Stranded And Seduced

A puddle of water formed at her feet, droplets dripping from her clothes, her coat, her hair.

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“Give me a second to get a fire going.”

While he was building a fire, she removed her coat and foraged inside her drenched handbag for her cell phone. Checking the screen, she wasn’t surprised she had no service. Even on a good weather day, the cell service out here had been spotty. Now, it seemed nonexistent. She imagined the same was true of Risk’s cell.

She walked over to the massive fireplace, where Risk was stacking logs. She found a magazine lying on one of the tables and rolled it up. “You can use this for kindling.”

“That’ll work.”

She slapped it into his palm and shivered again. “I don’t suppose you checked your phone yet.”

“The minute we got inside. No service. You?” He tossed the kindling under the logs and lit it up.

“Same. Nothing.”

Just then the kindling caught, and a small fire crackled and flamed. The burst of color also lent warmth, and she scooted closer to the new blaze.

Risk turned to her. “We should get out of our wet clothes. Get dry.”

She blinked. She couldn’t believe he’d suggested it. “How do you suppose we do that?”

“Peel ’em off.”

“That’s not what I meant. I don’t have a change of clothes.”

“Neither do I. But there’s got to be towels or bedding or something we can wrap ourselves up in until our clothes dry out.” He gave her an up and down glance. “Unless you want to shiver yourself into pneumonia.”

Uh, no. She didn’t want to do that, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Risk caught her dumbfounded look and shook his head.

“April, you’ve got nothing to worry about with me. That ring on your finger might as well be a chastity belt. I’m only suggesting we don’t catch our death of cold in these wet clothes. Should only take an hour or so to dry them.”

She stared at the blaze burning bright orange, the glow rapidly growing. Risk was right, and boy, she hated to admit it, but the fire would dry out their clothes in no time. And that comment he made about her engagement ring hit home. She believed he’d be true to his word. “Okay. Let’s see if we can find something to wrap up in. There’s a master bedroom and a few other rooms on the ground level. I think Mr. Hall said he stays over once in a while.”

“Sounds good to me.” Risk walked over to where he’d dropped his duffel and came up with a utility lantern flashlight. He pulled the handle, and the light came on, flashing a halo over six feet of the room. “We’ll use this only if we need to. Want to save the charge for tonight.”

“Tonight?”

Risk turned to look her square in the eye. “The storm’s going strong, and we’re stuck. It’s doubtful we’ll get out of here today.”

Thunder boomed, making her jump. She hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “Won’t someone come looking for us?”

Risk shrugged. “Don’t know. Most around here must think this place is empty. No one’s lived here for years, right?”

She nodded.

“And with the rain coming down in buckets and the car sunk in the mud...”

“Oh.” A few seconds ticked by. “What about your family? Will they come looking?”

Risk smiled, his deadly dimples making an appearance. “My brothers know I’m smart enough to get out of the way of the storm. Wouldn’t be the first time I didn’t make it home at night.”

April bit her lower lip. “I see. And your aunt?”

“Goes to bed kinda early. She probably figured I’d get in late.”

That left Clovie. She was the only one April had told about this trip. And she wasn’t due in the office until Monday afternoon.

It was her own fault for getting in this predicament. She should’ve postponed the meeting when the weather turned bad or at least asked Risk to turn back when the storm first hit. Now, she had to spend the night...with him. And soon they were going to get naked.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make do. We have some food, thanks to Aunt Lottie.”

“You brought the basket?”

“Yep.” He pointed to his duffel. “Now, let’s go find us some warm things. Which way?”

She pointed to the passage to the left and then followed Risk down a murky hallway to a big double door. “This is the private master bedroom.”

Risk opened the door, and they peered inside to a bedroom filled with just enough light to see a king-size bed made up with blankets and a quilt. They stepped into the room and began rummaging through a chest of drawers, and it was like finding a trove of precious treasures. They found extra blankets and sheets and candles. The furniture was large and sparse, made of solid wood. A fireplace sat against the far wall, and one big window faced out to angry gray clouds and pounding rain.

Risk grabbed two of the blankets and a big sheet. “This should do for now. You want to get out of your clothes in here? I’ll get mine off in the lobby.” He handed her the blanket, not really waiting for a reply, and walked out of the room.

She made quick work of peeling off her clothes, shoes first. She’d have to put her modesty on hold out of necessity. Just thinking about putting on dry, warm clothes again, undies included, made her heart sing.

She gathered up her clothes, wound herself up good and tight in the big blanket like a fruity roll up, and made her way to the lobby. Risk, casually wrapped in his blanket, had already set out a sheet for them to sit on between the two settees close to the fire. His clothes were laid out on his half of the hearth. She remembered he was a boxer kind of guy. Images popped into her head of that one night they’d had together. It had been pure magic, but that magic had vanished like a swift bird in flight the very next morning. No matter. She forced her gaze away from his clothes and proceeded to lay out her pants and top on the hearth. It was hard to be discreet with her undies no matter how she tried to conceal them, so she gave up and laid them out at the far end of the hearth. They’d be the first to dry anyway, comprised of far less material than her other clothes.

She took a seat facing the fire, allowing the warmth to seep into her skin. “Ah, this feels so good.”

Risk gazed at her soaking up the heat and smiled. “Gotta admit this is a first for me.”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“Being naked, enjoying a fire with a beautiful woman and not—”

“Don’t say it, Risk.” She shook her head. “Don’t say it.”

“And not having anything to offer but muffins and protein bars.”

That was so not what he was going to say, but she smiled anyway. “Right now, a protein bar sounds pretty good.”

His head snapped up. “Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.”

“I’ll get the food.”

As he rose, the blanket around his shoulders slipped, exposing his granite chest and an incredible amount of sinewy muscles. Firelight glowed over his face and upper body, and she reacted with a sharp breath. It wasn’t fair for a guy to look so darn good.

Luckily for her, she’d learned a hard lesson with him, so no amount of good looks could take away from what he’d done to her. He hadn’t had the good grace to tell her face-to-face that he wasn’t available in any way, and his abandonment had really hurt.

When she was six years old, her father had deserted her and her mother. That’s when she’d begun eating heavily. Even though her rational brain knew Risk’s actions were all on him, a part of her had reverted to that plump little girl who’d been abandoned by her father, the chubby girl who’d been invisible to most, as if people looked right past her, not really seeing her for the person she was.

But today, Risk was on his best behavior and he’d made her feel safe—as safe as a woman could feel, being naked under this blanket, having a meal with an equally naked-under-the-blanket guy, sitting by a luminous fire.

“Here you go,” he said, bringing the food basket with him. “One protein bar coming up.” He tossed it to her and as her arm came up to catch the bar, her blanket dipped, exposing her shoulders and, maybe, a teeny tiny bit of her cleavage.

Oh boy.

Risk’s brows rose. He hadn’t missed a thing.

A deep sigh escaped his lungs as he fell back against the base of the settee and bit into his protein bar. Still chewing, he glanced into the fire. “Maybe you should tell me all about this fiancé of yours.”

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