Page 69 of The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

The idiot. It didn’t matter what she wore. It mattered what she hid inside—a warm, generous, yet scarred heart.

With the sun rising and drying the grass, I hope I’ll tire myself out enough to not dwell on the hurt and fury that fills me. It won’t disappear. Walking a million steps won’t erase the memories of what happened and the stinging lesson that Lauren didn’t feel the same about me.

I give up, finally, when I see the bed-and-breakfast guests coming out to start their days of relaxing or hiking. Distance is still wise for me. I don’t want to make small talk with anyone, and I worry that someone could have heard our arguments and shouts.

Defeated and destroyed, I head up to my suite and stand under the shower until I can’t feel my tenderized skin on my shoulders and upper back. Pounded raw from the high water pressure, it’s desensitized and numb.

Like the rest of me.

I lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling until that, too, drives me crazy. Maybe too much distance isn’t smart right now, and maybe it would help to talk, to get those overwhelming sensations off of me. But who? Who can I talk to? Marian? I think she needs to recover in her own way.

There’s only one other person who can understand me, and I call him. After I put on my boots, I head out on the trail Lauren and I shared.

Dalton answers on the first ring. “Hey, man. I was wondering what you’re so busy with that you can’t even call me once.”

His tone is teasing and light, but the message hurts. I was busy. Chasing after Lauren, trying to win her over, then loving on her when she gave in. Now, she’s gone.

I sigh.

“Uh-oh. You’re that bored?”

“No.” And I tell him. I explain it all, from the moment I met her. “I’m not kidding, Dalton. She’s the most gorgeous woman on earth, and I’ve seen my fair share of them all.” Then the moment when I saw her at the bed-and-breakfast. “I thought she’d be a quick way to pass the time.” And more, when I realized she wasn’t fawning over me like women usually did. “She just wouldn’t give in, fighting me no matter what.”

“What happened?”

“She…We…” I groan. “I lost her.”

“How? Why?”

“You remember that asshole I asked you about?”

“The idiot from Cali? George or something?”

I roll my eyes. “Jeremy.”

“Klein! Right. Yeah, what about—Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

He hisses. “He’s the ex she ran away from?”

“The one and only,” I reply as I duck under a low branch.

“I am totally lost.”

I’m glad I’m not, since Lauren was the one who always kept us right on the trail. It’s less confusing now, and I know it’s because I focused on her when we hiked, not the path.

“He tracked her down somehow,” I guess.

“How, though?” Dalton replies. “If she was so careful about running away, I have to imagine she was sharp enough to play it safe once she got away.”

“She was. She told me she threw away her phone and cards before she got on the bus.”

“Then what happened?”

I shake my head, not dwelling on the how of Jeremy finding her, just that he had. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought too much about it yet. He just showed up. She was terrified when he followed us to the bed-and-breakfast.”

“I’m still not getting the whole picture, man. You said you were with her in the truck, right?”

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