Twenty minutes later the sweat was dripping from his body. He could feel the skin between his shoulder blades sliding across the seat beneath him and he placed the weights back onto the safety bar before pulling himself into a sitting position again.
He tried to keep his breathing calm but suddenly he heard the sound of the Americans laughing as they exited the steam room and made their way to the plunge pool. He gritted his teeth and sat quietly hoping that they wouldn’t notice him. He knew he was being completely ridiculous. They were all brilliant guys and if it wasn’t for them fawning over Amy all the time he would have actually liked their company, but if they weren’t working on the château they were either talking about her or to her.
He grabbed up his towel from the floor and moved over to the running machine. It was one of the few things he found really useful in the gym. With his stamina he could run for miles but it was always a problem if he didn’t know his route like the back of his hand. The grounds around the château were a nightmare for him. The paths close to the building were generally fine but if he wanted to go any further he needed another runner with him. Shrubs encroached upon the paths and branches of trees fell unexpectedly during the nights. Animals dug holes into the soft ground and puddles of water made the ground treacherous if you couldn’t see the pitfalls. He would be flat on his face before he had run fifty meters without any eyes to guide him.
He shoved his earphones from his iPod into his ears and turned up the music as he found his rhythm and settled into his run. Another twenty minutes work out and he might be tired enough to sleep soundly instead of rolling about in his bed with the sweat pouring from him as his mind kept turning back to the night he had walked into her room and found her naked in his arms.
He increased his pace and dug in for a final effort as he tried to concentrate on the tasks they were going to start the next day. Jean-Paul had introduced his crew that afternoon but David had pulled Paul aside and mentioned that the work was likely to take longer than he and the Americans anticipated.
The French had strict rules about work. No one would dare do another man’s job nor would they work a moment over their allotted thirty-five hour working week. David was hoping that Paul and his men could keep the work moving forwards, making sure that there was nothing to hold the Frenchmen up. If they were willing to do the fetching and carrying and let Jean-Paul’s men actually just do the work then they could probably move a little faster.
David thought that there might be some improvement in time schedules since the refurbishment of the original château. This was purely because Jean-Paul now had two new men on his team. They had recently arrived from Eastern Europe and appeared to be quiet, serious men who didn’t mix much with the French workforce. They seemed to go by the British work ethic and had to be told to down tools for the obligatory two hour lunch break.
The sweat dripped down Paul’s face and soaked into his t-shirt. He eventually slowed his pace and cooled down with a brisk walk at the end of his workout. He turned off the machine and stepped back, pulling his earphones out before he dragged his damp t-shirt from his body.
He walked slowly back to the changing room and stripped for a quick shower before heading to the now empty steam room. He could hear splashes and loud laughter as the Americans mucked about in the pool and for a moment, as he listened to their lively camaraderie, he wished he were in the water with them.
He turned away from the happy sounds, opened the door of the steam room and dropped the towel from about his waist as he walked in.
An ear-splitting scream had him leaping back in shock and he let out a violent roar as his naked left buttock came into contact with the red hot coals in the grate. He yelped as his skin stuck to the metal and then he jumped forwards again as the embers seared his skin even further, promptly colliding with a soft, fragrant figure. His fingertips brushed over steam softened shoulders and every muscle in his body contracted violently as all of his senses registered Amy’s beautiful form at once.
He was about to jump away for a second time when he heard a thundering of footsteps. He felt a sudden draft run up is back as the door flew back open and he was suddenly dragged out of the hot room by a cluster of huge, rough hands.
“What the fuck…” He managed to yell before a hammer hard fist unexpectedly made contact with his cheek and bashed his head violently sideways. He saw stars pop inside his mind and then heard the voice of an angel shouting something unintelligible before his head whirled and he couldn’t tell up from down as his brain took the better part of valour and blacked out completely.
