bother to tell her it’s just a rock covered with moss. And why isn’t she putting that sweater on? She’s going to freeze and get bitten alive in just that damn tank top that’s making her breasts pop.Jesus.He orders himself to tear his mind from her body and return to the situation.

He shakes his head, considers that maybe she really is innocent. There’s always the chance she knows nothing about him at all. Doubtful given the fact they both live in New York; she’d mentioned that earlier. But she didn’t know about his name change. From Jack Baker to J Vandenberg.

He’d adopted the elusiveJwhen he moved to New York, keen to start a fresh life but not quite ready to get rid of his roots entirely.Jallowed him to go back to Jack if he ever had the desire. He doubted it, but the option was there.

He sighs as the first drop of rain lands on the muscular ridge of his forearm.

The air is warm and sticky. Weird for this time of year, he should be layering up, not thinking about stripping down.

He surveys the surrounding area. He realizes they’ve cleared more ground than he’d hoped and have moved beyond the majority of dangerous fall spots, which meant no major slopes for Sara to fall from.

He glances behind him. She’s walking as quickly as she can to keep up with him, her ankle clearly causing her discomfort. A person really would have to be crazy to roll their car off a mountain just to get some attention. But then, the world’s full of crazy—he’d seen it all.

He’s about to look away from her but sudden movement keeps him watching. He sees her clutch her shoulders as she leans back to avoid a moth hovering too close to her face. She’s puffing out her cheeks, blowing like a lunatic to get the pea size creature away from her.

Good God, if this is all an act, then she deserves an Oscar.

He checks his radio because, surely, they’re out of the dead zone by now.

Static.

Probably the clouds. Sometimes communications could falter when the weather took an ugly turn.

He stops in the center of a small clearing lined by clusters of elm trees, their trunks wide and their canopies dense. It’s the best type of shelter they’re going to get.

“Alright.” J sets down his belongings. “We’ll shelter here for a while.”

Sara looks at him like he’s sprouted a second head. He knows she wants to comment about the distinct lack of shelter. She’s looking around, probably scanning for that tower he mentioned. Her body language becomes more flustered with every raindrop that falls on the perfect hair she’s desperately trying to protect.

J takes a deep breath as he unzips something from thetop of his backpack. He decides he’s spent enough time with this girl to form a rough opinion of the kind of person she is. A city girl for sure, likes to take care of herself. Probably has one of those before bed routines that takes over an hour. Probably sleeps on silky sheets with an even silkier pillowcase.

Which is why he braces himself for the tirade of sass he’s about to receive when he tells her they’re about to share atentfor the night.

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