Page 7 of Elijah's Hope
“Trust me, you’ll like the guys. They will be there tonight at the bar. While we give each other a lot of shit, we’re pretty tight. You would have been happy with anyone of them as your date.”
She tilted her head and smiled. “Aren’t I supposed to think you’re the best date?”
I ran a knuckle lightly under her chin. “Baby, that’s a given.”
“Did you just call mebabywhen you barely know me?”
I flashed her a smile. “You bet I did, baby. I’ll be back in a few hours to take you shopping and then dinner. Get some rest. Sound good?”
She nodded.
I hesitated because I had this weird inclination to bend down and kiss her mouth. Not anything super sexy. Just a kiss. Two lips meeting. A sense of intimacy.
Except she was right. I didn’t really know her. I just felt like I did. I could count the time I had spent with her in minutes, yet she was already familiar to me.
Which was crazy.
I left her then and gave myself a shake to clear my head. I was being ridiculous. She seemed like a sweet, pretty woman. Everything she represented herself to be in her profile. I was just happy with the result of my efforts.
Having a night out with Shelby… worth every penny.
* * *
Shelby
Eli shut the door behind him and I let out a sigh of relief. The hard part was over.
I was here. I’d made it. Step one of the plan was complete.
Make it to Alaska. Get away from home.
Step two: play nice with the very large oil rigger.
Geesh, he was big. I suppose I should have known that based on his profile, but seeing him up close and personal had been something else. He was someone I was going to have to be careful with how I played him.
Step three: start my life over.
Simple.
I walked over to the bed and fell back into it with my arms spread. This was the craziest thing I had ever done and I couldn’t believe it was working. I was in a place no one could find me.
I pulled my phone out of the satchel I had brought along. Still no phone service. Which meant no one could reach me.
I was a ghost.
Beyond that, I had averylarge man, who was being super sweet to me so far. Probably because I was the first woman he’d seen in a dress since he’d been up here.
Sometimes men could be ridiculously easy.
He’d brought a chaperone to the airport. That was thoughtful of him. The last thing I considered the men in my life to be were thoughtful. Plus, he was going to take me shopping later. Both positive signs he wasn’t ready to kick my ass to the corner at first sight.
Not that I thought he would, but still, I’d had this crazy fear that it would be written all over my face what I was really doing here in Alaska. I wanted at least a few days to settle myself before I left.
I certainly wasn’t here for anything as simple as a date.
No, I had come all this way to Hope’s Point for one reason and one reason only.
I was here to save my life.
