Chapter 7

There was something peaceful and primal about a good old-fashioned thunderstorm. Rosie stood at the stove stirring a pot of chicken noodle soup that she’d found in the pantry.

The built-in microwave had yet to be installed, so she was cooking like they did in the 1950s.

It had been Lucy’s idea to stock some nonperishables in the Villa in case the guests preferred days upon days of privacy instead of going out for food. The diesel-powered whole-house generator had been a necessity because this side of the river didn’t have electricity. All Rosie had to do was flick the light switch and voilà—lights.

Lightning arched across the sky to the west so often that the effect was like a strobe light. Thunder rattled the lead-glass windows. It sounded like thunder and lightning were battling to the death, while she was all warm and cozy inside.

She glanced at the small broken windowpane on the patio door. She’d had to do it. The only other choice was to spend the night on the front porch. She could probably find someone to fix it tomorrow or the next day. Convincing repairmen to come all the way out to the ranch was proving to be difficult. On second thought, she bet Lefty could fix it. It seemed like he could fix just about anything.

Thunder shook the front door.

It was odd, she could swear she heard someone yelling. It had to be the wind. No one would be fool enough to be out in this storm.

Overhead, the thunder stopped rolling, but the front door still pounded.

She ran to the front door and turned on the porch light.

Was it her imagination or was Dallas Rose leaning against the front door?

She unlocked it and pulled it open.

“You’re okay.” He was soaked to the bone. “Thank God, you’re okay.”

His eyes drank her in, and then they rolled back in his head and he swayed.

Rosie caught him before he crumbled to the floor. “Let’s get you to the sofa.”

“I had to find you and make sure you were okay.” Dallas was a heap of deadweight. “We need to let everyone know you’re okay.”

“I wish we could, but I don’t have cell coverage out here.” She shouldered his weight and practically dragged him to the sofa. “How did you get here?”

Surely he hadn’t swum across the river. With the rising floodwater, it would have been extremely dangerous. Guilt pricked her heart. It sounded like the whole family was worried about her.

“Zip line.” He said it as if it were the most sensible thing in the world. He pushed at her hands. “I can walk.”

She let go and then caught him before he melted to the floor. “Humor me and let me help you.”

He shivered.

“You’re freezing. Let’s get you into a hot bath. I have some canned chicken noodle soup on the stove.” She could always warm up another can. He needed the soup more than she did.

“No, no, I’m fine. Don’t go to any trouble.” He tried to stand on his own, and she saw him press his lips together, as if to stifle a scream.

“Are you hurt?” She didn’t see any blood. Then again, his clothes were covered in muck and plastered to his body, so it was hard to tell much of anything.

“My left ankle. I think it’s broken.” His voice was controlled, like he was doing everything he could to keep from screaming.

She shuffled him into the bathroom, propped him up against the vanity, put the stopper into the claw-foot tub drain, and twisted the knobs for hot and then cold water. Without thinking, she picked up the plastic bottle of bubble bath and poured in a generous amount. He probably wasn’t a bubbles man, but it was too late now.

“Let’s get you out of those wet clothes.” She turned back toward him, not sure if she should help him undress. Could he undress himself?

Awkwardly, he shuffled the backpack off his shoulder and handed it to her. “There’s a satellite phone in here. Can you let everyone know we’re okay? You have to use it outside with a clear line of sight to the sky.” He took in her rumpled navy suit that she was sure had splotches of mud from helping him to the bathroom. “Sorry you have to go outside.”

She waved it off. “Do you need help with your clothes?”

He looked like he needed a trip to the emergency room.

“I’ll be fine. Go make the call and let everyone know I made it here and that you’re okay.” He was particularly articulate today. No intellectual challenges at all.

She took the backpack from him and turned to the door, but he put a hand on her shoulder.

“One more thing.” His eyes searched her face.

“Yes?” She’d never noticed the gold flecks in his aqua-blue eyes.

He leaned down and kissed her. His lips were soft at first and then demanding. His tongue parted her lips and she returned the kiss. Heat bloomed in her core and radiated out. The chemical reaction of attraction snaked through her body. She wanted Dallas… she wanted him very much.

He leaned back against the granite vanity and pulled her with him. His lips left hers as he trailed kisses down her neck. He shuffled his weight and his whole body went rigid, like he was in pain. He broke contact and sucked in a breath between gritted teeth.

She stepped back. “You kissed me and I liked it.” She could feel her face turning a nice shade of apple red. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Yep.” He grinned. “You sure did.”

Oh God, mortified wasn’t a strong enough word for what she felt right now.

