A Reunion And A Ring (Proposals & Promises 1)

“Since this morning. Saw my doc before I drove up from Little Rock. He said it’s not too bad and the meds will clear it up soon.”

She stepped back. “Have you taken anything for the fever?”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ve got some aspirin in my bag. Maybe you should lie back down while I try to find it. If I could borrow the lantern?”

One hand at the back of his neck, he stared at her. “You broke in here to take my temperature and give me aspirin? Are you sure my mother didn’t send you?”

Oddly enough, the mention of his mother made her relax a bit. She had always liked his mother. “I didn’t break in. And I’m leaving immediately. I apologize for the misunderstanding. Do you want the aspirin before I go or not?”

Looking steadier, he scooped up a pair of jeans from the floor and stepped into them. She noticed only then that she’d tripped over a pair of his shoes. He must have pretty much stripped and fallen into bed earlier. If he’d taken a pain pill beforehand, that could explain why he’d slept so heavily he hadn’t heard her entrance over the noisy weather.

He swung an arm in the direction of the single window in the little bedroom. The glass rattled in the frame from the force of the wind blowing outside, and a veritable fireworks exhibit played across the slice of sky visible from where she stood. Thunder had become a constant grouchy roar, as if the night itself was grudgingly surrendering to the storm.

“You aren’t going back out in that. The way that rain’s coming down, I wouldn’t be surprised if the road is flooded. And the full force of the storm hasn’t even hit yet. We’re in for worse before it passes.”

She thought of the water already creeping over the road when she’d approached the cabin. That frightening moment when she’d hydroplaned. She swallowed. “I’ll be fine,” she said, wishing she sounded a bit more confident.

She bent to retrieve her dropped phone just as Gavin took a step toward her. “Don’t be foolish. The storm is too...”

The collision knocked her flat on her behind and nearly caused Gavin to sprawl on top of her. Somehow he steadied himself, though it involved flailing that made him grunt in pain from his injured shoulder.

Sitting sprawled at his feet, she shook her head. Could this ridiculous evening get any worse? Or was she tempting capricious fate to even ask?

* * *

Gavin was beginning to wonder just what was in those pills he’d taken before he’d turned in. Was he hallucinating? Or had a gorgeous, wet woman with a smoking body revealed by an open blouse really fallen out of the storm and into his bed? A woman right out of the memories he thought he’d locked away long ago, though they’d escaped a few times to haunt his most erotic dreams. Was he dreaming again now?

No. The way she sat on the floor glaring up at him told him this was no fantasy. The dream-Jenny had been much more approachable.

Muttering an apology, he reached down to haul her to her feet with his good arm. He released her as soon as he was sure she was steady on her feet.

“It wasn’t your fault,” his uninvited guest conceded. “I was picking up my phone. I dropped it when I stumbled over your shoes.”

Which made it still his fault, in a way, but he wasn’t going to get into a circular argument with her. “Are you expecting anyone else to arrive tonight?”

Was he unintentionally intruding on what she’d planned to be a romantic, rus

tic retreat? He told himself the possibility annoyed him only because he didn’t want to have to deal with yet another intruder. What other reason could there be after all these years?

“No. I was going to hide out here alone for a few days to get some work done without interruptions.”

He was still having trouble clearing his thoughts. He couldn’t begin to understand why Jenny had come to this particular place to work. What the hell was he supposed to do with her now?

An unwelcome recollection from the last time they’d been together here slammed into his mind in response to what should have been a rhetorical question. He could almost see himself and Jenny, naked and entwined, lying on a pile of their clothes in a secluded, shaded clearing. Laughing and aroused, they’d made good use of the stolen hour. His blood still heated in response to the distant echoes of their gasps and moans.

Shoving the memories fiercely to the back of his mind, he half turned away from her. The storm assaulting the windows made it obvious she wasn’t leaving immediately. He released a heavy sigh. “Maybe you remember there’s another bedroom at the back of the cabin, behind the kitchen. You can crash there tonight, and we’ll get this all figured out in the morning.”

“Spend the night here? With you?”

Pain radiated from his shoulder, and his head was starting to pound. He hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in a couple days. Patience was not his strong suit at the best of times, but he’d lost any semblance of it tonight.

“I didn’t suggest sleeping in the same bed,” he snapped. “The other room has a lock on the door. Use it, if you’re so damned afraid of me. Hell, take my weapon and sleep with it under your pillow, if it makes you feel better.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I’m not afraid of you, Gavin.”

“Great. I’m not afraid of you, either.”