Page 41 of Run with Me

“It’s not your fault. It’s just been a very stressful few months.”

He was sitting beside me now, uncoiling my twined fingers and forcing me to look at him from underneath my soaked lashes.

“How did you end up here? What happened?” he asked. “Wait, don’t answer. The time will come when you’re ready, and we can talk about it then. Right now, we’re goingout.”

“What? Oh, no, I can’t goout.”

“Yes, I know you’re in hiding, but Ben’s not looking for you in Manhattan.”

“How do youknow?”

“I just know. Get dressed. There’s somewhere I want to takeyou.”

“Are you sure aboutthis?”

“Yes. I’m not letting you go, Anna. Not thistime.”

I wanted to pretend that his words reflected his need to protect me, but they meant so much more. And the way Xavier was looking at me didn’t remind me anything of the way Jack or John had. It was more intimate. Xavier scanned my body from the bottom up and then back down again, and I heated. He looked… hungry. Forme.

“Excuse my bluntness, though some may argue the fact: it’s been a while since I’ve had a womanhere.”

“That’s not what the drawer full of panties implies.”

When his brow rose, I explained. “I may have opened a drawer looking for shorts before Mary brought in morebags.”

“You were going to wear my shorts?”

“It was either that or your underwear.”

The sound of Xavier’s chuckle made my heart pump faster. He was like an aphrodisiac. Once you looked at him, you fell under the spell of his trance. His eyes captivated me. I liked him. I really, really liked him, and I felt guilty aboutit.

“Xavier, I appreciate you letting me stay here, but I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.”

“I won’t deny how attractive I find you, Anna, but I also respect you andJohn.”

But he’d never metJohn.

“Thank you. You really think I could actually stay here? I’ll look for a job and a place of my own, of course, but I have to admit, it would be nice starting a new life knowing that I have a friend.”

“Yeah, you can definitely stay. Wait – you’re planning to have this babyhere?”

“Not here here. Probably near here, once I find a job and an apartment. Why?”

“What aboutJohn?”

“It’s complicated. I can’t go back toPace.”

“What happened? What did Bendo?”

I bit my lip. Maybe Xavier would understand. “I… I burned down Ben’s house.”

I might as well tell him what had happened now. Maybe I’d scare him enough that he’d change his mind about his offer to stay here, and I wouldn’t get any more attached than I alreadyhad.

Xavier chuckled, shaking his head, but when our gazes connected, he stopped. “Oh, you’re serious. Anna, why? Of all people you could piss off, you chose Ben Cortez?”

“What?”

“What do you mean, what?”

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