The Texan's Surprise Baby (Bell Family 2)
“It was a three-foot drop,” he reminded her again. “I know how to take a fall, which kept me from being seriously hurt. I couldn’t avoid the broken railing or bumping my head on that one rock. I’m just glad I’m the one who fell and not you.”
She moistened her lips. “Usually I hang on to the railing when I climb the stairs these days for safety reasons. I didn’t this evening because it was raining and I crowded close to the awning to stay dry. Maggie was with me and she gave me a hand.”
His stomach clenched again at the thought of what could have happened, but he pushed the images out of his mind. Or tried to. “You should put your feet up again. You’ve had a very long day.”
“No kidding,” she said, pushing a hand through her hair.
“Actually, why don’t you go on to bed,” he suggested. He didn’t like seeing the purple shadows developing beneath her eyes. Today alone she had worked, had a doctor’s appointment, shared the amazing ultrasound experience with him, then found out that someone was targeting her with escalating menace. No wonder she looked wiped-out. She certainly wasn’t ready to discuss the future with him, especially the future he was prepared to suggest to her. “We’ll talk tomorrow, after you’ve rested.”
She took his hand and gave a little tug. “Come with me.”
Both his eyebrows shot up that time. “Um—”
“I want to treat that scrape,” she reminded him. “After that you can go back to Steven’s.”
Carrying his shirt, he accompanied her through her bedroom and into the attached bath. He paid little attention to decor other than to note that the bedroom was tidy, big enough for a queen-size bed and a nightstand in addition to a closet and built-in storage drawers and vanity table, and that the palette was as neutral as the rest of her comfortable, but rather impersonal, home. It occurred to him that it seemed a bit out of character for Hannah to have so little color in her home. True, it was a mobile home with somewhat limited decorating potential, but Shelby had bedecked hers with a riot of colors, while Steven’s place was personalized in the colors of his favorite sports team. He hadn’t been inside Maggie’s place, but he doubted it would be quite so impersonal. He was no shrink, but he’d like to know more about why Hannah had avoided committing to any specific colors in her surroundings.
She took a washcloth from a cabinet and wetted it in the sink, adding a squirt of liquid soap. “I’ll try not to hurt you, but I’d like to clean up some of that dried blood to see if you need a bandage.”
“You won’t hurt me.” Still, he flinched when she pressed the cloth to his skin. “Not pain,” he assured her with a wry chuckle. “It’s cold.”
Hannah looked at him apologetically. “Sorry. Guess I should have let the water warm a bit.”
“It’s fine.” He was actually warming up quickly as she bent over to focus on his bare side. A strand of her hair brushed his stomach and the muscles there contracted instinctively. He shifted his weight on his feet, hoping she didn’t notice that his body was reacting in a wholly male way to her ministrations.
“I don’t think it needs a bandage,” she pronounced after another uncomfortable couple of minutes. “It’s just a scrape on the surface. There’s some swelling and discoloration, though. Maybe you should have an X-ray?”
He shook his head. “Even if the rib is cracked, there’s nothing to be done about it except wait for it to heal. I’ll take some ibuprofen later for the inflammation.”
She turned him around and grumbled about the bruises on his back, but apparently decided there was nothing more she could do for them. Instead, she dug out a bottle of ibuprofen and shook out a couple for him to take. He tossed them into his mouth and swallowed them dry. “Thanks.”
She turned toward the doorway. “I’ll get you a glass of water. Then I’ll lock up behind you after you leave.”
He caught her arm to detain her. She wasn’t going to like what he had to say next. “You won’t have to lock up behind me. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”
* * *
Hannah stared at Andrew for a moment with narrowed eyes, wondering if she had heard him correctly. “What did you say?”
He didn’t look notably discouraged by her tone. “I told Steven I’m sleeping in your guest room tonight—or on your couch if there’s no bed in your guest room. I’m going to run over for clean clothes later, but I’m not leaving you alone here until we figure out who’s been harassing you and put a stop to it.”
She was suddenly intensely aware of him being in her private bath in a way she hadn’t been when she’d focused on his injuries. She moistened her lips before saying, “There’s no need for you to stay here. I’ll lock the doors, and you’ll be right across the road anyway. There’s no reason to believe I’m in any danger. It’s not as though I’ve been physically attacked.”
“What would you call this?” he demanded, motioning vaguely toward the bandage on his face. “I got some bruises and a bump on the head, but what if you had taken that fall?”
Automatically her hand went to her stomach. She’d pictured that possibility too many times—not for fear of what might have happened to her, but to their child. She felt guilty for being relieved Andrew had taken the fall rather than her, even knowing he would risk anything to protect her and the baby. That was just the kind of man he was. She was so very glad he hadn’t been seriously injured.
“I’m not leaving you unprotected until I know you’re safe,” he said flatly. “You can ask me to leave and I will, but I’ll just spend the night sitting on your porch.”
She sighed impatiently. “Fine. I have a spare bedroom at the other end of the trailer, but the bed in there is only a twin size. You’re too tall to fit comfortably on it. I’ll take that bed. You can have mine.”
“I’ll take the guest bed. You stay in your own. You need a good night’s rest.”
Hannah planted her hands on her hips to glare at him. “Are you going to let me win any argument tonight?”
“Well, if you argued that I should share your bed with you, you could probably convince me....”
He couldn’t know how tempting it was for her to do just that. “Um—”