by Lori Foster
She followed along behind him like a shadow. She’d never seen the cabin before, and wasn’t getting much of a chance to look at it now as she rushed behind Guy, so she figured he knew where he was going better than she did.
She noticed a warm fire crackling in the fireplace behind a glass screen, a huge entertainment center, and a lot of open space as Guy led her along. An enormous seating arrangement—she thought it might be called a pit—was strategically positioned in front of the fireplace.
When Guy safely reached the bed and sat down on the edge, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Cold air blew in through the open front door, and Annie was just about to go close it when Guy started struggling with his coat. Annie rushed to help him. He kept giving her sappy grins and thanking her as she tugged the bomber jacket off his wide shoulders. Annie smiled at him. He was so silly with the effects of the drugs.
Then he pulled his shirt off over his head, and her smile fell away. Even with the bruises, he looked too gorgeous for words. She was standing there watching him in appreciation, his coat clutched to her chest, when he stood, balanced on one leg, and untied the drawstring at the waistband of the scrubs.
Before she could draw a deep breath, the loose bottoms dropped to his ankles.
He had nothing on underneath.
Without so much as a blush of modesty, Guy sat back down on the bed and clumsily worked his shoes and socks off. Annie didn’t think to help him. The man was naked; looking at him was a delight. Getting close to him would have been too much temptation to resist.
She just knew she’d want to touch something. Maybe everything, but a few things specifically…
Once his shoes and socks were off, he gingerly lifted his injured leg onto the mattress, then fell back with a long hearty sigh.
Annie was so enraptured by the up close and personal view of his nude body, it took her a couple of minutes to realize he was snoring again. He was on top of the quilts, stretched out in beautiful bruised perfection, wearing nothing more than a stabilizer on his injured knee.
Annie licked her lips. Well, well, well.
Who’d have thought the man would be this accommodating!
She realized he apparently associated the cabin with nakedness, and that took away her smile. As she continued to survey him from collarbone to knees, she wondered at the myriad of things he’d done with the women he brought here. Just how lascivious and lewd were the cabin interludes?
Wind carried a dusting of snow in through the open front door and drew Annie out of her voyeurism. She forced herself to back away from Guy.
When she reached the warm fireplace she turned and hurried outside. The sooner she got the car unloaded, the sooner she could go back and feast her eyes on him some more. Who cared if it was unethical? An opportunity like this might never come along again.
Annie grinned as she thought of his reaction when his head finally cleared. Guy obviously had no idea what he was doing, and that gave her an absolutely splendid idea.
She could barely wait.
GUY WINCED AS he got one eye open and tried to focus on the source of his irritation. The setting sun, in vivid shades of orange and crimson, sent a slanted beam of light through the narrow opening in the drapes directly into his eyes. His mouth tasted like cat litter and his body ached from one end to the other. When he started to sit up, a flash of intense pain radiated from his knee to every other muscle in his body.
He groaned out a quiet curse.
It dawned on him slowly that he wasn’t at the hospital anymore, nor was he at home. However, the room, even the bed, were familiar. The cabin.
Guy looked around at the nightstand and saw by the hand-set clock that it was nearly six-thirty. The last thing he remembered clearly was Daniel waking him at the hospital, shoving him into scrubs and telling him it was time to go. That damn medicine the nurse kept forcing on him made him groggy. When he took it, he felt like he was dreaming and awake at the same time.
And in those odd dreams, Annie was always there. Touching him. Smiling at him.
Letting him touch her.
He looked down at his throbbing leg and saw it was stiff as a morning erection, sticking straight out thanks to the wraparound brace cushioning his knee.
Besides desperately needing a drink of water, a shower, and something to eat, Mother Nature called. Rather loudly.
Guy threw off the quilt and carefully scooted to the edge of the mattress. Crutches were propped by the padded swivel chair and he reached for them, using them to haul himself to his feet.
Thank goodness the cabin wasn’t large, so the bathroom wasn’t too far away. Otherwise, he doubted his ability to make it.
The bedroom was right next to the bathroom. Naked, he hobbled the short distance, awkwardly using the crutches to try to take the pressure off his knee. His shoulder hurt like the devil too, but he ignored it. When he stubbed his toe, he swore crudely.
“What in the world are you doing out of bed?”
Guy jumped and almost fell off his crutches.
Annie!
She stood there before him, looking like the woman he’d always known, and the woman he couldn’t help dreaming about.
He quickly scanned the cabin, but he didn’t see anyone else. All he noticed were dozens of opened books and magazines, scattered around everywhere.
Good God, she’d been studying!
Undeniably alarmed, Guy stared at her. Her dark hair fell loose to her waist. She had brushed it into soft waves and it reflected the crimson and gold glow from the crackling fireplace. She wore some type of lust-inducing skintight leggings that fit her like a second skin, and his own flannel shirt, unbuttoned far too low.
She looked tempting as hell to his foggy brain and abused body.
Guy shuddered as he tried to figure out what to do. He was naked, after all, and there was no place to hide. Hobbled as he was by the crutches and the knee wrap, trying to run would be ludicrous. Not that he intended to do so anyway. The only thing worse than being caught in the raw with Annie as a spectator, would be to put on a bigger show by fleeing.
