Free Vibrant Heart: Book 1 in the Great Plains Romance Series by Corrissa James Page B

stand up but still didn’t look at him. “It just startled me, I guess.”
    “Are you sure?” He reached for her elbow, but she pulled away.
    “Yes, everything’s fine. Sorry about...all that.” She half-turned and waved her hand, forcing a smile.
    She wasn’t fooling him and they both knew it. Jake waited, his breathing shallow. Whatever was happening, he had a bad feeling that he was not going to like it.
    “Listen, I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. Please, explain to my father.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond before throwing open the door and racing out through the lobby, to the large glass doors that led to the parking lot.
    Jake watched her go, unable to breathe. The sucker punch she’d leveled at him hurt more than anything Bruce Garrison had ever thrown. Finally Jake gasped, as if his breathing returned all at once. He ran his hands through his hair and bent over his knees. He’d gotten exactly what he’d been looking for: a one-night stand who was gone the next day. No strings. No drama.
    And she’d left him doubled over and gasping for breath.
    His fury catapulted him into action, and he stepped through the glass entry doors just as her rental car pulled out onto the highway, heading south. Toward the airport, no doubt. Jake scowled. His anger settled around his shoulders. He tried to shrug it off, but he knew it would be a cold day in hell before he forgave Melanie Olson.
    Or forgot her.

Chapter Seventeen
    Melanie drove back to Chicago instead of flying. It would give her the time to work through the pain, get it all out of her system, before facing her colleagues at the publishing house. She avoided the interstate and the never-ending calls from her father, preferring to follow the two-lane highways so she could pull over whenever her emotions got the better of her. Which they often did. At some point in central Iowa she was able to admit to herself that she had feelings for Jake—she didn’t understand how it had happened so quickly, but that was not the point. Admitting the problem was the first step. That night, after stopping at a small hotel in eastern Iowa, she emailed her father and told him not to worry about her, then climbed into bed and tried to let go of the memories of her night with Jake.
    Thirty minutes later she knew sleep was not in the cards. She turned on the television, muting the sound, and watched the pictures flash across the screen, hoping she could trick her mind into thinking about anything but Jake and how she had run away from him. It was a cowardly thing to do, and when did she become a coward? She had never been afraid to speak her mind, which was one of the reasons she had landed her executive editor position, yet when it came to Jake...oh sure, she could tell him exactly what she thought about every topic in the world except one: her feelings for him.
    She scoffed and swung her legs off the bed. “Don’t be stupid, Mel.”
    Perhaps some work would help her get her mind off Jake’s smile, his kisses, the way he made her toes curl when he touched her.
    “Oh for crying out loud. Yes, he was good in bed—clearly from lots of practice!”
    She snorted as she pulled out her laptop. Now she was openly talking to herself. Jake would certainly get a kick out of that. When she talked to him, she’d have to remember to tell him about it.
    Except she wouldn’t be talking to him. She wouldn’t be going back to Bender, not while he was there. She could not—would not—be responsible for yet another man in her life turning to alcohol. Alcohol had destroyed her parents’ marriage and it had turned Raymond into something he wasn’t. Jake had been playful while drinking, but he’d also said he’d only had a drink or two. What would happen when he had more than a few drinks? And he inevitably would. They always did. No one ever fell off the wagon for just a drink or two.
    He had a right to know why she walked out on him today, if only to avoid an awkward