“Sorry. Here.” He yanked an oversized towel from the rack and tossed it to her. “You need to get dressed.”
She snagged the towel with one hand while her other still clutched tightly to the shower curtain. “I’m almost through. I’ll be out soon.”
“We don’t have any more time—” He stopped in his tracks. His eyes went wide, the sea green tint going stormy deep. His throat moved in a slow swallow before his gaze shot back up to her face.
She’d been attracted to him before, more than any man since her fiancé. But Liam had mentioned that love word back in the Bahamas. Such a beautiful, pain-filled word. Although he could have only been half serious about the whole love thing, she couldn’t go there again, not even partially. She’d resisted the sensual draw during the three weeks they’d worked together on the earthquake relief. Although right now, with her defenses stripped even barer than her body at the moment, she found it almost impossible to resist stepping into his arms again.
“Liam?” Clutching the towel to her breasts, she swayed.
He scrubbed a hand over his square jaw, his eyes locked on her face. “Someone blew up your town house.”
Chapter 3
Shock, then horror, chased across Rachel’s face as she stood clutching the shower curtain and towel to her body. Droplets clung to her skin and her face. Were those tears on her cheeks? Ah shit, he was a sucker for a woman’s tears. Always had been. Seeing this woman cry multiplied his weakness exponentially.
“Rachel.” He stepped forward. “Are you all right?”
Her hand shot out. “Stop.”
What had he been thinking? That he would scoop her up naked in his arms and check out if her honey-toned skin was an allover thing or a tan? Yeah, there was a time he would have been all about that if she gave him a thumbs-up. But she’d cold-shouldered him for six months. She’d come to him now for protection. Not sex.
“Hurry, we need to talk.”
She blinked fast until the moisture cleared. “Believe me. I get that,” she said, her voice carefully modulated. “Please step outside while I put on some clothes.”
Her wet hair streaked down her back, the hot shower steaming a roll of mist around her legs until Liam could have sworn she was a mermaid rising from the mist.
A mermaid in a crap ton of trouble.
“Fair enough, Rachel, but talk to me while you’re doing it.”
He ducked into the hall and pulled the door closed after him. The image of her wet naked flesh stayed imprinted in his brain. The scent of her hung in the moist air. And while part of him wondered how he could be this damn hard for her in the middle of a crisis, another part of him, the primal part, pounded a deeper truth in his core being that went beyond logic.
The part that acted on instinct.
She was in danger. And the heightened awareness was all about imprinting her deeper inside himself, keeping her close. Safe.
The water shut off on the other side of the door and he heard the rustle of her dressing. His mind filled in the blanks, given the small stack of folded clothes on the corner of the sink. Navy blue panties and a matching sports bra, jeans, and a tank top. She was a no-frills woman. But that just increased her appeal, since there was nothing to distract from her natural beauty. Her curves. Her soft, full lips—no makeup, just her mentholated lip balm.
And how screwed up was it that when he’d had a cold two months ago, a whiff of Vicks VapoRub on his chest had made him go hard.
He cleared his throat and almost managed to clear his mind. Almost. Not quite. “Hey, lady, I thought we were going to talk while you put your clothes on.”
The bathroom door slammed against the wall as Rachel burst into the hall and charged past him, hips twitching as she fast-tracked away. “I’m a quick dresser. We can talk on the way.”
He jolted, then pivoted on his heels to follow her. “Slow down.” He cupped her shoulders. “Take a deep breath. Where do you think you’re going?”
She gripped his elbows, the top of her head barely reaching his chin. “I need to get to my dogs.”
“You can’t go to your house. The whole block’s on fire. And didn’t you say your other animals are at doggy day care?”
Rachel went pliant under his hands. “Right. I forgot for a moment. How do you know for certain it was my place that blew?”
“I looked in your wallet and checked your address on your driver’s license.” He wanted to stroke away the worry from her eyes, but the scent of burning stir-fry stung his nose. He steered her into the kitchen again and turned off the stove before he burned down his own house. “Where exactly are your other dogs?”
She pulled a hair tie out of the pile of mess scattered from her backpack and scraped her hair into a ponytail. The sounds of a car insurance commercial drifted from the kitchen. “The two dogs I’m working with right now… I took them to an in-home doggy day care, since I didn’t know how long I would be gone. I should call her… Or should I?” Swaying, she gripped the back of a chair. “God, you’re right. My mind’s a jumbled mess right now.”
His arm went around her before he could think. “Um, what exactly is a doggy day care?”