Reasons to Leave (Reasons #1) (4 page)

There were several conversations during the first week where he tried his best to convince her she was wrong, but there were no raised voices. In fact, all in all, it wasn’t a particularly acrimonious break up. It was fairly emotionless on her part. The one thing that had hurt more than anything was that, despite knowing her history, Miles had cruelly called her an ice queen.

She wasn’t an ice queen.

She was broken hearted and there was a vast difference. None of what she had done was intentional or premeditated. None of it had been malicious. She had
tried
to love Miles. He left her alone for a while, but after things had settled down, he had made contact again and asked to take her out for a drink as friends. She wanted to be friends desperately and so she agreed.

They had a nice evening, but she couldn’t help thinking that this was his way of giving her space without actually
giving
her space. There were several evenings like this until she finally admitted to herself that this was a ploy to win her back and it wasn’t going to work. It was his way of reminding her
why
they had been together, how good she’d had it with him. It was a bid at reconciliation on his part but she wanted none of it. Seeing him socially was not a good idea. The main issue being that Miles eventually admitted he was still in love with her and would do anything to get her back.

Back to present day and a year on, nothing had changed. Miles would regularly turn up on her doorstep, begging her to take him back. It was quite ridiculous considering he wasn’t really in the wrong. But she calmly kept telling him that it was over.

****

Back in the real world and the coach pulled under a large wooden sign, which looked like it had been bitten and scratched by some large wild creature or other. Stevie hoped and prayed that this was simply for effect only. It read
Wild Front Here
. She rolled her eyes at the play on words as their vehicle began to travel up a long dirt track road surrounded by yet more trees.

The place was miles from anywhere. Miles from a supermarket, miles from a chemist, miles from a Starbucks, miles from…
Miles
. In fact, miles from any civilisation at all. Who’d have thought you could be so remote in the UK?

The crammed bus finally stopped in a clearing and the driver announced their arrival. The teenagers on board erupted into whoops and cheers, and David did his best to get their attention so he could calm them down. She climbed down from the bus and made her way over to the petite blonde woman in khaki shorts, who was waiting with a clipboard.

“Hi! Welcome to
Wild Front Here
.” She gestured her arms around them with a flourish. Her green eyes smiled.

Stevie wasn’t in the mood for the over-enthusiastically jovial greeting. “Erm…yeah. Thanks. Can you tell me where the toilets are, please?”

The greeter deflated a little. “Oh right…yes…over in that direction, through the trees. Watch your footing though. Lots of branches and things.”

“Thanks.” Stevie headed off in the direction that the woman had gestured. As she walked, her phone rang in her pocket. Checking the screen, she realised it was her mum doing her usual have-you-arrived-safe check. She truly believed the woman still thought she was a child. But she humoured her regularly without too much complaint. Ever since she was eighteen, things had changed. It was as if Dana constantly expected her to go off the rails or have a meltdown. It was infrequent that she snapped, but today—after the seemingly endless journey she had just endured—could well be one of those days depending on the tone of the call.

Stevie sighed. “Hey, Mum.”

“Hi, sweetie. Did you arrive safe?”

She was about to bite back with, “Do I sound like I’m dead in a ditch to you?” Instead she took a deep breath before replying. “Yes…I’m fine. Can’t talk long though as we’ve only just arrived.”

“Yes, no worries, honey. Just checking you’re okay. Speak soon, love you.”

“Love you too, Mum. Bye.” She ended the call feeling somewhat relieved that it had been brief and relatively calm and painless for once.

The cabin housing the toilets was built from rustic looking logs, and she half expected to see holes in the floor to pee in. Thankfully, she was pleasantly surprised at the modern and clean facilities that greeted her. They even smelled fresh.
Bonus.

After using the conveniences, she exited the log cabin and stretched out her back. Sitting on a coach for so long played havoc with her muscles, and she hadn’t been able to get to the gym this week thanks to preparing for this wretched trip. Science club and parent consultations had taken up two further evenings. She inhaled the fresh Scottish air into her lungs enjoying the lack of exhaust fumes and traffic noise.

Movement in her peripheral vision and a grunting noise caught her attention through the trees to her left. Being inherently inquisitive—okay, extremely nosey—she made her way over to have a sneaky look at what was causing the commotion.

A stunning sight greeted her, and she gasped quietly, appreciating the view before her.

He was naked from the waist up, and his tanned skin was glistening with sweat as the sun’s rays beat down on him. The muscles in his back rippled and flexed when he lifted an axe above his head and brought it down with great force on the huge chunk of tree trunk. He grunted fiercely, a raw and almost carnal noise, as the axe made contact with the wood, splitting it right down the middle. An involuntarily twinge tugged between her thighs.

The man had a large tribal tattoo beginning on his left shoulder that reached part way down his back, and another that she couldn’t properly make out but looked like some kind of script, that stretched down the right side of his torso. His hair was around collar length and almost black due to its dampness. The top part was scraped back and secured with a band, no doubt to keep errant strands from his eyes whilst he wielded the sharp weapon in his grip.

He wore khaki cargo pants that hung low on his hips so that the dimples in his lower back were just visible. His biceps bulged as he lifted the axe aloft once more. Interspersed with the muscles and tattoos was the dirt that clung to his sweaty, masculine body.

Her mouth watered and her heart rate increased. She dragged the back of her hand across her damp forehead, suddenly feeling rather feverish. Quite a strong reaction to quite a magnificent specimen of male.

