Page 14 of Laying it Bare on the Run

After dinner, I changed into a pair of jeans I had found stashed in the bottom drawer of his sister’s dresser. They were a little baggy on me, but I felt better wearing them out to the bar rather than a pair of yoga pants. Before meeting him out in the living room, I pulled my hair into a loose ponytail.

Cannon sat on the couch with his back toward me but he turned at my approach. He was still in his jeans and army green shirt. It made the hazel in his eyes pop and I was stunned stupid for a moment. “Cool, you found a pair of jeans.”

“Yeah, she also had a pony tail holder in the box on her dresser. I hope it was okay I went through it looking for one. I figured she wouldn’t have kept anything valuable here; she would have taken her treasures with her.”

“She wouldn’t have minded at all. She’d be thrilled she is helping someone out. I found you a ball cap. Are you a football fan?” Getting up from his seat, he came around to me and held out a Tennessee Titans ball cap.

Words escaped me for a moment. “That was Vincent’s favorite team.” My response barely came out above a whisper as tears welled up in my eyes.

“I’m sorry. I can find you another one. I didn’t even think about that.” He started to walk away but I grabbed his arm.

“No. It’s fine. Thank you. Maybe this will help me to start dealing with my grief. It’s still fresh and I know it’s going to take some time but I do need to start healing.” I accepted the hat, placing it on my head and tucking my pony tail through the back. The smell of Cannon’s shampoo – musk and something woodsy – wrapped around me, making me sigh to myself.

“If you want, if it doesn’t hurt too much, you can keep the hat. Something to hold onto that reminds you of him.” He reached up to run the backs of his fingers along my cheek.

I smiled at the contact. “Thank you. I will hold onto it and the ten dollars I have left.”

“And we’re going to have to order you a few things to wear. How about tomorrow we check my sister’s stock and then figure out what you’ll need so you have stuff to wear in between wash days?”

“I don’t know if I like you spending money on me.” I frowned.

He placed his hands on my waist. “Let me help you out right now. It doesn’t mean you are helpless; it means you are a really intelligent woman who knows when she needs help.” His eyes bore into mine, emotions in their depths I wasn’t sure he wanted me to be able to see right now. “As crazy as it may sound, I care about you, Harper. Let’s go get a drink or two. I think you need at least one.”

He shifted gears so quickly my head swam but I figured if he wasn’t going to expand on his comment I’d let it go too. Besides, I wasn’t sure what to say at this point. I was definitely attracted to him but my emotions had been on high and all over the place for so long that I needed a breather before I could even think about addressing whatever this was between us.

“Are you ready to go then?” He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t know that a few more minutes is going to change anything.”

“I know this is easier said than done but try to push your worries aside and just enjoy a night out. We’ll go have some drinks and hang out and try to relax a little bit.”

I could do this. Geez, compared to what I’d had to deal with for so long, shouldn’t this be a piece of cake? “Okay. I’m ready.” I took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

Grabbing his keys off of the kitchen bar, he then tugged me toward the door. “I found you a pair of Kaylie’s old shoes.” Snatching a pair of white Danskins off of the floor by the entrance, he held them up to me. “They’re a little worn and dingy looking but they are the same size as your gray ones and same style so they should fit you.” He handed me the pair before sliding into his own sneakers.

“Thank you. I wonder how long it would have taken me to realize I was only in socks. Thankfully your sister had a few worn pairs in her drawers.” I released a short chuckle before slipping into the borrowed pair.

“Hopefully, one of us would have noticed before we got to the bar. Your shoes were a nicer color but I don’t know if we’ll be able to get them completely clean. I didn’t throw them away; I set them on the porch up against the wall.”

Once outside, he led me to his Explorer and helped me into the passenger seat before circling the vehicle and crawling into the driver’s side. After turning the ignition, he pulled out onto the road. Before I could turn my attention to the side window and get lost in my thoughts, he wrapped his hand around mine and entwined our fingers. “Is this okay? I feel like you need the connection. But if it makes you uncomfortable, I can stop.”

“No. I think it feels nice.”Nice?No wonder he only does things like this to make me feel better. Feeling a little defeated, I plastered on a fake smile and hoped I was convincing.

The tender smile he gave me in return sent the butterflies in my stomach fluttering and gave me hope that I had indeed pulled off a believable smile.

About ten minutes later, we pulled in front of a nondescript bar with a rustic metal sign with bright blue lettering spelling out the name Benson’s Brews.

“It’s not much but we like to hang out here.” Cannon hopped out of the vehicle, rushed around to my side, and opened my door. Then he offered me his hand.

Fingers interlocked, the two of us walked into the bar. Well maintained wooden booths and tables sat throughout the small area. The entire space was incredibly plain and thankfully not crowded.

“They do bring in a slightly bigger crowd on the weekends. But we like it because it’s not your cliché bar and doesn’t draw in a ton of people looking to get rowdy. We like to toss a few back and relax.”

“It might be plain but it’s definitely not a dive bar. And I like it. I without a doubt would not have been able to handle a hopping bar tonight. So this is good.”

“Hey, Rush. Who’s the hottie?” A guy with short red hair and mischievous blue eyes gestured us over to the table where he sat with two other guys.

“Is that a nick name or does he call you by your last name?” I was trying to get into the mood to socialize and have a good time and ignore the nervous energy that was rolling off of me in huge waves.

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