Promises (19 page)

“I’m not taking any chances with you getting out or someone getting in, but you’re welcome to share my room with me.”

The light, playful tone didn’t match the serious expression on his face.
  

“No thanks.
 
You snore.”
 
She spun around and went to inspect her room.

“I do not snore,” he called after her indignantly.

The grin on her face was dying to give way to all out laughter.
 
She wasn’t supposed to enjoy teasing him, darn it.
 
She needed to create a wall between them.
 
One that would hold up to the constant foolish whispers of her heart.
 

Making her way to the back bedroom, she pushed aside her current dilemma and examined her temporary home.
 
The room had a pair of twin beds separated by a small nightstand with a lamp.
 
The simple bedspreads were serviceable, but neat and clean.
 
The closet had clean sheets and several items of clothing, some of which might actually fit her.
 

“Everything satisfactory?”
 
He leaned against the doorjamb, obviously adjusting his weight to lessen the pain in his leg.
 

“The room’s fine.
 
But your leg isn’t.
 
Does your sister keep a first aid kit around?”
 
Clinical.
 
That was how she would have to treat him.
 
The same way she did when she found him in her cabin.

“What is this obsession with my leg?”

“I don’t have an obsession with your leg.
 
I have an obsession with living, and if you’re leg gets worse you’re not much good to me.”
 

He stiffened with her reply.
 
Laying a foundation for a wall wasn’t any fun, although what she’d said was the truth.
 
Sort of.
 
Her obsession was with him, and she wanted him to stay alive.
 
With a bad leg he was an easy target.
 
Not to mention just seeing him in pain ate away at her heart.
   

His jaw clenched as he pushed away from the doorjamb.
 
“I’ll take care of it myself later.
 
I’m going into town to pick up some supplies.
 
Anything you need?”

She ignored his cool tone.
 
Putting herself to use, she pulled a stack of sheets from the closet.
 
“Toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo.
 
The regular stuff.”
 

“Don’t go outside.
 
Don’t open the door to anyone.
 
Don’t use the telephone.”

She kept her back to him as she shook out the sheet.
 
“I know, I know.”

“Good.”
 
Without another word, he walked away.

She sank down onto the bed with a heavy sigh.
 
Well, she’d manage to erect a wall all right, only why didn’t she feel relieved by it?
 
Why did she feel like Rocky was sitting on her chest?

The outer door closed with a solid thud.
 
A moment later she heard her Jeep rumble to life and speed off.
 
Silence fell around her in a thick fog.
 
She already missed him.
 

“At least this time he’s coming back,” she mumbled to herself.
 

It was no sense in denying it any longer.
 
Whatever made her think she could stop her heart from caring about Travis Reid?
 
It didn’t care one whit what he did for a living and that his life was always in danger.
 
It didn’t care that he was a lot like Roger, a love’em and leave’em kind of guy, or that he had another woman, several most likely waiting for him somewhere.
 
Only her mind considered those things.
 
Her heart simply knew she was in love.

“Wonderful.”
 
She flopped back on the bed and stared at the stark white ceiling.
 
Love had tunneled under the walls she kept trying to put up, making them utterly useless.

Travis wasn’t sure how long they could hide out at his sister’s beach house, but a couple of days wouldn’t hurt.
 
His leg was killing him, and he needed some time to figure out what their next step should be.
 
He couldn’t let Bobbi down, and after that remark she had made about not being any good to her, he was even more determined to get her through this thing alive.
 

Mostly because she was right.
 
He hadn’t been any good to her.
 
He had made every possible wrong move where her safety was concerned.
 
The fact she wasn’t in Steele’s hands or dead was a miracle, and he couldn’t rely on her guardian angel to come to her rescue again.

Locating a small grocery store off the main road, he got the things she needed and some food to last them a few days, then headed back to the beach house.
 
The sun sank low in the sky as he pulled the Jeep under the house and closed the slat doors.
 
If anyone should get curious and come down the drive, the house would look as it always did this of year.
 
Deserted.

He limped up the stairs, grimacing the entire way.
 
Pausing at the door, he listened to the roar of the ocean.
 
Such a different sound from the forest yet still soothing and thought provoking, but now wasn’t the time.
 
He needed to mend and keep Bobbi safe.
 
Thoughts of dreams, of other paths, of possible futures would have to wait.
 

Bolting the door behind him, he set the bags of groceries on the counter.
 
She came up beside him and started emptying the bags.
 

“I’ll get that.
 
You go take care of your leg.
 
I found what you need in the bathroom,” she said.
 

The sweet scent of her freshly washed skin invaded his senses.
 
The oversized tee shirt and shorts she wore made her look a little like the pixie he’d known so many years ago.
 
“I told you, I’m fine.”

She stopped unpacking the bags and stared up at him.
 
He could see the little wheels turning in her head.
 
She wanted to say something and was trying to decide how to word it.
 

“Spit it out,” he grumbled.
 

Her brows snapped together.
 
“I’m sorry about what I said earlier.”
 
She quickly went back to unpacking the grocery bags.

Grabbing her arm, he spun her back around.
 
“Excuse me?”
 

“You heard me.
 
I said I was sorry.
 
Now go take care of your leg before I decide to bop you upside the head with this can of tomatoes and take care of it myself.”

