Christie Ridgway - Take My Breath Away

“Poppy, you’re dripping all over the floor,” he said, his tone patient and reasonable. “I’m only trying to help.”

“Try to help by collecting your car keys, okay?” she grumbled, unfastening the jacket herself, though they should make their move to town right away. “It would be best to get on the road before it’s full dark.”

Instead of doing her bidding, he stood his ground. “What’s the reason behind the great escape?”

She crossed to the kitchen, where she folded the towel and placed it on the counter. Then she drew off her outer garment and looked around for a place to set the sodden fabric. Ryan snatched it from her hand and draped it over the back of a chair he drew near the fire.

“We don’t have time for it to dry,” Poppy said, a little panic rising again as Ryan turned to face her, crossing his arms over his chest. Really, it was important she get away from the distraction of his male flesh as soon as possible, especially when she was in this vulnerable state.

“Poppy.”

Wrenching her gaze away from him, she focused on her pet, who was settled by the hearth, his head now on the towel he was using as a pillow. “Don’t get too comfy, Grimm. We’ve got to go back into the storm.” Then she risked a glance at Ryan. “You probably couldn’t hear it over the hail, but a branch came down at my place.”

Once again, bearing out the Walker curse. Because she doubted her pocketbook could handle another hit, panic rose again. And not due to Ryan this time, but because she might have just witnessed the end of her dream. “It took out part of the roof,” she continued, her voice as miserable as she felt, “and the front end of my car.”

In a blink he was before her, his hands gripping her shoulders. “Are you all right?” His gaze ran over her body, causing a shiver. Apparently taking that as a sign of chill, he pulled her nearer the fire, then held her there, her back to his front.

“I’m fine,” she said, wiggling out of his grip and away from the heat. Her jeans were clammy against her shins, but that only served to remind her she needed to get someplace safe to change. “I can’t stay at my cabin, though. Hence the need for the ride to Blue Arrow Lake. Will you take me?”

“All right,” he said, his gaze seeming to assess her condition again. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“I will be.” The optimist inside her declared... With some dry clothes and time to think, perhaps she could find her way through this latest obstacle. “Can we go now?”

It took only a few moments for him to collect his coat and hat while she struggled back into her wet outerwear. Grimm looked reluctant to brave the storm again, and got up from his place by the fire with a great sigh. By the time Ryan was in his protective gear, she had the bags and was standing by the front door.

He grabbed the cases from her, and shoved one under his arm so he had a free hand to grasp the knob. Without turning it, he slanted her a glance. “You have everything you need?”

She needed to get away from his attractive presence, she knew. Even with all that was on her mind, his half-naked image was burned into her brain. What if she’d leaned forward while he was drying her hair and placed a kiss on the center of his chest? If her tongue had slipped out for a small lick, who could blame her?

“Poppy?” Ryan’s brows drew together. “Do you have everything?”

“Sure, sure,” she said, giving herself a sharp mental pinch. “Everything.” One bag held some of her clothes and belongings. The other was filled with her son’s things, including his favorite pillow, just in case she still found herself in other quarters by the time Mason was due back in a couple of days.

Ryan’s hand lifted, and he touched her chin with the back of two fingers, angling her face toward his. Her breath caught at the touch, then caught again at the intensity of his gaze. “Why the sad face?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “My residence and my mode of transportation are trashed,” she said, worry bubbling again. “Not to mention my brother has a brutal ‘I told you so.’”

“Is that where I’m taking you?”

On a sigh, Poppy nodded, then she reached for the door herself, and pulled it open. At the blast of hail-laden wind, she staggered back, only to be bolstered by Ryan’s bigger body. Whatever he said was inaudible over the sounds of the storm, but she plowed forward, his steadying hand on her shoulder.

Pebbles of frozen rain peppered her head and face as they fought their way toward his SUV. An unholy howl made her start as a new gust of wind wound its way through the trees. Both she and Ryan glanced upward, and then he pulled her into his embrace, her face pressed against his wet coat, protecting her as a flurry of small branches and leaves whipped around them.

“We’d better run!” Ryan said against her ear, then he gripped her hand in his and they raced toward the passenger side of his SUV. He tucked her inside and threw the suitcases on the backseat. As soon as Grimm had jumped aboard, Ryan made his way around the front.

Once behind the wheel, he drew off his stocking cap and scraped his hand down his wet face. “Are you sure you want to go out in this?”

“The other cabins are uninhabitable as yet and it’s not as if I can strike a tent on the ground in this weather,” she said, as the wind rocked the vehicle. “What else can I do?”

He opened his mouth, seemed to think better of what he was about to say and pressed a button to start the SUV’s engine. The dashboard came to life, with switches and dials and a touch screen the size of a paperback lighting up. She goggled, wondering if the vehicle could fly through the air or move underwater like a submarine. But now it was on wheels like a regular automobile and soon they were traversing the four miles to the highway, going slowly as they both tried peering through the windshield. The wipers worked madly against the onslaught of the hail and the headlights illuminated the blacktop littered with leaves, pinecones and fallen branches.

The heater blasted warmth, but Poppy still shivered, taking in the ominous conditions. “Are you going to be all right in your cabin?” she said to Ryan.

He didn’t spare her a glance. “I don’t think your brother would welcome me, too, would he?”

Brett didn’t have a kind word for anyone, not since he’d returned home, scarred in places you could and couldn’t see. Poppy rummaged through her purse, peering into the dark cavern of it for paper and pen so she could give Ryan her cell phone number. “I’ll return tomorrow to assess the damage—and I hope with somebody who can fix the worst of it.” Yes, she very much hoped her small cushion of cash was going to cover what needed to be covered.

“Uh-oh.” Ryan slowed the SUV. “I don’t think you’ll be returning tomorrow.”

“What?” Poppy frowned, still hunched over her purse as she focused on finding something to write on.

“I don’t think you’ll be returning tomorrow,” he repeated, bringing the SUV to a full stop. “Because you’re not going anywhere today, except back to my cabin.”

At that, Poppy’s head shot up, and in the beam of the headlights she saw the tree that had fallen across the private road that led to the resort, a good two miles short of the turnoff onto the highway.

CHAPTER FOUR

FUCKING MARCH, RYAN thought, as they did the reverse dash from his vehicle to the cabin’s front door. By the time they were inside, all three of them were dripping, though Poppy had to be worse off than he since fifteen minutes before she’d arrived wet already. The dog returned to the towel he’d taken to the fire on his first visit. Ryan made his way toward the bedroom with the suitcases, Poppy at his heels.