Run to You (15 page)

G
abby walked up the front steps of the Haven Spa, enchanted by the waterfalls trickling through rocks on either side of the entrance. In her hand, she held a flyer advertising the upcoming Adrenaline Rush.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside. “Wow.”

The lobby was, for lack of a better word, a haven. With muted lighting, gentle flute music playing, and trickling waterfalls everywhere, Gabby already felt more relaxed. She smelled lavender and incense, and
oh
, why hadn't she been to the spa yet?

A pretty woman with shoulder-length brown hair looked up from behind the desk with a friendly smile. “Welcome to the Haven Spa. How can I help you?”

“I don't know yet, but you can definitely sign me up for something.” Gabby took another look around the room and sighed.

The other woman laughed. “I'm Jessica Flynn. I own this place. Are you new in town or just visiting?”

“Gabby Winters. I'm here for the summer and wondering why it took me so long to stop by.”

Jessica pointed a pen in her direction. “I like you already, Gabby. Do you prefer your spa treatments more traditional or a little bit on the earthy-crunchy side?”

“Earthy-crunchy,” she answered without hesitation.

“I like you even more.” Jessica's smile widened as she pulled out a brochure and placed it on the counter in front of her. “We have lots of options, but my personal favorite is the mineral mud bath to detox followed by a soak in one of our hot tubs fed by the natural hot springs. It's good for the soul, or so they say.”

“Sign me up. Seriously, that sounds like perfection.”

Jessica's eyebrows raised. “Really?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

Jessica turned to her computer. “What's your schedule like? We could fit you in as early as Monday at four o'clock. You'll want to plan to be here for about two and a half hours.”

“Monday at four would be perfect.”

“You are easy to please.” Jessica spent a few minutes running through the particulars of Gabby's upcoming spa treatment and handed her a full catalog with her receipt. “So what brings you to Haven?”

“Just looking for a change of pace for a little while.” But she didn't feel nearly as cautious about that as she had even a few weeks ago when she'd met Ethan. Haven seemed to have been just what she needed.

Jessica's dark eyes were knowing. “It's a great place for a change of pace. I grew up here, but I left for a while after high school. Came back when I was ready for this.” She gestured to the spa around her.

“It's a great town,” Gabby agreed.

“Maybe you'll stay.” Jessica winked. “So what's this?” She pointed to the flyer Gabby had set on the counter while she was signing her spa receipt.

Ah, that. The real reason for her visit, although she was not at all sorry she'd signed up for a spa treatment while she was here and, in thumbing through the brochure, had a feeling she'd be back for more. “I don't know if you've heard about the new outdoor sporting facility being built up the street from here, Off-the-Grid Adventures?”

“I've heard.” Jessica's eyes shuttered.

Gabby nodded. “I figured. Small town, right?”

“Right.” But Jessica's friendly exuberance had gone flat.

What was that about? “Well, as part of their grand opening, they're hosting a charity obstacle course challenge called the Adrenaline Rush. And we were wondering if you'd like to do some kind of a partnership. You know, like a spa discount to race participants or something.”

“We?” The curiosity in Jessica's eyes was much more than casual. “Are you working with them?”

Gabby knew that look. Jealousy. Jessica must be a jilted ex. Her stomach soured at the thought of Jessica and Ethan having slept together. It was petty of her, because obviously it was in the past, but still. She felt weird having a spa treatment from one of Ethan's exes. “Sort of,” she answered Jessica's question. “I was curious to check out your place so I offered to come over and tell you about the Adrenaline Rush.”

Jessica took the flyer and studied it. “You're dating one of them, then.”

“Yes.” And Gabby had definitely been right in her jilted ex assumption.

Jessica tapped a finger against the flyer. “Yeah, I'll do a discount for race participants. I'll figure out the details and get in touch, okay?”

“Oh, thank you so much. It should be perfect, right? A relaxing soak in the hot springs after people get all banged up out on the course?”

