Page 10 of Rescued By the Guard

“Okay. I’ll help.” I move the blanket and unfasten my seat belt when Dale’s hand lands on mine and shocks radiate up my arm.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I frown. “I’m going to help you.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to stay in the truck, continue to rest, and I can get it on my own. I just need to wrap the chain around the tree and move it off to the side. You need to take it easy.”

“But…”

“No, buts. You need to be taking it easy and until I get a clearance from a doctor you are doing the absolute bare minimum.” He lifts his hand when I’m about to argue with him again. “Nope. We don’t know what’s going on with you until we get you checked out. What if you fall and hit your head again? We can’t take the risk.”

We.I love the sound of we coming from his lips.

It’s irritating that he has a point, and I want to argue with him, but I don’t have a leg to stand on, so I nod and sigh as I rest my head on the seat. “Fine but be careful.”

Dale relaxes after he prepared himself to fight with me, but he explained to me why he didn’t want my help. He didn’t just demand it and that goes a long way with me because it’s been so long since anybody has treated me with such respect and in a partnership.

I frown as I watch Dale pull a couple of large chains out of the back of his pickup and I try to piece together the new sporadic bits of information I’m gaining. It’s surreal to know the tidbits, but not know why I feel and think this way. It’s like I’m watching a movie, but they have the scenes out of sequence and I’m dying to get to the end so I can see how it all plays together.

I remain sitting in the truck and watch Dale work and smile when he gets the road cleared, and he gets out of the truck to undo the chains, and I can’t help watching him work. He’s so capable, and it’s extremely attractive, and I wonder if it’s a trait I’ve always been drawn to.

He bends over to undo the chain around the trunk of the tree, and I lick my lips as I take in his tight ass, and I can’t helpbut want to drool a little. Whether or not I remember my past, one thing I know for sure— no man has an ass as glorious as Captain Dale Mitchell. He clearly works out, but he must spend extra time on that ass because it is so delectable I can stare at it all day.

Hmmm…have I always been attracted to asses?

I giggle as I don’t stress over it because now I know there’s no other competition in the world. Dale has everybody beat, hands down. I giggle harder until something catches my attention from behind a sand dune, or more like a snow dune now.

I squint to get a closer look and a tall, slim man with torn clothes, and a weather worn appearance, shuffles toward the road. Something about him is off and I can’t place my finger on it, but I study him closely.

Dale hasn’t noticed him quite yet as he’s wrapping the chains up.

I glance back at the man and there’s an angry sense about him that has my body shaking, and my breathing labors as something pounds in my head like a flashing neon sign.

My body tenses and I’m geared to run or to huddle in on myself.

The man tries to straighten his clothes as he walks toward Dale, who lifts his head as he hears something. He looks off and spots the stranger walking our way. My eyes land on his hands as he works to straighten his hair, and a whimper falls from my lips.

I’ve seen the action a million times and my jaw drops. Memories flood into my mind and our constant fighting over money, him flirting with other women, and the way he always put me down had me wanting to leave him, but the past few weeks he’s been dragging me out onto the road, and I didn’t have a dime to my name.

The man’s action lodges something in my brain like a light switch going on and I begin to remember.

“Pack up, Amelia, we’re leaving.”

“Leaving. What do you mean we’re leaving? There’s a big storm coming in. The news people are saying we need to shelter in place. Getting on the road is dangerous.”

“Screw the news, people. I’m a good driver and we need to get going.” Wayne’s face glared at me as his stiff jaw and pursed lips showed me once again there was no getting out of the argument. “If you’re not in the car in five minutes, I’m leaving without you.”

Desperate and afraid, I scurried around the room and grabbed my meager belongings and stuffed them into my one bag. I stopped for a second and watched as the weatherman showed the storm brewing and my nerves rattle more.

Several loud honks sounded from outside the motel door and I sighed, running to the car. The rain poured and I was soaked, wishing I had time to change into warmer clothes but I washed them in the motel bathtub and only had the shorts and t-shirt as I had to pack my clothes wet. I wrinkled my nose thinking about how I was going to need to wash them again because they were bound to get a bad smell to them.

“Wayne, what in the world? Why couldn’t we stay? Why are you constantly pushing us onto the road? It’s been weeks and still you won’t tell me what’s going on.”

Wayne’s jaw jutted out and he ignored me.

Sighing, I leaned over to turn on the radio so I could listen to the weather reports, but Wayne shut it off.

“Why did you do that? We need to know what’s happening.”

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