Plodding along the dirt road away from the man’s cabin, Shay kept her ears tuned to the sound of footsteps approaching, hopeful he’d come after her. But all was quiet. When she reached the paved road, she stopped, then turned to look back the way she'd come.

He had to be watching her, right?

Squinting into the morning light in the direction of the cabin, when she didn’t see him, she scowled.

Nope.

Determined to forget the impossibly hot man as if he’d been someone she'd seen in a dream, she stepped onto the main road and began walking the way she'd been walking the day before.

Guess that dream-man is just as much of a jerk as the creep was.

Then she remembered his offer to give her a lift—twice. Plus the backpack with supplies.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t a jerk. Maybe she was just a prideful idiot for not accepting.

Pain from her blisters emphasized her poor decision in turning down his offer and she briefly considered turning around and going back.

No, she wasn’t going to do that. She was going to keep moving. A car was bound to come along sooner or later.

Sighing audibly, she trudged onward, but twenty minutes later she couldn’t take it any more and she sat on the side of the road to take a look at her poor feet. The two blisters she'd had on her left foot had mated and produced an offspring, and a new pair had appeared on her right foot. Frustrated by her situation, she tore the flip flops off of her feet, stood up, then threw the useless plastic shoes into the forest with all of her might.

Better to walk barefoot than to have the cheap plastic rubbing her tender feet.

Shay set off again, and for the first quarter mile her feet actually felt marginally better. The asphalt was rough, but something about walking barefoot helped her settle into a rhythm. Eventually though, she decided her feet would thank her if she walked on that pine needle carpet instead, so she moved off of the road.

The pine needles poked her feet occasionally, but for the most part it was better than asphalt.

Ten minutes later she realized she hadn’t eaten yet, and the moment she saw a fallen log on the ground, she used it as a bench. Curious what the man had sent with her, she took the backpack off of her shoulders and unzipped the storage compartment. Taking the items out one by one, she took inventory.

Three water bottles.

Two large packages of crackers.

Two deep red apples.

One perfectly ripened banana.

“What, no protein?” Chuckling to herself, Shay silently thanked the man for his thoughtfulness. Will never would have done something like that. No, he would have laughed at her and shoved her out the door without a second thought.

Pushing aside thoughts of her ex, she peeled the banana before taking a generous bite. “Mmm. That’s good.” She polished off the banana and half a package of crackers before downing most of one of the water bottles.

“Okay,” she muttered. “Break’s over.”

She put everything away, careful not to leave any trash on the ground, heaved the backpack onto her shoulders, and continued on. Having a full belly made a big difference, and she found herself moving more quickly.

Where was the next town anyway?

It was then that it occurred to her that she should have asked the man this very question.

She was an idiot. Then she remembered the way the man had looked that morning—shirtless and gorgeous.

Maybe she'd just been distracted.

Deciding to go with that excuse, she plodded on. A while later she heard the heavenly sound of an approaching vehicle. Racing to the road, she frantically waved her arms.

“Hey!” she screamed. “Hey, stop!”

When the vehicle—a beat-up black truck—came into view, then began to slow before pulling onto the shoulder twenty yards in front of her, she thought she was going to pass out with relief. Running towards the truck as best she could with bare feet on asphalt, she could see two men in the truck.

Slowing to a walk, when she was less than ten feet away, the man in the passenger seat opened his door and stepped out. He had a scruffy beard and longish hair, and Shay guessed he was in his thirties.

She stopped.

He looked her up and down. “You need a ride, honey?”

Something about the look in his eyes gave her a sudden case of the creeps and she remembered the jerk from the day before. Still, it was a ride. Maybe he would be okay. “Uh, where’re you headed?”

“Burton.”

“How far is that?” she asked.

“About ten miles.”

“Is that the nearest town?” She figured she might as well get some information.

“Yep.” Impatience crept over his face. “Are you comin’ or what?”

Perilously torn—did she want to possibly walk another ten miles or did she want to take her chances with a pair of possible creeps?—she hesitated.

“We got places to go,” he said with a grin. “Things to do.”

Shay didn’t always make the best decisions—the situation she was in proved that—but this time she decided to listen to her gut, and her gut was telling her to run away from these guys. Far, far away. “You know, I think I’ll pass. But thanks anyway.”

The man stared at her a moment before looking at his companion, who sat behind the wheel. Then he faced her again. “Now, that’s downright rude. You were the one yelling for us to stop, and then when we take the time to stop and offer you a ride, you say no. What’s your problem?”

The man seemed angry now, and Shay was beginning to feel scared, the same fear she'd felt the day before when she'd decided to flee from Will, like she was in imminent danger. “I’m sorry I bothered you, okay?”

He huffed out a breath. “No, it’s not okay.” He glanced up and down the road, then smirked at her. “There’s no one around. I don’t think it’s safe for you to be out here all by your lonesome.” His head tilted. “I think you should come with us.”

Was he kidding? But she could see by his body language and by the look on his face that he was dead serious. Would he really drag her into his truck?

“I said no.” She made her voice as forceful as she could, but the man just laughed.

“She said no,” he said to his companion.

The driver’s door opened and the driver stepped out. His snug-fitting t-shirt emphasized the way his belly spilled over his jeans, and he looked like he could use a haircut.

Deciding it was time for her to get the heck out of there, Shay turned and began to run back the way she'd come.

All that walking for nothing, she thought as she retraced her steps.

“Come back,” they called after her, but when she glanced over her shoulder, they weren’t chasing her.

Slowing to a walk, she kept looking behind her. They hadn’t moved.

Now what? She was walking in the wrong direction, but she wasn’t about to walk past them. Glancing toward the trees, she knew she could go around them by walking in the forest. But that would mean no chance of catching a ride. And a good chance of running into a bear or something.

Well, crap. This is just great.

So focused on what to do next, she didn’t realize they’d gotten back in their truck and had turned around until they’d pulled up alongside her.

What the heck?

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as fear slithered inside her.

“Get in,” the driver demanded.

On the verge of freaking out, she backed up a few steps. “Please. Leave me alone.” Tears threatened. Don’t cry! It will make you look weak.

Both men laughed, sending a zing of terror to all of her nerve endings.

In her abject fear, her ears began to ring, which is why she didn’t hear the approaching ATV until it was practically beside her.

“There you are, Shay,” a man said as if he’d been searching for her all morning.

She spun in his direction. A man wearing a ball cap pulled low over his eyes was a few feet away. It took her a moment to realize it was the man from the cabin.

“What?” she said stupidly.

He looked at the two men in the truck, then turned to her. “I’ve been looking for you. Get on.”

He didn’t have to ask her twice. Still numb with fear, as she began to climb on behind him, the men in the truck turned their vehicle around and drove away.