Here Comes Trouble (34 page)

Joel burst through the front door and the
crowd of people in the living room turned toward him. His mother
parted the crowd and ran over to them. "Mama run a warm bath, not
too hot. Ethan said that's what we needed to do...he's on his way
inside. Hurry!"

Curly Rhodes ran down the hallway toward the
bedrooms, and went to Terri's bedroom, then the bath. Joel was on
her heels and inside of three minutes, he'd stripped himself and
Terri and stepped into the large tub with her. She moaned and Joel
took that as a good sign, she was alive...even though she was still
shivering violently.

"Shh, it's okay, baby," he cooed and kissed
her cheek, then slid her lower into the water easing her down until
it covered her shoulders and her head against his chest. Joel
rubbed her shoulders, then moved his hands to her cold cheeks and
caressed her lips with his thumb trying to warm them.

"Oh god, Joel...she looks so...blue," his
mother said with heavy concern in her tone. "Should I call an
ambulance?"

"Let's try and warm her up first and see if
she's hurt anywhere else," he replied and Terri coughed then held
her fist to her chest and moaned again.

"She could get pneumonia, Joel...I think we
need to get her to the hospital," Curly told him. "I'm going to
make some soup, I'll bring some in here and some hot tea. That will
help warm her up."

"Thanks, mama," Joel said and watched her
scurry out of the bathroom.

"Terri, baby can you talk to me?" he asked and
rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

When she shook her head, Joel's tense muscles
relaxed a little. She couldn't talk to him, but she could hear him.
"I love you, baby and I am so damned sorry..." he told her and his
voice trembled over the words.

"L-l-ove..." She tried to talk, but her teeth
were chattering too much, and her voice came out as a dry hoarse
croak.

"Don't talk baby, just get warm," he told her
and ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms, trying to
rub some life into them. When the water cooled, Joel pushed the
drain plug with his toe, then leaned forward and turned on the tap
again. Once the warm water infused the bath again, Terri sighed.
Joel thought she was trembling a little less now, but he wasn't
sure.

Ethan came through the door and stopped by the
tub to put his hands on his hips. It was obvious he'd taken a
shower himself, and put on fresh dry clothes.

"What the fuck are you doing in the tub with
my sister naked?"

"Warming her up. Body heat...aren't you a
paramedic?" Joel asked him with a snort then hugged her closer.
"You told me to get her into a tub of warm water."

"I said
her
, not you, asshole!" Ethan
shouted.

"Body heat helps too," Joel informed
him.

"Sure it does, but she--"

"Stop!" Terri hissed and Joel thought that was
the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.

When she tried to push against him to sit up,
he closed his arms around her tighter and stroked her hair. "Lay
still, baby...mama's bringing you some soup and tea."

Joel saw Ethan flinch then he narrowed his
eyes and clenched his fists, before he repeated,
"
Baby
?"

"Yeah, I love your sister, so get used to it,"
Joel told him with a potent glare.

"Let me get this straight..." Ethan said in a
low threatening tone, "You
love
my sister...but you let her
ride out
alone
with a storm coming?"

Terri pushed up in the tub and pointed a
shaking finger at her brother, "
Get out
!" she hissed, her
voice a little stronger this time.

Ethan pointed a finger at Joel and glared.
"I'll talk to you about this later, butthead," he spat then he
stormed out of the room.

Terri looked up at Joel with misery filled
green eyes and said through her chattering teeth. "I'm
s-s-orry."

"You don't have a damned thing to be sorry
about, sugar...this is all my fault. Just let me warm you up," he
told her and kissed her forehead.

Joel lifted her and sat on the side of the
tub, then stood and put her on her feet. Her legs gave out and he
held her up with one arm, then reached into the cabinet and pulled
down a towel with the other. Leaning her against the counter, he
dried her hair, then moved down her body, rubbing her dry. When he
finished, he dried himself quickly, then picked her up and carried
her into the bedroom.

After pulling back the covers, he gently laid
her down then got in beside her. He pulled her tightly against him,
before covering them to the neck. She shivered on and off, but her
skin against him felt a lot warmer than it had before. Joel held
her tightly, and she snuggled her butt against him settling in and
he hardened despite not being anywhere near in the mood to make
love to her. Joel just wanted to hold her and never let her
go.

That brought to mind her saying she was
leaving Friday, and his heart wobbled inside his chest. He wasn't
letting her leave him. Whatever he had to do, even if he had to get
on his knees and beg her to stay, he would do it.

"Lay still, love..." he whispered near her ear
and kissed her there. Her hand covered his and she squeezed, and he
felt it inside his chest.

They laid there quietly, and he thought she
might have fallen asleep. When the bedroom door opened a while
later, he looked up to see his mother walk in with a heavy tray
filled with a big steaming bowl and a mug.

"Get her up, son, she needs to eat this,"
Curly ordered and sat the tray on the edge of the bed.

Terri protested sleepily when he released her
and scooted up against the headboard, then gently pulled her across
his lap and tucked the covers around them.

"Okay, mama...just hand me the bowl and
spoon," he told her and she carried it around to hand it to him.
Joel took the bowl and balanced on Terri's lap before picking up
the spoon and holding it to her lips.

"C'mon, baby open up," he encouraged when she
didn't open up. She shook her head and snuggled into his shoulder
instead. "Terri, this will help you get warm, honey...eat it," he
said then put the spoon to her lips again and she opened her
mouth.

Joel got her to eat about half the bowl in
slow steady spoonfuls, then she held up her hand. "Enough..." she
said weakly and her eyes drifted shut.

He put the spoon in the bowl and handed it to
his mother. "She needs some sleep, can you cut the light out on
your way out, mama?"

