I was sure I’d pass out from the extreme cold the rain had brought with it. I kept thinking of Colin, of his warmth when he hugged me, the heat produced between us when our bodies came together, of his warm breath against my skin when he kissed me all over.
I was brought back from something. From somewhere. It was as if I was seeing the light of the bedroom come back on slowly, though it had always been on. I started hearing the rain again—and then the loud banging against the door. A wave of panic washed over me.
Not again!
But it wasn’t Blake.
It was Colin—kneeling on the floor inside, his fist pounding on the door and the glass. It was difficult, and almost impossible, but I reached up and pulled the curling iron out. The curler fell as the door swung open.
Before I realized what was happening, Colin had me in his arms, carrying me inside and setting me on the armchair.
“What happened? Why were you out there?” he asked, almost breathless.
Colin moved swiftly and purposefully, pulling my dress over my head, unhooking my bra. He wrapped a fleece blanket around me and knelt in front of me to remove my heels.
“So cold,” I managed to say. Our eyes locked. He took off his suit jacket, then his shirt.
“Come here,” he said. He helped me stand, his arms firm but gentle, and carefully walked me toward the bed. He opened the fleece blanket enough to allow himself to get underneath, and he sat me in front of him on the bed, my bare back against his front. His warmth seeped into me as he hugged me and held the blanket in place.
After a minute, I was confident I could speak without shaking. “Blake. He followed me upstairs and wouldn’t leave the room. I was sure he’d… he’d…” I couldn’t make myself say the words.
“I will fucking kill him.” He said it with such cold, deadly steadiness that I did not doubt him. “Let him try to hurt you ever again.”
As much as I normally disagreed with violence, and as surprising as it was to hear Colin speak in that manner, I suddenly felt safe. It didn’t matter that Blake was probably downstairs enjoying the wedding reception and trying to seducesome other unwitting woman. At least it didn’t matter that very second. Because I knew I was safe.
“Colin, I’m so sorry,” I said, finally warm enough to tear up. And tear up I did. In fact, they started streaming down my face with wild abandon.
“It’s not your fault that he’s such a fucking coward. When we’re sure you’re not hypothermic, I’m going down there to make sure he never enjoys another woman’s company again… wanted or unwanted.”
“No, I’m not apologizing for that. Of course, it’s not my fault. I’m sorry that I wasn’t honest about my suspicions.”
“Hmph. I regret not telling you certain things sooner, as well,” he said, though his tone didn’t sound so apologetic. His muscles against my back were hard, and he was still.
“What are you going to do to him?” I asked, wondering if that’s where his mind was.
“Find out why he’s here,” he said. “He and Landon used to play baseball together, but there was a scandal with a married woman and accusations of jewel theft that were never proven. Landon had tried to distance himself from Blake after that. I never liked him, much less after finding out about the robbery.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I remembered Grant’s latest call. “Grant said he overheard Maggie arguing with Landon twice now. Once at a restaurant, and the last time was this past Friday, when she thought Grant had gone home. He said it was loud and seemed like they were lovers.”
“Maggie… with Landon?” He seemed to mull it over. “A most unlikely pairing, but I can see her being charmed by him. He has that effect on women. But why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“Well, Grant said that during their first argument that Landon accused Maggie of not being truthful about something. You yourself said that Kirkman can’t be the one who’s giving outcompany info since it kept happening after he was gone. It has to be Maggie. And Landon must be afraid that Maggie is keeping something from him.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. What her father was afraid of,” he said.
We were both quiet for the longest time. The next thing he said was, “You’ve given me a lot to think about. But how areyoufeeling?”
“Warm,” I said as I focused on the heat emanating from his body into mine. “But tired.”
Also humiliated and exceedingly confused because the man who’d just rescued me was the one who’d lied to me and tricked me into dating him.
His hands moved up and down my arms with a pressure akin to a hug. “I was so scared when I found you like that…”
Without warning, Colin stopped speaking and slid out from underneath the blanket. He tossed me my pajamas and put his shirt on. I wished I had a sense of what was going on in his head. I’d had the strangest moment of almost forgetting everything bad that had happened, and it seemed like he had too.
“Are you leaving?” I asked, suddenly feeling like a little girl asking her parents to sleep with her through the night.
He paused, hesitated, and said, “I have to make sure Blake is gone. I’ll lock the door. Here’s your phone.” He grabbed my phone, which was by the door on the dresser, and tossed it to me. “Call me if you needanything. I’ll be here in a second if you need me. I won’t be long, anyway.”
