Willing Bride: 7 Brides for 7 Bears by Moxie North

Author:Moxie North [North, Moxie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-04-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Piper set off at a march, the crisp layer of ice embedded in the dirt crunched under her feet. Where the sun peeked through the canopy, the ground was soft and her boots sunk in. Anson was tight to her back, she could feel him. She was glad she couldn’t see him at the moment. She could almost pretend that she was alone on a leisurely walk in the woods. But it wasn’t a slow hike. She was pushing herself, and her breath puffed into the air.

She scolded herself as her feet moved over the trail. She’d forgotten and let her guard down. It had only been for a moment. Piper had jumped into the car with Anson, happily stuffing her face with a donut, and she’d forgotten. She had reveled in the fact that she was sitting in the front seat. Not the back in the middle all alone, but up front like a normal person and she had let herself be distracted for just a moment. When her eyes hit that bouquet of flowers in the fence, she knew. She knew she had been stupid. The appeal of something that bordered on a date had let her imagine a day without watching her back.

She was angry at herself. So fucking angry. How stupid could she have been? If her two failed weddings didn’t tell her that real life wasn’t for her, there was no way a day with Anson was going to go off without a hitch. Now she was pissed. She was mad at the jerk that was ruining her life. Mad that she had let herself think about Anson in a way she’d promised herself not to. The pull towards him was getting stronger and stronger. She didn’t know if she should do the right thing and ask King to pull him off the job. It would be the right thing to do, but Piper was sick of doing the right thing. She’d put on a brave face after each disaster of a relationship and built a wall to keep people from seeing how many pieces she’d cracked into.

The tears that she hadn’t noticed falling down her cheeks chilled against her face. She half expected Anson to stop her, but he just stayed close, his presence a comfort. She marched, occasionally tripping over a root here and there. Every time she caught herself, she would grind out a “Fuck!” and keep marching.

Piper hiked until her legs started to burn and her lungs hurt. Stopping at a large fallen log, she sat and covered her face with her hands. The log shifted with Anson’s weight settling next to her. “Get it out.”

She jerked her tear-stained face up to him. “Excuse me?”

“Get it out. All of it.”

Piper sputtered, “What the hell?”

“You heard me, get it out. Now’s the time, take all that shit inside and let go of it. You are going to see your exes tomorrow and I need you clear-headed.”

Piper felt a ping in her head like she was having a stroke.

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