Safe From the Dark (2 page)

“It’s
not necessary – ”

The
sex god paused at the foot of the stairs, impatient.

“Pete
Jackson runs the garage by himself, and I’m pretty sure he’s got his hands full
helping other stranded drivers crazy enough to be out in this mess. I’m not
going to make him drop everything to come all the way out here when I can have
you over at the Asher cabin in fifteen minutes. Okay?”

Evie
started to retort, but then shut her mouth and nodded. She was cranky, wet, and
still freezing. If there was ever a time to make her Type-A tendencies take
five, this was it. Her half-naked knight in shining blanket turned his back on
her and headed up the stairs, treating her to the sight of the strong curve of
his spine and more slabs of muscle leading down to what was no doubt a
perfectly sculpted ass.

Evie
squelched the long-dormant lust circuits that sparked to life and made a
bee-line for the fireplace.

“I’M
BEING PUNISHED,” COLIN muttered as he pulled on jeans in front of a seriously
pissed off Deirdre Small. She was busily covering up those bombshell curves she
had been so busily baring for him just a little while ago.

Sorry,
old buddy,
he
thought to his poor, neglected cock.

“I
knew this wasn’t going to happen.”

“Come
on, Deirdre, this will only take a few minutes. Then I’ll be back and we can –
”

“I’m
not in the mood anymore.”

Fully
dressed, she glared at him with icy baby blues.

“Last
week it was that meeting for the Harvest Festival, and the week before it was
the high school pep rally, and the week before that it was that stupid Town
Hall meeting that went over by like, six hours. It’s always something, Colin!”

“I’m
the mayor, Deirdre, remember? You were at the swearing-in?”

“Well,
I didn’t realize that meant you were never going to fuck me again! You work
twenty-four hours a day and now you’re skipping sex to go help some stranded
tourist?”

“I
couldn’t just leave her out there. What do you want me to do?”

“Get
your priorities straight, Mr. Mayor.”

Fluffing
her bleached curls, she disappeared into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Colin
winced and reached for his boots. Deirdre Small had always been something of a
drama queen, but she was eager and available and more interested in his body
than in any long-term relationship. Unfortunately, in recent weeks, the sex –
when his schedule actually opened up enough to permit such a thing – had become
a little boring. Colin couldn’t quite pinpoint the problem. She was hot,
uninhibited, and always let him take charge. Lately, it just left him a
little…uninspired.

He
pulled on a sweater and grabbed a clean sweatshirt from a drawer before
reaching for his keys and heading back downstairs. Maybe once he took care of
his clueless half-drowned guest, Deirdre would be back in the mood to help him
burn off some of the stress he’d built up in the six weeks since he’d become mayor
of Bright’s Ferry. Colin sighed, knowing she’d be out the door by the time his
truck cleared the driveway. Irritation sizzled through him and he decided to
place the blame squarely on the crazy woman downstairs.

Colin
stepped into the living room.

“I
thought you might want – ”

He
stopped short, awareness prickling along every nerve ending.
Talk about
inspiration.

The
woman was standing in front of the fireplace, eyes closed, mouth dropped open
in pleasure as she absorbed the heat. Her hair was drying to long ribbons of
rich brown, and she’d removed the soaked hoodie to reveal a white tank top that
lovingly hugged a curvy, compact little body and sweet breasts that would fit
his hands to perfection. Colin drank in every line, feeling a little like a voyeur,
and then frowned as his eyes landed on the bandages that covered one shoulder
and spread down her side.

The
frown deepened at the sight of the gun in the holster, lying on the coffee
table.

“I
hope you have a permit for that.”

She
looked up as he spoke, her clear gray eyes wide and framed by thick lashes. Her
face was devoid of makeup, and she nervously licked a lush lower lip.

“I’m
a cop. That is, I was a cop.”

God,
she’s pretty.
He
hadn’t noticed before, but now she was warm and dry, with firelight licking
along those sweet curves. The hard punch of lust surprised him, settling low in
his abdomen. He struggled to focus on more important things.

“What
happened?” He gestured at her bandages.

“It’s
nothing.” She reached for her soaked hoodie, grimacing in distaste.

“Here.”
Colin stepped forward with the sweatshirt, and for a moment it looked like she
was going to turn it down. “Come on, I’m just trying to be helpful.”

“I
don’t need help.”

His
skepticism must have shown because she had the grace to blush and snatch the
sweatshirt from his hands. For a moment, Colin watched her try to pull it over
her head, jostling her bad side as little as possible, and trying to smother
the little gasps of pain when she moved the wrong way. Rolling his eyes, he
stepped forward and carefully untangled her from the fabric. She stiffened
immediately. Colin worked on keeping his hands to himself, though his fingers
tingled at the accidental brush of soft skin at her waist where her tank rode
up. He stepped back.

“Thanks,”
she muttered grudgingly, “I’m Evie.”

The
sweatshirt bagged on her, falling to her thighs and slipping off one shoulder
as she reached out a hand. Something hot moved through Colin at the sight of
her wrapped in his clothes, but he shook it off and enveloped her hand in his,
noting the firm grip and graceful fingers.

“Colin
Daniels. Welcome to Bright’s Ferry.”

THE
COLD, WET DASH to Colin’s truck doused most of the precious warmth Evie had
greedily soaked up in front of the fireplace. Her shoulder and side were on
fire, and every muscle was tight with exhaustion. She stared out the window of
the spacious cab in disbelief at the downpour that showed no signs of letting
up.

“Is
it always like this?”

“Wait
until it starts snowing,” Colin grinned, running a hand through his damp hair
and cranking the heater, “Mother Nature doesn’t do anything by half up here.”

