Page 1 of Love on the Run

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The pounding was so loud that it seemed like the glass would shatter. Callie, secure in the driver’s seat, woke up with a start, anxiously turning toward the sound. Her seatbelt, still tight around her, stopped her with a jerk, and her tangled hair fell forward, covering her face with an amber curtain of hair thick enough to block the light.

A beam of light shot into the driver’s side window of the car. “Hey, wake up! Open your window!” The pounding came again, less loudly. Someone was tapping the glass.

Callie squinted, putting up her hand to see who was shouting at her. A man, obviously. But she couldn’t discern anything beyond that. She might as well be at the bottom of the ocean for all she could see beyond the car. “Hello?” she said, her voice cracking. She hadn’t spoken to a single soul for over a day, what had turned out to be the worst day of her life.

“Hey, ma’am. You can’t stop on this highway,” the man said through the glass. He took out an object from his back pocket and flipped it open. A glint of metal flashed out, and then Callie saw it was some kind of badge. He held it up to the glass. “Open your window, please. I need to see your license.”

Callie nodded tiredly as she reached for the crank. The car she was driving was so old that power windows probably hadn’t been invented when it rolled off the line. The window creaked open till about halfway down, when it abruptly refused to go further.

“Sorry, it stops there.” Callie said. She felt lightheaded and punchy, uncertain she was really awake. She blinked, still trying to see what the cop looked like. At the moment, he was little more than a shadow, outlined by the slightly luminous night sky. His voice was low and assured, though he could not be much older than she was. She saw the badge, but he was not in a uniform. Instead, he wore jeans and a plain t-shirt. Over that, however, he did wear a jacket that sported a number of official looking patches and pins. She was suspicious.

“You’re really a cop?”

“‘Fraid so, ma’am. I’ll need to see that license and registration, please.”

“I’m not a ma’am, I’m a miss,” said Callie, wondering even as she said it why that would be important.

“I never like to presume,” the cop said with a laugh in his voice. He cast his flashlight beam around the car’s interior in a professional manner, as Callie reached for her bag. He heard her inhale sharply.

“Hey, you’re bleeding!”

Oh, no, Callie thought. She’d momentarily forgotten the awful ache in her left leg, forgotten everything in the last twenty-four hours. “It’s nothing,” she muttered. “Don’t worry. Here.” She shoved her license toward him, hoping to distract him. It didn’t work. He took it, but continued to examine her.

“It doesn’t look like nothing. You bandage that yourself?” He asked, looking at her carefully. He pulled the door open, stepping more fully into her line of sight. Her eyes had adjusted by now, and she figured he was maybe just over thirty years old, tall, dark-haired, and well-proportioned.Just a regular guy, she thought hazily.Except, you know, gorgeous. And the hat…

“Are you a cop or a cowboy?” she asked, frowning slightly.

“Both, if I need to be. But you need to see a doctor about that cut.”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted, her voice wavering with the effort of staying awake. This guy really needed to leave her alone. “I just needed to rest for a bit. I’ll go find a hotel…” She blinked, realizing that he was no longer in focus. Then she slumped forward in a dead faint.

* * * *

Jake lunged forward and caught the woman just before her head would have smashed into the steering wheel. “What the…” he muttered. The woman was frighteningly pale, and had clearly lost a lot of blood from the wound on her leg. He winced when he saw the deep red stain seeping through the cloth. He had to get her to the clinic. Unfortunately, it was well after midnight. And in this part of Montana, the chances of someone coming by to help him move her were slim to none. “Guess I’m on my own,” he muttered.

Leaning over her, he unbuckled her seatbelt. The woman slipped down further now, and he grunted a little as he pulled her out of the driver’s seat. Once he had her out, it was much easier to carry her. She barely weighed more than his ten-year-old niece, who he could carry for miles.

This woman was no little girl, though. Despite her condition, he was sharply aware of her body as he carried her toward the patrol vehicle, which also happened to be his own truck. Thick red hair spilled out over her shoulders, and her tank top revealed skin so creamy he immediately wondered what it tasted like. Real people just weren’t this perfect. Jake swallowed and shook his head, forcing himself to think about the task at hand—getting medical attention for an injured woman. He got to his car and opened the passenger door with one hand. He placed her on the seat as gently as he could, and she stirred, pushing him away. “I don’t need a ride. I don’t need help.”

“You keep telling yourself that, honey. When the doctor agrees, you can do whatever you want.” He straightened up after belting her in, then walked back to the old heap of a car. Glancing inside again, he saw more red stains on the floor by the pedals, and the tangy, coppery smell of blood filled the air.What the hell happened to this girl?He looked around the seat, finding a small purse and a duffel bag lying on the passenger seat. He grabbed both. Chances were that no one would come by and steal anything tonight. But Jake rarely took chances. He headed back to the truck, where the girl had slid down into the seat, her hair falling over her face.

Once on the road, he called into dispatch. “Is someone on call for the clinic? I’ve got a patient. Car accident.” Which wasn’t exactly incorrect. She was in a car, and she clearly had some kind of accident.

“Dr. Murphy’s on tonight,” the county dispatcher’s voice crackled on the wire. “I’ll call his cell right now. He lives close by—he’ll probably be there before you. Over.”

“He’d better be. Over and out.”

Jake put the radio back in its holster on the dash. As he did, he glanced over and saw the woman looking at him, her eyes unfocused. In the darkness, broken only by the dashboard lights, he couldn’t see what color they were, but he was struck by how beautiful she was, even in that condition.

“You’re not after me, are you?” She asked, her voice nervous and exhausted all at once.

“Should I be?” He asked, more to keep her awake than anything else.

“No. I didn’t do anything. Promise.”

“But you had an accident, right? Didn’t you have anyone with you who could drive?” Jake wondered briefly if she had been camping or hiking in the mountains. But after another look at her face and outfit, he decided that was unlikely. She was in shape, for sure, but she couldn’t be an outdoors-type, not with that ivory skin.

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