He cupped her butt, looked at his palms, and frowned.
Jaye shoved his shoulders. “Shouldn’t you buy me dinner before you cop a feel?”
“Don’t push me away.” He stood and looked down at her chest.
“No way.” She crossed her arms over her breasts. “Don’t even think about feeling around there.”
“What am I supposed to do?” He glared into her eyes. “There’s blood on your jacket. I intend to find out where you’re cut.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” She held up the scraped heel of her left hand. “I tripped on a tree root and fell.”
His gaze flicked over the injury and he cupped her jaw. “That’s it?”
She nodded, bumping her chin against the well of his palm.
The bridge of his nose hovered above hers. “Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
“I’m a little confused. Are you the same guy who threatened to feed me to a fire-breathing dragon a few days ago?” Jaye arched her eyebrow. “You do realize a dragon would do a lot more damage, right?”
“Stop joking, dammit.” He grabbed her upper arms. “Put me out of my misery and tell me you’re okay.”
Her skin sizzled beneath the pressure of the strong grip of his fingers. “I’m fine. Why?”
“Someone was hit by a stray arrow in the woods.” He jerked her against his chest, hugging her tight. A tortured grunt came out of his throat. “I thought it was you.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t breathe with her face smashed against his neck. Turning her head, she took a grateful lungful of air. The sharp stubble of his five o’clock shadow scraped her cheek. His warm skin smelled like the crisp leaves blanketing the forest floor. A poignant longing rose inside her. Was this what having a man worry about you felt like? “I wasn’t hit by an arrow. I was hit by an attack of clumsiness.”
He rested his cheek against her hair. “When I saw the blood on your jacket, I was convinced you were hit. Scared the hell outta me.”
“I’m okay,” she assured him. With her free hand, she patted his back. The thick bands of muscle beneath her palm felt solid, like a brick wall.
“Sarah told me you’ve been on the trails near my house.” He held her at arm’s length and his blue eyes narrowed into a speculative squint. “Have you been running every day?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I usually go out in the morning before work. I take the path off the end of the road.”
“Hell, you can’t run there. It’s archery season. At least six blinds are along the path.” His hands tightened on her shoulders. “Do you know what a hunting blind looks like? It’s usually a small platform up in a tree. Sometimes the top is covered, like a tent.”
“I wondered what those were.”
“Oh, God.” He released her, drawing a hand down his face. “Hunters hide in the trees, waiting for deer to walk past. Some green kid looking for his first kill may shoot at anything running by—even if it’s you.”
She tilted her head to make eye contact. “I wear a bright yellow jacket. No one would mistake me for a deer, would they?”
“Not on purpose, but if you’re in the woods at dawn or dusk, the light plays tricks on your eyes. Any movement can look like a deer. No one around here uses the trails during hunting season. Do me a favor and stay out of the forest, okay?”
Jaye couldn’t refuse the earnest plea radiating from his gaze. “From now on, I’ll stick to the roads.”
Mitch rubbed the back of his neck. “Which road?”
“How about the one where I got my flat?”
He grimaced. “No good. I saw a black bear there last week.”
Surely he’s kidding. “There aren’t bears in Pennsylvania.”
“Yes, there are. They might take a swipe at you if they’re startled.” Mitch reached for her injured hand, studying the nasty red scrape on her palm. The bleeding had stopped. Clear lymph oozed from the abrasion. “A grown bear can outrun anyone. Even you.”
“Wait a second.” She snatched her hand out of his. “When you helped me change my tire, you told me I’d find nothing but possums and whistle pigs nearby.”
“I didn’t want to frighten you, Jaye. You were already spooked. If you might recall, you hit me with a flashlight when I got too close. I had no idea what you’d do if I mentioned I’d spotted a black bear walking along the ridge a few hours before.”
“Geez, I heard something in the woods that night.” Her stomach twisted, tighter than a wad of snarled cables inside a computer. “Do bears eat people?”
“Only girls in yellow jackets.”
She laughed at his joke and her tension eased. “What if I follow the road into town? I’ve only seen squirrels and the occasional car on that stretch of pavement.”
“I know a safer place.” Mitch opened a kitchen cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit. “There’s a treadmill in the basement. Use it any time you want.”
“Thanks, but I need to be in the fresh air after I’ve spent the whole day staring at a computer monitor.”
The corner of his mouth turned down. “This isn’t negotiable, huh? You’re running outside no matter how much I beg.”
“Afraid so,” she agreed.
“Fine. Run on the road leading into town.” He squirted antiseptic onto a paper towel and held out his palm. “Give me your hand.”
She noticed a slight quiver along his fingers—proof he was shaken by the discovery she’d been running past the sharp arrows cocked in hunters’ bows. She put her uninjured hand into his and squeezed. “I’ll be more careful, Mitch.”
Warm fingers closed over hers. “I’m not letting anything bad happen to you.” The words came out in a ragged vow, his solemn gaze cementing the sentiment.
Up this close, she could see the flecks of cobalt scattered in the steely blue of his irises. She spotted admiration in his gaze, for
