She placed the bags of supplies she’d purchased on the table
next to the solitary television, dumping the contents until she found the
bottle of water. Chugging half of it, she slumped onto the chair beside the
table, and leaned her head back, closing her eyes.
Slight dizziness accompanied her every movement, but she
fought it off. She wanted to check Boone’s wounds before she found the comfort
of a soft mattress and a few hours of sleep, so instead of climbing immediately
into bed, she rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes while she
waited for Boone to emerge from the shower.
It took longer than she anticipated and before she knew it,
she’d drifted off to sleep only to awaken when the bathroom door opened
revealing a cloud of steam swirling around Boone’s naked chest and a large
towel wrapped around his waist.
The thick, black strands of his hair dripped water onto his
sculpted chest to run rivulets down the firm muscles of his abdomen. The color
of the clean linen slung around his narrow hips contrasted sharply with his
dark copper-toned skin.
Beth-Ann found it difficult to breathe as she took in the
sight of his magnificent body, especially knowing what remained hidden beneath
that towel.
Desire shot through her veins, burning through her blood. The
sight of his near nakedness sent flutters low in her belly.
He halted at the doorway to the bathroom when he caught sight
of her.
“You’re back,” he stated. “That was quick.”
“We didn’t need much.” She licked her lips, then grabbed the
bottle of water, wanting to drown herself in the liquid rather than ogle Boone.
She kept her gaze averted as he padded into the room, sitting at the edge of
the bed, his legs splayed and the towel spreading dangerously close to
revelation.
Beth-Ann fumbled with the water bottle as she tried to recap
it and set it back onto the table. She stood when she nearly dropped the
bottle, spilling some water onto the carpet.
“We, uh, we…” Why couldn’t the words form correctly? She knew
what she wanted to say, but her mouth worked uselessly, her tongue suddenly
thick and numb.
She glanced at the towel again, seeing the strong muscles of
his leg exposed. How easy it would be to run her hand up that leg to find the
rest of him hidden beneath?
Beth-Ann forced her gaze away, hoping he hadn’t noticed how
distracted she was by his nakedness, and focused her attention to the supplies
spread over the table.
“We have…I mean…we need…”
She needed to get a grip on herself.
Boone sat nearly naked on the bed only two feet away. So? She
could handle herself like an adult and not some hormone driven teen salivating
over a piece of man-meat. Beth-Ann had control over herself and her body. Just
because she still desired Boone and his intimate touches that sent her to the
moon and the heavens above didn’t mean she needed to make that common
knowledge.
He didn’t know how she yearned for his caresses, nor did he
seem particularly eager to renew their intimacy.
What they shared in the past had been beautiful, but that was
over. They could never go back and fix the things that had gone wrong between
them.
She had to remember that.
Even during times like this when it became difficult to
remember exactly why they went their separate ways.
“We should check your wound.” The words finally tumbled out of
her mouth in one quick, coherent breath.
She grabbed antiseptic and bandages, then turned back to face
Boone, hoping she’d finally gotten control of her mutinous body.
His gaze captured her. The emerald green of his eyes darkened
to moss as he watched her fumble with the items in her hands. The moment
stretched for an eternity.
Boone’s lips parted, and her gaze focused on his mouth, hungry
for his kiss.
She wanted so desperately to drop what she carried in her
hands and go to him, to wrap her arms and legs around him. To cradle him, to
feel him pressed hard against her, to kiss him senseless and make him want her
as she wanted him.
Instead, she broke away from his powerful gaze and those
sensual lips to address the angry red slash on his shoulder. The bullet had
grazed him, carving a long line into his skin.
The wound reopened from removing the bandages. He had cleaned
away all the dried blood with soap, but Beth-Ann dabbed some disinfectant over
it anyway to be sure it was sterilized. After covering his wound with a clean,
white strip of cloth, she then cut a strip of bandages from the roll she bought
and wrapped them around his shoulder to keep the padding in place.
The entire time she worked, she didn’t make eye contact with
him, nor did he say a word. He kept his gaze averted, not that he could see
beyond the swollen flesh of his left eye. The skin around his eyebrow had
turned purplish, but the swelling had gone down significantly since she’d first
found him in her father’s room at the cabin.
She breathed deeply of the peppermint shampoo he used in his
hair giving him that fresh, clean male scent.
When she was done with his shoulder and his eye, her attention
lowered to his ribs. The bruises were showing along his left side. She sucked
in a breath at the sight of them, marveling how she hadn’t noticed the
discoloration when he first appeared in the bathroom doorway.
Then again, passion distracted her. She couldn’t deny that.
“They’re not broken,” Boone said, breaking the silence between
them. “It hurts like hell, but nothing is broken.”
“If you say so,” Beth-Ann nodded. Then she gathered the
remainder of the bandages and wrapped everything away, stuffing the items back
into the plastic bag.
When she turned, she found Boone’s intense gaze fixed on her
again. She swallowed hard but forced her feet to move past him.
He reached out to grab her hand, stopping her.
Her breath hitched in her throat and her body froze. The heat
of his hand melted into her skin, her heartbeat doubled. She lifted her lashes
to peer cautiously in his direction.
“Thank you.” His deep voice caressed her, vibrating within her
bones.
“There’s no need.” Slowly, she pulled her hand away. His
fingers slipped from hers to land onto his thigh.
She felt the loss of his heat so keenly, but he didn’t make
any motion to further their connection.
Three more steps and she closed the bathroom door, blocking
the sight of him. She leaned her back against the door and took several long,
deep breaths of steamy air that remained after his hot shower.
The shower stall was to her left. In her mind, she imagined
him standing there, the water from the shower head running wet rivulets down
his naked flesh.
She closed her fingers into a fist.
If she was going to survive the next day or two in his
company, she had to get better control over her physical and emotional
attraction to this man.
There was a reason she hadn’t returned home for a lengthy
visit since she left for college two and a half years ago. There was a reason,
she avoided Boone’s side of the mountain every time she came home.
A single tear slipped down her cheek. She swiped it away, not
realizing that she was crying until she saw the stains on her cheeks when she
looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She faced the trembling woman in the mirror, angry that she’d
let a man affect her to this degree.
And, not just any man.
This man.
Boone Evans.
She could never have him, his body or his heart. What happened
between them, the tragedy that had occurred to tear them apart could never be
undone. Hateful, hurtful words remained a part of their past and she clung to
those words, keeping them close, using the pain as a shield over her heart.
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