his magic and secured the client for his father’s firm.
“Lather, rinse, repeat,” Alex muttered to himself as he upped the tempo and ran past a jogger. Alex’s powerful legs ate up the miles as he followed the already familiar route of his morning run. Every day, Alex ran around Green Lake and continued to Woodland Park. It was his favorite time of the day. Only him, glimpses of the lake, and miles’ worth of peace, stretching out in front of him.
There were no phone calls from his father or Jeeves, no plans, no obligations, no demands. For an hour, Alex could feel free before he dove back into the sketchy world of public relations where nobody meant what they said and ass-kissing was as necessary as oxygen.
The early-morning runs were the only time Alex didn’t feel numb. The feeling ebbed during the day, but each morning, for an hour, Alex almost felt hopeful. Ten years was a long time to feel dead inside, so Alex chased the hope like an addict who was after his next fix. Hope for what, he wasn’t even sure, but maybe it didn’t even matter. For now, just to feel something was enough.
He kept his eyes on his destination as he ran. Steady breaths and feet pounding on pavement were his soundtrack as he cleared one mile after the other. He didn’t listen to music or podcasts like a lot of other people. The fragile sense of peace was too delicate to disturb by any other sound than his own deep, steady breaths.
He was about to leave Green Lake behind him, heading north. There was another runner in front of Alex, but he didn’t pay much attention to her. She was clearly slower than Alex, so soon he’d leave her behind and be alone again.
Alex was about twenty feet behind the woman, about to speed up to pass her, when she yelped and went down. By the time Alex reached her, she was clutching her ankle and cursing up a storm.
“Let me help you.” Alex kneeled down and started to inspect the woman’s leg. “What happened?”
The woman winced as Alex prodded at her ankle. “Stupid trees with their stupid roots. I think I might have sprained it. Jesus fucking pickles, it hurts.”
Alex scrunched his nose in sympathy. The ankle was already swelling rapidly. “It’s probably safe to say that it’s at least a sprain, yeah.”
The woman let her head fall back as she groaned. “Fantastic. My PT will have a field day when she hears I twisted it again. I mean, you’d think I’m capable of learning, but clearly not. It’s my third busted ankle in two years.”
“At least you’re persistent,” Alex said.
The woman laughed. “Obviously. I’m sorry you had to stop because of me. You can go.”
“That would be a really dick move if I just left you here.”
The woman shrugged. “It’s not like I know your name and address to start planning an elaborate revenge for that unthoughtful act.”
“See, now you made me worried you’re already concocting something.” Alex held out his hands and helped the woman get to her feet. She was clearly in pain as she gingerly tried to lean on her injured foot but winced and pulled it up as soon as the toe of her shoe touched the ground.
“It’s my master plan how to get rich and famous. You’ll leave and I’ll tell the police that you tripped me and ran away, and then I’ll sue you for gross negligence or something like that.”
“Sounds like a well-thought-out plan.”
“I’ve got the rich part down pat. I’m still struggling with the famous aspect.”
“Maybe you’ll write a book of the harrowing experience,” Alex suggested.
“Maybe. I feel like I’m too lazy for that, though. I need something that requires no effort on my part.”
“Luckily for you, you now have plenty of time to brainstorm, since you won’t be running on that leg of yours for a while.”
The woman gasped. “Kicking a girl when she’s down. You have the cruelty of a villain. Hey, maybe I’m not too lazy—I mean, the bestseller practically writes itself. Can I say that you tripped me and laughed evilly while I was flying through the air? Maybe I should say I was on a cliff, and I not only fell but fell over the edge, into a… a… a well.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Can you sprain an ankle while falling into the water? And if you can, can you then swim with a twisted ankle? Or