Chasing Olivia (Trace + Olivia #2) (13 page)

He pressed his lips more firmly against mine before pulling away. His gaze dropped and he picked up the ice pack. “Ice your eye,” he handed it to me, “it’ll help with the swelling.”

I did as he said, crawling back under the covers. The cold from the ice pack made me shiver. He climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around me. I probably should have pushed him away since he was being so weird, but I was cold, and his arms felt like heaven around me. The truth of the matter was, I wasn’t really mad at him. I understood where he was coming from. If Trace was hurt, I wanted to be there to pick up the pieces.

I felt his lips brush against the back of my neck, his stubble scratching my sensitive skin.

Time passed and I thought he’d drifted off to sleep, but then he spoke.

“I’ll always keep you safe. No matter what.”

I woke up covered in a thin sheen of sweat since Trace was plastered to my body. He had me hugged against his chest like a human-sized teddy bear. It would be cute—if I wasn’t the teddy bear.

I pushed his heavy arm off of me, sliding out of the bed, and falling on my butt. So much for trying to be stealthy. I could never be a ninja.

Luckily, Trace didn’t stir at the sound of my fall. He was sound asleep, his mouth slightly open. It was completely unfair that he was cute even when he slept. I woke up every morning looking like Medusa. Boys had it so much easier.

I picked myself up off the floor and tiptoed across the room and into the bathroom. I eased the door closed behind me and locked it.

My eyes widened when I saw my face. “Holy crap,” I frowned at my bruised eye. It looked like someone had punched me, not like I’d tried to hug the floor. I knew I’d have to hide it before Trace woke up but none of the makeup I’d packed would cover up this purple sucker.

I decided to shower first and then head across the street to where I remembered seeing a drugstore—probably the same one Trace had gone to last night.

I secured my hair into a messy bun on top of my head and dressed as quietly as possible, before snatching the room keycard off the dresser and slipping outside. Now, I had to hope he didn’t wake up while I was gone. Knowing Trace, he’d wake up and think I’d been kidnapped.

I avoided looking at anyone directly as I grabbed a bottle of liquid foundation and checked out. I knew people would think my boyfriend had hit me, and since that definitely wasn’t the case, I’d rather avoid awkward question and answer sessions.

Trace was still asleep when I came back into the room and I let out a sigh of relief. Usually, Trace didn’t sleep long after I’d gotten out of the bed. He must have been really tired.

I had just finished hiding the bruise on my face when he woke and strode into the bathroom.

“Hey,” he muttered groggily, hugging me from behind and pressing his hips against me.

“Trace,” I groaned, prying myself from his arms.

“It’s morning. I can’t help it,” he yawned. “You already showered,” he stated, taking in my wet hair and fresh clothes.

I nodded. “I wanted to get the bar smell off of me.”

He reached up and smoothed his thumb beneath my left eye. I hoped he didn’t wipe the makeup away. “I thought for sure that would bruise,” he whispered to himself.

“It didn’t,” I said a bit too quickly, backing out of the bathroom and away from him. “I’m—uh—going to get us some breakfast while you shower.”

He eyed me suspiciously. “Ooookay,” he drew out the word. “My wallet’s on the dresser, grab some cash.”

“I notice you didn’t say to grab your car keys,” I taunted with a grin.

“No one but me drives the Camaro. Ever,” his eyes were serious but he was fighting a smile. “It won’t take me long to shower. Why don’t you wait and we’ll go together?”

“I can do that,” I crossed my arms over my chest, “but there’s a McDonald’s right next door. I won’t be far, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I don’t worry—”

“Your pants just caught on fire with that lie.” I grabbed his wallet and snagged a twenty-dollar bill. “I’ll be back in five minutes. Stop treating me like I’m two and you have to babysit me.”

His eyes narrowed and his tongue flicked out to wet his lips. “Oh, I know I don’t have to babysit you, trust me.”

I chose to ignore his comment. “Go shower. You smell.”

