A Reunion And A Ring (Proposals & Promises Book 1) Read Free

can say that again.” He shook his head in disgust. “I told Lizzie not to rent the place this week, that I needed it myself. I should have known she’d get it mixed up. She’s new at the job and she’s incompetent.”
    “I...” A gust of wind blew so hard she could feel the cabin being buffeted by it. Something hit the roof above them and she cringed, glancing up instinctively. She couldn’t help thinking again of the tall trees surrounding the place. She suspected a branch had just fallen on the roof, and she hoped it wouldn’t be followed by the whole tree.
    Gavin looked up, too, and then staggered, as if doing so had made him dizzy. He put out a hand to steady himself and nearly knocked the lantern off the nightstand. Without thinking, Jenny moved to steady him, her hands closing over his shoulders. He flinched away from her grip on his bandaged shoulder, and it was obvious that she’d hurt him. Even as she snatched her arms back, she realized that his skin had seemed unnaturally warm.
    Frowning, she reached out again, this time laying her palm tentatively against his cheek. She tried to keep her touch relatively impersonal, merely that of a concerned nurse. “You have a fever.”
    He brushed her off. “I was sleeping. I’m probably just warm from that.”
    “No, it’s definitely a low-grade fever. Is your shoulder wound infected?”
    “I’m taking antibiotics,” he muttered.
    “Since when?”
    “Since this morning. Saw my doc before I drove up from Little Rock. He said it’s not too bad and the meds will clear it up soon.”
    She stepped back. “Have you taken anything for the fever?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “I’ve got some aspirin in my bag. Maybe you should lie back down while I try to find it. If I could borrow the lantern?”
    One hand at the back of his neck, he stared at her. “You broke in here to take my temperature and give me aspirin? Are you sure my mother didn’t send you?”
    Oddly enough, the mention of his mother made her relax a bit. She had always liked his mother. “I didn’t break in. And I’m leaving immediately. I apologize for the misunderstanding. Do you want the aspirin before I go or not?”
    Looking steadier, he scooped up a pair of jeans from the floor and stepped into them. She noticed only then that she’d tripped over a pair of his shoes. He must have pretty much stripped and fallen into bed earlier. If he’d taken a pain pill beforehand, that could explain why he’d slept so heavily he hadn’t heard her entrance over the noisy weather.
    He swung an arm in the direction of the single window in the little bedroom. The glass rattled in the frame from the force of the wind blowing outside, and a veritable fireworks exhibit played across the slice of sky visible from where she stood. Thunder had become a constant grouchy roar, as if the night itself was grudgingly surrendering to the storm.
    “You aren’t going back out in that. The way that rain’s coming down, I wouldn’t be surprised if the road is flooded. And the full force of the storm hasn’t even hit yet. We’re in for worse before it passes.”
    She thought of the water already creeping over the road when she’d approached the cabin. That frightening moment when she’d hydroplaned. She swallowed. “I’ll be fine,” she said, wishing she sounded a bit more confident.
    She bent to retrieve her dropped phone just as Gavin took a step toward her. “Don’t be foolish. The storm is too...”
    The collision knocked her flat on her behind and nearly caused Gavin to sprawl on top of her. Somehow he steadied himself, though it involved flailing that made him grunt in pain from his injured shoulder.
    Sitting sprawled at his feet, she shook her head. Could this ridiculous evening get any worse? Or was she tempting capricious fate to even ask?
    * * *
    Gavin was beginning to wonder just what was in those pills he’d taken before he’d turned in. Was he hallucinating? Or had a gorgeous, wet woman with a