Random (Going the Distance) by Lark O'Neal Page A

safe.
    In my pocket, my phone vibrates. “Sorry, I have to look,” I say, pulling it out. “I’ve applied for a million jobs today.”
    “That’s fine.”
    It’s not a job, though. It’s Rick. I put it back in my pocket.
    Tyler says something, but I’m lost in the choice between the Cottonwood Special and the Miner’s Breakfast. “Hmm?”
    His chuckle is low and kind. “I’ll wait. I can see you’re a woman on a mission.”
    I slap the menu down. “Nope, I’ve decided on the Miner’s Breakfast.” Waffle, bacon, eggs and hash browns. Value for the dollar.
    The server comes by and takes our orders. I want coffee with mine, even if it’s hot out. When she leaves, I sigh. “That’s the thing I’m going to miss about my old job. Great coffee by the bucketful.”
    He folds his hands over his flat belly, stretching his legs out in front of him. I can’t help but imagine how that belly looks without the t-shirt covering it. Is he as tan on his tummy as he is on his arms?
    “Have you seen your friend?” he asks. “Do you know how things went with her crushed arm?”
    “No. I tried this morning.” I pick up a spoon and turn it end over end. “They wouldn’t let me in. They won’t even tell me what her injuries are or anything. She’s in intensive care, though. That’s pretty bad, right?” It gives me a sick feeling to think about it.
    “Maybe,” he says with a slight shrug. “Maybe they just need to keep an eye on her. Don’t worry more than you have to.” He inclines his head. “Did you see the paper this morning?
    “No, was the accident in there?”
    He takes his phone out and brings up the screen. He flips through something, then hands it over.
    The phone is much lighter than I would have thought, and warm from his hand. Sunshine is on the screen so I can’t see it, and I have to turn sideways to get it in the shadows. There’s a photo of the car sticking out of the restaurant. In memory, I suddenly see Virginia, her bloody arm mangled and hanging loose as they brought her out, and my stomach roils dangerously. I hand the phone back. “I…no…I can’t.”
    “Sorry.” He leans forward and touches my shoulders, gently soothing. “It was pretty fucking violent. You must be feeling shaken.”
    For a dangerous moment I really want to cry. The contrast between Tyler and Rick is so gigantic that I feel like the world’s biggest idiot for ever liking Rick at all. With effort, I pull myself under control. Swallow. “I’m okay. Thanks. I just really want to find out about Virginia.”
    “Maybe we can go by there again on the way back to your car.”
    I look at him for a long minute. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
    A strange expression crosses his face, half-longing, half-bemusement, like he doesn’t exactly know himself. “You seem like you could use a friend.”
    Friend. I’ve been totally misinterpreting this whole thing. Of course. My ears get hot as I think of how I’ve been flirting with him. I must seem like a kid to him, and he’s clearly got some money and—
    “Jess,” he says, quietly, and his finger draws a pale line down the flesh of my inner arm.
    The feather touch sends ripples through me. I’m too embarrassed to look at him, and he draws a circle in my palm, which to my complete horror makes my nipples hard. Can he see through my shirt? I close my eyes.
    “Hey,” he says, quietly. “Can I tell you something?”
    I nod.
    “You have to look at me.”
    I raise my eyes. Again I’m snared in the blue heat of those irises, but now the pupils are big and dark.
    “I waited twenty-four hours to text you because I didn’t want to look too eager.” His finger spirals around my palm, tickling and arousing.
    “Yeah?”
    He nods. “What about that boyfriend of yours?”
    I lift my shoulders and let them drop. Sliding him a sideways glance from under my eyelashes, I say, “We broke up last night.”
    “Huh,” he says, and smiles very slowly. A locked door opens