Chapter Twelve
Hunter heard a soft, feminine gasp. He tried to catch his fall, gripping the woman’s head in his hands at the last minute before they slammed to the ground.
Emma Holloway’s stunned face stared up at him. Her soft curves were pressed against the full length of his body. She smelled like blackberries and wildflowers. Damn.
Rising above her, he braced on his forearms to catch his breath. Five miles into his morning run, he had just reached the point where it became less exhilaration and more of a chore. Now he had to work at breathing, but it may have had something to do with lying on top of a beautiful, alluring woman.
Emma didn’t move, just stared up at him with her mouth open and a startled look on her face.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.” Hunter pulled himself up, noting for the first time that she was surrounded by scattered white flowers. The petals were tangled in her hair, and with her silver eyes and lush mouth, she looked like a magical forest nymph. He scowled and ran a hand through his hair. What the hell? The lack of breakfast was getting to him.
She sipped air, as though unable to catch her breath.
He crouched beside her. “Emma, are you okay?”
“You just . . . knocked the wind out of me,” she whispered.
An empty glass vial lay on the ground between them. He brushed at his shirt, noting the faint scent of jasmine in the dampness left behind.
Reaching one arm behind her back, he raised her to a sitting position and waited for her to catch her breath while he tried to slow his own breathing.
She sat up farther, fumbling for her skirt and pulling it down over her thighs. Hunter caught a glimpse of graceful bare legs and soft skin. A stab of hot lust shot through him and he fought to get it under control. He noted the exact moment she realized he was holding her.
“I’m okay now.” She pulled away and slowly stood, her expression prickly. “What are you doing out here?”
“Running.”
She frowned.
“You know, on the running trail.” He indicated the path ahead of him.
“Well, you should watch where you’re going.” She ruffled her hair and slapped dirt off her skirt. Tiny white flowers floated to the ground around them. Clearly, she was disturbed. So was he, but in a much different way. What was it about her? She wasn’t anything like the women he usually saw back in Seattle. Those women were the tailored business types with sleek hair and hard edges, just like his ex. The type of woman who calculated every move; who always had an agenda. Emma Holloway, on the other hand, was wild and soft and deliciously carefree. He had no idea how to even begin dealing with her.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I wasn’t paying attention and I didn’t see you on the path until it was too late.”
“Well, you shouldn’t go out running in the dark. What were you thinking?”
If you must know, I was busy thinking of you licking whipped cream off your finger the other night at dinner. He never in a million years expected her to appear right in front of him on the trail at five o’clock in the morning. Come to think of it, “What are you doing out here?”
She bent to pick up the scattered sprigs, tossing them into her basket. “We were just going for a stroll. You know, fresh air and all that.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye, just kept gathering the flowers.
Hunter glanced around. “We?”
“Emma,” a breezy voice called. Her cousin, Juliette, stepped out of the forest. “Oh, hey, Hunter. Fancy meeting you out here.” Her voice was a little too cheerful and her smile a little too bright. What the heck was going on?
Juliette glanced at the ground and her smile faltered. She looked at Emma. Then him. The strangest expression stole across her face. She pointed at him in accusation. “You have jasmine in your hair.”
Hunter reached up and brushed petals off his head. He had the sudden urge to apologize, but he didn’t know why.
Juliette put her hands on her hips, the barest hint of a smile ghosting across her face. “And so do you, Emma. You’re both surrounded by it. And the vial spilled.” She pointed to the wet splash of liquid on Hunter’s T-shirt, then at Emma. “On both of you.”
Emma grabbed the last of the clippings and turned to go. “Sorry if we startled you. Have a nice run. Gotta go.”
She charged down the path in the opposite direction, jerking her head at Juliette to follow. Her cousin stayed for a moment, staring at him.
“What?” He brushed white flowers off his T-shirt. The damn petals stuck like Velcro.
Her mouth curved up at one corner as she turned to leave. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
He watched them go, still feeling the warm imprint of Emma’s soft curves against his heated skin. His body was on fire, and not because of the run. He was ramrod stiff and one hundred percent on high alert, for a woman covered in dirt with leaves and flowers tangled in her hair.
Emma disappeared around the bend and he waited for his heartbeat to return to normal. He waited a long time.