Naked Read Online Free Page B

hair that flopped over his forehead ruffled slightly in the breeze, and Caelyn resisted the urge to reach up and push it off his face. “Why do you have another name you give to the police?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.
    But he surprised her. “It’s a long story, and maybe someday I’ll have a chance to tell it to you. But let’s just say that you’re not the only one running away from something.” He turned to her, and their eyes met. And in that moment, Caelyn realized why it was she’d felt so safe with him. He was running away, too. They were the same, at least on some level.
    “You don’t have to tell me,” she said. “It’s okay.” And it was. Sure, Elijah just admitted that he’d lied to the police. It probably meant that he had done other bad things as well. But in a strange way, what was more important was, at least at that moment, he was telling her the truth. And he didn’t have to do that.
    She could see the hurt and pain reflected in his eyes, and she wondered what kind of secrets he was hiding. Whatever they were must have been painful and dark and raw.
    It was almost too much to take, staring at him like that, and she had to look away.
    “You’re right, I am a mess,” she admitted, pulling out her pocket mirror and seeing the mascara running down her cheeks. She looked like someone had just taken a flamethrower to a statue in the wax museum. Why hadn’t she thought to at least wash her face?
    “What do you say we go inside and grab something to eat?” Elijah asked her. He stood up and reached his hand out to her. She took it, and his grip was strong and comforting as he pulled her to her feet.
    “Shouldn’t we be getting back on the road?”
    “I checked the times on the busses going to Florida, and we’ve got a couple of hours to spare.”
    She smiled a little. He’d taken the time to check on the bus schedule, and he’d come after her even though she’d yelled and screamed and told him to leave her alone.
    Whatever else Elijah might be, he was certainly doing more than he needed to for a girl he’d just met.
    “I am kind of hungry,” she admitted.
    “Obviously. The way you took off out of there with that Slim Jim in hand?” He shook his head. “You probably could have won the Olympic gold medal for the fifty-yard dash.”
    Caelyn laughed, her belly loosening, the laughter sounding and feeling more and more real—natural—like her old self. He was smiling, and she realized how close they were standing. His eyes were warm and soft as he looked at her.
    For a moment, she almost thought he was going to kiss her, and her heart sped up, but then he didn’t. She looked past him into the convenience store and saw the cashier still giving her the evil eye. “Yeah, we should probably avoid going back in that way.”
    “You heard what he called you, right?” Elijah said, leading her toward the other entrance.
    “No, what?”
    “He thought you were my girlfriend,” Elijah said, glancing at her as if to see her reaction.
    “Yeah, well, you seem to be encouraging people to think that about me,” she replied.
    “Me? How is this my fault?” He opened the door and held it for her as she walked past him.
    “You told that cop that I was your girlfriend. Now people are just assuming it.
    You started a rumor,” she chided him. “And now we’ll never live it down.”
    “Maybe we should play it up instead.” His voice was mischievous and flirty, and she remembered how his hand had felt against her leg when they’d gotten pulled over.
    She didn’t say anything for a moment as they stood there and surveyed the interior of the rest stop. There was the convenience store on the left, and then the restrooms, and then to the right was a decent sized cafeteria, which was home to a half-dozen fast food restaurants.
    “What do you mean play it up?” Caelyn asked. They were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, almost touching but not quite.
    “Like, if everyone is going to