Chapter Ten
“I am so sorry Amy. I should have known that there was nothing going on but I thought he was attacking you. I just reacted.” The American accent sounded as though it came from down an echoing tunnel and for a moment Paul didn’t know where he was. Then he felt a cool, slim palm touch is brow and a beautifully familiar fragrance wafted into range.
“Amy?” He croaked as his voice rattled from dry lips.
“Yes, it’s me Paul. You’ve been out for over three hours. I was about to call an ambulance,” her tender voice washed over him and he took a deep breath as her delicious honeyed scent filled his senses.
The first voice spoke again from somewhere on his left and he turned his head towards it with a groan as the pain in his cheek hit him hard.
“I am so sorry Captain. I don’t know what I was thinking. Hitting a blind man! I can’t believe myself. I should have known it was a simple mistake.” John’s thick Texan accent sounded genuinely apologetic and Paul decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Just remind me to make sure you’re on my side if I’m in a genuine fight. You have a fist like iron.” He lifted a weak hand to his swollen face and winced as his fingertips met the bruise.
Amy brushed his hand aside and lay a cool cloth against his skin. Her body pressed against the side of his chest as she leaned forwards and he gulped back the urge to take her into his arms and kiss her into the middle of next week. He shifted uncomfortably in the bed and suddenly realized that he was naked beneath the sheets. He groaned as he remembered walking into the steam room after dropping his towel and then he let out a yelp as his injured buttock sent him a timely reminder that he had practically sat on red hot coals.
Amy spoke before he could enquire about the state his of his backside.
“I dressed it as you have a nasty blister. The skin has burned right off. That was my fault I am afraid. I shouldn’t have screamed like that. I thought all you men were in the pool so you really surprised me.”
Paul felt himself turning a violent shade of red.
“You dressed my backside? Can this get any worse?” He muttered as he pulled the sheets up to his chin in embarrassment. “Well, you certainly have the advantage over me Amy. At least I didn’t cop an eyeful when I barged in on you.”
Amy giggled.
“Well, you wouldn’t have anyway. I was clever enough to wear a swimsuit and keep a towel wrapped around me.”
Paul attempted to sit up in bed and then decided not to as his buttock gave him another violent reminder of his recent injuries. He breathed in deeply to get over the pain.
“Oh, well that makes me feel so much better,” he mumbled from between gritted teeth.
Amy sat back on the bed.
“You want me to look at that burn again? It was pretty deep.”
Paul shook his head quickly.
“I think you’ve seen quite enough of my body thank you. It’s hardly fair. I’ll get Joe to change the dressing tomorrow.”
Amy laughed.
“You idiot. I am a qualified nurse. Do you really think that you have anything I haven’t seen before?”
Paul snorted and raised his eyebrows.
“Well, you hadn’t seen anything of mine before but I was naked when I walked into the steam room. Now I’ll have nothing left to your imagination,” he bit the inside of his cheek even as the words fell glibly from his mouth
but felt relief wash over him when her delicate laugh rang in his ears.
She pressed the cold cloth to his bruised face once again.
“If you want to know the truth, I barely saw a thing. The room was full of steam. You appeared out of the fog like some kind of apparition. You scared the hell out of me again. I would never have screamed if I had realized it was you. Unfortunately the Marines saw fit to come to my immediate rescue and assumed the worst when they saw you stumbling forwards, naked and apparently about to force yourself upon me. John is feeling rather embarrassed about it.” She sat back again and then went to stand up but Paul’s hand suddenly shot out of the bed and he caught hold of her wrist as he ignored the pain in his backside and sat up quickly.
“I would never hurt you Amy, you know that don’t you?” He paused for a moment and then plunged on. “All that stuff I said the other day, what you overheard, I didn’t mean any of it. I was angry with myself more than anyone else. I misread the situation totally and embarrassed you unforgivably. I am so sorry.” He tilted his chin and almost groaned in embarrassment when he heard a manly clearing of a throat as he suddenly remembered that the Americans were still in the room.
