Stormy Passion (10 page)

It was a miracle they hadn’t both
drowned.

Adrian held Dani's hand, willing her to open
her eyes. She had a nasty bump, but surely it wasn’t that serious.
He sat there holding her hand and waited. For what? He didn’t
know.

These last twenty-four hours had been sheer
hell, and he was drained. So much for a nice relaxing weekend,
Adrian thought ruefully. It had been anything but peaceful in more
ways than one.

Thank God Angus and Nettie's place had
survived the storm intact. They had a generator, so a few things
worked.

Adrian leaned back against the hard chair and
continued his vigil, waiting for Dani to come to. If he shut his
eyes, he could still see the water tearing her out of his arms.
He'd barely had time to put the life jacket into her hand, before
the water overcame them.

Dani moaned, and he turned his attention to
her. Would there be irreparable harm? Again, he wished he'd sent
Dani away where she would have been safe.

He heard the door open behind him.

Nettie quietly crossed the room and touched
his shoulder. “How's the lass?”

Adrian jerked around. “Still unconscious.” He
bent his head and massaged the back of his neck. “I thought by now
she'd be awake.”

“
The lass has been through
aplenty. It might take a little while, but don't ye fret none. I
checked her vital signs, and she's fine. My nursing ability only
goes so far, however. If Danielle doesn't come to by this
afternoon, we'll radio for a helicopter.

“
Don't ye want to get some
rest, son? Ye've not had a bit of sleep since the hurricane hit.
I'll be glad to sit with her for a little while.”

“
Thanks, Nettie, but she's
my responsibility. I'll stay until she opens her eyes.”

After Nettie left, Adrian cursed himself
again for endangering Dani's life. How arrogant he’d been to
believe that he could outwit Mother Nature. He should have sent her
home, and he would as soon as she was able to travel. He closed his
eyes and drew in a deep, long breath. This simple weekend away had
turned out to be anything but simple.

Adrian rubbed his thumb across the top of her
hand. He'd dared her to take a chance, and look where it had left
her. A pang of guilt washed over him. Laying his head down on the
bed, he reluctantly closed his eyes, silently praying that Dani
would wake up and not hate him.

Somehow that was very important. Even if he
wasn’t sure why.

Adrian didn't know how long he’d slept before
he felt a slight flutter of something against his hand.
Immediately, his head came up, and he was wide awake. He stared
into a pair of confused blue eyes, shimmering with tears. And
something else he couldn't quite read.

“
How do you feel?” he
asked.

She blinked a couple of times, then touched
her dry lips with the tip of her tongue. “You-you're not dead.”

“
No.” He smiled, saying a
small prayer of thanks that she was alive. Apparently, she cared
enough to worry about him. “I'm very much alive.”

Adrian reached for a glass of water from the
nightstand. “Here, take a sip.” He held the glass to her lips,
supported her head, then watched as she managed a few sips. He
couldn't remember when he'd taken care of someone, he thought as he
returned the glass to the nightstand.

“
But I couldn't find you.
There was so much water.” Dani thrashed her head around in
confusion. Adrian placed his arm across her chest, taking her hands
to calm her.

“
I thought you'd drowned,”
she whispered when she stilled. Her eyes focused on him. A tear
trickled out of the corner of her eye, and he felt like he'd been
slugged in the stomach as emotions he hadn't felt in a long time
came alive.

She cried for him. Not Steven.

For him.

When was the last time a woman had cried for
him? His wife had had the ability to turn her tears on like a
spigot when she wanted something, but there was no mistaking that
Dani’s tears were genuine. Adrian hadn't realized how much his
ex-wife had soured him against women until he'd met Dani.

“
What happened?” Dani asked
as she struggled to sit up.

“
The hurricane paid us a
little visit.” Adrian grabbed a couple of pillows and placed them
behind her back before he spoke. “Tomorrow I'm going back to look
at the house.”

“
Where are we? And how long
have I been in bed?”

