Page 28 of Highball Rush
“Keep me posted.”
“Will do. Talk to you later.”
I put my phone down, feeling a little shaky. Why had that left me so unsettled? I was still struggling to reconcile what was happening. Talking to Oliver felt so normal—so Maya. But I was sitting in a log cabin outside Bootleg Springs, with Gibson Bodine working in his shop outside.
Henna’s soothing voice ran through my mind.Meditate and let it go, sunflower.That was exactly what I needed to do. Center my energy. Be present in the moment.
I found a blanket, folded it neatly, and set it on the floor in front of the couch. Sitting cross-legged, I closed my eyes and breathed.
At first, my mind spun like a whirlwind, thoughts flitting in and out of my consciousness. I kept breathing. Centering. Gradually, the chaos diminished. I felt a familiar sense of peace and calm.
The box still made its presence known. Without trying to push it away, I acknowledged it. It wasn’t a problem for right now. Not this minute. For now, I was in a holding pattern.
Gibson hadn’t explicitly invited me to stay today. He’d just acted as if I would. And as I sat there, breathing deeply, my mind calm, I realized I was glad. He hadn’t insisted I stay or pressed me to tell him what I planned to do. He’d just bought me breakfast food—and lunch, and dinner, and bathroom toiletries—and told me to make myself comfortable while he went to work.
He wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy, but I felt welcome. Like if I told him I wanted to hide out here for the next few days—or weeks, or even longer—he’d just shrug, like it wasn’t a big deal.
The door opened, and I heard Gibson’s heavy boots on the floor. Slowly, I let my eyes drift open. He stood just inside, as if he’d paused mid-step to look at me.
God, that brow furrow was sexy.
“You okay?” he asked.
I took one last cleansing breath. “Fine. Great, actually. I was just meditating.”
“Huh. Hungry?”
“Is it lunchtime already?” I uncrossed my legs and stretched them out, wiggling my bare toes.
“Yeah.” Something dinged and he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. With a roll of his eyes, he put it back.
“Everything all right?”
“Scarlett’s just being… Scarlett.” He went into the kitchen, so I got up and followed. “It’s fine, I’ll handle her.”
“Handle her?”
He got out a loaf of bread and set it on the counter. “She saw your sandals this morning, so now she thinks I have a girlfriend I’m hiding from everyone.”
Gibson’s secret girlfriend? I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling. Why did that thought make me so giddy? God, I wasn’t a little girl anymore.
But it was still fun to imagine.
“Are you known for hiding women out here?”
He scowled down at the sandwich he was making. “No.”
I nudged him with my elbow. “Uh-oh. Should I have checked to see if you locked me in from the outside?”
That earned me a smile. “Yeah, I barred the door so you couldn’t get out.”
“I had a feeling you were evil.”
A knock at the front door made me jump. Gasping, I grabbed Gibson’s arm. His solid muscle flexed in my grip and he looked down at my hand. I was about to snatch it away and apologize, but then he gently laid his over mine.
“Wait in the bedroom. I’ll get rid of them.” He squeezed my hand.
I nodded and he let go. I cast a quick glance around to see if there was anything obvious sitting out that someone might see from the doorway. The blanket I’d used for meditating was on the floor, but that wasn’t incriminating. I picked up my sandals, letting them dangle from my grasp, and tiptoed down the hall to Gibson’s bedroom.