“I’m gonna just… you know.” She pointed to the backpack. “You’re fine, I mean… will be fine taking off your clothes… or I could help you. I’m happy to help you strip down.” She shook her head trying to make some coherent words come out. “I didn’t mean… well… I kind of meant it. I’m going. Peace out.” She threw up a peace sign. “I don’t why I just did that.”

She managed to stumble out the door and close it behind her. In all of recorded time, she didn’t think there had ever been a more embarrassing moment. Perhaps she was being a little overly dramatic, but still. Had she really said, “Peace out”?

Opening the backpack, she riffled around until she found the satellite phone.

She opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch. She turned on the sat phone. It looked like it was working without having to leave the porch. Was using it just like using a cell phone? From her left jacket pocket, she pulled out her cell, looked up Lucy’s number, and dialed. It rang and rang and rang.

The phone connected. “This is Dr. Lucy Rose. I’m not able to take your call right now, but please leave me a message. I’ll call you back as soon as I’m able. Have a wonderful day.”

After the beep, Rosie said, “Lucy, I just wanted to let you know that Dallas made it to the Villa. I think his ankle is broken, but I don’t know for sure. We’re both here and we’ll wait out the storm. Thanks.” She hit end.

Lucy probably didn’t have cell service. She looked up the main house’s phone number and dialed it.

“Rose residence.” It was Mary, the housekeeper.

“Hi, Mary, this is Rosie. Can you please tell Dr. and Mr. Rose that I’m okay and that Dallas made it to the Villa? I think his left ankle is broken, but I’m not sure…”

“Just a moment, here she is.” Mary was always efficient.

“Rosie?” Lucy sounded tired. “Is Dallas there? Are you both okay?”

“Yes, we’re both at the Villa. I think he broke his ankle, but I’m not sure.” She had no idea what to do for a broken ankle besides ice it.

“You need to immobilize and ice it. Do you have any ibuprofen?” Lucy was in doctor mode.

“Yes, I have some in my work bag. How much should I give him?” Should she be taking notes?

“Is it bleeding, or is the bone sticking out?” Lucy’s tone was flat, like she was in the ER calling out orders for her staff to follow.

“I don’t know. He was wearing cowboy boots. I’m outside and he’s inside taking a bath. Want me to go check?” Should she hang up, go check on Dallas, and call Lucy back?

“No, if he walked there, the chances are good that he doesn’t have an open fracture. After we hang up, you can check on him and call me back if the bone is sticking out. Right now, give him eight hundred milligrams of ibuprofen now and two hundred every two hours. Make sure he takes it with food or a glass of milk. The ibuprofen will take the edge off the pain and keep the swelling down. Also, you need to apply some sort of compression wrapping. Use the RICE method. Rest, ice, compress, and elevate.” Lucy took a deep breath. “It might be a couple of days before we can get you out of there. I know Dallas is in pain, but his injury isn’t life-threatening. All of the available emergency personnel and helicopters are in search-and-rescue mode. Since neither one of you are in immediate danger, I hate to tell you this, but you’re not a priority.”

“We’re fine. We have food, electricity, and we’re safe. I promise I’ll take good care of Dallas.” At least taking care of him was something to do. She’d never not been able to work. Two days with no way to get work done. It was a waste of perfectly good time.

“Just so you know, he about lost it when he found out you were missing. I was afraid he’d try to swim across the river to get to you. Nothing or no one could have stopped him from making sure you were okay. He’s got one big crush on you.” Lucy’s tone was back to worried mom.

“He has a crush on me? That explains the kiss.” She touched her bottom lip at the memory.

“He kissed you?” Some of the worry in Lucy’s voice dissipated. “Please, tread lightly. Occasionally he irritates me, but I love him.”

“I’ll do my best.” Rosie had never intentionally hurt anyone—well, except for the vendors who didn’t make good on their promises to her. To be fair, she hadn’t hurt them so much as made their lives a living hell until they delivered.

“I know you will, but he’s still my baby.” Lucy was all tired concern. There was some shuffling on her end. “I have to go. Bear’s dying to yell at me for playing on the zip line the other day. Call back if you need anything. I’ll have the house phone with me at all times. Otherwise, call us first thing in the morning.”

“Okay. Thank everyone for me. Dallas said y’all were out looking for me.” She hated that she’d worried them.

“I will.” Lucy stifled a yawn. “I’m so glad you’re both safe.”

Lucy hung up.

All of this fuss over her. Usually, Rosie went out of her way to be as low maintenance as possible. She wasn’t being ungrateful, but it seemed like overkill. Couldn’t they see her Rover from the other side of the river? She glanced in the general direction of the path where her Rover was parked. Since the Villa was on the top of the hill overlooking the Texas Hill Country, she couldn’t see her car. With the storm, she couldn’t see ten feet in front of her, so maybe they couldn’t either?

