A Woman Faints During A Marathon, Never Suspecting The Billionaire Runner Will Soon Fall For Her
The Marathon Collapse and a Smoothie
Collins didn’t even see the curb. One second she was pushing through the 22nd mile of the New York Marathon, sweat dripping down her back and lungs burning. The next, her vision spun sideways. Her knees buckled and everything went black.
She woke up to the sound of sirens and someone shouting her name.
“I… stay with me.”
She blinked her eyes, squinting against the sunlight. There was a man crouched beside her. His hand held hers tightly while the other waved off a paramedic.
He looked like he just stepped off a billboard. He was tall and lean with messy dark hair soaked with sweat. He had piercing blue eyes that somehow looked furious and concerned at the same time.
“Wh… what?” her voice cracked.
She tried to sit up, but the world tilted again.
“Don’t move yet.”
He steadied her with a hand behind her back.
“You fainted. You’re dehydrated and probably overheated. Just breathe. All right?”
She blinked up at him. “Who are you?”
“Elias.”
He squeezed her hand once before letting go.
“Elias Grant. I was running behind you. Saw you drop like a rock.”
“Oh.”
Her brain felt cotton-stuffed. “That’s embarrassing.”
He shook his head. “You scared the hell out of me.”
She was loaded into an ambulance and Elias rode with her. She tried to protest, but he waved her off.
“Let me. You’re not alone right now.”
Didn’t know why, but the sound of that comforted her more than it should have.
Three days later, she was back on her feet, sipping bland coffee from a paper cup outside her tiny Brooklyn apartment. She’d returned to her job as a graphic designer at a local ad startup, already buried in overdue emails.
She didn’t expect to see him again. But then, on Friday, he showed up. She was walking out of the office when a sleek black car pulled up, way too polished for this street.
The door opened and there he was. Elias was in a plain black tee and jeans, looking like he belonged on a runway. Her jaw dropped.
“What are you doing here?”
He held up a smoothie. “Thought you might still be low on electrolytes.”
She stared at the drink, then back at him. “You tracked me down for this?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to check on you and maybe ask if you’d let me buy you dinner sometime.”
She blinked, stunned. “Are you serious?”
“Completely.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“You know I can run 26 miles and carry someone twice my size to an ambulance. That’s got to count for something.”
She cracked a smile despite herself. “You carried me?”
“I did.”
He grinned. “You drooled a little. It was endearing.”
She laughed, loud and real. “You sure you’re not just a weirdo with a hero complex?”
He held the smoothie out again. “Only one way to find out.”