“
At Angus and Nettie's. And
you’ve been unconscious for about twenty-four hours. Since we’re on
a small island it takes longer to get help here.”

“
I’ve been out that long?
No wonder my head hurts.” Dani reached for his hand. “Are Angus and
Net--?”

“
They're fine,” he said
cutting her off. Her warm fingers clasped his, and he smiled at
her. “A few shingles blown off, but everything else seems
intact.”

“
Can I go with you
tomorrow?”

He gave her a quizzical look. “Are you sure
you're up to it?”

“
Of course.” Dani smiled,
rubbing the lump on her forehead. “It's just a slight bump on the
head.” She reached up and felt the egg-sized knot opposite the cut.
“I must look terrible. My head seems to have been through the mill.
What did happen?”

“
Remember the two windows
where we ran out of plywood?” He watched her shake her head. “The
ocean decided to enter the house, and I had just enough time to get
you into a life jacket. We're both lucky we weren't swept out to
sea.”

“
I'll say.” Relief washed
over her features. “Is the house still standing?”

“
Luckily. I think there is
some major water damage, but the repairs to the structure itself
will be fairly minor. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

“
Good. I'd like to help you
clean up.”

“
We'll see. It will be
another day before the ferries start running, but Angus has a
short-wave radio if you need to get a message to someone, or we
could call for a helicopter.” He hesitated, reluctant to ask the
question. “Don't you want to go home?”

No
, Dani wanted to shout, but for some
reason, she didn't. “I can stay another day. Helping you out is the
least I can do to thank for you saving my life. And the owners of
that nice house.”

“
You don't owe me
anything,” Adrian said with a sigh. What was the matter with him?
Now
she
wanted to stay, and
he
wanted her to go.
Couldn’t they get this right?

“
Well, I really shouldn't
travel until this lump goes down.” Dani groped for excuses. “And I
need to find my things. Besides, I kind of grew fond of this
place,” she finished. “I'd like to do something. Maybe help you
clean up. Something.”

“
All right,” Adrian agreed.
“But don't you think you should get word to your parents that
you’re okay?”

“
No. They don't know where
I am, so I better not scare them now.” She thought for a bit. “But
I suppose I should let Susan know.”

“
Your roommate?”

“
Susan Cross is my best
friend and the only one I told about the trip.”

“
Give me the number, and
I'll take care of everything.” Adrian stood. “I'll send Nettie in.
Maybe she can find you something dry to wear.”

“
Adrian?”

His shirt was halfway buttoned and his hair
messy when he looked at her. The stubble on his face told her he’d
not shaved.

“
You look like hell.” Dani
pointed out. “When's the last time you slept?”

He grinned in such a boyish fashion that her
heart fluttered. “That's my girl. Just as insulting as ever. Now I
know you’re going to be fine. And I was sleeping just fine a few
minutes ago until you so rudely woke me up.” With that, Adrian got
up and headed for the door.

Cheeks aglow with embarrassment or desire,
Dani didn’t know which, but she felt the heat in her face long
after he'd left the room. Why was she always attacking him?

Self-preservation?

Or was she falling in love with a man she
knew absolutely nothing about? Hell, she wasn't even sure if he had
a job.

One thing she definitely knew: he was a
ladies' man. It was written all over him, from his tall, muscular
physique to his dark, mysterious features. His quiet manner made
him all the more interesting, and Dani suspected she didn't know
all there was to know about him. But then again, she wouldn't be
finding out. She'd go back home and marry someone else.

And Adrian would surely return to whatever he
did before this weekend . . . the one subject he refused to
discuss.

“
My goodness, you must be
contemplating something important, lass,” Nettie called cheerfully
as she entered the room.

Dani shook off her thoughts. “Guess I was
daydreaming.”

Nettie smiled. “Daydreaming is good for the
soul. I'm glad to see ye've woke up. I'm not too sure Adrian could
have taken much more.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
The mon refused to get any
rest as long as ye didn’t wake up. I couldn't get him to leave yer
side at all.”

