Page 25 of Before the Bond
I collided with someone coming from the other direction.
I jolted back, a sharp breath catching in my throat. Not my finest moment.
“Whoa —” The man caught me by the arms, steadied us both, and immediately held his hands up once I’d found my footing. “Sorry. Didn’t see you.”
My breathing stayed narrowed. I took the new person in.
Late twenties, maybe — my age, close enough. Dark jacket.
He was handsome, in an easy and open way. His eyes regarded me without caution, and his mouth was quick to smile.
“You scared me,” I said.
“I know,” he said, moving a couple steps back to give me space. “I’m so sorry.”
“What are you doing out here?” Even if he didn’t attack me, I still needed to know why he’d jog here of all places.
The guy laughed sheepishly and scratched his head. “This is a little embarrassing,” he said. “But I live around these parts. Further down, but, I don’t dare jog there because trucks pass through.”
“Oh.” I calmed down ever so slightly.
“You can think of me as a neighbor to the Ashwoods,” he said. “In fact, I’ve been meaning to introduce myself for a while. The timing was clearly… not the best.”
He smiled. It was a good smile. Practiced, maybe, but then again so was mine on twelve-hour shifts.
“Elias Voss,” he said.
“Olivia Cruz.”
“The nurse,” he said. Word must have gotten around fast. “The Ashwoods finally let someone in. I was starting to wonder.”
“Starting to wonder what?”
“Whether they were capable of it.”
“You know them well?”
Elias gestured at the view around us. “I know the area. They come with the territory.” He glanced past me, toward the estate, then back. “You’re braver than most, I’ll say.”
He said it lightly. But there was a quality to his attention that made me feel like the answer mattered more than his tone suggested.
“Are you flirting with me or interrogating me?” I asked. “I want to calibrate my responses.”
“A little of both,” he said. “Is it working so far?”
It startled a real smile out of me. I couldn’t help it. After dealing with people constantly skirting around issues, the candidness was refreshing.
I adjusted my shoes and got ready to run again.
“It’s too early to tell,” I said.
Elias grinned even wider. He took a half-step back, giving me the path. “Well, I hope we run into each other again, Olivia.”
“The Ashwoods prefer I don’t wander too far.”
“Well,” he said. He drew closer for just a moment. His voice dropped to a whisper. “That can be our little secret.”
He pulled away before I could respond. He then turned and jogged back through the trees, easy and unhurried, and the fog closed around him like it had been waiting.