“Thanks sweetie. Love you too,” He called after me sarcastically.

It was early so there wasn’t much of a line at McDonalds. Besides, this didn’t strike me as the hot spot in town anyway. I grabbed the bag of food and drinks and walked back across to the motel. They were literally right beside each other. The smell of the greasy food was making me hungry though. The cheese fries we’d had last night hadn’t been enough to eat. If I kept eating all this cheesy grease filled food on this trip I’d end up gaining fifty pounds.

I had the keycard with me but my hands were full and I couldn’t get it out of the pocket of my jeans. I knocked on the door with my shoulder.

Trace opened it a moment later, standing there in nothing but a towel and wet water droplets sticking to his sculpted chest. I wanted to lick him.

“Whoa,” he grabbed the drink carrier that I almost dropped because I was staring at his chest. It would have been a worthy cause though. He had such a nice chest that you couldn’t keep yourself from staring at it.

“Sorry,” I stepped around him as he closed the door.

He placed the drinks on the dresser and tossed the cardboard carrier into the trashcan.

By the time I had our breakfast sandwiches laid out he’d put on a pair of boxers and loose jeans. My eyes roamed over his body, memorizing each dip and curve of his muscles, and tracing the lines of his tattoos.

“You know,” I smiled as he sat down beside me and grabbed his sausage egg and cheese biscuit, “you’ve never told me why you got a four leaf clover when I got my first tattoo.”

He swallowed, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I thought it was pretty obvious,” he shrugged, “you’re my lucky charm.”

I wasn’t sure if I should hug him or punch him for his cheesiness.

“Don’t mess with me,” I eyed him.

“I’m serious,” he crumbled up his wrapper and dropped it in the paper bag. “From the moment I met you my life had meaning again,” he looked at me seriously. “I’m not one to confess all my feelings and be gushy, but it’s true. When I met you…” He paused, his brows furrowing together. “I was finally getting over what happened to my dad and seeing the damage I’d caused to my family. But meeting you is what truly changed me. You made me
laugh
again, Olivia. That may seem like something simple,” he cupped my chin in his large hand, “but when you go years without laughing at anything…when all your thoughts and feelings are only
bad
. Laughing takes on a whole new meaning. So yes, you’re my lucky charm.”

“I-I-I don’t know what to say,” I stuttered, shaking my head. I hadn’t been expecting a deep meaningful answer from him. But I should’ve known. All of his tattoos meant something important to him.

“Don’t say anything,” he reached for my hand and entwined our fingers together. “Words aren’t always necessary.”

I swallowed thickly. “Do you ever think,” I whispered, “that we met for a reason?”

He brought our joined hands up to his heart and I could feel its steady beat. “Every single day of my life.”

I laid my head on his bare shoulder. “Before you came along, I never thought about falling in love or marrying someone,” I glanced down at my engagement ring, “but now I can’t imagine not having that.”

“I know what you mean,” he kissed the corner of my mouth. “Some things come along when you need them most, and at the time, you don’t even realize that you need them.”

“Exactly,” I whispered.

Fate worked in mysterious ways. The night I’d met Trace, I’d wanted nothing more than to get back to my dorm without being raped or murdered. When Trace had come along, I hadn’t known how much that single moment would change the rest of my life. But boy, am I glad that it did.

“Are you gonna finish that?” He pointed to my half-eaten egg McMuffin.

“No,” I handed it to him, “you can have it.”

“So, besides seeing the Liberty Bell what else do you have planned?” I asked, gathering up our stuff and putting it in our duffel bags.

“Independence Hall, maybe some museums,” he shrugged, finishing the last bite of my sandwich.

“Are we only visiting museums on this road trip?” I raised a brow. “I thought we were going to have fun, not be bored to death.”

“Museums are fun!” He defended. “But no, we’re not just visiting museums. After this, I don’t know which way the wind might blow us.”

“Except north,” I stated. “You keep saying we’re heading north.”

