to curl around her heart-shaped face. “I got lost. Ran off the road.”
Well, crap. There went his plans. “You hurt?” He gingerly ran his hands down her arms and bent several inches to look closer at her eyes. Clear, not dilated. Stunning. Her face was pale, her skin smooth. And damn, she was curvy. He liked a full-bodied woman—always had. “Talk to me, sweetheart. Are. You. Hurt?” He put enough bite into his voice to catch her attention.
She coughed. “No. My car hit a fence and got stuck in the mud. Near the downed tree with the huge roots.”
He paused. “That’s three miles down the lane. You walked three miles in this storm?”
She swallowed and pushed wet hair back from her face. “I thought I saw lights.” Her voice was soft. Cultured and smooth. “Then I saw the dog or wolf, and I followed the road.”
Smart move. “All right.”
She looked around warily and caught sight of Jesse making out with some blonde on the sofa, having reached second base. Maybe third. “I, ah, should probably go. Can I borrow a phone? You must have a landline out here, because I couldn’t get any service on my cell phone. Still can’t.”
He cocked his head, not liking the blue tinge of her lips. “Who are you going to call?” It was the first early spring storm, and nobody with a lick of sense would be driving in it right now.
Her mouth opened and then closed. “A tow truck?”
He grinned, and she blinked. Once and then again. “Unless there’s a kid or animal in your car, or medicine you need to stay alive, nobody is going to head out that way until the weather gives up the fight.” He lifted an eyebrow.
Slowly, she shook her head. Probably reluctantly. “No kids, animals, or medicine.” She shifted her feet and instantly lost her balance as her muddy shoe slid across the floor.
He caught her, steadied her, and then took her hand. “All right then. Follow me.”
She tried to pull back, and he didn’t blame her, but the blue lips had sealed her fate. Being well over six foot with a broad chest, he easily parted the crowd in the clubhouse and guided her to the wide hallway leading to the rooms. There he paused, turned again, and drew her the other way, reaching a door that had a metal cowgirl on it. He pounded on the door and then opened it slightly. “Man coming in. Yell now if you object.”
No sound—except for a soft one of distress behind him.
He liked the feel of her hand in his, except for the trembling. So he drew her into the women’s bathroom, walked past the ugliest pink couch ever made, a set of vanities, a wall of stalls, and stopped at the shower area. “Sometimes there are clean towels.” He ducked down and yanked one off the shelf. Then he turned and handed her the towel.
She took a step back. “I, er—”
He stepped toward her; she’d gone even paler. “You’re cold, and you need to get rid of that chill. This is a nice, warm shower, it’s the ladies’ room, and I guarantee you’re safe.”
She clutched the towel and her shaking increased.
He drew air in through his nose. “I’m not the most patient of men, Blue Eyes. Here it is. Either you get your butt in that shower and warm up, or I’m putting you there.” He paused. “And the clothes aren’t coming.”
Her chin firmed and those eyes finally focused. “Then get out of the bathroom.”
Amusement filled him. “Good choice. I’ll have somebody bring you in something to wear. Leave the wet clothes on the floor, and we’ll figure out what to do with them.” He reached in and started the shower, striding out of the restroom to the hallway and down to what functioned as his suite in the club when he needed or wanted to crash there. Something he hadn’t done in so long, he wasn’t sure there were clean clothes, considering he lived in the one ranch house they owned at the moment.
He found the best clothing he had and asked a couple of women heading into the restroom to take them in.
Then he waited.
She emerged, wet clothing in hands, looking delectable in his very faded Metallica T-shirt and the only pair of loose-fitting boxers he could find. Her legs went on forever to bare feet with bubblegum-colored toe polish. “I can’t wear these things,” she whispered.
“They’re all I have.” He paused, those legs causing