Entangled (Free Indeed Book 1) (11 page)

So even though he really, really didn’t want to, he pulled back and smiled down at her adorably cute face. “Sweet dreams.” And then just because it was such a cute, wistful face, he leaned forward and placed a very simple kiss on the end of her nose. Then he gave her hand one last comforting squeeze and walked out of her room. Maybe some manual labor of unloading the truck would help take his mind off of how much he wanted her right now.

A
llie gazed
out the truck window at the passing scenery whipping by. It was so beautiful here. She could honestly see herself living in Serenity for the rest of her life. And to make it even better, she had made wonderful friends and acquaintances who were becoming closer and tighter every day. Or in the case of the gab-together-girls, every week. A smile spread across Allie’s face when she thought about all of the wonderful people she had met since coming here.

She cast a glance to her left to take in Jason’s profile from where he sat driving the truck. They had spent such a fun day together. Everything from breakfast, to walking the dogs, to doing chores around the house and ranch, she had truly enjoyed just spending time with him. And now he wanted to take her out to a nice restaurant for dinner, so they got dressed up and jumped in the truck. He said they were going a couple of towns over, so it’d be a little bit of a drive. But she was in good company, and as long as she was with him, she didn’t really seem to care where they went or what they did.

The truck slightly swerved to the right, taking the exit ramp off of the interstate and they made their way into the city limits. After driving for several more minutes, the truck pulled into a large parking lot in front of a quaint, little hacienda type building.

A white adobe type wall surrounded the restaurant without obstructing the view of the building inside. It was only about as tall as Allie, so one could still see over it. The building itself was U-shaped leaving the middle as an open courtyard area complete with a pond and beautiful, colorful plants placed all around. There were tables inside, as well as outside on the patio that circled the pond. It was all very charming, and even though it was a restaurant, it seemed almost peaceful.

Jason turned off the truck and climbed out, then walked around to open her door. He extended his hand to help her down and smiled.

Allie took his hand and jumped down. But then instead of letting her go, he clasped it even more securely as they walked through the arch in the wall to get inside of the restaurant.

The hostess took them to a table on the outside patio next to the pond. It was all so picturesque. She and Jason sat across from each other at the small table. Allie took a moment to look around her at the beautiful scenery. Ducks floated contentedly in the pond next to them, and there were colorful, vibrant flowers everywhere. The entire courtyard seemed to be an explosion of a very vibrant color palette.

“It’s so pretty here.”

At her soft, wistful whisper Jason turned to her and smiled, “Not nearly as pretty as you.”

It was a simple compliment, but it still made her cheeks blush pink. “Thank you for taking me out to dinner,” she said shyly. He had seemed nervous when he asked, but not nearly as nervous as she was accepting. It was a date. And it was the very first date she had ever been on. People in her community didn’t go on dates, they went to church functions or out with a group, but they never, ever went anywhere with someone of the opposite sex without a chaperone.

“Trust me, the pleasure is all mine,” he replied, his warm smile setting her at ease.

They gave their order to the waitress and then talked comfortably until it arrived. Massive amounts of food covered the plates, and it looked amazing. They talked while they ate and got to know each other better. The more Allie found out about Jason, the more she liked him. He was just a really fantastic guy.

As they were finishing their dinner, Allie looked up at Jason and said, “I’m going to wash up really quick, I’ll be right back.” She stood to her feet and made her way to the restroom inside the restaurant. She walked past the indoor diners and made her way to the back. As she reached the hallway that led to the restrooms, something off to the side caught her eye, and intuition made her slightly turn to look. Her body jerked to a stop. A man standing across the room was looking out the oversized glass windows in the direction of the table Jason still sat at. He looked like Paul. But it couldn’t be him. He was back at Free Indeed, and there was no reason for him to be this far away from the community.

Allie’s knees felt weak in fear, and she grabbed hold of the empty table next to her for support. One of the waiters walked by, momentarily obstructing her view. Deep breaths, she reminded herself to take deep breaths to keep from passing out. He couldn’t be here. He just couldn’t. The waiter finally finished delivering his tray full of food and moved back out of the way. Allie glanced back to where the man had been standing, but the space was now empty. She jerked her gaze around the room, taking it in quickly to see if he was there. No sign of Paul anywhere. The tightening in her chest started to lighten, and finally she felt like she could breathe again.

Not seeing any sign of him, she ducked down the hallway and into the restroom. After taking a moment to compose herself, she looked up into the mirror above the sink. Her pale reflection stared back at her. The thought of seeing Paul again had really spooked her. Other than her father, he was the man she feared the most. Probably because he reminded her so much of her father. She certainly never wanted to see either one of them ever again. Allie dampened a paper towel and pressed it to her cheeks. It was all going to be ok. It was just nerves...it had to be, because Paul wouldn’t have come all this way. She was probably just freaked out because of all that had happened over the last couple of days, and then the first side glance at someone who happened to remind her of Paul, and her imagination went crazy.

She sighed. It was such a wonderful date, and she didn’t want a freak out to ruin it. She took a deep breath and turned to walk out of the restroom and back to her table where Jason was waiting.

Jason smiled over at her as she sat back down in her seat. His face instantly turned to a look of concern, “Are you ok? You’re awfully pale right now. What happened?”

Allie looked up into his worried gaze, “I’m ok,” she replied more confidently than she felt. “I—I just thought that I saw someone I recognized a moment ago. But when I looked again, he was no longer there...I think I’m just being paranoid because of the last couple of days.”

Jason stared back at her for a moment, processing what she had said, “Who was it you thought you saw?”

