Running Back to You (The Running Series, #1) (9 page)

I’m nearly to his beach house and I’m watching with one eye on the surf
and one eye on Evan.  I can see him watching me.  He’s wearing a hoodie so I
can’t see his beautiful face, but the shorts that hang low on his waist reveal
the fit muscular body that I recall vividly.  I raise my hand to wave to him,
but before I can get my arm above my head, Evan turns away, goes inside and
closes the door.  My heart sinks into the pit of my stomach.  What the hell
just happened?

W
hen life hands you lemons, hand them back and demand chocolate!  The
only thing to do right now is to drive directly to the Green Planet Coffee Company and treat
myself to a large chai and a double chocolate chip muffin.  It’s still early
and parking is not a problem.  It hasn’t started raining yet, so I decide to
let Maddy out of the car.  She can wait outside for me while I run in quickly. 
After a quick scratch behind her ears, I attach her leash to one of the
Adirondack chairs in front of the coffee shop and head in.

They are training a new barista, and everything takes much longer than
usual.  The person in front of me orders a macchiato and the manager is
explaining the difference between a latte and macchiato in excruciatingly
complex details.  When it’s my turn, I place my order and wait patiently.  I
refuse to allow myself to take out my bad disposition on this poor young girl
who’s doing the best she can.  Not that long ago, I was in training myself, and
I always appreciated when my customers gave me a little slack.  Offering the
same in return is the least I can do.

As I’m waiting, I get an unexpected tingle down my spine.  My mind
immediately returns to images of Evan ... of our morning spent together giggling,
laughing, and flirting, the way I felt when his skin brushed against mine.  I
push those thoughts to the side.  It’s time to move on.  When my order is up, I
take a deep breath and head outside to face another day.

The moment I step outside, I am completely unprepared for what awaits
me.  Sitting on the exact chair where I tied Maddy is Evan!  He is
affectionately petting her back and she is clearly under his spell.  Crap!

I stand stock still while the image before me sinks in.  That familiar tingle
makes a reappearance and I’m rendered speechless. 

“Hello, Juliette.  What a nice surprise.”  Evan seems genuinely pleased
to see me.  A grin spreads across his face and is reflected with a glimmer in
his eyes.

“Oh, hey, Evan.”  I try to reveal as little as possible.  “Let’s go
Maddy.”  I remove the leash from Maddy’s collar so I can separate it from the
chair.  As quickly as I can, I detached the leash from the chair and reattach
it to Maddy’s collar.  Evan is studying me with a confused look on his face. 
“Thank you for watching Maddy for me.  Take care.”  I turn on my heels and
start to walk toward my car with my dog in tow.

“Juliette, wait, why don’t you sit and join me?”  Evan is now standing
and facing me with his hands in his pockets.

“That’s okay, Evan.  I’m sure you’ve got a million things to do.”  I give
him a half-hearted smile, and turn with Maddy to leave.

“Juliette, stop, please.  Something’s obviously wrong.  Have I done
something to upset you?”  He stares quizzically at me like he’s trying to solve
a puzzle.

“No, of course not.  Thank you for the flowers, by the way.  They were
really a lovely gesture.”  I should have thanked him right away.  He has a way
of getting me flustered.

“Good, then sit.”  Evan plops himself down and pats the chair beside
him. 

Unable to come up with a reason not to stay, I give the slightest nod and
join him.  In order to avoid trying to make small talk, I begin to drink my tea
and wait for him to continue.

“When I didn’t see you on the beach yesterday or today, I was worried
that you were more seriously injured than I thought.” 

“I’m sorry.  What did you just say?”  Does he think I’m blind?  Is he
going to pretend he didn’t see me this morning?  It’s one thing to avoid me,
but it’s an entirely different thing to lie to my face, and that I won’t abide.

“I said I was worried about you.  I don’t understand your reaction.  Talk
to me, Juliette.”  His brow is furrowed and there is a genuine look of concern
on his face.

“You
know
I was on the beach today.  You were looking right at
me.  I saw you standing there on your deck watching me.  Look, if you don’t
want to spend time with me, that’s fine.  Believe me, I understand.  But don’t
sit there and pretend you didn’t see me.”  I will not be played the fool by
anyone, not even Evan.

Evan takes my hand and looks directly into my eyes and when he speaks, it
is clear that he is being sincere. “Juliette, listen.  The person you saw on my
deck was not me.  I have a friend staying at my place for a few days, and it
must have been him that you saw.  Can you describe what he looked like?”

Now that I think about it, I never did get a look at his face.  I’m
immediately brought back to my first sighting of Evan, right here in this very
place.  He wasn’t alone.  He was with someone I presume was his friend. 
Although this unknown stranger was blonde, he was every bit as fit and toned as
Evan.  Both men were about the same height, age and size.  “Well, he was
your
height,
your
build and
your
age, walking around on
your
deck.”  Guilty until proven innocent.

“And his hair?  What color was it?”  He still hasn’t released my hand.

“I couldn’t tell.  He was wearing a hoodie.  If it wasn’t you, Evan, who
was that?” 

“That was my best friend, Adam Cooke.  He works for the team, too.  He’s
relocated to New Jersey with me and he’s closing on his house in a few days. 
I’m letting him stay with me until then.  I’d love for you to come over and
meet him.  That is, if you’re still speaking to me.”

I still have one big unanswered question.  “Then why was he staring at me
and watching me on the beach, Evan?  Is your friend a creeper or a stalker or
something?”

