The surge of temper actually cleared some of the panic in her mind. Or maybe that was due to the way he was holding her hand. “Take a deep breath in, now let it out slowly. That’s it. Follow my directions. Deep breath in slowly, two three, out slowly, two three. And again. In, two, three, out, two, three. It’s okay, Horse.”
She suddenly realized that strange noise was Horse. And that he was licking her free hand. She glanced down at him and felt her breathing ease. Putting her hand on his head, she let himground her. She wasn’t certain when she’d let go of his collar, but he’d stayed beside her the entire time, helping her.
Lord, he really was her best friend. She was so lucky that she’d found him.
Finally, her breathing eased and her heart stopped racing so hard. She closed her eyes for a long moment, then opened them.
That was embarrassing. She tried her best to hide her horror at what had just happened but knew she’d likely failed when she saw the concern in their faces.
Well, Kellan looked as calm as always
“Are you okay?” Duncan asked.
“I’m fine. Sorry. I just . . . it’s been a lot.”
Duncan nodded. “I get that. The storm and the power going out would be scary and a lot to deal with.”
And yet neither of those things were the reason she’d had a panic attack.
Nope. That was all due to the two men standing right there, staring at her.
“Do you need anything? You probably don’t know if any repairs are needed yet, but is there anything else?” Duncan asked.
“Ahh, no. I think I just need to try and get some sleep and then I’ll assess everything. Thank you for checking on me.”
“Of course. If there is anything you need let me know. I’ll give you my number. Do you have your phone?”
“Um, yes, I’ll find it.”
“Hey, if she needs anything we’re here and we can provide it,” Eli protested.
“That what you want, Ms. Bridges?” Duncan asked.
“Call me Arabella and I . . . I want to be on my own.”
She didn’t look at either of them as she said that.
“Of course,” Duncan said. “You heard her, you two need to leave.”
“No, what I need is to talk to Arabella,” Eli insisted, storming past Duncan to force his way between them. “Look at me, baby.”
Yeah, she wasn’t doing that.
She knew that she’d likely cave if she did. Her shields were down and she needed to shore them back up. To work out how she was going to keep them out.
“I would like you to leave, please. What happened . . . it shouldn’t have. It won’t happen again. I appreciate your help, though. Come, Horse.”
“Arabella, stop! We need to talk!”
“Please just leave!” she told Eli. “I want you to go. You need to do what I want.”
She turned back to stare at him, aware that he looked shocked and like . . . like she’d hurt him.
Shit. She almost took it back but she couldn’t. Because she had to have some time alone.
Even though she knew it was cowardly, she turned and walked back to her bedroom. She likely would have run if it wasn’t for the pain in her back.
There was a knock on her bedroom door about five minutes later and she let out a startled yelp while Horse growled.
