AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How can you be sure the whole place won’t burn before the firefighters get here?”
“It’s a truck stop and there are fire alarms wired eight ways to Sunday straight to the emergency dispatcher. The drivers sleeping over probably called it in at the first sign of trouble. Plus there are automatic fire suppression protocols around the pumps and storage tanks. Your pal didn’t do his homework if hethought an explosion and fire would burn long enough to kill us both.”
“Honestly, I thought the explosion got you.”
He shrugged. “Amateur hour. Mostly bark and not too much bite after the first flash.” He blotted the cut along his eyebrow, smearing blood and soot and only managing to look worse for the effort to wipe it up.
“Here, let me do that,” she said. “Take a seat.”
“You first.” He touched the scrapes at her wrists where the zip ties had been. “Did he hurt you?”
“I keep telling you I’m fine.”
He shook his head. “You don’t look fine.”
She crossed her arms and glared at him. “I must look better than you.”
“Always,” he said reaching for her again. “In or out of the lingerie.”
“Stop it.” She dodged his touch. Something in here was making her stomach coil and twist. “Do you think it’s safe to go out yet?” It would be too mortifying to vomit here in front of him.
“Give it another minute.” He turned her around gently, his hands feathering over her. “Tell me the truth. Where are you hurting?”
“I’m not hurting,” she snapped. Maybe if she breathed through her mouth rather than her nose. It didn’t help. She doubled over and clamped her mouth shut, but the baby had other ideas. She dry-heaved into the trash can in the corner.
“Hannah!” He rushed up behind her and held her hair back from her face. The cool air felt good on the back of her neck and the nausea faded. “What did he do?”
She didn’t have the energy to shrug him off. “It will pass,” she said through gritted teeth. “It’s not an injury. I’m pregnant.”
“What? How?” He let go of her hair and sat down hard on the floor. The shelves rattled behind him as he slumped backward. “Already?”
She wrestled a bottle of water from a case and rinsed out her mouth. Looking around, she spotted a case of mints and popped open a box to settle her stomach. Retrieving the first aid kit she’d dropped, she settled beside him to treat his injuries while he was too shocked to protest.
“I think you’re old enough to understand how it happened. As for ‘already’, it happened in Las Vegas.”
“Vegas.”
She nodded as she wet a gauze pad with an antiseptic solution and cleaned the wound that lanced up from his brow toward his scalp.
“Vegas,” he repeated in a more menacing tone.
Ignoring the intense look in his eyes, she cleaned the rest of his face, covering the wounds with antiseptic ointment. She examined his arms, startled when the injuries were so minor. A few splinters, some first-degree burns, and a shard of glass near his elbow. She focused on finding the tweezers and more gauze.
“I watched him wire the explosives. You were right there at the door. How did you survive?”
“Disappointed?”
She met his hard gaze with one of her own. “Not even close.”
“Pregnant,” he muttered, disregarding her question about his miraculous escape. “You should have told me. Good Lord,” he gripped her shoulders, gave her a little shake. “You’ve been shot at, nearly beaten…” He jerked his hands away as his voice trailed off. “I should have known. Should have sent you somewhere safe.”
“You needed me.” She pulled his arm across her lap and set to work on the splinters. “Don’t even try to deny it. I was safe here with you.” It was the simple truth. Despite the events of the case,she knew she’d been safer here with him than anywhere her boss might have sent her.
“I don’t let people lie to me, Hannah.”
“Let?” she echoed dumbly, gathering her courage to tell him the whole messy story. “Don’t move.” She pulled one splinter free and dug a little harder than necessary as she attacked the next one. “I didn’t lie. I just hadn’t found the right way to tell you the truth.”
He gave a doubtful grunt. “How long have you known?”
