Run: Beginnings (3 page)

Chapter
Three

              “Hello. Can I help you?” a low voice asked wryly.

              Natalie quickly tried to brush back her blown hair. It wasn’t raining today but it certainly was gusty! It seemed like Canada wanted to make sure she got a taste of every variation of inconvenient weather. Her long mahogany curls had been blown every which way as she entered the hardware store. Finally managing to scoop her heavy hair away from her eyes, Natalie looked straight up into the devilishly rugged features of Eric Mitchells. “Hello,” Natalie said breathlessly, her eyes wide in surprise.

              She hadn’t forgotten who ran the hardware store but she was surprised to see him this time, up front and behind the counter. And, she realized with an internal moan, this was the second time he had seen her bedraggled by the weather outside. Except this time he caught her looking like a frizzy hedgehog instead of a drowned cat. Quickly, she straightened her coat and pulled back her hair into what she hoped was some kind of semblance of order. She knew it was too far gone to hope for presentability. Just have all the strands going in one direction. That’s all she wanted.

              Eric’s lips twitched as he watched her. Natalie had the sneaking suspicion he could tell what she had been so desperately hoping for as she quickly fingercombed her hair. “Well if it isn’t the little rabbit,” he said with a grin. “What can I do you for today? Feel like rearranging something in my store already?”

              Natalie was again stunned by how this man could elicit the perfect combination of annoyance and absolute devastating heat from her at the same time. Her heart had skipped a beat (as a trained medical professional, she was actually quite sure it had skipped several beats, died, and then had resuscitated itself back to life) and her jeans suddenly felt two sizes too tight between her legs.

              “I’m not little,” Natalie said, saying the first thing she could think of. “I’m a doctor.”

              Eric’s face transformed into a grin, making his face exude a warm masculinity. “I’m pretty sure those two things aren’t mutually exclusive,” he said wryly.

              Natalie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well, of course everything is little compared to you. You’re a giant!” she said, intentionally craning her neck in an exaggerated fashion to look up at him.

              Eric threw a hand up as if Natalie had made a brilliant point. “Exactly. Big,” he said in a drawn out tone as if speaking to a child. Eric put a hand flat above his head as if measuring his height. Then he lowered his hand over Natalie’s considerably smaller height. “Little.” Eric’s grin broadened. “Whether you are comparatively little or actually little really does
n’
t matter in the end, now does it?” He waited a perfect beat before adding, “Little rabbit.”

              Natalie felt her pulse race. This was flirting, wasn’t it? It had been so long since she had flirted and Natalie had been sure it would be another decade before she’d get a chance again. How could a man so devastatingly gorgeous want to flirt with someone like her? Instead of trying to think up a witty rejoinder, Natalie instead blushed and felt suddenly very awkward. She remembered how distant Michael had been with her towards the end of their relationship and his not so subtle remarks about her weight. She coughed, finding herself unable now to hold eye contact with this playful giant.

              Eric’s eyes narrowed as if noticing the change in Natalie’s demeanor. Straightening himself up, he asked gently, “Looking to pad out your tool belt some more?”

              Natalie nodded jerkily, trying to regain her composure.
He was just trying to be nice, for heaven’s sake, Evers! Get a
grip! “I think I need some wood to board up some windows till I can get the major renovations done in spring,” she said, hating herself for feeling so shy suddenly but unable to help it.

              She could feel Eric’s gaze probing her. He must think her the oddest person ever. Who comes into a hardware store, knocks over the merchandise, insults the owner’s stocking skills, argues her legitimacy as a doctor, then prances back in to stare awkwardly at genial flirtations?
This girl, that’s who
. Natalie bit back a sigh.

              Eric nodded. “Do you know the lengths you’ll need?”

              Natalie pulled out a scrap of paper with her measurements. As she reached out to hand it to him, Natalie gasped as Eric suddenly gripped her forearm tightly, jerking her forward. Natalie took a stumbling step as she looked up in shock.

              The mountainous face had darkened in what looked like something akin to anger. His dark brows were furrowed and he stared down intensely at her wrist. Natalie looked down at her own arm, wondering what had so suddenly and dramatically caught his attention.

              “What happened here?” he asked softly, using his large thumb to finger the white bandage wrapped across her wrist.

              Natalie tried to gently tug her arm away but Eric’s grip was tight and steadfast. She was going nowhere. “It’s nothing,” she tried to say lightly, surprised by his reaction to what really was a minor injury. “I was trying to move the bedroom door out of its jamb after unscrewing it and of course, clumsy me trips and falls, taking the door with me. It just landed kinda funny on my wrist is all. Just a little light bruising. Nothing bad.”

              Eric lifted his darkened gaze. She felt her breath freeze under the deep probing of his eyes. That hadn’t been anger darkening his face. It had been concern. He was worried about her. Natalie stood stunned.

              Eric was just as silent. He seemed to be recalculating something in his mind. Did he think less of her because of her clumsiness? But instead of saying anything, he slowly began peeling away the supportive bandage.

              It really was nothing. Nothing had been sprained and or broken. But there was some bruising around the wrist and the swelling hadn’t quite gone down yet. As the last of the bandages of fell away, Eric turned her wrist with a gentleness that was unexpected for someone of his size. Natalie hissed quietly as Eric gently squeezed the sides of her wrist, testing it for tenderness.

              Eric raised a brow. “Nothing bad, huh?” he said, almost in admonishment. “Little rabbit, is no one helping you at all with that house?”

              Natalie tried again to pull her wrist away but with no avail. The heat of his skin sent goosebumps up her arm and down her back. His large hand easily wrapped around her wrist. The touch was far from intimate yet Natalie felt safe and once more,
delicate
.
Small.
Sensations Natalie had not felt in a long time, if ever.

