Taking Chances (2 page)

With his wound cleaned and bandaged, she moved to his ribs. Confidently and efficiently she prodded them. Every time her hands touched his skin, she frowned. Hell, yeah, he felt it too.

“No fractures or broken ribs. Just bruising,” she said and quickly moved back.

He pulled his shirt down and touched the bandage on his temple. “Nice dressing. Where’d you learn your medical skills?”

She got up and walked to the door. “I told you I was a Girl Scout. I’ll go fire up the Yukon while you get dressed.”

Girl Scout, his ass. Girl Scouts didn’t learn how to set a dislocated shoulder.

The door opened and she slipped outside, a gust of cold air blowing through the cabin. No way were they making it down the mountain tonight, not in this blizzard. The storm he’d tried to outrun was here, and only a fool would brave it.

The door opened and closed with more force than necessary. Nora stood there, soaking wet and looking very unhappy.

“Looks like you’re spending the night here.”

****

Tomato soup spilled down the front of her shirt. Nora cursed, resisting the urge to slam the tray on the counter. Instead, she carefully set it down and drew in a deep breath. She had to feed her guest. Since she didn’t cook, he was getting soup from a can and a grilled cheese.

Oh, crap. The sandwiches. She spun around and grabbed the pan off the burner. The scent of burned bread wafted past her nose. Disgusted, she opened the trash and dumped the ruined sandwiches in, then tossed the pan in the sink and opened a window.

Now what? Wiping soup off her shirt with a dishrag, she glared at the serving tray with spilled soup, a bottle of water and two aspirin. She hadn’t even thought to put a spoon on for the soup.
“Defi
nitely the world’s worst hostess
,” she muttered.

“Everything okay in here?”
Lucas
asked from behind her. “I smell—oh.”

Nora looked over her shoulder to where
he
stood in the doorway, favoring his leg, cropped dark hair still damp. He looked like hell, but something inside her tightened anyway, reminding her how long it had been since she’d been with a man.

Tossing the rag in the sink, she said darkly, “You shouldn’t be up.”

“I smelled something burning and thought…got any more bread and cheese?”

“In the fridge.”

“Why don’t you go change and I’ll whip up a couple more sandwiches. Won’t take but a few minutes.”

Nora turned around and leaned against the counter. He could barely stand and he wanted to make grilled cheese?

“No. I’ll do it.”

The corner of his mouth tilted. “Woman against sandwich, huh?”

He’s not sexy. He’s not sexy
. Nora repeated the mantra as she ordered him out of the kitchen. She would make his dinner, by God, and he was going to eat it.

This time she stood over the sandwiches and tested them every few seconds to make sure they didn’t burn. And when she flipped them onto a plate, she was pleased to see she’d done it. They were still a little brown, but edible. The soup she reheated and managed not to spill as she carried it into the living room.

But her efforts were wasted. Lucas had stretched out on the sofa, his stocking feet hanging over the end, sound asleep. One arm rested over his waist, protecting his ribs, the other thrown over his head.

Wind whipped against the windows as the forecasted snowstorm came in with a vengeance. Ranger lifted his head and thumped his tail when she set the tray on the
coffee table.
Some watch dog. Instead of guarding her against the stranger in her house, he’d cuddled up next to him. If there had been room on the sofa, she had no doubt Ranger would be up there
snoozing
right alongside him.

She walked over to the fireplace and put a couple logs in the dying fire. The cabin heated easily with only the fireplace, just the way she liked it. Staring into the crackling flames, she let her thoughts drift to another time, another place with heat so oppressive it was hard to breathe. Muddy rivers full of deadly snakes and a little wooden fishing boat. A time not so long ago when she’d taken on another identity and lost so much.

Ranger moved to her side and nudged her arm with his cold, wet nose. Nora dropped down and absently scratched his ears, her thoughts still in Thailand. Rubbing a hand over the side of her neck to ease the tiny ache, she watched the flames turn deep red, with faces bouncing in and out of them. Faces of those she’d befriended, used, and gotten killed.

Ranger whined and trotted over to the sofa. A man’s face danced in front of her. Keith. Why couldn’t she let him go? What kept her connected to him? She’d left all that behind fourteen months ago, so why did he continue to haunt her?

The pain in her neck spread and she rubbed it, soothing away the ache.

“This for me?”

Startled out of her thoughts, she blinked and glanced over her shoulder.

Lucas
leaned over
, looking at the tray she’d set there. Even in the dim light, she could see the gray pallor to his skin.

“Hey, you didn’t burn the sandwiches this time.”

“It’s probably cold now.”

“I’ll live.”

He pushed to a sitting position, grunted, gripped the edge of the sofa for a moment, eyes closed, and swayed slightly. “Damn,” he muttered, reaching for the tray.

While he ate, she tended to the fire, not sure what else to do.

“This is good,” Lucas said a few minutes later. “Thanks for the aspirin.”

Nora surged to her feet. “You can have my bed. I only have one bedroom. I’ll take the sofa.”

“I won’t put you out. I’ve slept on worse.”

So had she. “You don’t fit on the sofa. I do. I’ll change the bedding.”

Anxious for something to do, she hurried into her bedroom at the end of the hall and took her time changing the sheets. They were clean, since she usually fell asleep on the sofa watching television, but she would change them anyway. With the bed stripped, changed, and freshly made, she returned to her guest and found him
slowly
working his way into the kitchen, tray in hand.

He limped, grimaced with each step and took small, shallow breaths. Nora moved to his side, took the tray from his hand and carried it the rest of the way.

