Page 27 of Love in Overdrive

“You’re hurt.”

“Not bad. I’ll have a few bruises tomorrow, but my pride took the worst of it.” He pushed off the ground and stood.

“Oh look. My bag fell out in the scuffle. I should have some ibuprofen.” She picked up the bag.

“I’m fine. Come on. We should get moving.” He held out a hand for her.

Looping the strap over her shoulder, she let him pull her up. “I have to use a bush first.”

“Good plan. Me too.” He walked a few feet into the snow and faced a tree.

Laney scanned the edge of the trees. Were there bears? She could have sworn she’d seen one a mile back.

“What are you waiting for?” Cade zipped up his pants and returned to her side.

“I thought I saw something.”

“Like a deer?”

“Bigger. Like a bear… or Bigfoot.” She searched the tree line for anything with fur.

“We just escaped a gunman and you are worried about mythical creatures?” She couldn’t see a smirk on his face, but she could hear the humor in his voice.

“Don’t laugh. This is serious.” Okay, she might be a little hysterical at the moment, but it was her prerogative. They had almost died.

Cade cupped her shoulders. “We’re alive. Maybe it’s my lucky day after all.”

He pulled her into a quick hug. She didn’t care if she’d been angry at him for not calling and for the puck bunny. Nope. She flung her arms around his waist and hung on for dear life.

“Tell you what. No one’s around. I’ll stand over here and turn my back, and you can do your business right there.”

She nodded against his coat. Part of her didn’t want to move from his arms, but the other part had her dancing in place.

He moved a few yards away and faced the opposite direction. With one final scan of the area, she dropped her pants. “Ahhh.”

With her essential business complete, she picked up her bag and joined Cade.

“I feel better. Thanks.”

He tipped her chin up, and his lips touched her forehead. “Come on. I remember seeing a light through the trees a few miles back. Let’s start walking.”

Once the shock and adrenaline wore off, the bone-deep cold set in. Laney shivered.

Cade had no hat or gloves and didn’t shiver once. But the farther they went, the more his shoulders rounded in, and words she couldn’t say in front of her preschoolers slipped from his mouth.

It was dark, but Laney could see Cade rubbing his forehead. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Why was he so angry? Sure, they could freeze to death, but they had escaped a gunman.

She snuck a look out of the corner of her eye. The moon peeked out from behind a cloud, and she could see he was brooding.

Laney would do almost anything to avoid an ugly scene. She hated confrontation of any kind, hence, running from the bank. But she had come much too close to meeting her Maker just now. She had about all she could take.

She stopped and mustered up her courage before blurting out, “Are you sure you don’t want any pain relievers?”

She heard a grunt that faintly sounded like a no from beside her.