Page 8 of Wild Runaway
“Sorry,” I say between tears. “You’ve been so kind.”
With his warm hand on my mine, the first kind touch I’ve had in months, the flood gates open and I can’t stop them. Everything I’ve been holding back for the last few months bubbles up inside me.
Joseph doesn’t ask questions, which is good because I’m not ready to tell my story. Instead, he comes around to my side of the table and crouches next to my chair. His strong arms fold around me and he holds me silently as I cry, snot running into his checkered shirt.
We stay like that for a long time until my sobs dry up. I feel utterly drained when I sit back on my chair. But the knot in my stomach has lessened, and my chest feels less tight. For the first time today, I feel like I did the right thing.
Joseph trains his sparkling blue eyes on me. They’re full of concern and warmth and a flash of something else. I recognize it as desire before he sits back on his haunches and looks down.
My body tingles. I’m red-eyed and puffy and covered in snot, but one look from this man has my core clenching and heat coursing through my veins.
It’s been a long time since someone held me and a long time since a man looked at me with desire, no matter how fleeting. I need to get a grip.
“Thank you, Joseph. I mean it. We had nowhere else to go today.”
He lifts his hand, and I think he’s going to touch my face, but instead he does this awkward pat on my head.
“I’ll look after you, Trish. You and the baby. You have nothing to worry about again.”
His words are confusing. The tone sounds final, like he’ll always look after me and Rose, but that’s ridiculous. He must just mean while we’re here.
He stands back on his feet and clears the bowls away.
I try to help with the washing up, but Joseph won’t let me. Instead, he runs a bath for me and insists I bathe and get to sleep. I don’t fight it; the day has left me exhausted, and I can barely keep my eyes open.
“I’ll sleep in the pickup so you have nothing to worry about,” he says.
I shake my head. “You don’t need to do that. It’s bad enough that we’ve taken your bed. At least sleep on the couch.”
I barely know him, but I feel I can trust Joseph. More than that, as I soak in his giant bathtub, my thoughts go to the feel of his arms around me, how he smelled like pine and rosemary, the way my heartbeat quickened when he hugged me, and those sparkling blue intense eyes.
I shake the thoughts out of my head. He’s the first man who’s been kind. That’s all it is. He’d do the same for anyone, and if there’s one lesson I should have learned by now, it’s not to get carried away when a man shows you kindness. It doesn’t last.
But he’s different.
My heart whispers things to me that I’m not ready to hear.
I drain the bath and snuggle next to Rose. She seems safe enough in her makeshift towel crib, and I’m soon fast asleep.
5
JOSEPH
Mornings are my favorite time in the cabin. With a steaming coffee, I sit out on the porch listening to the bird chatter, the wind rustling the leaves, and the wildlife shuffling through the undergrowth.
But the morning after Trish and the baby crash into my world is different.
It’s before dawn when the cries reach my ears. They’re muffled, coming from the bedroom, but they permeate the stillness of the cabin.
I pad to the bedroom door and hear Trish making shushing noises. The baby’s probably hungry and needs a bottle.
I knock gently and push the door open, intending to let Trish know I’m awake and she can use the kitchen to heat the bottle. But the words die on my lips.
She’s wearing one of my t-shirts, which hangs almost to her knees and hugs her curvy figure. One side is snagged on Rose’s blanket and it pulls upward, exposing a thick creamy thigh. My mouth goes dry as I think about sliding my hand up the t-shirt and discovering what’s at the top of her luscious thighs. I drag my gaze away, but my dirty thoughts follow as I glimpse her tits pushed up against the t-shirt. She’s braless, and the shape of her nipple presses against the cotton.
My dick stirs to life, and I’ve barely got my eyes open but I’m already imagining all sorts of ways I want to fuck her.
I turn away, intending to get out of here before Trish sees the tenting in my track pants. She’s pacing the room jiggling Rose on her hip, but before I can retreat, she sees me.
