Page 58 of The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

I nod. By now, she has to know that I do. “Of course, I do,” I tell her, emboldened by the chance to admit that out loud to this sweet woman who had taken me under her wing without any questions asked. I spill all my feelings. “I like him, Marian. I really like him. I care for him more than I have for any other man who’s been in my life, and likely still will, no matter what breaks us apart.”

“Don’t say that. Don’t count on it failing.”

But it will. I know that.

“What I feel for Caleb will never die out. He makes me feel strong, and gorgeous, and smart, and wanted. He makes me feel like I matter.” And that’s something I’ve never experienced before. “If we’d met under different circumstances, I could have fallen in love with him.”

If I haven’t already.

Marian comes close and takes hold of my upper arms. Her thumbs rub over my biceps in a gentle and soothing manner, grounding me. “Caleb is willing to fight for you. If he hasn’t told you that himself, I will relay what he swore to me. He feels the same way about you, honey. And he is determined to fight for you.” She pauses, hesitant as she looks away as though she doesn’t want to speak any further about this topic. Then she opens her mouth and continues. “Even if it means getting into a fistfight and risking violence.”

I’m stunned and scared. Caleb’s actually going to fight Jeremy?

“Caleb is a strong man. He’s no weakling, and he won’t bow to Jeremy. He’s a stubborn man. If there is anything he can do to protect you from Jeremy and what he wants to do, then Caleb will do it. I am confident in this.”

“I am too.” When I say it, I’m not praising his determination to have my back. I’m dreading that he will. This isn’t the case of a man wanting to protect the woman he’s with. I’m a package. I come with a bundle of drama and trouble, weighed down with all that baggage. “He’ll get tired of dealing with this.”

“That’s crazy!” Marian shouts incredulously.

I shake my head, I’m so deep in this dizzying spiral of panic that I can’t cling to a logical thought.

“I don’t want Caleb to get wrapped up in all of this. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“Neither do you.”

“I can’t let his life be ruined with mine. And Jeremy will never stop.” I’ll never be free. With that fact hitting home, I grab the meager belongings I have. These hand-me-downs another guest left here are all I have, and once I’m back home, they’ll be tossed into the trash.

“Lauren, please, stop.”

I can’t let Marian’s pleading tone get to me.

“He already went after him.”

The shirt in my hand drops, missing the bed and falling to the floor. “What?” I demand as I pivot to narrow my eyes at her.

“He went after Jeremy.”

My heart sinks, and with that awful, drowning sensation, I slump down on my bed. Seated on the edge, I zone out and stare at nothing.

Marian grumbles when her cell phone rings, but once she realizes it’s the new guests checking in, she has to leave. “Don’t go anywhere, Lauren,” she scolds, sounding like a parent again. “We’re not finished talking.”

Once she leaves, I know I’m done listening, though. No matter what she comes back to say, there’s no hope.

Chapter 23

Caleb

I speed as fast as I can in Marian’s pickup, hunting down Jeremy. He’s not on Meadow Lane, and as I head through the downtown area Lauren and I just spent last night and this morning enjoying, I don’t see him. Only when I get further into the heart of Breckenridge proper do I catch sight of that black SUV.

After I park at the curb, I stride down the sidewalk to confront him. I wish Dalton was here. He’s not a bad guy to have as backup. I’m seething, seeing red as I stalk after this asshole, and I know myself well enough that I’ll be tempted to let this escalate. It would do me good to punch Jeremy and wipe that smirk off his face. He wore it in damn near every picture I saw online. A smug, pansy-ass smile like he thinks he’s better than everyone else. It’s the look of a righteous, self-absorbed jerk, and no one needs them around. I’ll have to focus to keep my temper in check, and if my best friend was here with me, he’d be able to watch my back and prevent things from getting too ugly.

Or maybe not. I spot Jeremy up ahead, near the same coffee shop I stopped in for directions when I was first looking for the Goldfinch Ridge. He’s sneering at an older couple as they take their time exiting the place.

Just the sight of him makes me want to lose it. Arrogance rolls off him in waves. Even if I didn’t know about how he treated Lauren, I wouldn’t care for him from a distant glance. He just has that look, asking for it. Like he revels in stirring up shit for the sake of it. I’ve met many people just like him, thinking the world revolves around him, and everyone else is inferior.

Superiority complex.

And I’m about to knock him off the pedestal he puts himself on.

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