He shook his head, amazed she’d managed to throw him another curve.
 
Why was she apologizing?
 
She’d only been stating a fact.
 
Too tired to fight about it and too tempted to take her in his arms, he decided to make himself scarce.
 

Stepping around the corner and into the bathroom, he gingerly pulled off his jeans and examined his leg.
 
He’d certainly done a number on it, but the stitches were still intact.
 
There was a little blood where they’d pulled, but nothing too major.
 
The muscle was what hurt.
 

Eyeing the bathtub, he noticed a damp towel hung over the rod and the remnants of bubbles from Bobbi’s bath lingered near the drain.
 
A bath sounded like just the thing for his weary body.

He finished undressing, slid the curtain to the side, and turned on the hot water.
 
He even dumped in some of the sweet smelling stuff he found sitting on the edge of the tub.
 
Although he wasn’t exactly a bubble bath kind of guy, he figured why not?
 
His herbalist sister repeatedly preached the benefits of aromatherapy, and he could use some mental relaxation as well as physical.

Before the tub was half full, he sank his tired, battered body into the foaming water with a faint groan.
 
After scrubbing off the smoky dirt and grime, he turned off the water and settled his wet head back against a rolled up towel.
 
Content for the moment, his dazed gaze floated up to the shower nozzle where a dainty little bra hung draped over the head.

“Christ.
 
She even haunts me in the shower.”

As expected, his thoughts sped to Bobbi.
 
How beautiful she was, how perfect she felt pressed against him, how sweet she tasted, and all the reasons he couldn’t have her.

There was a knock at the door.
 
“Travis?
 
Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”
 
Or at least he was a minute ago.
 
Between hearing her voice and seeing that lacy thing hanging over the showerhead, his weary body felt almost completely renewed and ready for action.
 
A specific kind of action.

“May I come in?”

He grinned.
 
“Be my guest.”
 

She’d last about half a second once she realized he was in the tub.
 
That ought to get her riled up but good.
 
She would speed out of there so fast he wouldn’t have to worry about fighting off the urge to yank her down into the water with him.

She opened the door, crossed the tiled floor, and stood over him, her hands resting on her hips.
 
“I was beginning to think you were going to stay in here all night.”
   

Okay, so she lasted more than half a second.
 
She would be leaving any minute.
 

“How’s your leg?”

“Fine.”
 
He was more than fine and thankful for the bubbles.
 
Although they hid the result of the fantasies he had entertained a moment ago, he still needed her to get out before one of those fantasies became reality.

When in doubt, use tried and trusted strategy, he thought.
 
“Enjoying the view?”

“Nothing, I haven’t seen before.
 
Who do you think got you out of your clothes when you showed up at the cabin?
 
Rocky?”
 
She knelt down beside him.
 
“Now, I want the truth.
 
How’s your leg?”

He bent his knee, lifting the stitches above the water and foam.
 
“Still there.
 
Still hurts.
 
Happy?”

She leaned over and examined the wound.
 
“I suppose you’ll live.”
 
She reached out to probe the area.

He snatched her wrist before she made contact with his skin.
 
“Don’t.”

“I was just going to
—
”

“I think now would be a good time for you to get out of here, bright eyes.
 
Before something happens.”

She stared into his eyes with one brow raised.
 
“I don’t want to leave.”

Her soft words and husky voice kicked him hard in the stomach.
 
For the first time in his life he was about to turn down something he wanted more than anything.
 
“You don’t really want this to happen, Bobbi.”

“Yes, I do.
 
But if you don’t want me, I’ll understand.”

So much for noble deeds.
 
He pulled her closer, bringing her face down to his and hungrily plundered her mouth.
 

“Does that tell you how much I want you?
 
How much I’ve wanted you since the moment I first laid eyes on you?”
 

A teasing sparkle lit her eyes.
 
“Somehow I doubt that, considering I was all of fifteen and one major pest, but it’s a start.”
 

He brushed a wet finger across her nose.
 
“I thought you were cute.”

She giggled softly.
 
“You hated the way I followed after you, all wide-eyed and adoring.”

“Actually, I was flattered, but I couldn’t very well encourage you.
 
You were just a kid.”

One lone finger ran along the edge of his collarbone.
 
“I’m not a kid any longer,” she said softly.
 

Desire burned in her eyes, overriding the last of his good sense.
 
“No.
 
You’re not.”
 
He pulled her close for a long luscious kiss.

Her breath brushed against his lips as he nibbled them.
 
“Do you think there’s enough room in there for two?” she asked.

With a deep chuckle, he released her.
 
“Sadly, no.”

“In that case, I guess I’ll go fix us some dinner while you finish your bath.”
 
She backed away, a teasing grin on her face.

“Dinner can wait.”
 
Standing, he snatched a towel from the rod and quickly wrapped it around his waist.
 

“Not hungry?” she asked.

He stepped out onto the small rug, gripped her tiny waist, and hoisted her up onto the vanity.
 
“Not for food.”

“Then what are you hungry for?” she asked breathlessly.

“Your mouth, your skin,” he murmured as his lips brushed across her face.
 
“All of you.”
 
He placed soft, delicate kisses down her throat then moved slowly up to her ear.
 
He did so love her ears.