He had revealed far more of himself than he had intended at this point. He intended to find out if his attraction to her was because of his three years of celibacy or because she was as special as he suspected. He had to be careful not to scare her off, he must know the answer. To accomplish that, he had to keep her nearby.
Before she could comment on his revelation, he withdrew his hand and changed the subject, "While you were asleep I checked on the things in the laundry room, and a few of them are dry. They don't smell softener fresh and they're a little stiff, but they're okay."
He flashed her a wicked grin, "Although I like my pajama top on you, I suppose you'll be more comfortable in your own things--and definitely a lot safer."
"Thank you." Shyness suddenly overwhelmed her--so unlike her. On most days she lived up to the ideal in the organized, take-charge kind of person known by her coworkers for her efficient managerial skills and ability to deal calmly with any situation. No nonsense, that was her reputation. Perhaps that’s why Will's confession of interest startled her.
If only she could believe he really meant it. Maybe she just happened by at the time he had decided to--what words did he use?--get back into circulation. Obviously he cared a great deal for his late wife.
Will saw the mask of reserve slip over her expression. Damn, damn, damn! He revealed too many of his feelings too soon. Back off, Harrison, he told himself. Keep it casual for now, will you? Move slowly with her--I think this woman is worth waiting for.
He continued as though more certain of himself than he actually was. "Nick was very specific. He said you must rest, especially since your medical care's delayed. It's best not to take chances, Aurora. If the roads open later, we'll go to Snyder so Nick can check your injuries."
Her brow furrowed. "Have you forgotten it's Saturday? No doctor's in his office today."
"Ah, you forget this isn't the big city, and that Nick's a good friend of mine. He told me to call him when we leave here and he'll meet us at the hospital so you can get x-rays. In the meantime, you're supposed to remain very quiet and rest a lot." Will smiled, "I suspect it's not in your nature to be this inactive."
"No, it's not. However, I can tell by my aches and pains that rest is all I'm currently suited for. Oh, where are my clothes?"
"I'll get them. Do you think you can manage a shower? It'll be the easiest way to clean the cuts again. I don't know how soon Raul will come by so I can send him for Lily. Since their kids are sick, I won't ask her to leave them until Raul is back to be with them."
"I'm sure I can manage a shower by myself this time." Aurora colored at the memory of Will's assistance the previous evening. Her body tingled as she recalled his gentle touch, the caring way he had helped her the previous night. How many men would have done what he while nursing a broken leg? He really was a very gentle and attractive man, she thought.
Careful, came the warning in her mind, his heart belongs to his wife. You'd better be careful or you'll get your own heart broken again. The last thing you need is to be someone's experiment in a return to the dating scene, no matter how captivating that someone might be. She slid her feet around to the floor. The dizziness had diminished but her head ached.
Will handed her the robe she wore the night before. "Put this on again after you shower. I'll get your clothes and bring them in here. We need to put antibiotic cream on those cuts again."She clutched the robe around her immediately and walked toward the shower. Will called to her, "Please leave the door unlocked in case you need help, okay?"
"Okay, but I'll be fine. Maybe I'll take a bath instead, Will. Soaking in warm water might help my aches more than a shower."
"I'm sorry I don't know how to wire the whirlpool bath to the generator. I guess an ordinary bath will have to do until the electricity's back on."
Will accompanied Aurora into the bathroom and turned on the tub tap to fill the large, elevated tub. As he stood near the tub, the hands on his crutches seemed suddenly too large and rough. He glared at the cast on his left leg, the large western boot on his right foot.
What an oaf he must seem to her. What must she think of him? He thought he knew. Her friends were sophisticated, urban men. She must think him a bloody, clumsy bumpkin, hobbling around on these crutches.
He stood back, knowing his face grew red. The picture of her standing naked before him flashed through his mind, of the two of them sharing the large tub. Stop it, he told himself. "Um, are you sure you can...um...you can climb in and out by yourself?"
Aurora smiled at him, "Yes. At least, I'm pretty sure I can get in. I'll find out later whether or not I can get out."
"Okay, let me know if you need help. I'll close the door, but I'm not locking it." Will left the room as quickly as possible. He had to get out of there fast before he made an even bigger fool of himself and begged her to let him stay and help her again. What a ninny you've become, he told himself in disgust.
Aurora lay the robe across the closed toilet so she could reach it easily after her bath. She removed the pajama top and folded it neatly on the vanity counter. Carefully, she sat on the edge of the tub and gasped as the cold marble of the over-sized tub touched her bare skin. One leg at a time swung over slowly and she slid into the warm water.
Wonderful. Soothing, warm, and wonderful. She closed her eyes and slid down so that only her face remained out of the water as her head rested against an inflated cushion on the back of the giant tub. The liquid warmth covered her painful shoulder, back, and the lump on the back of her head. Time ceased to exist for Aurora until Will knocked on the door.
Startled back to reality, she called, "I'm fine." Aurora forced herself from the tub and grabbed the robe to wrap about her like a giant towel.
He waited for her in one of the chairs in the bedroom. "Are you okay?" he asked as he struggled to his feet and moved near her.
