Page 68 of Crossing Paths
“I knew,” he said gruffly, but even that interjection wasn’t enough to stop Norah’s once-in-a-lifetime unstoppable avalanche of words. She could feel the heat of Dash’s gaze, but she didn’t look at him, focusing instead on poor, uncomfortable Davies.
“Oh well, it was still probably an odd thing to suddenly learn you were fake dating me, so thank you anyway.” What waswrongwith her? “Plus you had a brand-new nickname that made you sound like a cartoon character from the fifties. That can’t have been fun.”
“It’s…fine.” Davies was looking embarrassedanda little panicked at this point.
“It’s over now though,” she hurried to say, wanting to reassure him. “The detective knows we’re no longer together. We’ve fake broken up so I can fake date Dash now.”
“Realdate,” Dash corrected in a grumbly tone, making hergaze fly to meet his.
His interruption startled her enough to make her stop talking, and she was grateful to him and also a bit thrilled he’d announced their relationship in front of Molly, John, and even her fake ex.
“Right. Real date.” She couldn’t hold back a smile.
“Okay.” Davies, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there, started backing away from their small group. “Uh…later.” With a final flustered lift of his chin, he skirted around them and took off down the trail at a rapid pace just short of a sprint.
“Oh, Norah…” Molly’s voice was still shaky with laughter. “I think you broke that poor man.”
Biting her lower lip, Norah watched the rapidly retreating figure. “I know. I feel bad. I just…couldn’t stop making it worse.”
“I was impressed.” John had stopped laughing, but he still wore an enormous grin. “I didn’t think there were that many words inside you, little sis.”
Norah could only manage a small groan in response.
A snort came from Dash that sounded like a muffled laugh. When she looked at him though, he’d regained his usual poker face. “C’mon,” he said, catching her hand in his in order to tug her forward. “Let’s go.”
Norah gave the distant Davies a final, regretful glance before picking up the pace next to Dash. He held her hand for several strides, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze before he released her. That small sign of affection settled her nerves, although sheknew she’d replay every excruciating moment of the encounter as soon as she was alone.
A renewed chuckle came from Molly. “I’m so glad we got to meet your fake ex.”
This set John off again, although this time he managed to run and laugh at the same time. “Thanks for inviting us along on your run, Norah. I would’ve hated to have missed Bruiser.”
Norah shot them a look over her shoulder, making them burst into fresh laughter. Giving up on subduing their mirth, she peeked at Dash out of the corner of her eye. “Tell him I’m sorry next time you see him.” She was suddenly glad the gym was closed so her mortification had time to fade a little before she had to see Davies again.
“For what?” he asked, looking honestly puzzled.
“For…that.” She didn’t even know what to call it, so she just waved a hand behind her in the general direction Davies had run. “I didn’t mean to embarrass him.”
His chuckle wasn’t muffled this time. “Not your fault.” Before she could argue that it was very much her fault, he kept talking. “Davies gets flustered whenever he gets within six feet of a woman.”
“So it wasn’t just the Bruiser thing or the fake dating thing or my talking about both of those things way too much?” His words soothed the burn of her embarrassment, but she still had her doubts.
“Maybe a little, but mostly it’s just because you’re hot and you were talking to him.”
Norah studied the left side of his face—her preferred side,since it was less perfect than the other—looking for any sign he was hedging the truth in order to make her feel better. Then she realized this wasDash. He never skirted the truth just to spare her feelings. That was why she’d liked him immediately when she’d met him and a big part of why she liked him even more now.
“Okay,” she finally said, her anxiety calming as she settled into a steady pace.
Molly and John were chatting behind her about the skip they were planning to pick up in Pueblo, and their voices merged into a steady background noise as Norah got lost in the regular beat of her feet hitting the ground and the warmth of the dappled sun on her skin. Running had never been her strong suit, but the man next to her somehow made it enjoyable. He made her feel comfortable yet amped at the same time, and she shifted slightly closer to him.
He gave her one of his crooked, one-sided smiles that she returned with a beam. It didn’t matter if one or more of her multiple stalkers were watching her, plotting something dastardly. For now, she was happy to just be alive with Dash at her side.
Sixteen
Dash must’ve felt something similar, since he didn’t seem to want their time together to end. Groans from Molly and John when the run extended too long eventually turned to serious whining. After a shared glance, Dash and Norah turned toward home.
“Next time, we should run the north trail. It has those neat little hills that feel like a baby roller coaster,” Molly said as they all stretched in their backyard, hiding from Mr. P’s view.
John grunted from where he was flopped out on the grass, not stretching anything from what Norah could see. “I thought we agreed we’re never running with these two again.”