“Your bed is ready. You should rest.”

He held onto the edge of the doorway and nodded. “I think you’re right. Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. Only door on the right is the bedroom.”

“Then
, g
,,
oodnight.”

She watched him limp down and across the narrow hallway, closing the bedroom door behind him. Relieved to be alone, she cleaned up the dishes and mess she’d made, then went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas.

The bathroom connected to her bedroom, so she made sure to lock the adjoining door and quickly changed. Before leaving, she listened through the door, hearing nothing from the other room.

She unlocked the door but left it closed, and with Ranger at her side settled on the sofa to listen to the radio, trying to keep her thoughts from straying to the attractive man in her bed.

It took all of Nora’s reserve not to go through Lucas’s duffle. Habit of her career. You could learn a lot about a person by going through their things. Most didn’t realize the secrets they revealed in their belongings. A simple piece of clothing could tell more about a person’s personality than talking to them. People lied, objects didn’t.

But she hadn’t done it.

The shower turned on and she did her best to ignore it. Considering his injuries, Lucas was getting around just fine. He had to be in agony, but he didn’t complain and she respected that.

Carrying a cup of hot coffee into the living room, she stood in front of the windows and looked out at the beauty stretched before her. Heavy ice blanketed the trees and fell in sheets across the rolling hills. Not a house for miles.

She coveted the solitude the most.

The door to the bathroom opened and she jumped, startled out of her thoughts, spilling coffee over her hand. “Damn,” she muttered, setting the cup on the mantle.

“Burn yourself?” Lucas limped into the room. His hair was damp and tousled from his shower, making him look roguish. But she wasn’t going to think about that.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. Let me get a rag.”

“No,” she snapped, then bit her tongue. It wasn’t his fault she’d spilled the coffee. It was her past, taking her places she didn’t want to go. “No,” she repeated, calmer. “I’ll get it. Do you want a cup?”

“Black, thanks. Sure you didn’t burn yourself?”

“I’m fine.” She walked past him and into the kitchen, keeping her eyes averted from his broad chest as she went.

When she returned with his coffee, she found him sitting on the sofa with Ranger at his feet. She handed him the cup and went to get hers, pushing the remnants of her thoughts away. Lately, it seemed she couldn’t escape them. But why now? Here? She’d put all that behind her.

“As soon as the storm clears, I’ll make a few calls and have my plane removed,” Lucas said, those jungle cat eyes on her.

He could look as hard and deep as he wanted. He’d get nothing out of her.

“It’ll be at least a day before it passes, maybe two according to the radio. And then another couple days before the roads are cleared. I told you I don’t have a phone.”

“I do, but I won’t get a signal until after the storm. Is there a problem with me being here another day or two?”

Nora sipped her coffee, her back to him. “I don’t see that you have another choice.”

Silence. “I’m no threat to you, Nora.”

She spun around. “I’m well aware of that. Why would you say something like that?”

He met her eyes directly. “You seem a bit spooked by my presence.”

That made her laugh. He had no idea how ridiculous that was. There were worse things in the world than him, and they were plenty spooky. She could probably spook him if she told him what she’d been and the things she’d done in her past.

Lucas frowned. “Why is that funny?”

Nora sobered and turned back to the windows, her breath fogging the glass. “We may as well lay some ground rules if we’re going to be stuck here for a few days.”

“Okay.”

“You can keep the bed, I prefer the sofa. I don’t cook. I’m not a maid, so pick up after yourself. You can eat whatever you can find in the kitchen, but I’ll warn you, I don’t keep much. I prefer my privacy, so you’ll have to occupy yourself. Any questions?”

“Only one.”

She turned to face him.

“What are you hiding from?”

****

“What are you talking about? I’m not hiding.”

Lucas watched his hostess closely, sensing emotions churning just below the surface. She
concealed
them well, but he knew one thing for sure: she was holed up in this secluded cabin to hide from something. Or someone. He’d seen the way she jumped when he came into the room. She’d been deep in her thoughts and they hadn’t been pleasant. The haunted look in her eyes remained.

She lied so well, he almost believed her.

“A beautiful woman like yourself alone in the middle of nowhere. What is it? A jealous husband? Boyfriend?”

Her expression remained stoic. “Does that work on your women? The concerned, lean-on-my-broad-shoulders act.”

Lucas grinned. “You think I have broad shoulders?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Answer the question.”

“You first.”

They’d reached a stalemate and she wasn’t budging. He recognized the stubborn tilt to her chin.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll go first. Yes, that line usually works on women, but it wasn’t a line this time. You are a beautiful woman.”

Something deep and forbidden filled her eyes, and his body responded with a vengeance. He shifted to ease the discomfort. Her eyes tracked the subtle movement and he knew not much escaped this woman. The fact that she watched him so openly threw him for a moment.

“Well, lines don’t work on me, Stone, so keep them to yourself.” She turned away to stare out the window, giving a fine view of her slender body. Her hair fell past her shoulders in silky black waves.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes, I did. I’m not h
iding from anything or anyone.
I like it here. Just because I’m a woman living alone doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself. This is the twenty-first century. Women can do anything a man can do, so stop analyzing me.”

He wasn’t analyzing her, he was trying to figure her out. She wasn’t giving him much to go on.

“You keep telling yourself that. Maybe someday you’ll believe it.”

Her shoulders stiffened, her chin tilted. Subtle,
though
.

“You know nothing about me,” she said coolly. “Let’s leave it at that.”