There were some hurried mutterings of, ‘ah yes, I just remembered that we didn’t close up the pool area properly… no fool, he’s not going to do anything stupid. Get out of here now.’ And then there was the muffled sound of four pairs of big feet rushing for the door.
Amy waited until the door clicked firmly behind the men. She looked down at her wrist where Paul gripped it tightly before she spoke again.
“I know that you would never hurt me physically Paul but I was very upset by what I overheard.” She sighed deeply. “I can’t make you out half the time. One minute you’re a perfect gentleman and then you turn into some kind of pig-headed troll. I thought we were making progress after I told you that I wasn’t going to follow you about analysing your every move.” She tried to pull her hand away from the big man in the bed but he was having none of that. His fingers slipped around her hand and he gave it a gentle tug.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am. This sight thing is just so frustrating. I don’t want to be like this but the anger just takes over when I read things so badly. Those guys were so up front and friendly when you first met, I completely lost it.” There was a tense pause and the air thickened around them. The sheet had fallen from his chest revealing smooth, sculpted pectorals and Amy watched as his chest rose and fell as his breathing deepened. His fingertips moved in her palms and she almost moaned aloud as he tugged her gently towards him. She could hear his breaths coming in quick, heated pulls and she was about to fall willingly into his muscled arms when the door flew open behind her and a whirlwind of small boy launched himself across the room and into the middle of Paul’s chest.
“Papa said you were alive again Paul. I thought those men had killed you when they brought you up from the pool and mama said I couldn’t come in and see you.” Robbie suddenly spun around and jumped into Amy’s lap. He kissed her right on the end of her nose before he spoke again in a breathless rush. “Thank you for saving his life Amy. I would have been terribly sad if Paul had really died and Joe would have cried a lot too. He’s not nearly so tough as he makes out. He nearly cried when he thought Lucy had left him ages ago and again when Anna was born. He doesn’t know I saw but his eyes were all red and he had to keep blowing his nose but that only happens if you catch a bad cold or get smoke from the bonfire in them and he wasn’t ill or in pain and he hadn’t lit a fire either so that means it was sad tears that did it. I don’t cry much, only when I hurt myself really badly like last week when I fell off my bike and cut my knee.” He pulled up his trouser leg to show Amy the fast healing scab that adorned his left knee as the words fell endlessly from his mouth and Amy nodded and shook her head enthusiastically in all the right places.
The boy continued with his prattle while Paul took in huge gulps of air as he recovered from having all his breath squashed out of his lungs on Robbie’s unexpected arrival and then Geraldine walked in to rescue them both from her son.
“Robbie, I told you that Paul is fine. Come along now. It is time for dinner. We must go down now.” She took the boy’s hand and mouthed ‘sorry’ to Amy as she turned to leave the room. “Would you both like dinner sent up here? We delayed until we knew that you were okay Paul but I think everyone is hungry now.”
Amy stood up.
“I’ll come down and grab something for us later. Paul shouldn’t get out of bed until I’m sure he doesn’t have a relapse and I don’t want him to eat anything until I know that we don’t have to take him to hospital.” She was in full nurse mode by the time she had finished speaking and when she looked back at Paul his eyebrows had formed a stiff line across his forehead.
“Stop fussing will you woman, I’m fine,” he growled. “I’m starving. I keep missing out on Patrick’s fantastic dinners for one reason or another and I am not going to miss out on this one. Pass me my trousers and a shirt and I’ll be down in a few moments.” He kept the sheet pulled around his waist as he slid his legs sideways on the bed.
Amy drew in a long breath when she saw his face pale as his blistered buttock scraped across the sheet but she kept her mouth shut. If he didn’t appreciate her ministrations then she wasn’t going to force them upon him any longer. She sniffed in annoyance.
“Fine, but you can find your own blasted shirt and trousers. I’m not your servant.” She walked across the room and followed Geraldine and Robbie out of the door but she didn’t close it behind her. She stood outside the door and heard him swear and grunt as he moved about the bedroom. It didn’t sound as though he was about to keel over again so she moved further along the corridor.