“
He's been here the whole
time?”

“
He has.” Nettie nodded. “I
think he must care for ye.”

“
We're just--” Just what?
Strangers? Not anymore. “We're just friends.”

“
If that's what ye want to
call it, lass.” Nettie chuckled. “I brought ye some clothes. My
niece stayed the summer with us, and luckily she left a few things
behind. She is about yer size, I’d wager, so I think they'll
fit.”

“
I guess all my clothes are
at the other house. Thank you.”

“
You and Adrian should be
able to get into the house tomorrow. We're hoping to have
electricity by then.”

“
Was there much
damage?”

“
Not too bad. We lost a
couple of houses but, thankfully, the eye hit between us and Myrtle
Beach. Could have been much worse.” Nettie turned to leave. “Come
on out after ye get dressed. Ye know, you're much friendlier than
Adrian's wife.”

Wife?
Dani mouthed to the closed door
as she stared after Nettie in shock. Adrian had said he wasn't
married. Now that she thought about it, he really didn’t say
anything when she’d asked him.

She removed her top slowly, her muscles
screaming in protest. She pulled on a rose-colored gauze dress and
straightened the hem.

Wife
. Why did Dani suddenly feel
sick?

After she'd gone to the bathroom to wash her
face and brush her teeth with the toothbrush Nettie had left her,
Dani combed the tangles from her hair. She sure could use a bath,
but that would probably have to wait until they had running water
again. What water they had would be contaminated after the
hurricane. Come to think of it, a bath was only a minor discomfort.
Her real discomfort was finding that she slept with a married man
who had so conveniently forgotten to mention his wife. The bastard
was no better than Steven.

When Dani joined the rest of the group, they
were putting cans back on the shelves. They stopped when she
entered the room, and Angus smiled at her. “Ye still look a little
peaked, lass, but no worse for the wear. Ye had us all a wee bit
scared, I must admit,” he said in his beautiful Scottish burr.

“
I'm fine, thank you. I'm
glad to see you didn't have much damage.”

“
Nay, that wind's got to
blow mighty powerful to chase me and Nettie girl away.”

“
If you ask me, those winds
were plenty strong.”

“
Ye did get bashed 'round a
bit, lass.”

She cut her eyes to Adrian, who had stopped
putting cans on the shelf to stare at her.

“
Do you really think you
should be up?” he asked.

She looked at him.
Wife
? That's what
she wanted to blurt out, but she knew her questions would have to
wait until they were alone. “I'm fine. A little bump isn't going to
stop me,” she answered coldly, then turned to Angus. “Can I
help?”

“
We have it under control
out here, but I did hear Nettie say something about eating. Maybe
she can use a hand fixing a meal.”

Good. Dani really didn't want to be around
Adrian until they could talk in privacy. “Which way?”

Angus gestured with his hand toward the hall,
then he returned to stacking cans. “Down the hall, to the
right.”

Dani found her way to the back where she
spotted Nettie setting up a portable gas stove. The older woman
looked up as Dani entered.

“
'Tis like camping
indoors,” she chuckled as she struck a match and lit the
stove.

“
Can I help?”

“
Sure ye can. I need some
bottled water from over there and a few paper plates will
do.”

It wasn't long before they sat down to a
spaghetti supper. Dani tried to keep up her end of the
conversation, nodding at all the right questions. But speaking to
Adrian privately was utmost on her mind.

Wife?
He had a wife
? The words
kept tumbling through her mind.

After she helped clean up, Dani went in
search of Adrian and found him in the front of the store, idly
chatting with Angus while the older man whittled.

Dani stood in the shadowed doorway watching
Adrian. He appeared so relaxed in his loose-fitting oxford shirt,
and the dim lighting made his hair look just that much darker. She
really wished she could say the man didn't have any effect on her,
but she knew she'd be lying.