They walked in silence for a bit. “You were flying down that road like a bat out of hell,” he said, breaking the silence.
“I know I shouldn’t have driven so fast,” she admitted, “but I was upset.”
They got to the clearing by the cabin, and he finally released her, and as his hands withdrew, Krista felt a sense of loss. She wished he would touch her like that again. It was as though she could still feel the heat from his hands on her body, the safety of it, the caring way he’d held her.
Gunner opened the door to the cabin. “Come inside and sit down. I’m going to get an ice pack together and then call my buddy to come and tow your car.”
“You think it needs to be towed?” she asked.
He laughed. “I’m pretty sure of it,” he said.
“It’s a rental,” she told him.
“Don’t worry about that now. Just come inside.”
The cabin was small, but homier than she expected. There was a wood burning stove, a medium sized dinner table with three chairs, a couch with an afghan thrown across it, and what looked like a bedroom, with the door partially open. She could just make out a bed inside the room as they walked to the couch.
“Go on and sit down,” he said, turning on a lamp. Then he walked to the refrigerator. The kitchen was almost nonexistent—just the small fridge next to a tiny stove and a sink. Above the sink were some cabinets with a few dishes and glasses.
“It’s a very simple life here, isn’t it?” she said, sinking into the couch. It was warm and cozy.
“Yeah.” He began rustling around in the freezer’s icebox, and she could hear him scraping her ice pack together. “You know, I could’ve bought the five million dollar house with acres of farmland and the enormous state-of-the-art kitchen. But I already had that life back in Vegas…minus the farmland. It’s not for me,” he said.
“Did you sell your home in Vegas already?”
“Not yet, but I plan to,” he replied.
She noticed that he seemed more at ease now, and she wondered if it was because he was caretaking. It was almost as though he preferred this role—helping her, taking care of her, and he was less guarded, more willing to discuss his life.
He brought the bag of ice over and set it on her neck. “Hold that in place.”
She flinched. “It’s so cold!”
“That’s kind of the point, Krista. We need to make sure to get the swelling down now. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about.”
“I trust you.”
“Good. Now just give me a minute. I’m going to call my buddy, Ryder—he’s the town mechanic.”
“Do you know everyone around here?”
“It’s a small town, so everyone knows everyone. Just a second,” he said.
He walked into the bedroom and shut the door. She wondered why he needed privacy to call his friend to tow her car. Was he going to badmouth her or something?
Krista supposed she couldn’t blame him if he did just that. She’d shown up unannounced and unwanted for the second day in a row and now she’d crashed her car and become stuck at his house.
It was mortifying, just thinking about it.
However nice Gunner was acting to her face, it was probably because he’d decided that she was truly off her rocker and that he needed to handle her with kid gloves until he got her out of his home.
She was humiliated. This had to be the low point of her relatively short life. At least, she hoped it was the low point, because Krista didn’t intend on sinking lower anytime soon.
A short while later, Gunner came out of his room again. He was wearing a long sleeve shirt that clung tightly to his chiseled torso. The sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, revealing well-muscled forearms.
He looked at her curiously. “How’s your neck? Is the ice helping yet?”
“It’s pretty much numb,” she told him, which was true.
He walked around the couch and sat down beside her, his leg touching hers, as he adjusted the ice pack on her neck. “Let me just have a look at what’s going on,” he said, and she could actually feel his warm breath against the side of her face. If she turned her head, she’d be inches from his lips. But she didn’t turn her head—she just kept looking forward.
Meanwhile, Gunner brushed her hair to the side, and his fingertips caressed the back of her neck. “No bruising or obvious contusions,” he said.
“Are you a doctor?” she asked.
“I know more about neck injuries than most of them.”
“I’m sure I’m fine, and I don’t want to put you out anymore than I already have,”
she insisted, even though the shivers she got as his hands touched her bare skin had nothing to do with the ice pack on her neck.
“You’re not putting me out, Krista.” He sighed, turning his body toward her.
“I’m so sorry I came here again today. It was a big mistake. I apologize, Gunner.”
“Look at me,” he said.
She couldn’t look at him, though. To meet his gaze when they were so close to one another…she didn’t know that she could honestly take it.
“Krista,” he said, softly.
She turned her head and their eyes met. This close together, the shock effect was magnified tenfold. His eyes were still and calm and completely focused on her in a way that she’d never felt before from anybody in her life.
He’s going to kiss me, she thought. Everything in her wanted that, more than she even realized.
Her lips parted, opening, waiting for his lips to touch hers—finally giving her what she’d been waiting for since the moment they’d met.
But he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he smiled. “I gave you a really hard time,” he said. “And it was never my intention to hurt you.”
“I’m the one who showed up on your doorstep and tried to force you to
