Free Chasing a Dream by Beth Cornelison

back, and her head bumped the wall.
    Furrowing his black eyebrows, Justin brushed her cheek with his palm. “You don’t get it, do you?” He shook his head. “I’d die before I let anyone hurt you. I turned my back once, but I will never make that mistake again.”
    The low, husky timbre of his voice wrapped around her like a hug. She filled her lungs as relief washed over her, leaving her body weak and shaking. “Then this is about your sister. You can’t forgive yourself until you save another woman in her place.”
    His hand fell away from her cheek, and he pressed his mouth in a thin line. “No. I’ll never forgive myself for letting Becca die. But I can damn well make sure it doesn’t happen to you.”
    With a sigh, she rolled off the bed, away from him. She was getting far too involved with this man for anybody’s good. She had to stay detached in order to make a clean break from him. Soon. “Go to Nashville, Justin. Forget about me. If I can find a quiet town where no one knows me, the chances of Randall finding me are remote. I’ll be fine.” She worked to infuse the statement with a credibility she didn’t feel.
    Squaring her shoulders, she met his dubious expression with her own determination. She had to convince him to go his own way. He would get himself in too deep, if she didn’t extricate herself as soon as possible. “I don’t want you involved in my problems.”
    Justin sat in the middle of the bed with his arms propped on his bent knees, his expression melancholy. “You haven’t listened to me, have you? I won’t leave you. Not until I’m sure you’re safe. I couldn’t live with myself if I walked away now, without doing anything to help you free yourself.”
    “But I am free. I got away, thanks to you. Your work is done. You’re free to go.” With a wide sweep of her arm, she motioned toward the door. “Mission accomplished.”
    He rolled his head from side to side, stretching the muscles in his neck, and he groaned. “Tell me something, Tess. Do you really believe he’s given up? Your husband sent a man after you with a gun, and now he’s just given up? Earlier today, you said—”
    “I know what I said.” Tess closed her eyes, and her shoulders drooped. “You’re like an aggravating stray dog that won’t take a hint, you know?” She looked at him squarely and shouted, “Shoo! I don’t want you. Go away!”
    His face brightened. “Nope. You messed up when you fed me. Now, I’m gonna hang around forever.”
    “I wanted to repay you,” she said, splaying her hands in exasperation. “I figured food was the least I could do after you saved my life.”
    “True.” A smart-alecky grin lit his face, and she gave up.
    The teasing, laid-back Justin she’d traveled with today had returned. Having buried the pain and frustration deep inside once more, he resumed his role as the jovial companion. But she saw his humor and teasing in a new light. People dealt with pain in different ways. Was Justin’s ready grin just a mask? His laid-back joking a shield?
    A sharp stab of sympathy pierced her heart. Her carefree and cocky cowboy proved a more complex man than she’d guessed.
    Sighing, she crossed the room to her suitcase and worked to tamp down the swell of emotion her new understanding of Justin triggered. She couldn’t afford to peel back the layers of this man and invest any of herself learning what made him tick. If she started to care about him, she’d create a bond she had no right building. She meant to get Justin out of her life as soon as she could figure out how. No point complicating her task with attachments that would hurt her when broken.
    A heaviness settled in her chest. She’d likely spend her life alone, holding herself apart from real affection or commitment or emotional connection. The hope she’d had as a young woman for the kind of love her parents had shared had been shattered in the first year of her life with Randall. Although Randall had