Colorado 01 The Gamble (3 page)

I’d tried unsuccessfully to get the car out
of the ditch and, exhausted and not feeling all that well, I’d
given up. I’d decided against walking in an unknown area to try to
find the main road or happen onto someone who might just be stupid
enough to be driving in a blinding snowstorm. Instead, I was going
to wait it out.

I also suspected that I’d never get to
sleep not in a car, in a ditch, in a snowstorm after a showdown
with an unfriendly but insanely attractive man. So I took some
night-time cough medicine hoping to beat back the cold which was
threatening, covered myself with sweaters and bedded down in the
backseat.

Apparently, I had no trouble getting to
sleep.

Now I was here.

Back at the A-Frame.

In nothing but panties and a man’s
t-shirt.

Maybe this
was
My Worst Snowstorm Nightmare in the Colorado Mountains.
Weird things happened to women who travelled alone, weird things
that meant they were never seen again.

And this was all my fault.
I
wanted a timeout from my
life.
I
wanted an
adventure.

I thought maybe I should make a run for it.
The problem was, I was sick as a dog and I had to go the
bathroom.

I decided bathroom first, create strategy to
get out of my personal horror movie second.

When I’d used the facilities (the bathroom,
drat it, was fabulous, just like in the photos) and washed my
hands, I walked out to see Unfriendly, Amazing-Looking Man,
otherwise known as Max, ascending the spiral staircase.

Like every stupid, senseless, idiotic
heroine in a horror movie, I froze and I vowed if I got out of
there alive I’d never make fun of another stupid, senseless,
idiotic heroine in a horror movie again which I did, every time I
watched a horror movie.

He walked into the room and looked at
me.

“You’re awake,” he noted.

“Yes,” I replied cautiously.

He looked at the bed then at me. “Called
Triple A, they’re gonna come up, pull out your car.”

“Okay.”

His head tipped to the side, he studied my
face and he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I lied.

“You don’t look too good.”

Immediately a different, stupid, senseless,
idiotic feminine trait reared its ugly head and I took affront.

“Thanks,” I snapped sarcastically.

His lips tipped up at the ends and he took a
step toward me.

I took a step back.

He stopped, his brows twitching at my
retreat then said, “I mean, you don’t look like you feel well.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” I lied.

“And you don’t sound like you feel
well.”

“This is how I sound normally,” I lied yet
again.

“It isn’t how you sounded last night.”

“It’s morning, I just woke up. This is my
waking up voice.”

“Your waking up voice sounds like you’ve got
a sore throat and stuffed nose?”

I kept lying. “I have allergies.”

He looked out the windows then at me. “In
snow?” I looked out the windows too and when he continued speaking
I looked back at him. “Nothin’ alive in the ice out there that’ll
mess with your allergies, Duchess.”

I decided to change the topic of
conversation however I was becoming slightly concerned that I was
getting lightheaded.

“How did I get here?” I asked him.

His head tipped to the side again and he
asked back, “What?”

I pointed to myself and said, “Me,” then
pointed to the floor, “here. How did get here?”

He looked at the floor I was pointing to,
shook his head and muttered, “Shit.” Then he looked back at me and
said, “You were out. Never saw anything like it. Figured you were
fakin’.”

“I’m sorry?”

He took another step toward me and I took
another step back. He stopped again, looked at my feet and then for
some reason grinned. Then he looked back at me.

“I waited awhile, called the hotel to see if
you’d checked in. They said no. I called a couple others. They said
no too. So I went after you, thinkin’ maybe you got yourself into
trouble. You did. I found your car in a ditch, you asleep in the
back. I brought you and your shit to the house. You were out like a
light, dead weight.” His torso twisted and he pointed to my
suitcase which was on a comfortable looking armchair across the
room then he twisted back to me. “Put you to bed, slept on the
couch.”

I was definitely getting lightheaded, not
only because of being sick but also because of what he just said.
Therefore, in order not to fall down and make a right prat of
myself, I skirted him, walked to the bed and sat down or, if I was
honest, more like
slumped
down.

