Page 167 of The Off-Limits Play

It’s a cold, wintery morning. There was a light snowfall last night, so it’ll be pretty out, but it’ll be cold and I’m warm and?—

A gentle knock at the door has my eyes pinging wide open.

With a frown, I wait to see if I was just imagining it, but there it goes again.

Jolie hasn’t even stirred, so I reluctantly push the covers back and slip out of bed.

The floor is freezing as I tiptoe across it and slowly unlock the door to peek into the hallway… and an instant smile spreads across my face.

“Hey, caveman.”

“Hey, kitty cat.” His voice has that early-morning huskiness to it, and my insides sizzle.

“You here to keep me warm?” I whisper. “I swear, I should have just stayed at your place last night. I don’t like sleeping without you.”

His lips twitch and he leans forward, pecking my lips before I open the door a little wider so he can come in.

“Actually, I came to pick you up.”

“What do you mean?” I grab his wrist to check the time on his watch and suddenly remember. “Aren’t you supposed to be training with my dad in like ten minutes?”

“He liked my idea better.”

My eyebrow arches. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

“I want to take you out for a little adventure. You up for it?”

A thrill races through me as my mind conjures up a bunch of different scenarios. “Sure.”

“Sweet, I’ll let you get dressed.”

“What should I be wearing?”

He points down to his sweats and sneakers. “Running clothes.”

“What?”

“We’re going for a run.”

I shake my head and point to my leg. “What?”

“You can do it.”

“Uh… no. I haven’t been running since my accident. I can’t… I can’t run with you.”

“You’re not. I’m running with you. At your pace.”

I bite my lip and back away from him, but he grabs my hip before I can move too far. Coaxing me forward, he wraps his arm around my waist and cinches me against him. “Come on, kitten. We need to start training. We’ve got a Boston Marathon to run.”

A soft laugh punches out of me as my lofty dream meets reality. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“I do.” He nods.

“Carson—”

“Hey.” He cups my face, forcing me to look him in the eye. “You told me never to treat you like a victim or a survivor. You want me to treat you like anybody else. Well, I happen to know that my girlfriend wants to run in the Boston Marathon, and that’s not gonna happen unless she starts training. So let’s go.”

My lips part and he takes advantage, kissing me deep and hard before pulling back and lightly slapping my ass.

---