Allie remained silent for a moment staring at her clasped hands in front of her. Part of her was terrified of Jason knowing about the specific details of her past and thinking that she was some type of Jesus-freak. But then there was the other part of her who knew that Jason was a great guy, and he wouldn’t judge her based off of the environment and the people she grew up around. Allie looked up into Jason’s caring gaze and briefly got lost in his eyes.
What the heck,
she decided as she took a deep breath.

“He reminded me of a man I knew back in our community. His name was Paul.” She briefly paused before continuing, “He was my father’s acolyte...his right hand man. Anything my father needed done, Paul would take care of it.” Jason nodded at her to continue. “He absolutely worshipped my father. Sometimes I think Paul idolized him even more than God.” Allie sighed, “And my father just encouraged it. Oddly enough, we were punished for idolizing things on this earth more than God, but when it came to
the man of God
, well then apparently it was ok.”

She was so tired of all the hypocrisy. While she probably should have been bothered or hurt by the duplicity, instead she was so exhausted of it all and just wanted to put everything behind her and never think of it again.

“He followed my father resolutely. It would never occur to him to question my father’s word or will.” Allie continued, “He did such a good job, my father promised him my hand in marriage.” Her breath hitched at little in her throat at the memory, and Jason reached across the table to cover her clasped hands in his own. She looked up at him with the smallest of smiles, “He scared me...just the way he would look at me when no one was watching...and how he would
accidentally
brush up against me when he walked by. I—I just couldn’t marry him—so I ran. I left my family, my community, everything, and just kept running as far as my car would go. I had decided that when my car broke down, I would take it as a sign that it was ok to stop running. And it broke down here—in Serenity.”

“I’m so glad it did,” Jason replied softly, giving her hands a little squeeze. “I honestly can’t imagine you not coming to this town, and not getting the chance to know you.” The left side of his mouth quirked up in a little half grin, “I would have missed out on the best thing that had ever happened to me.”

A small blush crept up her neck at his kind words. In all honesty, she would have been the one missing out on the best thing that had ever happened to her had she never run away. But to hear Jason echo what her heart felt, filled her with happiness to the point where she wanted to burst. How could one man make her feel so wonderful?

The way he gazed deeply into her eyes as if he could never get enough no matter how long he lived. The small touches whether to her hands or arms or even when he threw an arm around her waist, it all made her feel so protected and valued. Jason didn’t want her around to be his housekeeper or his breeding mare. He wanted to spend time with her because she mattered to him as a person. Allie never once felt like a possession to him when she was in his presence. She felt equal. Actually, if she were completely honest, he made her feel superior, like she was the most important woman in the world.

“I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” Allie softly whispered back. “When I stop to think that if I hadn’t run, I’d be married right now to a man who absolutely terrifies me...I’m just so grateful that I did what my gut was screaming for me to do.” Her eyes lifted to meet his, “And to think that I never would have met you...that scares me even more. You’ve become so important to me in such a short amount of time.”

“I’d like to keep becoming more and more important to you every day,” he grinned that adorable half grin that made her belly flutter.

“I—I just might need to take it a little slow.”

“I’m ok with that, Allie. Let’s just take it one day at a time, and see where it goes.”

“I’d like that. Very much.”

At her soft spoken agreement, Jason leaned forward so slowly, almost as if he were afraid of scaring her away. Fat chance of that. It was frustrating to her that she was so bad at discussing or showing her emotions. She had always kept them hidden because it was safer to keep them locked inside where she wouldn’t be judged for them.

But here, now, more than anything she just wanted to be able to tell Jason how she felt about him. How he made her belly tingle with happiness, and how her entire body felt as light as a feather. How her heart would skip a beat whenever she walked into a room and saw him standing there. And especially how, when he leaned toward her like he was doing now, how she wanted nothing more than to kiss him until they could no longer breathe.

All of that was stuck in her throat, and it wanted to come out, but instead she did the next best thing and met him halfway across the table in a sweet kiss.

His hand drifted up to the side of her face as he angled her head so he could kiss her even deeper. She heard his soft moan and released a whimper. She wanted more. She wanted him.

She loved him. The thought penetrated through her impassioned haze and settled in the deepest part of her heart. He was a part of her now. And nothing or no one could ever take that away. The thought thrilled her as well as terrified her, but she knew it was true. And even if he never returned those full feelings, she knew she would be ok with that. The love she had for him only made her stronger, and whatever time she had with him she would take and tuck away those memories.

Jason finally pulled away just enough to be able to look into her eyes. It was a good thing he did because Allie didn’t think she had the strength to stop kissing him. His eyes were dazed with arousal, as he smiled lazily over at her.

“You ready to head on back to the ranch?”

“Yes,” Allie replied. They needed to get out of a public restaurant before they started making out like a couple of kids.

Jason stood up from his chair and reached out a hand to assist Allie to her feet. After stepping away from the table, Allie locked her arm in his as they walked out to the truck.

* * *

J
ason pulled
the truck into his driveway and parked by the front door. He didn’t want to open the door and climb out of the truck because that would mean this date was over. This was the best date of his life, and he didn’t want it to end now.

Shuggy and Mal heard them drive up and started barking excitedly in greeting from inside the house. Allie laughed from beside him, and he sighed. He turned his head to look over at where she was grinning. After giving her a quick wink, he jumped down from the truck and walked around to open her door and give her a hand down.

They walked hand in hand up to the front door, where he swiftly unlocked it with his free hand and pulled the door open. Two bounding bundles of fur exploded from the entryway and quickly circled their legs demanding attention. They both knelt down to let the dogs welcome them home, and Shuggy did her normal
you’ve been gone for days let me cover you with kisses
thing, causing Allie to squeal with laughter.