Evan releases my hand and laughs at me.  He actually laughs at me!  “I
suppose that’s because I told him all about you.  The moment he saw a beautiful
brunette running with her dog early in the morning, he came in to tell me.  By
the time I came out, you were gone.”  He reaches down to pet Maddy and smirks. 
“Do you believe me?” 

I can’t find any holes in his explanation.  Perhaps he’s telling the
truth.  “I guess it’s possible.  But I really thought it was you.”

“That means there’s only one thing left to do.  You have to meet Adam. 
When’s your next day off?” 

Suddenly, I feel my heart beating rapidly.  The caffeine from the tea and
chocolate are kicking in and my mind is reeling from the recent developments.

“I have to work tonight and Saturday, but I’m off Sunday.  What do you
have in mind?”  If I’m being honest with myself, I have to admit that I
wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

“How about dinner?  At my house.  You can meet Adam and we can hang
out.” 

It sounds innocent enough.  “Okay, but I’m bringing dessert.”

“Do you have your phone with you?  I’d like you to take my number in case
something comes up.”

“Yeah, it’s in the car.  Can you watch the dog?  I’ll be right back.”  As
quickly as I can, I retrieve my phone and sit back down.  I start a new contact
entry in my contact list and it occurs to me, “Evan, I don’t know your last
name.”

“Thomas.  Evan Thomas,” he gives me his number and I carefully program it
into my phone.

“I’d like you to take my number, too.  You know, just in case.”  I try
not to sound overly needy.  “You don’t have to call me unless something comes
up and you need to cancel.”

After programming his phone, he stands and faces me.  He reaches out to
take my hands and help me up.  “I wish I could stay here all day and talk with
you, but Adam’s going to think I got mugged if I don’t come back with his latte
soon.” 

Before I have any time to react, Evan is wrapping his arms around me and
giving me a hug.  Instinctively, I hug him right back, enjoying the feel of his
muscular frame in my hands.  My nerve endings are firing and I take a deep
breath to try to clear my head.  He hugs me tighter. 

I feel his hand move from my lower back to my shoulders and I look up
into his eyes.  He smiles and leans down, then kisses me gently on my
forehead.  I close my eyes to shut out everything else around me to enjoy the
sensation of his lips on my skin.  He sweeps the hair off my shoulder and
whispers in my ear, “I’ll be in touch,” as he releases me and steps into the
coffee shop.

I
get to work early for the lunch shift and begin filling the ice bins as
Emmy joins me on the patio.  “Hey, Emmy, what’s new?” 

“Not much.  Jason and I broke up.”  She shrugs her shoulders and goes
about readying the bar for customers.  I don’t know much about her relationship
with Jason, other than he was the brother of one of her teammates.  Emmy never
said much about him.  I don’t even know how she felt about him.

“Oh, Em, I’m so sorry!  Are you okay?”  I try to gauge her response.  She
keeps filling the bar rack and going about her business.

“Yeah, Jason’s a great guy and all, but there was something missing.  I
don’t know how to explain it.  He’s super sweet, we got along great, and we
always had fun together.  But, I don’t know...” she just trails off.  I know what
she means.  There was no spark. 

Despite the gloomy weather, we are pretty busy.  People-watching is one
of the best parts of being a bartender.  Lots of people seem to be getting an
early start on their weekend. 

At one table, there’s an older, gray-haired very well dressed man with a
much younger woman.  She’s wearing tons of bling and is showing off what
appears to be a very expensive set of new boobs.  I never could really wrap my
mind around that one.

There’s also a young couple sitting at the bar that is obviously deeply
in love.  Every time I glance over at them, they are touching.  I see him
whispering in her ear, and she’s blushing.  They have a few drinks, order some
food off the bar menu, and off they go. 

My mind drifts to thoughts of Evan.  I can’t stop thinking about how his
arms felt wrapped around my waist.  Then there was the kiss ... his lips pressed
against my skin, it makes me quiver just thinking about it.

“Emmy, can I ask you something?”  I’ve been dying to talk to someone
about today’s misadventures and get her take on it.

“Shoot.  What’s up?”  She’s cleaning some rocks glasses while we chat.

“Well, this morning, I was running on the beach by Evan’s house and I’m
pretty sure I saw him on his deck.  He ran back into the house before I had a
chance to talk to him.  Then I ran into him at the coffee shop and he told me
it wasn’t him.  How do I know if he’s telling me the truth?”  I give a heavy
sigh and wait for her advice.

“Hard to say.  How did he act when you ran into him at the coffee shop? 
Did he avoid you?”

“No, actually, he waited outside for me to come out.  He was really kind
of cute about it.” I sighed at the memory of seeing him sitting there with
Maddy waiting for me.

“Jette, if he was trying to avoid you, do you honestly think he would
have waited for you outside a coffee shop?  Seriously?”  Now she’s looking at
me like I’ve got two heads.

“I know, you’re right.  It’s just that when it comes to Evan, I can’t
think clearly.  I want to believe him, but I don’t completely trust myself or
him.  He’s got this pull on me I can’t explain.”

“Oh, honey, I know exactly what you mean.  That’s what was missing from
my relationship with Jason.  It’s called chemistry and either it’s there or
it’s not.  Sounds like you’ve got it bad.”  Emmy is right.  “When are you going
to see him again?”

“Not until Sunday.  He invited me over for dinner.  I think he’s going to
cook for me.”  A huge grin spreads across my face.  I can’t hide my delight at
the thought of spending more time with Evan.