              “It’s fine,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I told you, I don’t need help. I just need to get some of the cracks filled until spring comes and I can do the bigger renovations.”

              Eric sighed as if disappointed in her. Natali
e’
s heart plunged a bit at hearing the sound. She felt ridiculous in thinking she had disappointed a man she hardly knew yet that was exactly how she felt.

              “It’s only a fool who thinks he never needs help,” he said, his rich green eyes pinning her in place just as much as his hand was pinning her wrist. “There’s no shame in asking others for help. And a little rabbit doctor like you should know that. A hospital doesn’t work with doctors alone.”

              Natali
e’
s cheeks blushed in slightly embarrassment yet she stubbornly refused to think she couldn’t fix up that house on her own. At least until spring. Any kind of construction was dangerous and accidents were bound to happen whether she had help or not. She had made it thus far without help. She could make it the rest of the way.

              Eric lifted her chin with one finger. “I am going up to that house tonight and help assess what needs to be done.” He pushed the finger from her chin to her lips, silencing her protest. “But you’re going to ask me for the help.” His determined gaze was fixed on her.

              Once his finger was removed, Natalie shook her head, trying to pull away for the third time. “I don’t need the help. All I need are those boards. Look I wrote out the lengths that I—”

              Eric raised his brow, a teasing smile played at his lips but his eyes were grave and his tone serious. “I will be going up to that house tonight. That decision has been made. But you are still going to
ask
me for help.”

              Natalie huffed in frustration. “Well if you’re so hellbent on coming up anyway, why should I ask?” she cried.              

              He gave her a faint smile. “Because then the little rabbit will learn that the world will not crumble, the oceans will not split, and the heavens will not fall when she asks for a little help.”

              His words hit Natalie like a bag of bricks.

It wasn’t just what he said. It was the grave concern of his voice. The genuine care in his face. It was the relentless grip of his hand over her arm, keeping her in place so that she could learn the lesson. Natalie was completely at a loss. She had left Los Angeles by herself. She had walked into that crumbling mess of a house by herself. She had consoled and wept over her broken heart by herself. It was exhausting but the sheer insurmountable levels of work that still needed to be done kept her from dwelling too much on her own pain or needs. And here was this man, holding her arm, telling her that it was okay to let down her load. It was okay to rest. It was okay to ask for help. Her throat knotted up with emotion.

              Seeing her unable to speak, Eric prompted gently, “Say, ‘Eric, will you please help me?’” He gave her an expectant look. “Say it.”

              Natalie felt tears shimmering in her eyes. Who was this man to care about her so deeply? He had only just met her. And yet, his face when he had seen her bruises….A ball of warmth expanded across her body as she felt his concern really wash over her.

              “Eric,” she whispered. She could feel tiny cracks inch across the shield she had put up around her broken heart. “Will you…” The cracks were widening. “Will you please help me?” She felt a tear trail hotly down her cheek.

              A warm and approving smile beamed across Eric’s face. He thumbed away her tear. “Of course. Of course, I will help you.” He winked. “Little rabbit.”

              Natalie let out a small shaky breath.

              For the first time in months, she could feel her heart warmly shining through its cold cracking armor.

Chapter
Four

              Natalie gave her saucepan of green beans a quick stir before opening the oven door to check on her roast. The kitchen was definitely in need of some major updates but luckily, the essentials still worked, albeit with some additional loud clanking, clunking noises.

              She had made sure to finish up at the clinic quickly, packing away any unfinished work into her bag. She wanted to make it to the small shop to pick up the remaining ingredients for her dinner. Eric had said he’d be stopping by after he closed up his store. He hadn’t mentioned if he’d be grabbing dinner before he came up or not. But just in case, Natalie bought a roast.

              With all the work of moving to a new country, managing a new clinic, and clinging pieces of a crumbling house together, Natalie hadn’t really felt the motivation to cook herself a decent meal in weeks. It was just too much effort. Until tonight, she had been using the same pot to cook simple soups or stews to last her through the week. As she opened the fridge for some of the spring mix salad she had purchased, Natalie giddily hopped back to the counter and her mixing bowl to toss her green bean and cranberry salad.

              Generously tossing in a handful of dried cranberries, she knew deep inside it wasn’t just the joy of cooking that had her smiling like a fool at her salad bowl. She knew it wasn’t just the prospect of having someone come in to actually bear a small measure of the burden the house had become to her. She knew that it was much more than that. An image of Eric’s stormy green eyes, the color of dark ocean water, swept across her mind. She remembered his warm hand, large and strong, wrapped around her wrist. She felt a shiver every time she remembered his flirtatious teasing. Oh yes, she was smiling for a very big reason. She couldn’t yet bring herself to voice it aloud but knowing who it was she was smiling for was enough. Quickly, she tossed the salad together.

              Just as she was turning the oven down low to keep the roast warm till dinner, there was a knock at the door. Natalie jumped up, a bolt of energy zipping down her spine. She quickly finger combed her hair and straightened her large oversized knit sweater. Trying to not let herself get too excited, she opened the door.

              How did this man continually take her breath away? As a medical professional, she wondered if asthma could be induced by constant interaction with sheer devastating male beauty. Eric’s head was just a few inches shy of brushing the doorway. He stood like an unmovable boulder straight out of the Canadian wilderness—tall, strong, carved tough by nature. He wore a soft worn plaid shirt with a thick shearling coat. His shirt was opened just enough for Natalie to get a glimpse of the dark hair tufting his chest. Natalie gulped seeing that. How did her pants shrink in the last two seconds?