"Yes, I feel much better since the bath. It eased the soreness in my back and shoulder and made me feel more alert." She adjusted the robe to cover as much as possible.
He took hydrogen peroxide and cotton balls to clean her cuts again. Aurora had to drop the robe to her hips so Will could treat her back. On her painful bruises and lacerations, his touch seemed as gentle as a mother to a baby, yet his presence made her very aware of his strength and virility. As he leaned toward her she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Soap and after-shave mingled with his natural body oils to form a clean, masculine aroma. What would it be like to run her hands over his broad chest?
Her eyes flew open. One of the pocket flaps of his western shirt was tucked into the pocket. It would be so easy to straighten it and fasten it, pressing against his strong body. No! Where had her mind gone? She willed her hands to remain in her lap, but only with conscious effort did she resist the urge to reach out and touch him.
The air on her damp body coupled with his gentle touch on her back and shoulder made the nipples of her breast harden and point. As if all at once, Will saw the effects of his touch. He paused in his ministrations only a second. Very gently he bent to brush a kiss on a rosy peak before he brushed the corner of her mouth with his lips. All the breath left her body. She needed all her strength to resist the urge to pull his head back to her breast.
His voice rumbled low and gravelly. "It's nice to know you're not totally unaffected by me."
Aurora grabbed a pillow and clutched it to her breast as her jaw jutted defensively. "It's--it's the cool air on my damp skin." She knew she must be fiery red. If he knew how close she came to seducing him, her embarrassment would be greater.
He finished his first-aid treatment of her wounds and cleared away all the paraphernalia involved to the table beside the bed. Gently once again, he cupped her face in one hand and kissed her mouth as he slid the pillow away. Aurora tried to force herself to stop him. Instead, she met his kiss, her right hand slid to his shoulder.
A low moan escaped as his tongue slipped between her lips. He tasted so good. She fought again for self-control, but found hers
elf leaning into his kisses once more as his hand slid to the small of her back pulling her toward him. Will's mouth slid to her cheek and then fanned kisses along her neck and shoulder as his hand slid to cup her breast. He bent once more to take the hard nipple in his mouth. The world exploded around her. Aware only of this man, forgotten were her injuries and her resolve.
Aurora clutched his hair with her hand and pulled him to her as his lips reclaimed hers. Just as she lost all sense of reason, he slowly pulled away. His eyes dark with passion, he gazed hungrily at her body, then leaned to kiss her lips briefly once more before pulling away.
"I think you'd better get this nightshirt on and cover up before I forget how badly you're injured," he said huskily.
Somehow the covers had slipped away and her legs curled to his body. Aurora pulled the sheet over her legs and struggled into the elongated imitation of a football jersey. She knew herself unable to put a halt to any lovemaking he might have begun. Lost in Will's spell and bewildered as she fought to get her breathing under control and meet his mesmerizing gaze. What must he be thinking of her?
Aurora put her hand on his arm. "Will, I...I can't imagine what's come over me. I've always been so calm and reserved. Really, I'm never like this, but I just seem to have lost all sense of reason or caution with you. You must think me terribly wanton after the way I acted the first time you saw me, and my letting you help bathe me last night, and...and just now."
Aurora put her hands to her flushed cheeks and repeated, "Oh, my goodness. I truly don't know what's come over me."
"Mm, I think I do, and I like it a lot." Will kissed the top of her forehead. "Now, I'll give you some privacy and check back with you in a little while. I think I heard Bob, Greg, and Raul returning from their ride. I'll let them tell me how badly this flood has hit us. Raul can ask Lily to come over to help out for a while when she can manage it."
***
The news from Will's foreman was not good. Large areas where stock had been located were under water. Until the water receded, no one could tell how many of the cattle had been caught in the flood and how many had moved to higher ground. Certainly there would be heavy losses, though. To make matters worse, steady rain now fell again, though not so violently this time.
Will had told the men about his house guest and the lost car when they first came by early that morning. Neither of the three saw the car on their ride, but they were unable to get to many parts of the ranch because of the floodwater. The ranch’s location complex at the top of a hill cut it off by the water in three directions. With more rain falling, they would remain isolated for a while longer. Will remembered to tell Raul to ask Lily to come help him care for Aurora for a while today.
After the three left, Will sat on a kitchen chair. Thoughts of being lost on an island with a beautiful woman ran through his mind. But this was no dream sequence nor a movie or television show. Real life here, he thought, with this woman really in his home. Somehow, he had to keep Aurora nearby, no further away than Post, and he knew he must work fast. If there was any woman alive who could help him recover from Nancy’s loss, Aurora was that woman. He picked up his cell phone he’d brought with him when he left the bedroom. Rain or no rain, the time had come to make some calls.
* * *
Although she ached, much of the throbbing and dizziness left Aurora's head. Her shoulder moved more freely now, so at least she’d suffered no permanent damage. In all, her resilience slowly returned. After donning the socks and panties Will had given her with her nightshirt, she lay back on the pillows. Reaching and stretching to put on those few articles of clothing renewed many aches. No pain, no gain...at least she hoped.