Geraldine stood waiting for her on the corner. She had already sent Robbie downstairs and she smiled at Amy as she caught up with her.
“I am sorry about that. It is difficult to keep an eye on Robbie all of the time. David and I can’t keep up with him. He loves Paul and all of the men here and only wishes to join in.” Her beautiful French accent calmed Amy’s frayed temper.
“Don’t apologize Geraldine. He’s a lovely little boy. You should be very proud of him.” She glanced down at Geraldine’s huge stomach. “When is the new addition due? David said that you were feeling a little better this week.”
Geraldine nodded as they made towards the stairs.
“I do feel better. I was so tired last week but the couple of days in hospital helped. Ellen has asked me to look at the furnishings of the new place with her. Would you like to help too? We are going over there again next week to take some measurements. Ellen likes curtains in the rooms. We don’t have them normally in France but even after all the years she has been here she just can’t get out of the habit of putting them up at every window. It is a strange thing to me because all of our windows open inwards so it makes it more difficult with all the material in the way but they certainly make the rooms look cosy. You would probably be better at choosing material than I as I have no experience of it.”
Amy smiled widely.
“I’d like that. I want to be included but I feel as though I shouldn’t even be here. I hate sitting around doing nothing. I’m just not used to it. It must be driving Ellen mad that I am here with no actual purpose, eating all your food and taking up a room. I am embarrassed to be here when it’s so clear that Mr Independent back there obviously doesn’t need anyone help him to do a thing.” She glanced back over her shoulder but Paul was not yet in sight. They carried on down the stairs.
Geraldine laughed.
“Well he is the opposite of David then. When he first came here Ellen employed me as a nurse to keep an eye on David and his friends. David convinced me that he couldn’t remove his legs by himself and me being the fool, fell for it. He flirted like mad with me for almost a month before I realized that I was in love with him and that the naughty man didn’t need my help with his legs at all. As punishment I kissed him until
he begged for mercy and he proposed to me the same night.” Her smile told Amy that she hadn’t minded his ruse at all.
It was Amy’s turn to laugh aloud.
“He did not do that really? Cheeky devil! And you really kissed him that much?”
Geraldine smiled and nodded quickly.
“Yes, it is true I couldn’t help myself, he was so endearing, but that is nothing to what Ellen had to do with Patrick.” She leaned forwards and whispered in her ear. Amy let out a shriek of laughter at Geraldine’s explanation of how Ellen had persuaded Patrick that she actually found him ravishingly attractive.
“She did not! Seriously?” She looked at Geraldine carefully but there was no hint of exaggeration. “I would never have thought it. He looks so independent, I can’t imagine… But I know where you are coming from. I don’t want to molly coddle Paul but I wish he would let me give him a hand sometimes. His attitude is ridiculous. I would help anyone whether disabled or not and so would most other people but he won’t have it at all. It’s as though he thinks everyone feels sorry for him but mostly it’s things that anyone would take as good manners. He moaned at Joe the other day for holding the door open but we all do that for each other without a second thought.” They reached the bottom of the stairs and walked together towards the dining room.
Geraldine rubbed her hand across her swollen stomach as Amy proved her point and subconsciously held the door open for her to pass through. She walked into the room and found her place beside Joe and Lucy. Joe was already tucking into a huge plate of delicious smelling cassoulet and chunks of freshly made French bread. Patrick gave her a plate and then moved the big dish of meat and beans towards her so that she could help herself. She smiled her thanks as Ellen passed her the basket full of still warm bread.
She glanced up as Paul limped in at last and John immediately called him to come and sit with the Marines. There was a general laugh as David shoved a thick cushion into his hands as he passed to pad the hard wooden seat and Paul had the grace to smile along with the others as he sat down gingerly on his chair.
Scarred Horizon (Scarred Series Book 4) Page 11
