Chasing a Dream by Beth Cornelison Page B

followed, all the wretched things she’d discovered about Randall, had been the catalysts to make her act. She’d finally screwed up the nerve to walk away from a miserable existence, and she would never look back. Now she could only pray she lived long enough to find the new life she craved.
    A loud thump from the bathroom jolted Tess from her reverie, and adrenaline spiked her pulse.
    “Ow!” Justin yelped. “Damn that hurt!”
    She glanced toward the bathroom door. “Justin?”
    “I’m all right. Just clumsy is all.”
    She put a hand over her racing heart and dragged in a calming breath.
    When she called the pizza store, she ordered by rote the same sausage pizza Randall liked but she’d learned to hate over the years. Just before she hung up, she caught herself.
    “Wait!” she called to the woman on the line. “Change that to a vegetarian pizza with whole wheat crust.”
    The freedom to do as she chose, without Randall’s censure, caused a ripple of joy to flow through
    her. For tonight at least, she could breathe easier, do whatever she wanted. A small victory.
    She sighed and lay back on a pillow, stacking her hands under her head to stare at the ceiling. She listened to the voices that passed outside their door, the rumble of traffic on the highway, the distant wail of a siren. Somewhere out there, Randall’s men were looking for her. Closing in on her. She had to remember that, had to stay alert and be cautious. Her life depended on it.
    A moment later, Justin’s voice carried loud and strong over the sound of the shower. His singing was so incongruously lighthearted in contrast to the ominous track of her thoughts that she started at the sound. After a moment, Tess cracked a grin as she listened to him croon. His rich, mellifluous tenor voice gave her a measure of comfort, and she closed her eyes. His cheerfulness helped her keep her mind from dwelling on her frightening past and uncertain future. The familial ease that he displayed with his shower concert took the rough edge off her nerves.
    An image of Justin naked, rivers of water streaming down his lean body as he showered, flashed in her mind’s eye. Startled by the sensual picture, she quickly opened her eyes again. Her heartbeat accelerated. Still, his voice skimmed over her like a lover’s hand, leaving a tingle on her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, dismayed by the path her thoughts had taken. Allowing herself to feel any attraction to her rescuer would only complicate things for her. She needed to keep her association with him as emotionally detached as possible. Objectivity would make freeing herself from him easier.
    The water cut off, and Justin whistled now.
    Tess stared at the ceiling with wide eyes, afraid to close them again because of the graphic vision she’d conjured before.
    When the bathroom door opened, she refused to look at Justin, uncertain what she’d find or what he might read in her eyes, but her peripheral vision followed his movement around the room.
    “No TV, huh?” he asked.
    “No.”
    “I never watch much, anyway. How about you?”
    “No.” Listening to the whisper of cloth, his soft tenor humming, and the thud of her heartbeat, she searched for a distraction. “I ordered us a pizza.”
    “Oh, yeah? Cool. What kind?”
    “A large vegetarian with whole wheat crust.”
    The rustle of clothing stopped, and the shadows on the ceiling stilled.
    “You’re joking, right? You didn’t really ruin a perfectly good pizza with vegetables and whole wheat, did you?”
    Teasing laced his tone, yet she tensed.
    “Yes.”
    She heard a snort-like sigh then a low chuckling, and she relaxed her muscles again.
    “At this point, even vegetables sound good. I’m starved.”
    When the shifting shadows told her he’d moved across the room toward his backpack, she pushed off the bed. Keeping her eyes averted, she ran for the bathroom.
    Her hot shower relieved the physical chill, but she doubted anything could ever