frowned. They were both drenched, the snow was piling up and she had to figure out a way to get home.

Anyway, she was a perfectly capable woman, a smart, innovative computer programmer who didn’t need a man to make her feel better. Especially a man she didn’t know and didn’t particularly like.

But, oh, it had been so very long since someone had held her.

She knew exactly how long. Three years, since the accident that had changed everything. Facing months of recovery, she had pushed away Kevin, the man she had been dating at the time.

She hadn’t known what else to do. Doctors hadn’t known if she would be able to walk again and as she and Kevin had only started dating, she hadn’t been willing to subject him to the uncertainty and turmoil.

Kevin had let her push him away, with depressing willingness, and was now married with a toddler.

“I’m sorry,” she said now, forcing herself to move away from Joshua Bailey and his sweet dog. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t believe I passed out. I’m usually not such a baby.”

“You’ve had a shock. Your reaction is totally understandable. I don’t think you’re a baby at all.”

The sincerity in his tone went a long way toward easing her embarrassment. Maybe she had misjudged him in their previous encounters.

“I need to call for help. I have no idea how I’m going to get my car out of here.”

“I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you but that car isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s going to take considerable work to clear those boulders and debris. Also, I’m afraid cell phones don’t work on this stretch of road. We’re in a weird gap between cell towers.”

She had found out the same thing. What was she going to do?

She shivered and tried not to panic. She could perhaps sleep in her car.

“Here. Don’t pass out again on me.”

“I won’t. I’m fine.”

He looked doubtful. “First thing we need to do is get you out of this weather. My ranch is about a quarter mile back up the mountain. I do have cell service there. Why don’t we head back that way, get you warmed up and I’ll make some calls so we can figure out how we’re going to get down the mountain?”

He was a virtual stranger. How could she just go with him to his house?

On the other hand, she couldn’t stay here. Who knew how long it would take for help to arrive?

While she didn’t know him, she did know his aunt and his cousins. She had quickly learned the Bailey family was well respected and well liked around the area. His cousin Wynona was the wife of the Haven Point police chief.

Some of her hesitation must have shown on her face. He looked rueful. “You don’t know me and don’t want to go home with a man who is a stranger,” he said, accurately guessing at the reason for it. “I get that and applaud your caution. But I can’t leave you here at night in the snow. I would be kicked out of the Good Guys club.”

When she continued to hesitate, not sure what to do, he grinned, his teeth gleaming in the darkness.

“How about this? I know you bought bear spray when you were in my store the other day. I assume you took it hiking with you, right?”

She nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

“Bear spray works even better on people. Bring it along. If I try anything funny, you have my permission to blast me in the face with it.”

She didn’t see that she had much choice. The snow seemed to be falling harder. They needed to get help and couldn’t do that here with no cell service.

Anyway, he had a sweet dog and a beautiful horse.

After a moment, she grabbed her backpack, found the bear spray and quite pointedly put it in her jacket pocket.

“How are we to get to your house?”

He gestured to his horse. “Ollie can carry both of us. He’s a strong guy.”

She looked at the horse and felt a fierce tug of longing. “I...haven’t been on horseback in a long time. I’m not sure I can mount up, with my...my bad leg.”

It was a humiliating confession that earned her a compassionate look.

“Sorry. I should have realized. I can help you. Can you raise your leg enough to put it in the stirrup?” he asked. The kindness of the question made her throat ache.

“Of course,” she snapped. She hated feeling so weak. She put the foot of her mangled leg into the stirrup and grabbed hold of the pommel on the saddle.

“Sorry if I have to get a little, er, personal here,” Josh said. Next thing she knew, he had boosted her up by her rump and helped her swing her leg over.

“I’m sorry to ask but can you scoot behind the saddle? I could walk you and Ollie home but we’d get out of the storm faster if we both rode.”

She nodded, feeling ungainly and stupid, and managed to shimmy her body back, pulling her leg out of the stirrup so he could use it.

Her poor abused leg, already sore from the exertions of the hike and that stumble, throbbed at the long-unaccustomed position. She ground her teeth and held on to the back of the saddle, doing her best to ignore the pain.

Whenever she found herself wallowing in self-pity about the limitations from the accident, she reminded herself it could have been much worse. For her brother, it had been.

The saddle shifted a little as Josh climbed onto the horse but she managed to keep her balance.

“Hold on,” he said. “Ollie is the greatest horse in Lake Haven County but even he might slip in these icy conditions.”

She didn’t have anything to hold on to but Josh. Gemma frowned, reminding herself she had no choice, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He urged the horse forward and the big bay obediently started trotting through the

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