Then I looked up at him and asked, “You put
me to bed?”

He’d turned to face me, his brows were drawn
and he didn’t look amused anymore.

“You’re not okay,” he stated.

“You put me to bed?” I repeated.

His eyes came to mine and he said,
“Yeah.”

I pulled at the t-shirt and asked, “Did you
put this on me?”

The grin came back, it was different this
time, vastly different and my lightheadedness increased
significantly at the sight.

Then he said, “Yeah.”

I surged to my feet and then my vision went
funny, my hand went to my forehead and I plopped back down on the
bed.

Suddenly he was crouched in front of me
murmuring, “Jesus, Duchess.”

“You took my clothes off,” I accused.

“Lie down,” he ordered.

“You took my clothes off.”

“Yeah, now lie down.”

“You can’t take my clothes off!” I shouted
but I heard my loud words banging around in my skull, my head
started swimming and I would have fallen backwards if my hand
didn’t come out to rest on the bed to prop me up.

“I can, I did, it ain’t nothin’ I haven’t
seen before, now lie down.”

I started to push up, announcing, “I’m
leaving.”

He straightened and put his hands on my
shoulders, pressing me right back down. My bottom hit the bed and I
looked up at him suddenly so fatigued I could barely tilt my head
back.

“You aren’t leavin’,” he declared.

“You shouldn’t have changed my clothes.”

“Duchess, not gonna say it again, lie
down.”

“I need to go.”

I barely got out the word “go” when my
calves were swept up and my body twisted in the bed. I couldn’t
hold up my torso anymore so it also fell to the bed. Then the
covers came over me.

“You had medicine in your groceries. I’ll
get that and you need some food.”

“I need to go.”

“Food, medicine then we’ll talk.”

“Listen –”

“I’ll be right back.”

Then he was gone and I didn’t have the
energy to lift my head to find out where he went. I decided to go
to my suitcase, get some clothes on and get out of there. Then I
decided I’d do that after I closed my eyes just for a bit. They
hurt, too much, and all that sun and snow, I had to give them a
break, it was too bright.

Then, I guess, I passed out.

* * * * *

“Nina, you with me?” I heard a somewhat
familiar, deep, gravelly voice calling from what seemed far
away.

“How do you know my name?” I asked, not
opening my eyes and I would have been highly alarmed at the grating
sound of my voice if I wasn’t so very tired.

“You’re with me,” the somewhat familiar,
deep, gravelly voice muttered.

“My throat hurts.”

“Sounds like it.”

“And my eyes hurt.”

“I’ll bet.”

“
And my
whole body
hurts.”

“You’ve got a fever, Duchess.”

“Figures,” I murmured. “I’m on holiday. Fit
as a fiddle through my boring bloody life, I go on holiday, I get a
fever.”

I heard a not in the slightest unattractive
chuckle and then, “Honey, I need to get you up, get some ibuprofen
in you, some liquids.”

“No.”

“Nina.”

“How do you know my name?”

“Driver’s license, credit cards,
passport.”

My eyes slightly opened and that was too
much effort so I closed them again.

“You went through my purse.”

“Woman sick in my bed, yeah. Figured I
should know her name.”

I tried to roll but that took too much
effort too so I stopped trying and said, “Go away.”

“Help me out here.”

“Tired,” I mumbled.

“Honey.”

He called me “honey” twice. Niles never
called me “honey” or “sweetheart” or “darling” or anything, not
even Nina most the time which was my bloody name. In fact, Niles
didn’t speak to me much if I thought about it which, at that
moment, I didn’t have the energy to do.

I was nearly asleep again before I felt my
body gently pulled up then what felt like my bottom sliding into a
man’s lap then what felt like a glass against my lips.

“Drink,” that somewhat familiar, deep,
gravelly voice ordered.

I drank.

The glass went away then I heard, “Open your
mouth, Duchess.”

I did as I was told and felt something on my
tongue.

The glass came back and then, “Swallow those
down.”

