A Most Inconvenient Wish Read Free

him. Thunder crashed and lightning flashed, filling the air with a chemical smell. The storm was close, almost overhead. They needed shelter—now.
    She pulled on his hand. “The Lodge is that way, Mr. McDonald.”
    â€œWe won’t make the house in time.” Thunder roared, drowning out his words. He glanced back at Sophia, who looked terrified. He pulled her along as he raced toward an outbuilding.
    Sophia stumbled and he grasped her waist as lightning crackled around them. She trembled against him, her face beneath that frilly bonnet white.
    â€œAre you all right?” he asked.
    â€œI’m fine.” She tried to pull away from him, but he kept her close and rushed her toward the nearest outbuilding. Rain started coming down in sheets, soaking her dangling bonnet. Her dark hair hung in damp clumps around her face.
    â€œWe’ll take shelter here,” he shouted over the storm.
    He yanked the door of the small building open and hauled her inside as lightning hit a tree just beyond where they had been standing. Sophia shrieked, covering her face. He tugged her deeper into the darkness of what appeared to be a shed and closed the door behind them. The air was stale and smelled of earth and damp. Gardening tools hung along one side of the wall. A workbench lined another wall. Bits of broken pottery were scattered on the earthen floor. One small window, so dirty he could barely see outside, offered a bit of light. The roof seemed sound and that was all that mattered.
    Rain beat hard against the roof. The wind howled, shaking the small building with its force. “We should be safe here,” Ian whispered as he rubbed Sophia’s arms. Her skin was cold and she was shivering. He needed to get her warm. Ian pulled her into his arms, against his warmth, but she stiffened against him.
    Sophia shoved out of his arms as if the thought of his touch sickened her. She crossed the door and tried to open it.
    Damn stubborn woman. Ian moved to the door, ready to catch her if she ran out. “You cannot leave until the storm has passed.”
    â€œI cannot stay here.” Her face was pale, her eyes wide. “You cannot make me stay.”
    Thunder shook the walls and rattled the glass in the window. Lightning flashed within seconds of the crash. The storm was overhead and strengthening. He could hear limbs snapping in the wind and banging up against the walls. “Sophia, it’s not safe.”
    Ian gently took her arm and pulled her away from the opening as a limb of the nearby tree crashed in front of the door on the other side of which she was standing.

Chapter 2
    S ophia screamed as the branch crashed right where she had been standing a moment earlier. The small building groaned under the force of the wind. Thunder rattled the windows. The flashes of lightning lit up the dark corners of the building in eerie white light. But the storm was secondary to her fear as Ian dragged her deeper into the small structure. The darkness wrapped around her like bands of thick rope, choking her. She could feel the damp warmth of his body as he drew her closer. She dug in her heels, fighting against his pull.
    â€œSophia?” Ian McDonald’s voice was soft, calm. “It’s all right. It’s just a late summer storm.”
    She yanked her hands from his and edged closer to the door. Distance; she needed distance. “I’m fine.”
    â€œYou’re freezing. I can hear your teeth chattering.” He reached for her and rubbed her bare arms to try to warm her. She couldn’t stop the flinch at his touch. He stopped immediately.
    She wrapped her arms around herself as if she could hold in the panic, the fear. Walls seemed to close around her, boxing her in, stirring memories of another time, another man who had made her feel safe, then had made her feel anything but safe.
    â€œYou’re shivering too. We must get you warm,” Ian said gently
    His jaw was set as he