She turned toward the door, looking to escape, and ran right into Daniel's solid chest.
"Careful, Pockets." He braced her with a hand on her shoulder so she didn't topple over and nudged her to the side. "Let me in so I can close the door."
Riley didn't want the door closed. She didn't want to be here. Trapped with a man. Her mind went straight back to the night Collin walked into her apartment, like he owned the place.
"Wow! It's really coming down out there!" Daniel walked farther into the one-room cabin, but Riley couldn't make her feet move.
Wrapping her arms around her trembling body, she stared out the small window. The sky grew darker by the second, and the rain came down in sheets now. That was the only thing keeping her from bolting out the door.
They'd gotten there just in time before the worst of the storm hit, but the panicked voice inside her head told her it could be more dangerous inside the cabin than outside. She took several deep breaths, following the breathing exercises Emily suggested, but she couldn't focus well enough for them to be effective.
Daniel said something about building a fire so they could dry out, but the blood pumping in her ears muted his voice, making it sound like it came from far away. The more she told herself to calm down, the more her body shivered and the harder she found it to breathe.
"You okay, Ri?"
She ignored Daniel's question. She couldn't have answered if she'd wanted to because her teeth chattered so hard, but also because she was definitely not okay. It was all she could do not to scream and burst into hysterics.
"Hey."
The word came from right beside her ear, and Riley jumped, certain she'd felt the rush of his hot breath across her cheek. Or maybe that was just her overactive imagination. Suppressing the urge to scream, she dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands to keep from striking him.
"Here wrap up in a blanket until the fire warms up the cabin."
Riley turned enough to see that he held up a blanket from one of the beds. She reached for it, but he pulled back.
"You should probably shed at least the outer layer of wet clothing first."
Too shaky to even nod, she stepped further away and turned her back to him as her cold fingers fumbled with the buttons of her flannel shirt. His proximity made it harder to breathe, and she couldn't seem to make her fingers work.
A clap of thunder sounded at the same moment a flash of lightning lit up the cabin. An additional dose of fear and anxiety surged through her, making her whole body tremble.
"Riley?"
She looked over her shoulder at him. He hadn't come any closer, thank goodness, but concern lined his face.
"I can tell you don’t want to be in this cabin...with me, but I promise, I'm not going to hurt you." He swiped a hand over his jaw and mouth. "I need you to believe that."
He'd done that several times this afternoon when he talked about his alcohol addiction, and Riley couldn't help wondering if it meant he was craving a drink. She hated that he thought he was the problem, when really, it was all her.
"I-I know that. I do. B-but I just..." She pressed a hand to her racing heart.
"But your PTSD has kicked in." It was a statement, not a question, but she nodded anyway.
He laid the blanket over the chair and took a small step toward her. "How can I help?"
"I don't know."
For the first time, Riley noticed he had shed his hat and his wet denim shirt and even built a fire while she did nothing but stand there trembling and freaking out. She attempted to unbutton her shirt again, but her heart still raced, her lungs still struggled to draw in a full breath, and her hands still shook so badly she couldn't grasp the buttons let alone push them through a little hole.
"W-will you...h-help me." She balled her shaky hands into fists. "With my b-buttons?"
"Sure." He swiped a hand over his jaw again before stepping toward her.
She squeezed her eyes shut. If she didn't see how close he stood or the way his wet t-shirt clung to his sculpted chest, maybe she could keep from freaking out on him.
His boots shifted on the wooden floor, and his quiet voice came from directly in front of her. "Please don't knee me in the groin again."
"No promises." The muttered words came out through clenched teeth.