"Sure, I'll see ya'll in the morning. Love
you, honey," she said then picked up the tray and walked to the
door.

The light went out and the room was completely
black. Joel slid down in the bed with Terri still across his chest
and rested his chin on the top of her head. No, she wasn't leaving
him, he was going to make sure of it.

For the first time in his adult life, Joel
knew what real love felt like, and he wasn't afraid of it. He might
find out he was a fool later, but right now it felt damn
good.

If Terri hurt him like Karen had done, he'd
deal with it, just like he'd done with Karen. Terri had taught him
he could do that. Now, if he could convince her he was worth taking
a chance on too, he'd be pretty damned happy. That was a big 'if'
though. The way he'd treated her lately, he deserved to lose
her.

Terri woke up and it felt like she was cozied
up to a blast furnace, her cheek was pressed against the smooth
skin of a very masculine body. She was hot and sweaty and every
muscle in her body ached, her head hurt and her throat was desert
dry. After she worked up some moisture in her mouth, she licked her
lips then tried to move. Strong arms tightened around her and held
her still. Her head was under the covers, so she couldn't see
anything.

Welcome pain sliced through her arm when she
lifted it to push the covers from her face. The pain she felt in
her limbs meant she was still alive, and she hadn't held out much
hope last night that she'd wake up this morning among the living.
Terri knew how damned lucky she had been.

Ethan had saved her, but she didn't remember
much of what happened. Her brain had been frozen like the rest of
her body.

A kiss was dropped on the top of her head and
she looked up into Joel's beautiful blue eyes. They weren't angry
as she would have expected, they were soft and filled with so much
emotion, it seeped inside of her and warmed her frozen
heart.

She'd been damned mad at him when she left to
go riding, that she did remember...and she was leaving the ranch on
Friday.

Terri dragged her eyes from his and glanced at
the window where bright morning sunshine was pouring
through.

"Morning, beautiful," he mumbled into her hair
and his hot breath fanned her cheek.

"I need to get up," she told him because she
had to pee, and she needed some space to get her head together.
After yesterday, waking up in his arms is not what she expected for
sure. He'd been mad at her and so damned hateful.

Terri moved his arm off her legs and twisted
to slide over him. That turned out to be a huge mistake, because
she wound up face down on top of him, with her body positioned in
exactly the right place for her to feel him hard and hot against
her body.

He groaned and his hands pulled her hips
against him. Of their own volition her hips circled against his and
she sucked in a sharp breath. Joel pulled her up his body and was
about to kiss her, but she put her hand over his lips.

"I can't do this, Joel..." she said hoarsely
then quickly slid her legs to the side and stood. Having sex with
him would only prolong the inevitable, make it harder to leave
him.

Just because she almost died yesterday didn't
change that.

His face was red and his jaw tight, but he
didn't try to stop her. He nodded then threw back the covers. "You
need some help in there?" he nodded toward the bathroom, then found
his jeans and pulled them on.

"I have it handled," she assured him, but when
she took a step she wobbled and wasn't so sure.

He was at her side holding her up, before she
could even ask for it.

"You're probably sore, baby...you need to let
someone help you...let
me
help you," he told her then asked
with concern, "Do you hurt anywhere? Really hurt--like broken ribs,
or fractured bones?"

"No, I'm just sore and scraped up...I'm
lucky," she said then got her balance and took slow steps toward
the bathroom. When she reached the doorway, she leaned against it
and clutched her stomach as a coughing fit seized her. Her lungs
felt like they were on fire, and she knew it was from all the water
she'd swallowed last night.

"Dammit, Terri, stop being so hardheaded!" he
shouted and scooped her up in his arms before stomping to the
toilet, where he sat her down. "Call me when you're done and I'll
come help you," he grated then walked back out of the door and
closed it.

Terri took care of business then held the
counter to walk to the sink, where she brushed her teeth, then
found a washrag to wash the sleep from her eyes. When she took a
good look in the mirror, she gasped.

Leaning closer to the mirror, Terri saw that
her face was a multitude of bruises and scratches all twining
together to make one damned ugly picture. The wild bird's nest that
was her hair didn't help either. She opened the drawer and found a
comb then viciously worked it through the knots until the pain was
so intense she couldn't take it anymore.

Tears filled her eyes and she threw the comb
against the mirror in frustration. How in the hell had her life
come to this, she wondered. She was half-dead and more than half in
love with a man who would make, had made, her life a living hell.
He was a possible murderer, still hadn't been cleared of killing
his ex-wife, and yet she wanted him.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She picked at one particularly tangled spot in
her hair and sobbed. And she didn't have any damned conditioner to
help with the knots, in her heart or in her hair. That was the
worst of it.

There was a brief knock before the door swung
open and Joel stood in the doorway, his square jaw shaded by a
morning shadow, muscular chest bare, his jeans unbuttoned at the
waist and his face filled with worry. How in the hell was she
supposed to resist that?

"You okay, sugar?" he asked, his dark sexy
voice adding to her conundrum.

Terri shook her head and sucked in a
shuddering breath then felt the tears start down her cheeks. He
stormed over to her and scooped her up in his arms then carried her
back to the bed where he gently laid her down and covered her up to
her chin. With a kiss to her forehead, he told her, "Don't cry,
baby...rest. I'm going get you some coffee and
breakfast."

With one last concerned glance, he walked to
the door and out, leaving her alone in the room. Terri closed her
eyes and tried to close her heart, but it was damned near
impossible. She lay there a minute, her mind wandering and then the
bedroom door opened and Ethan walked in with a blood pressure cuff
in his hand and a stethoscope around his neck.