Page 23 of Crossing Paths
Dash was different. He was safe.
Taking his advice about heading back to the main trail, she turned and ran parallel to it, not wanting to give a hiker a heart attack by crashing through the underbrush right in front of them. Her lungs tightened a little in warning, adding a slight wheeze to her exhales, and she knew she needed to find a hiding spot before her asthma kicked up a fuss about the extended sprint. She managed to keep her feet under her this time as she ran, even though she was scoping out the trees in front of her.
Not that one. Or that. Nope, not that one either. There!Shesaw just what she needed and would’ve smiled if she wasn’t sucking air.Perfect.
Making a beeline to the cottonwood tree with conveniently low branches, she started to scramble up. She only made it five feet off the ground before a large hand wrapped around her ankle and gave a tug. It wasn’t a hard pull, but it was just enough to send her off-balance, and she toppled right into Dash’s arms, giggling as she fell, trusting him completely. There was no way Dash would let her hit the ground.
He laughed—short and rough—as he shifted her in his arms so they were face-to-face and her feet were still dangling above the ground. His amused expression faded, replaced by one that looked…hungry, maybe? Norah stared at him, a part of her mind registering how close their faces were, but most of her was focused on the way his pupils were dilating until the dark brown of his irises had almost disappeared. Her mouth felt dry, and she swallowed, her tongue darting out to lick her bottom lip. His intense gaze dropped to her mouth, which made her stop breathing for a second.
He set her on her feet abruptly, startling her. “Better,” he said, his voice gruffer than usual. “Got to be careful about hiding instead of running though. You don’t want to be trapped.”
Off-balance, Norah just continued to stare at him, uncertain of what had just happened but not wanting to overthink it, especially since she was pretty sure he’d experienced a moment of attraction.
Attraction toher.
In fact, there’d been a moment, right before he’d broken thespell, when she’d wondered if he was going to kiss her. Her face went hot at the idea.
“Ready?” he asked.
Her first thought was that he was asking if she was ready to be kissed, and she felt her skin flame hotter.
“You did great on escaping the choke hold, so let’s do a double wrist grab this time.”
“Right!” The word came out too loud, startling a nearby bird into silence. “Training. I’m ready to…train.”
As his fingers wrapped around her wrists, somehow managing to warm her entire body in the process, she forced herself to concentrate on the drill. Even if hehadconsidered kissing her for a brief moment, that had passed, and she needed to focus on the reason they were here in the wilderness.
Training. He was her trainer, not her boyfriend. Even as she broke from his hold and ran through the trees again, she couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like to have Dash for a boyfriend.
She couldn’t hold back a beaming smile at the thought.
Amazing.It’d be amazing.
Six
“Where are you going?”
At Molly’s question, Norah’s shoulders dropped in a sigh. She’d almost made it through the door. She’d been planning to text her sisters to let them know her plans once she’d gotten safely out of the house—well, an abbreviated version of her plans at least. That way, she could put off the third degree for a few hours until she returned home. Reluctantly, she turned to face her sister.
“Out?” As soon as the one-word question left her mouth, she knew it was the dumbest way to start this conversation. She could actually see Molly’s expression shift as idle curiosity changed to intense interest.
“Out?” Molly raised her voice and called up the stairs. “Cara, you’re going to want to get down here for this! Norah’s being weird in an interesting way again!”
Another sigh escaped Norah, this one feeling like it came all the way from her toes. She might as well spill everything, since she knew her sisters wouldn’t let her leave until their avid curiosity was satisfied. “I’m—”
“Hang on.” Molly made a shushing motion. “Wait until Cara gets down here. She won’t want to miss this.”
Feet thundered down the stairs, and a grinning Cara passedMolly and plopped down on the couch, looking as if she was fully ready to be entertained. All she was missing was a bowl of popcorn.
All afternoon, Norah had debated whether to tell her sisters the full story of why she was going out tonight. She’d promised to ask for backup if needed, but with Dash, she already had a very burly person to help her out if things got hairy. On the other hand, she wanted them to know where she was going to be, since even the biggest guys could get in trouble, and she’d only started getting a handle on this hand-to-hand combat thing. She was pretty sure her small successes in the gym wouldn’t translate to winning a street brawl. If she told her sisters the truth, however, they’d just worry…and probably either lock her in her room or insist on going with her. Besides, if she and Dash got into trouble they couldn’t handle, she could always text her sisters. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission after all.
Her sisters’ expressions were getting more gleeful the longer she hesitated, and Norah realized she’d been doing that a lot lately—figuring out which truth would keep her sisters safe while minimizing her own embarrassment. She missed the days just a month ago when she’d been an open—albeit boring—book. Now she had secrets coming out of her ears.
“I’m going out.”
“You’re stalling,” Cara said.
Norah couldn’t wait for her sister to have her own class of kindergartners on which she could focus her stern expressions rather than using them to keep her family in line.