Evie
noted resentfully that while she probably looked like a wet cat, Colin Daniels
still looked like a cover model, with drops of water beading the lashes of those
incredible eyes, and more running down his jacket. She was too miserable to
really appreciate the fine male specimen in all his hotness, but she wasn’t
dead yet. Still, she focused her attention out the window as he put the truck
in gear and slowly pulled out of the driveway.

“Looks
like someone keyed your girlfriend’s car pretty badly. Did she report it?”

Colin
looked over, frowning at the ugly scratches that marred the cherry red paint on
one side of the SUV.

“When
did that happen? Shit, she’s going to throw a fit.”

He
shook his head and eased the truck onto the road, carefully making his way back
down through the sludge that Evie had plodded through earlier.

“And
Deirdre’s not – ” He cut the statement off abruptly.

She’s
not what? Not my girlfriend, she’s my wife? My mistress? My fuck buddy?

Evie
immediately berated herself for being curious one way or another, and
readjusted the vents to blast warm air over her chilled skin, burrowing into
the borrowed sweatshirt that smelled of clean laundry, cedar, and faintly of a
spicy, woodsy aftershave that she told herself didn’t care for even as she took
another heady breath.

“I’m
so sorry to hear about Martha and Hank. What happened?”

“They
hit a patch of black ice one night around Christmas and Dad lost control of the
car. Did you know them?”

The
pain in his voice was not a surprise, but the way he covered it with cool
control felt uncomfortably familiar to Evie.

“I
met them a couple of times. They were nice.” The words were inadequate, but
really, what could she say in the face of such blinding loss? “I didn’t realize
that they had a son.”

“I
grew up here, but I was in Boston for college and just stayed there. I didn’t
move back until last year. What about you? Are you – ”

“There’s
my car.” Evie wasn’t in the mood to answer questions about herself, about her
family, or about what had driven her to Bright’s Ferry with her tail between
her legs. The longer she could avoid talking about it, the better.

Colin
didn’t pause, but started up the opposite fork.

“Wait,
go back! What are you doing?”

“Is
there anything in there that you can’t go back for when the animals aren’t
getting ready to board the ark?”

“No,
but my suitcase and laptop are in the trunk. An abandoned car is easy
pickings.”

He
pulled his eyes away from the road for a split second to glance at her in
disbelief.

“This
is Bright’s Ferry, not Boston. You could leave the doors wide open with a sign
saying, ‘Steal Me’ and everything would still be there when you got back. Where
are you from, anyway?”

“New
York,” she grudgingly admitted.

“Well,
that explains it.”

He
opened his mouth, no doubt to ask another question, but noted her clenched
fingers and the shudders she was trying hard to suppress. He turned up the
heater instead.

“We
need to get you out of those wet clothes and warmed up.”

In
another lifetime, Evie would have leapt at the suggestive words and followed it
up with a proposal that he see to the job personally. He was tall and broad and
hot in a way that was impossible to ignore. However, right now she just wanted
a blanket and a serious dose of painkillers. The warm air blasting from the
vents slowly permeated the chill in her bones, making her feel lightheaded and
unfocused.

“Hang
on, we’re almost there.” His voice was soothing and it almost sounded…worried.

That
was much better than the tone of his voice thus far this afternoon.
So
bossy. She really didn’t need that.
Husky and worried was much better, but
Evie couldn’t quite wrap her head around it because she was drifting, drifting…

And
then the world went black.

“SHIT.”
COLIN KEPT ONE hand on the wheel and gently shook his now-unconscious
passenger’s good shoulder. “Wake up. Hey, can you hear me? Evie?”

Cursing
viciously under his breath, Colin stepped on the gas, powering the truck up the
last of the muddy incline to the Asher cabin, skidding to a halt in the gravel
driveway. He turned to Evie, lightly tapping her cheek. She moaned softly and
opened bleary, unfocused eyes.

“Dammit,
I should have taken you to a doctor.”

“I’m
fine,” she mumbled, and drifted off again.

Colin
unbuckled Evie’s seatbelt and tugged her across the bench seat, gathering her
up into his arms. She was a soft weight against his chest as he made a mad dash
to the porch of the neglected wooden cabin. Dead plants adorned the stairs and
a porch swing was dirty and strewn with wet leaves. Settling Evie on the
swing’s seat, Colin spent a few frustrated minutes searching the planters and
the doorframe, finally finding the spare key under a colorful ceramic frog on
the railing.

Thank
God the lawyer had missed it. At Fran Asher’s funeral last April, Colin
recalled the sharply-dressed man who had made an appearance with two assistants
in tow to box up Fran’s things. The attorney had expressed surprise that the
whole town had turned out for the funeral of a little old lady who lived alone.

Colin
felt a pang of regret as he opened the door and took a breath of stale air. Fran
had loved this cabin, and he remembered chopping wood for her as a boy in
exchange for lemonade and cookies. Then he’d left for school, ambitious and
arrogant and ready to leave the small town behind. By the time he’d returned,
Fran was sick, and the town already half in mourning for one of their own. There
had been some scandal a few years back, something about Fran’s daughter, but
Colin had paid little attention, too busy dealing with his own parents’
neglected house and getting used to the slower pace of small town life.

He
hefted Evie into his arms again, prompting a sound of discomfort, and carried her
inside the dark cabin. In the weak afternoon light, Colin maneuvered his way
over to a couch covered in a white sheet and set Evie down. She barely noticed.
Colin tried a light switch, surprised when the room was flooded with a soft
glow. He glanced at the mysterious woman on the couch who had taken the time to
ensure that the cabin’s electricity was turned on, which meant she was probably
planning to stay for a while.

Who
is she?