“Should be good business for both of us.”

Gabby walked out to her car. She had plans with Ethan for lunch so she drove straight from the spa to Off-the-Grid Adventures. She found him out back, talking to a couple of guys she didn't recognize. He waved when he saw her, a warm smile creasing his face.

Her heart turned a happy somersault in response. Goodness, she was so smitten with this man. Oh, how she hoped it would fizzle by the end of the summer like he had predicted, but she was awfully afraid her feelings were becoming too deep for that.

“Good news,” she said when he walked over.

“Oh yeah?” He bent to give her a kiss, sending warmth through her body.

“I just came from the spa, and Jessica agreed to do some kind of discount for people running in the Adrenaline Rush.”

He grinned. “That's great.”

“I don't think she likes you all that much, though.” She eyed him, nosing shamelessly into his business.

He chuckled as he shook his head. “She doesn't give a shit about me. It's Mark she's pissed at. They were high school sweethearts, and he was an idiot and dumped her after graduation when he enlisted.”

“Oh.” Relief swamped her, stupid, silly relief because she'd been jealous over nothing.

“She really ought to lighten up on the dude. He could have handled it better, but he was dealing with a shitty hand.” Ethan's tone shifted, fiercely defensive of his friend.

Gabby shrugged. “I still think my high school sweetheart is a jerk for dumping me, so I might have to side with Jessica on this one.”

Ethan stepped closer, the same jealousy she'd felt earlier now stamped on his face. “I'd have to agree. Any man who would dump you is a jerk.”

“Including you?” she whispered.

His blue eyes clouded. “Including me.”

Ethan felt like an asshole the way Gabby was looking at him right now. But then she smiled, and her expression softened. “You won't have to dump me. We have an agreement, remember?”

Yeah, he remembered, but he still had the uneasy feeling she was going to get hurt. “Want to see our new ropes course?”

“Is that different from the zip-line?”

“It is. We built this for the Adrenaline Rush. I think Mark and Ryan are over there now.”

“Okay.” She fell into step beside him.

He led her down a path from the main house to the clearing they'd converted into the ropes course. Mark sat straddling the top of the climbing wall, tinkering with one of the boards.

Gabby sucked in a breath. “I could not hang out with you guys long term. You'd give me a frigging heart attack.”

“Oh, come on now. An adrenaline rush is good for you every now and then.”

“No thanks.”

He nudged her. “You've been all over town this week helping us spread the word about the challenge. You mean to tell me you're not going to participate?”

Her eyes widened. “Not a chance.”

“Well, you know I can't participate.” He, Ryan, and Mark would be overseeing the event. “So who's going to represent Off-the-Grid?”

“The whole event represents Off-the-Grid. Have you had a lot of signups this week?” She crossed her arms over her chest, glancing up at Mark again with wary eyes.

“No.” And he was pissed about it, too. “Only two teams so far.”

She touched his arm. “Well, it's only been a few days. I'm sure people are still figuring out their teams and things.”

“Hope so.” Because if this event was a failure, their entire plan for Off-the-Grid might fold.

“I know you don't like to bring a lot of attention to your Olympic fame, but maybe you should for this,” she said. “You know, call the local news and ask them to cover the event?”

Dammit, she was right. “I should. I will.”

“Any extra press in this case is a good thing, right?”

“Definitely.”

“What's that?” Gabby asked, pointing to the hand trolley they'd installed over the pond.

“That,” he said with a grin, “is the final event in the challenge. After the whole team has crossed the pond, it's a race to the finish line.”

She pressed a hand to her mouth. “So you just hold on to that handlebar and try to make it over the pond?”

“Yeah. Momentum is key. Smaller people will need a bigger push. Want to try?”

She gaped at him. “Have you paid attention to me at all? No, I don't want to try!”

He grunted. “Well, you told me you're afraid of heights. This really isn't high. You're only a few feet over the water. Sure you don't want to?”

