had been forced to get up when Elvis wanted out. He wasn’t happy about leaving the comfort and warmth of his bed and cursed under his breath. Elvis could be a damned nuisance. If he didn’t want out to do his business, Nick realized then the dog scratched against the door because he wanted to meet Emily.
Nick had made a determined effort to ignore her, despite the fact she remained ever present on his mind. For the last couple mornings he’d managed to resist watching her. He was convinced she’d seen him staring out the window. Much to his chagrin, she’d also caught sight of him at the inn the night before. He didn’t want to think about her, and still, despite all his resolve, she haunted him day and night.
The forecasted rain came in a torrent. After the dry summer, the rainstorm was a welcome respite from the long, hot days. The temperatures had dropped into the low sixties, and Nick hoped Emily was smart enough to wear protective gear if she’d chosen to run this morning. Even now, he couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind.
Stepping outside, Nick called again for Elvis. It wasn’t like the German shepherd to disappear.
“Elvis,” he shouted, louder this time, standing on the porch steps.
He heard a sharp bark in the distance. It didn’t sound like Elvis’s normal bark.
“Elvis,” he called again, and expected him to come running.
He didn’t. Instead, he howled as though in trouble.
Cursing under his breath, Nick pulled his hood over his head and started toward the orchard, berating his dog with every step he took. Elvis was going to be the end of him.
He must have heard him coming because he barked again and again, the sound sharp and insistent, growing louder as he drew closer. When he saw Elvis half lying over Emily, who was slumped unconscious against a tree, Nick took off in a dead run.
“Emily,” he shouted and fell to his knees before her. His heart pounded frantically. He tapped her face lightly, and her eyes fluttered open.
“Nick,” she whispered and attempted a smile. “I knew you’d come,” she breathed out. “Thank you.”
He could see she was drenched through all her clothes. “What happened?” he demanded, shucking off his jacket, jerking it over his head.
“My ankle.”
One glance told him it was badly swollen.
“I’m so cold,” she whispered.
He slipped his jacket over her head. He wasn’t sure how much good it would do, seeing that she was already soaked to the skin. She didn’t seem capable of moving her arms, so he helped her insert them into the sleeves.
“Let me help you up,” he said as he tucked his arm around her waist. He got her to a standing position, but it was soon apparent she was in no condition to walk. With no other option, he carried her like a bride through the orchard and into the house.
“Nick…I’m too heavy, I can walk, I think, if you help me.”
He ignored her protest. As for her being too heavy, that was laughable. She couldn’t have weighed much more than a couple bags of cement. As soon as he got her into the house, he brought her into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Sitting her down on the toilet, he started to strip off her wet clothes.
She protested, shaking her head back and forth. “No.”
“This isn’t a time to be modest,” he insisted, ignoring her struggles. “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”
That comment earned him a heated stare. If circumstances had been different, he would have laughed.
Before she could argue any further, he pulled off her top and threw off his own clothes until they were both in their underwear. Stepping into the shower, he held her upright under the hot spray, letting the heated water chase away the chill. At first she cried out in pain, and then she leaned against him as the warmth seeped through her.
With her leaning into him, her face pressed against his front, he closed his eyes, savoring the feel of her in his arms. Hardly realizing what he was doing, he rubbed his chin over the top of her head. She clung to him, and little in his life had ever felt more right.
“Better?” he asked in a husky murmur, although the question barely sounded like him.
She nodded and kept her face buried in his chest.
For days he’d been working feverishly to get her out of his head and here she was in his arms,