She turned off the phone to preserve the battery and headed back inside.

After a brief internal debate, she settled on knocking on the bathroom door instead of just opening it. The water wasn’t running, so he was probably in the tub. She did her best to not picture him naked.

Wow, could he ever kiss. She felt it all the way down to her toes.

Using her right index finger, she knocked lightly on the door. “Are you okay? I spoke to your mother and told her that you made it here and that we’re both safe. I told her about your ankle. She wanted to know if it’s bleeding or if the bone is sticking out through the skin.”

“I don’t know.” He sounded exhausted. “It’s fine, you can come in.”

Tentatively, she opened the door and poked her head in. She kept her eyes on the floor in case he was lounging in the tub.

“I can’t get my boots off.” He sounded more than a little frustrated with himself.

She walked into the bathroom. “Let me help.”

He was shirtless, sprawled out on the floor, with his jeans pulled down to his knees. She tried not to notice that he was a boxer-brief kinda man. Also, she tried to keep her eyes from licking the peaks and valleys of his washboard abs, but they kept straying off the floor where she tried to make them count the crisp white subway tiles.

“I don’t own cowboy boots, but I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to take them off before your pants.” She knelt in front of him.

“Everyone’s a critic.” A muscle twitched in his jaw, and she realized that he was biting his bottom lip in an effort to hold back the pain.

She tugged at the heel of his right boot and slipped it off, uncovering a white tube sock. Her eyes trained on his face. “Ready for the other one?”

His eyes met hers, and one corner of his mouth turned up in a grin. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

With one hand, she grabbed the heel and positioned her other hand on top of the boot. “On three. One.” She whipped off the boot in one single motion.

“Damn,” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “What happened to three?”

“Element of surprise. One of my sisters used to be a medical assistant for a pediatrician. She always kept the syringe for the vaccinations behind her back and stabbed the kids in the arm before they had time to think about it. The poor kids always looked a little confused, like they knew they should cry, but the almost-painless shot really took the wind out of their sails.” She grinned. “Element of surprise. Now I have to take off your sock. This time I promise to go on three.”

She slid her hand up his pant leg and grabbed the top of the sock. “On three. One.” She ripped the sock off.

“You did it again. What happened to you promising to wait until three?” He looked a lot like those kids after the surprise vaccination.

“I lied and you still fell for it. Element of surprise. Works every time.” She slipped his other sock off and then pulled his jeans down over his right leg. “Guess what?”

“You’re going to tell me to count to three and then you’re going to pull my jeans off on one?” He couldn’t be in too much pain, because he was grinning.

“Yep, you guessed it.” She rolled the jeans up so she could get them off of him in one quick tug. “On three. One, two.” She ripped them off.

“Somehow I knew that was going to happen, and yet I still wasn’t ready for it.” He shook his head. “What does that say about me?”

“You’re far too trusting.” She glanced at his left ankle. Splotches of purple dotted the skin and it was swollen to twice the size of his right. There was an odd hump on the side. She had practically no medical training, but even she could tell there was something wrong with it.

She pointed to the boxer-briefs and did her best to keep her eyes on his face. “Are you ready to remove those?”

“I’m going to defy convention and leave them on for now.” With his left leg out straight, he heaved himself up and then not-so-gracefully lowered himself into the bubble bath. “What made you think I’m a bubble-bath kinda man?”

“I didn’t. I like bubble baths, so reaching for the bubbles was more of a habit.” She grabbed a towel and placed it on the tray next to the tub. She picked up his clothes and wadded them into a ball. “I’ll put these on to wash.” She headed out of the room, stopped at the doorway, and turned back to him. “I’m bringing you some hot chicken noodle soup and a whole bunch of ibuprofen—doctor’s orders.

He wiggled around in the tub, came up with his boxers, wrung them out, and tossed them onto the pile of clothes in her arms. “If you’re going to wash my clothes anyway, I’d appreciate if you’d add those.”

“No problem.” She did her level best to not think about him being naked in all of that hot, bubbly heaven.

She closed the door behind her and sucked on her bottom lip. If any more sexual attraction swirled between them, she’d be shucking off her clothes and joining him.

She’d never been one for one-night stands, but she was seriously considering taking casual sex up as a hobby. It beat the hell out of tennis.

If that kiss was any indication, Dallas would be mind-blowing between the sheets. She cradled the wet clothes tighter and told herself that mixing business and pleasure was a bad idea. Hell, she rarely mixed pleasure with pleasure.

He was hot, naked, and just on the other side of the door.

It seemed that the storm raging outside wasn’t the most dangerous thing she’d be dealing with tonight.