The doctor, according to Will, said she should rest until she came to his office for examination. Being waited on by a man on crutches made her feel a malingerer.
Usually Aurora read in any spare time. Today, her head hurt too much to read, so she lay rethinking her reactions to Will. In spite of her resolve to remain uninvolved for the near future, she had acted almost with abandon toward this handsome cowboy. Her reactions puzzled her, but her unrestrained response to Will certainly cleared up any lingering doubts of her feelings for Russell.
Her life’s neat time schedule worked out in her mind did not include getting involved with a man at this point in time--even one as attractive as Will Harrison. It especially excluded involvement with a man obviously not over the death of his wife. She had no desire to be a passing fancy for any man--even a rugged cowboy as fascinating as her host.
Aurora believed herself an organized, efficient person. How unjust of Russell to call her a machine! Yet she supposed to onlookers she appeared consumed by work, first in school and then in her job with James, in her quest to become an independent businesswoman. In retrospect, after her break up with Russell, she saw how hollow her life had been. And how shallow Russell was.
On that day in Houston so many months ago she vowed to start her life anew, this time with more balance. When her parents told her of their friend Jane Headen's desire to sell her Durango book store, it seemed the perfect solution. Methodically, she plotted her course of action--how much she could spend where and how long she could travel before making her final decision about the gift store in Durango.
In these four months Aurora learned a lot about herself and about life in general. She saw herself in many of the offices in which she worked--people consumed by the need to excel, to get to the top in business life no matter how the climb decimated personal life. Taking herself less seriously and enjoying everyday experiences more stood as her primary lesson.
Opposed in theory to all her former training, Aurora knew it unnecessary to win every contract or break every record to achieve success. She found it possible to live out of a suitcase and conduct business by phone, pay her bills online, and email. Her parents forwarded real mail to her and stored the extra clothes and the furniture from her apartment.
Here she sat, all she salvaged from her well-packed little car was one suitcase and her briefcase. Thank goodness, she saved her briefcase. In it were her laptop computer, her financial records, charts and lists. Even with her newfound freedom, she would be seriously hindered if the briefcase disappeared.
Chapter Five
Aurora grew restless in spite of her headache. Her legs seemed to have regained their stability as she tentatively tested them before she rose to inspect the room. She padded in her sock feet first to the photograph of Will and his wife--Nancy, he called her--with their daughter Kelly. How carefree Will looked there. He said his wife had been dead only three years. Judging from the appearance of his daughter Kelly, this must have been taken just before Nancy's illness. Will appeared so much younger in the photograph, though, more like ten years instead of three. Poor Will, the loss of his wife had taken a very heavy toll on him.
Aurora surveyed the room slowly. It must have been completely redecorated since Nancy's death. As devoted as he was to his wife, Aurora doubted Will would remove traces of her from the room they had shared. Someone else must have initiated and coordinated the decorating, maybe Will's sister or mother. The room seemed very masculine, with a burgundy and green spread and matching draperies and chairs and a lush gray carpet the color of his eyes. The massive king-sized sleigh bed and matching chest and dresser of dark cherry might precede the redecoration.
A large Dalhart Windberg print of hill country bluebonnets hung on one wall, and nearby some Ronald Thomason originals depicted various ranching scenes. The two chairs cozied up to a lamp table near the window and provided a good view of the large television across the room. Open draperies beckoned her to the window.
The bedroom sat at the front of the house and made the raised railroad bed visible from the window. As Aurora stood with her face near the glass, she decided this must be where Will stood when he saw her torch light on the railway bed. Prickles raised along her neck when she realized how slim the chance that her little torch would be seen from this window.
W
ater lay in a great, long lake. At the end of the lake a group of trees stood with trunks submerged. She believed she could pick out the large tree with which she collided and in which she then sought refuge.
If outside, she thought, she could see the ranch from the porch yet not get caught in the rain. Aurora, reflecting on the events of the previous evening, suddenly remembered the clothes left in the laundry room. As she wondered whether her jeans had dried, Will came into the room.
"You're supposed to be resting, remember?" Will gasped as she turned to face him, and the smile she gave him brightened his heart. What he had thought a masculine room became just a beautiful room in which her presence seemed natural. The dark green background in the paisley print of the draperies against which she stood made her eyes seem even more green. The soft, gray light of the window behind her provided a mystical halo.
"I've only been up a few minutes." She walked slowly toward him. "My legs seem to be working better now."
His heart thudded louder in his chest with her each sensuous step. Could she be unaware of her effect on him? "And very nice legs they are. I think the bruises and scrapes on the knees are unnecessary decoration, though." He cleared his throat and swallowed hard. Best to remember why he was here. "Since we had such an early breakfast, I thought you might be ready for an early lunch. Do you want to eat in here or in the kitchen?"
She reached for the robe, but found it damp from her bath. Oh well, she thought, at least I'm covered up more than I was at breakfast. "The kitchen," she said as she walked slowly toward the doorway. "Is there no end to your household talents? You cook, you clean, you do laundry."
"Mm, and you haven't yet sampled the best of my household skills." Will flashed a devilish grin as she brushed by him.
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