I swallowed and jerked my head away, the
pills going through my sore throat hurt like crazy.

I ended up with what felt like my forehead
pressed into someone’s neck, soft fabric against my cheek.

“Ouch,” I whispered.

“Sorry, darlin’.”

I was moved again back between sheets, head
on pillow and before the covers fully settled on me, I was
asleep.

* * * * *

I woke up when I felt something cool, too
cool, hit my neck.

“No,” I rasped.

“You’re burnin’ up, baby.”

I wasn’t burning up. I was cold, so cold I
was trembling, full on human earthquake.

“So cold.” The words scraped through my
throat and I winced.

The cool left my neck and was pressed to my
forehead.

“Nina, do you have travel insurance?”

I tried to focus but couldn’t and asked,
“What?”

“This doesn’t break soon, I gotta get you to
the hospital.”

I stayed silent mainly because I was trying
to concentrate on getting warm. I pulled the covers closer around
me and snuggled into them.

“Nina, listen to me, do you have travel
insurance?”

“Wallet,” I told him, “purse.”

“Okay, honey, rest.”

I nodded and pulled the covers closer but I
couldn’t get warm enough.

“I need another blanket.”

“Honey.”

“Please.”

The cool cloth stayed at my forehead but I
felt strong fingers curl around my neck then they drifted down to
my shoulder.

Then I heard the word “Fuck,” said softly
and the covers were drawn away.

“No!” I cried, it was weak but it was a
cry.

“Hang tight, baby.”

The bed moved and I fell back as substantial
weight came in behind me.

Then his body was the length of my back,
fitting itself into the curve of mine. I nestled backwards, deeper
into his solid warmth as the tremors kept quaking my frame. His arm
came around me, his hand found mine and the fingers of both my
hands curled around his, hard, tight, holding on.

“So cold, Max.”

“Beat it back, Duchess.”

I nodded against the pillow and said, “I’ll
try.”

It took awhile, the trembling keeping me
awake, him holding me tight, his body pressed to mine.

What felt like hours later, when the tremors
started to slide away, I called softly, “Max?”

“Right here,” came a gravelly yet drowsy
reply.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

Then I slid into sleep, so exhausted, it
felt like I’d fought an epic battle.

* * * * *

The cool cloth was again against my brow,
sweeping back across my hair.

“Max?”

“Fever’s broke.”

“Mm,” I mumbled, falling back to sleep.

The words, “Work with me, Nina,” stopped my
descent.

“Okay,” I whispered and I was moved to my
back and then my upper body was pulled up.

“Lift your arms.”

I did as I was told and the t-shirt came
off.

“You sweated it out, Duchess, you’re in the
home stretch.”

“Okay.”

“Keep your arms up.”

“Okay.”

I felt another t-shirt come down over my
arms, over my head. I felt it yanked down at my belly, my sides. I
fell forward and felt my forehead resting against something soft
and hard. The material was soft and it covered what I figured was a
hard shoulder.

“You can drop your arms.”

“Okay.”

I dropped my arms and then I slid them
around what felt like a man’s waist. Then I cuddled closer. It felt
like arms came around my waist too and it also felt like a hand was
trailing gently up and down my back.

“You’re sweet when you’re sick.”

“I am?”

“Hellion when you’re riled.”

“Yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Mm.”

Then he muttered, “Not sure which I like
more.”

I had no reply, mainly because I’d fallen
back to sleep.

Human Again

I woke up to crazy brightness and after a
couple of seconds remembered where I was.

The A-Frame.

And Max.

“Oh my God,” I muttered to the pillow as I
opened my eyes and rolled to my back, memories flooding my foggy
brain.

I couldn’t be certain I remembered every
second but I remembered enough to be mortified. Mortified more than
I’d ever been mortified in my whole, entire life.

I had to get out of there. Immediately.

I threw the covers back, tossed my legs over
the side of the bed and stood. I had to give myself a moment to
adjust so I did. I was lightheaded and my nose was a bit stuffed up
but other than that I felt human again.