“No!” She struggled to sit up, but then fell back. She looked as if she’d lost all strength in her limbs. But then, she rallied enough to reach up and grab the front of his shirt, her fingers clutching it in a death grip. “You promised that you wouldn’t force me. You can’t go back on your word now.”
“I also didn’t think you’d almost drown in my pool.” He gently disengaged his shirt from her fingers. “Your body is telling you that something’s not right, and we need to find out what. I wouldn’t be doing my job, Tess, unless I insisted you go.”
She shook her head, anger exploding in her eyes. “I know you think I’m crazy, but I know in my heart that something bad is going to happen to me if I go back to that place. I can’t go!”
Ryan didn’t want to break the news to her that she sounded more than a little crazy. She sounded downright paranoid. “Look, if the center freaks you out, we’ll drive over to Kendall. They have a small community hospital. We can have you checked out there and you won’t even need to stay overnight unless they feel it’s absolutely necessary.”
Her reaction was immediate. “How can I make you understand-
Ryan sighed. “I’m not equipped to do tests here. Besides, I’m a psychiatrist, Tess, not a neurologist.”
“Then forget the tests.” The finality in her voice and the stubborn jut to her jaw told Ryan that it didn’t matter what he said, she wasn’t going to change her mind. “I told you before, I don’t need a doctor.”
He shrugged. “All right. If I promise no hospitals and no tests, will you at least agree to rest?”
Her narrow shoulders seemed to melt back against the wet tiles and a grateful sigh pulled at the corners of her mouth. She nodded. She’d gotten what she wanted.
Crazy or paranoid, she was the most infuriatingly beautiful woman he’d ever met. Ryan was beginning to realize that with a few words and a single glance from those exquisite jade eyes she could wreak havoc on all rational thought.
“I’ll rest.” She smiled. “As long as I can do it right here.”
But in spite of the smile, Ryan didn’t feel any sense of relief. Instead, he felt stuck. Stuck with a promise he didn’t agree with. A promise that meant not getting Tess the medical attention he felt she needed, and that went against everything he believed in professionally.
But Ryan also knew that if he went back on his word, Tess would simply walk away, disappear. He’d lose the only chance he had to help her, and that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.
He stood and then reached down, offering her a hand to get up. “Come on, let’s get you upstairs and into bed.”
Tess nodded, but when she tried to stand, her legs buckled beneath her. He caught her before she fell.
“I-I guess I’m not as steady as I thought.”
Ryan quickly scooped her up, lifting her with one hand beneath her legs and the other cradling her slender back. She seemed weightless in his arms.
He shouldered the screen door back along the track and stepped into the house, and as they entered the house, a shiver shot through Tess. A part of her wanted to blame the goose bumps pebbling her arms and legs on the air-conditioning, but she knew the real reason was Ryan’s close proximity.
Her reaction troubled her. She didn’t want to be vulnerable. In her head, vulnerability equalled danger. It meant her survival was questionable.
A tiny doubt niggled at the back of her brain. Where were these feelings coming from? Was she crazy? Paranoid? Or was she simply ready for anything.
She dropped her head back.
She closed her eyes, trying desperately to pull at the root of that single disturbing thought. But it wouldn’t cooperate. The more she tried to capture the thought, the more it seemed to drift beyond her reach.
Frustrated, she opened her eyes. They were in the hall, headed for the stairs. She tried to hide the fact that her teeth were chattering, but Ryan noticed and pulled her closer, shifting her body so that she was pressed tight against him, as if he could infuse her with his own body heat.
He glanced down at her, a shadow of concern touching his Caribbean blue eyes.
His hand was tucked in under her arm, directly beneath the swell of her right breast, and the warmth of his fingers sent a delicious thrill through her chilled skin. His touch warmed her even more than his eyes.
The feelings confused her and sent her brain into a spin. She’d been ready to assert herself, willing to do anything to get what she wanted. And then, she found herself defenseless and helpless in his arms.
She shifted closer to him, realizing that she felt the sudden increase in her heart rate, and with the side of her head pressed against his chest, she could hear the steady beat of his own heart accelerate to match her own. Apparently he was feeling this every bit as much as she was.
He climbed the stairs with ease and entered a bedroom done in a bright yellow. Bending down, he deposited her on the edge of the bed and stepped back.
His shirt was soaked, plastered to his chest and stomach. She could see the stark outline of his abdominal muscles. She swallowed hard, conscious of the hungry urge to reach out and trace the line of those firm, sculpted muscles.
She tore her gaze away. “I’m wet. I’m going to get the bed soaked.”
“It’s okay, you’re on the bedspread. Stay put and I’ll get something for you to change into.”
He headed for the door, and she started to get up. She wasn’t an inch off the bed when he stopped her. “Sit. Don’t even
She sat back down and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m sitting already. I wasn’t going anywhere.”
“Of course you weren’t,” he said meaningfully before he disappeared.
Tess levered herself up and, on shaky legs, walked into the adjoining bathroom. She grabbed a bath towel off the rack and dried her shoulders and arms. When waves of dizziness hit a few times, she steadied herself on the edge of the sink.
Reaching up, she stripped the suit down over her shoulders and hips, and then stepped out of it. She wrapped a towel around herself and tucked the end between her breasts.
“You really do have a problem following directions.”
Startled, she glanced up to see Ryan standing in the doorway, a pair of flannel pants and a sweatshirt slung over one arm. She wondered how long he’d been standing there. If it was long, he’d gotten an eyeful. “I figured it made more sense to get the wet suit off.” He tossed her the clothes and she caught them, nodding her thanks. “You want to turn around for a minute?”
He nodded, but she noticed he didn’t step out or close the door. She shrugged off the towel and quickly donned the dry clothes. Their softness and warmth felt wonderful against her clammy skin, and the fact that they were too big didn’t bother her a bit.
She tied the drawstring of the pants around her waist once before tying it in a secure knot. Ryan’s smell, the soap he used for his laundry, engulfed her as the sweatshirt slid over her head. She inhaled it, liking the clean scent.
“Okay, I’m decent.”
He turned around and their gazes met. Tess pulled up the sagging neck of the shirt.
“Barely decent.” A slightly teasing grin touched his lips.
Tess sucked in a deep breath. Okay, the fact that a man’s smile turned her knees to Jell-O wasn’t what she had expected. Had the bump on her head scrambled more than just her memories?
He motioned toward the bed. “Why don’t you get into bed, and I’ll take a look at the cut. It reopened when you were in the pool. Then I’ll check your vitals again.”
“I thought we went through this drill at the hospital,” Tess grumbled. She didn’t miss the fact that his unexpected effect on her was making her more than a little irritable.
“Be a sport and humor me,” Ryan said. “Like all doctors, I have an intense need to be needed.”
Tess ducked her head. Oh, yeah, he was needed all right, just not in the way he was thinking. She sighed inwardly. Great, now she was getting giddy. He was right, she really did need to get some rest. She slid into bed and tilted her head back so he could get at the cut.
He reached out and swept several strands of her hair back behind her ear. He had a healer’s hands, long elegant fingers with a gentle touch, and as he slid the tips of them over the curve of her ear, Tess shivered.