With no other options left, he crisscrossed the crutches in front of his lap—hardly adequate coverage, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances—while balancing on one leg. “What the hell are you doing here?” he barked.
Annie wasn’t the least bit hurt by his tone. She frowned and shook what appeared to be a cooking spoon at him. Dear God, please don’t let her be cooking. He could likely survive anything but that.
She advanced despite his frantic warnings for her to stay away. “You should be in bed.”
He answered that by asking, “Where’s Daniel?”
“At home, I suppose.” She shrugged one narrow shoulder, causing his shirt to shift lower on one side. He could see the swell of her right breast. “He was heading that way right after he saw us off.”
Guy squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on not shouting. No. It couldn’t be. Daniel wouldn’t leave him here alone with Annie.
“Uh, Guy, do you realize you’re naked?”
Guy stared at her like she’d suddenly gone blond.
“Of course I realize it! It’d be a little hard to miss, especially with the way you’re staring!”
Annie didn’t answer, and she didn’t avert her gaze. He felt her appreciation like a hot stroke smoothing his chilled skin. “Look at my face, dammit!”
She did, but she took her time about doing so. “Well how was I to know?”
“How were you to know what?”
“That you realized you were naked? You didn’t realize it earlier. Or at least if you did realize it, you sure didn’t care. Not that I’m complaining, you understand.”
Guy shook his head, trying to make sense of what she said. He was naked, he was unsteady on his feet, and though he hated to admit it, he was mortified. Plenty of women had seen him naked. Plenty of women weren’t Annie.
“What do you mean—”
She lifted
her dark brows high and smiled at him.
“I mean you stripped naked right there before me, grinning the whole time. You pretty much flaunted yourself, and I found it very…educational.”
Horrified, he shook his head and said, “I didn’t.”
Annie nodded. “You did.”
She looked pleased with that fact, and waved her spoon at his abdomen and the crossed crutches, which only managed to hide the really essential stuff. “All this belated modesty…well, you might as well not bother. I’ve seen everything you own. In fact, I studied it real close, too.”
Worse and worse. “You didn’t.”
She nodded again, vigorously. “I did. And I don’t mind telling you, it’s all rather strange.”
Guy choked and she took another step closer. “Oh, I didn’t mean you looked strange! No. Of course not. In fact just the opposite! You’re so…well…”
She’d gotten breathless, and her gaze ventured south once again.
“Annie.”
“Okay, never mind that.” A slight blush colored her cheeks, but Guy had no idea if it was embarrassment or excitement. “I was talking about how it’d work. For sex. You didn’t really seem…capable—”
Masculine outrage washed over him. “I was asleep! And drugged!” He was beginning to sound hysterical. Not good. He definitely needed to remain in control.
Guy cleared his throat. He couldn’t deny that he felt affronted at her criticism of his male parts. But he shouldn’t. It didn’t matter…
“Dammit, Annie, this is ridiculous. Now please turn your head. Or better yet. Leave the room completely.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Guy said, gritting his teeth, “I have to use the bathroom and the situation is getting critical.”
“Oh!” Annie took another step toward him. At this close range, the crutches did him no good at all. “I can help.”
“Not in this lifetime!”
With the spoon clutched in one fist, she propped her hands on her hips and scowled. “Daniel said I was to help you.”
Pain, embarrassment and annoyance caused his eyes to narrow. “Daniel won’t be able to say anything else when I get through with him.”
“Now don’t be like that. You’re the one who asked to come here.”
“I did not!”
“Sure you did.” She sounded positive on that point. “You said you needed time to think and to recuperate, and so you wanted me to bring you here. Daniel agreed and told me all about the cabin.” She gave him a severe look. “I can’t believe you all kept this from me.”
He had no idea how to defend their deception on the cabin. In truth, having Annie here was a specific fantasy for him, one he’d never thought to find in reality.
He gave up trying to think of excuses and explanations when Annie reached for his crutches. She was so determined to help, she left him the option of either falling on his face—which he had no intention of doing, especially not bare-assed—or letting her have her way.
She had her way.
Annie repositioned the crutches under his arms and then rushed into the bathroom ahead of him. “I took up the throw rug from the floor so you wouldn’t slip. Do you want me to stay and help?”
She sounded far too hopeful. “Hell no.”
“Spoilsport.” She started backing out, her gaze cataloguing every small part of his physique. He couldn’t recall ever feeling quite so vulnerable. He didn’t like it.
“Let me know when you’re done,” she said, once again sounding breathless, “so I can help you back to bed.”
Using his crutch, Guy shoved the door closed behind her. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to convince himself this was only a dream. A bad dream. A damn nightmare.
But when he opened his eyes again, the tile floor still felt cold beneath his feet and his knee still throbbed in discomfort.
How the hell did he end up in this situation? He’d just have to put an end to it immediately. As soon as he cleaned up a bit, he’d have Annie take him home where he could suffer in silence. And he would suffer, but not because of his injuries. His home was Annie’s home.