“Positive, but I'd love to watch
you
try.” She grinned naughtily.

“Sure thing, sweetheart.”

“What happens if you fall in?” she asked.

“Not going to happen, but if I fell, I'd just swim out. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm a pretty decent swimmer.” With a wink, he left her standing there.

Gabby watched mesmerized as Ethan stepped up to the short platform they'd installed and grabbed on to the handlebar. He blew her a kiss, leaned back as far as he could, then leaped forward into the air.

His legs swung out in front of him, the muscles in his forearms bunching impressively as he gripped the handle above his head and zipped across the pond. He dropped to his feet on the other side, gave her a silly bow, and jogged back to where she was standing. “See? Easy. You should try it.”

No way. This didn't actually look that scary, but knowing her, she'd fall off halfway across and belly flop into the pond. And she had no desire to humiliate herself or get covered in icky pond muck.

“Don't let him pressure you.” Ryan walked up beside her, an easy smile on his face.

“She never does,” Ethan said.

“That's true.” In fact, she never felt pressured with Ethan. It was one of the things she liked best about being with him.

Ryan glanced between them and shook his head. “Y'all still pretending this is fake?”

“What?” She took a step backward. Ryan knew about their arrangement?

“Your secret is safe with me.” He chuckled as he walked off in the direction of a tall tree with a wooden ladder leading up its trunk.

“Ready for lunch?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah.” She walked beside him back to the house. Their sign was up now, announcing Off-the-Grid Adventures in big, bold letters for the world to see. Surely the zoning problem was just a formality. She couldn't imagine that the Town Council would be so shortsighted as to keep them from going into business, but the guys seemed pretty worried about it, and they knew this town better than she did.

“You told your friends about our agreement?” she said as she climbed into the passenger seat of his Jeep.

He shrugged. “They know me too well to buy what we were selling otherwise.”

“Hmm.” For some reason, that pissed her off. Was the idea of Ethan dating plain, boring Gabby so outrageous that his friends would never believe it? Or was it the notion of him staying with her the whole summer because his usual relationships barely lasted a week?

Neither option sat well. And that was petty of her because she'd agreed to this. She'd agreed to all of it. And she'd gotten
so much
in return. Ethan had done wonders for her self-esteem in general, if not right at this exact moment.

He glanced at her as he pulled out onto Mountain Breeze Road. “Shit. You're looking at me like I fucked up.”

“You didn't.” She scrunched her nose. “I don't know what my problem is right now.”

He nudged her with his elbow. “Are we about to have our first fight?”

“No.” She let out a long sigh. “I've never done
this
before, and it all feels a little confusing right now.”

His smile faded. “Define
this
.”

“Fake relationships. Casual relationships. Whatever this is.” She looked over at him. “What are we now, Ethan? Is this still all pretend?”

“I'm sure as hell not faking anything.” His cocky grin left little doubt what he was referring to.

No, the chemistry was very real, and maybe that was part of the problem. “I'm not talking about sex.”

He pulled into the parking lot behind the deli and looked at her. “Then what?”

“I don't know.
This
…you and me going to lunch, hanging out like we're dating. It all feels so…cozy. But then I wonder if you're just spending time with me because of Dixie. And wow, I sound super needy. I'm sorry.” She pressed her hands over her eyes.

Ethan lifted them away, turning her to face him. “I'm not that complicated, Gabby, I promise. I'm always being straight with you, okay? I'm having lunch with you right now because I like you. I like being with you. And the sex is off the charts, right?”

“And after your grandmother's gone?” She hated to even say it, but there it was.

Ethan drew back, staring out the front window of the Jeep. “Then I guess that's that.”

And that hurt, even though it shouldn't. He was only sticking to what they'd originally agreed to. She was the one feeling all kinds of stupid, mushy things she had no business feeling. She turned away, hiding the tears welling in her eyes.