No doubt he must have the face of a bulldog chewing a wasp or at least the personality of an ogre
. She surmised.
He couldn’t be that perfect, really. Could he?
After looking behind her to ensure she wasn’t being observed in all her voyeuristic glory, she leaned in the direction of the hunk to get a closer look, squinting to try to make out the tattoo on his right side or at least get a glimpse of his face to prove her point.

She tried to step forward slightly, but her foot caught on a low branch causing her to lurch in the direction of the hunk and land on her hands and knees with a squeal. The sharp stony ground beneath her knees dug into her flesh as her eyes began to water. Biting down on her lip she tried to fight the urge to yelp even more and draw attention to her faux pas.

Her heart pounded in her chest, hammering at her ribs as if to make its own escape from the embarrassing situation she now found herself in, and she clamped her eyes shut. She quaked inwardly when she heard heavy footsteps rapidly coming toward her. She opened her eyes and stared down at a pair of dirty work boots.

A deep husky voice with a slight Scottish accent asked from overhead, “You okay down there?”

Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, she wished that the ground would break apart beneath her feet and swallow her whole into its yawning chasm. “Oh…yes…sorry… I’m fine…I um…got a little lost.” She rambled and stammered her flustered words.

“Here, let me help you up.” A large calloused, dirty hand appeared in front of her face. She gulped down her shame and reluctantly grasped it, allowing herself to be pulled up to her feet. “You should be careful out here. Lots of things to…you know…trip over.”

She slowly lifted her gaze up from his toned stomach where his ridged abdominal muscles were clearly defined and a V disappeared into his waistband. Up…up to his pecs…hard as rock. She could now see that the tribal tattoo on his back continued over his shoulder and part way down his chest. His body was, of course, just as delicious from the front as from the rear. The smell of pure male was pulled into her nostrils as she inhaled a deep shaking breath. As her eyes raked upwards she noticed the line of stubble that graced his strong, chiselled jaw, and his full lips were pulled into a hard line. He was clearly not amused. Her eyes continued their journey northward as if in slow motion until she was gazing into the eyes of the man she had been ogling from her hiding place, deep chocolate brown eyes that she could happily melt into.
Familiar
eyes.
Wait a minute
… She gasped a sharp involuntary breath. Her eyes widened and her heart almost stuttered to a halt.

“
Jason?
”

Chapter Two

The puzzled look on the man’s face told Stevie he wasn’t quite sure
who
he was looking at. But his expression suddenly changed. Darkened somehow as apparent realisation dawned on his stunning features. A cold shiver travelled her spine, her stomach knotted and dizziness struck as she stepped back, almost falling again.

He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against his hard body. “You need to be careful. You’re going to get hurt.” His voice was a low, husky rumble that filtered through his gritted teeth.

She snorted. “Yeah? Well, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” Placing her hands flat on his bare, damp, tattooed chest, she pushed him, struggling in vain to free herself from his vice-like grip. “Get your hands…
off
…me!” Her voice was a strangled sob.

“Not until you stop struggling. If I let you go now and you fall, you’ll be poleaxed by the huge, sharp branch sticking up behind you.”

She noted the difference in his accent and wondered why that was. She stopped struggling and looked directly into his now cold eyes. “Like you’d care if that happened.”

He grimaced at her and a line appeared in the middle of his forehead. “Of course I’d care.” He cleared his throat. “This is my livelihood after all, and I could do without the law suit, thank you very much.”

She gasped in horror at his harsh, emotionless comment. “Well, we wouldn’t want
that
, now would we? Who knows the trouble you’d get into? You’d have to
disappear
to avoid all the hassle… Oh wait…you did that ten fucking years ago!”

He moved his face so that it was an inch from hers. Her breath caught again and her heart continued to pound relentlessly, almost painfully at her ribs. He glanced down at her mouth and then back into her eyes as he spoke through his clenched jaw. “You need to watch your mouth, there are kids around.”

He pulled her away from the protruding branch and let go of her. She stepped back carefully, straightening her clothing and smoothing down her hair. “I...I need to get back.” She turned to go back in the direction that she had emerged from.

Jason grabbed her arm and swung her around again. “Wait—why are you here? And how the
hell
did you find me?”

“Don’t
flatter
yourself. I’m here under duress…as a teaching chaperone with my school. I hadn’t got a
clue
you worked here. If I’d known that you did, I can assure you I wouldn’t have set foot in the place.”

Jason’s grin was one of disbelief. “Of course you hadn’t…and I don’t
work
here, sweetheart. I
own
the place. But of course you’d know that, wouldn’t you?”

Arrogant arse!
“How the hell would
I
know
that
?”

He huffed incredulously. “Oh, come off it. It’s my guess that you’ve been looking for me. I guess you’ve been playing detective for some reason after all these years.”

“Yeah? Well I don’t
care
what you’ve
guessed
. Because the
fact
is you’re wrong. Now let me go. I need to get back. Goodbye, Jason.” She tried to free herself from his vice-like hold again but instead it tightened further.

“So you were just ogling me then? Through the trees? You were ogling someone who was, to all intents and purposes, a complete stranger, and on work’s time too. Tut tut. Is that common practise for teaching staff these days?” He chuckled but the laugh was laced with something dark and menacing.

She gritted her teeth. “Get over yourself, you
arrogant pig
. I heard a grunting noise and came to investigate. I’m with a coach load of teenagers and it’s
my
responsibility to ensure their welfare. That’s
all
.”