The house she’d grown up in, the house that had sheltered all three Sawyers siblings and one hanger-on, would have been sold long ago if Guy hadn’t taken it, preserving it, waiting for Annie to want it for herself. So far she’d refused the house with all its less-than-perfect memories. To Guy, the memories were wonderful.
Daniel, now that he was married, was starting to come around. He even talked about his mother more, and he and his dad were beginning a new relationship.
Annie would come around, too, eventually. He’d always figured that some day she would marry and want the house. He’d accepted that as a fact. But he’d never thought about her getting sexual with a man. Now she wanted to experiment and it was eating him up inside.
He couldn’t stay here alone with her.
After he splashed his face and brushed his teeth, he was done for. He hurt in places he hadn’t even known about. Just getting back to bed would be a triumph, much less facing the cold and the long drive home. But he’d find the energy somewhere.
Guy limped to the door and opened it a crack. He peeked out, and caught Annie peeking in.
They both jumped.
“Are you okay?” Annie asked, at the same time Guy demanded, “What are you doing?”
Annie sighed. “You’re awfully surly. Do you need another pain pill?”
His entire body throbbed, his shoulder almost more so than his knee, with his ribs running a close third. He did his best to ignore it all. “No, I don’t want any more pills.”
“Afraid you’ll do something even more outrageous than stripping down to your sexy hide?”
Guy ground his teeth together. The last thing he wanted was for Annie to think his hide was sexy. Liar. “No.”
“No what?”
It was his turn to sigh. Through the closed door, he yelled, “No, I’m not afraid I’ll do something else outrageous.” What could be more outrageous than flaunting himself to her? Don’t even think it.
“And no I don’t want any damn pain pills. What I do want is something to wear.”
Guy waited, but when Annie didn’t answer, he peeked out the door again. She was still there. And she was still peeking. “Well?” he asked.
“I’m thinking about it.”
He grumbled, and she quickly said, “If you get dressed, it might make you more uncomfortable. I mean, you’re only going to be in bed under the quilts anyway. At least, I hope this time you get under the quilts. Last time you flopped—” She hesitated, then said, “Well, flopped isn’t a very pretty word is it?”
Heat rushed up his neck. “Annie,” he growled with very real menace.
“What I meant was,” she rushed to explain, “you sprawled on top of the quilts and I had to work for almost twenty minutes to get one free from under you.” And in an undertone she added, “You weigh a ton.”
“I weigh two twenty-five and you should have left the room, not played around with the quilts!”
“It wasn’t the quilts I wanted to play with.”
“Annie!”
“As to that, I couldn’t quite make myself leave the room, either. Everything of interest was in there.” In a softer voice, she added, “I love the differences in your skin texture. Did you know the skin on your hips is smooth and you’re so hard and—”
Guy tried for a measure of patience. “Go—get me—something—to put on. Right now.”
“You are so stubborn!”
He could hear her moving away and gave a sigh of relief. The paneled wall felt icy against his bare back as he leaned against it, keeping his injured leg straight out. He’d noticed in the mirror that he had so many bruises, he looked like a beat-up tomcat. At the moment, he felt more like something the cat had dragged in.
“Here you go.”
Annie started to come in, but Guy held the door firm, only letting it open enough to get his hand out. “I can
manage.”
“I wouldn’t mind helping.”
He’d never survive her help; the conversation alone was about to kill him. “I’ve been dressing myself since I was two. I think I can get along without your assistance.”
“But now you’re injured.”
“This conversation is hurting me a lot more than any damn injury! Go…cook something.”
Dear God, he couldn’t believe he said that. It was a true indication of his discomfort that he’d make such a horrid suggestion.
For good measure, he not only closed the door firmly, he locked it. Annie was in a very strange mood, and though his head was now finally clearer, he still felt very confused about some of the things she’d said.
In no way did he recall asking her to bring him to the cabin. Hell, he didn’t even remember the drive or climbing into bed. And he sure as certain had no memory of strutting his nakedness—or flopping—in front of her. Just the thought nearly sent him into spasms.
But she had looked.
The image formed in his mind: Annie looming over his bared body, studying him in minute detail. Her long hair had probably touched him in ways he’d only dreamed about.
She’d said his hide was sexy.
Guy shook off that damning fact. Annie was in a curious frame of mind these days, and so he assumed a certain amount of that curiosity extended to him. He supposed it was natural, even if it did make things a little sticky for him. She was now interested in the more sexual side of men, and he was a man she trusted.
He’d treat this incident just as he had the one at the pond, when she’d been so young. He’d ignore her embarrassment—even though she hadn’t really exhibited any.
6
GETTING THE SCRUB bottoms on were harder than he’d figured. Thankfully they were soft and loose, and that helped, but the bathroom wasn’t exactly spacious. He sat on the edge of the wide square Jacuzzi tub, which took up the majority of the room, and sort of bent sideways at the waist until he could hook the pants around his foot on his injured leg. After he’d gotten them pulled halfway up, he stuck his other foot in. Hopping around on one leg, which jarred his aching head and made his ribs and shoulder hurt worse, he managed to get the pants to his waist.