He looked like deer caught in headlights for a moment, but he shook his head and the look was gone. “Yeah, uh, I want us to go to the lake house. Remember?” He stood, pulling on his shirts.

“Mhmm,” I muttered, eyeing him suspiciously. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” he replied a bit too quickly, “nothing at all.”

“Trace,” I said his name warningly. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

“Absolutely not,” he shook his head, grabbing our bags.

He grabbed the room key as well as his car keys, picked up our bags, and breezed out of the room. I knew avoidance when I saw it, and that’s exactly what he was doing. What the hell was he up to? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

I scanned the room several times and even looked under the bed to make sure we weren’t leaving anything behind. When I was sure we had all our belongings I headed out to the car. Trace already had the car started and his sunglasses on. He was fiddling with his phone as I slid inside.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I made a playlist for our road trip,” he mumbled, pushing a button on his phone. The sounds of Lifehouse’s Gotta Be Tonight blared from the speakers. For an old car it had one heck of a sound system. For all I knew Trace had upgraded it. I knew absolutely nothing about cars.

Trace seemed to know where he was going and since I didn’t want to be the annoying, nagging girlfriend—fiancé—I kept my mouth shut.

Maybe in a few days I would finally realize that we were engaged. It was still so new that I kept forgetting.

“Alright,” Trace parked the car, “we should be able to walk to the Liberty Bell from here as well as the museums.”

“Walking’s fine with me. Especially since I’m going to be cooped up in the car with you for a couple of weeks,” I laughed.

He frowned, removing his sunglasses and hooking them into the collar of his shirt. “I don’t know why you say that like it’s a bad thing. I’m awesome to be around. You should be happy that you’re being rewarded with my presence twenty-four seven. Not many get that pleasure.”

“You’re too much to handle sometimes,” I shook my head.

“And yet,” he smirked, tapping my nose with his finger like I was a small child, “you’re still here.”

“There’s no place I’d rather be,” I taunted, getting out of the car before he could say anything else.

A light breeze swirled around me, ruffling my hair. It was only ten in the morning but I knew it was going to be scorcher. I’d need to find some sunscreen so I didn’t end up looking like a lobster.

“Which way should we head first?” Trace asked from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder at him, squinting from the sun. “Does it matter?” I asked, shading my eyes.

“I guess not,” he said, shrugging out of his plaid shirt and tossing it in the car, leaving him in only a wife-beater. “Geez it’s hot out,” he grumbled. “You’d think it was Florida or something.”

“It’s not
that
hot,” I laughed.

“Maybe not,” he locked the car, “but it’s still pretty hot.”

“It is,” I admitted. Sweat was already dampening my skin and we’d only been outside for a few minutes. Hopefully it would get cooler as we headed north. Scorching hot temperatures weren’t my thing.

“I think Independence Hall is this way,” he pointed. “I already got tickets before we left,” he pulled two pieces of paper from his back pocket.

I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him. “I’m beginning to think you’ve had this whole trip planned before you even asked me.”

I was only joking, but his posture stiffened and he wouldn’t meet my gaze. “That’s just silly,” he chuckled, trying to play it off.

“Huh,” I muttered to myself. What was going on with him?

“Come on, this way,” he grabbed my hand, pulling me after him.

There was a line to get into the tour but Trace bypassed it, flashing something I couldn’t see. I gave him a peculiar look and he explained, “Sometimes having money comes in handy.”

I hated to admit it, but the tour was actually pretty interesting. It made you feel so small to be surrounded by so much history. It blew my mind to think about all the important decisions that had been made in that building…in this city. It was crazy. Those people were long gone but I was sure if they knew the state we were in now, they’d think we were all a bunch of screw-ups.

As we left the old brick building Trace grabbed my arm, halting my progress.

“What?”

“I want a picture,” he explained, holding out his phone and taking a few pictures of us. He’d done the same yesterday at the Heinz museum. I think he was determined to document every moment of this trip.