He set the grocery bags on the counter and turned to her, a look of concern in his light blue eyes. “Even though I really like your cooking, I can’t help but feel bad about you spending your Sunday cooking for me.”
A thrill of fear ran through her.Please don’t send me home.
“I don’t feel bad about it. You’re paying me very well.” His concerned look made room for amusement. “Besides, even if you didn’t, I’d still rather be here than at home.”
Meredith clamped her mouth shut. Why did she have to come out and say those things to him? Something in his face changed, and he watched her for a long moment. Then he took a step back toward the stairs.
“Stay as long as you like.” The soft depth of his voice went right to the hinge behind her knees. He gave her a nod and then disappeared up the stairs.
Meredith sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.Boss… Work…she reminded herself before leading Oscar and the dogs outside.
Two hours later, Oscar sat on the kitchen floor, surrounded by his toys. Tobble blocks lay everywhere since he insisted on stacking them before ramming the tower with his fire engine. Meredith had managed to silence the toy’s siren, but the lights atop the rig still flashed as the miniature fire truck crashed into the wobbly blocks.
“Uh-oh!” Oscar said every time the tower came tumbling down and blocks spun across the floor.
Meredith could only hope the noise couldn’t be heard upstairs. She’d just taken the apple pie out of the oven, and it was a few minutes after noon. Perfect timing. If she served Gray a plate of spaghetti, the pie would have time to cool but would still be warm after he had lunch. Still, she didn’t want to break his concentration. Meredith opted to send him a text instead of shouting upstairs.
Meredith:Pie’s ready. Want some lunch?
“Uh-oh!” The flashing fire engine made another assault, and blocks went flying. Vulcan and Juno had quickly learned to stay out of the path of the destructive truck, seeking cover on the other side of the island, right at Meredith’s feet.
Gray:Be right down.
Meredith read the text and washed her hands. “Oscar, please pick up your blocks. Mr. Gray is coming downstairs.”
Instead of picking up the mess, Oscar came around the island and stood by her leg, the prospect of having to face a stranger too much for him. Meredith sighed and dried her hands.
“I’ll help you,” she said, grabbing his Bilibo bucket and the first of his blocks. Oscar and the dogs followed. “Can you turn off your fire engine and put it by the door?”
“Blocks first, Mama,” Oscar said, dropping a Tobble into the bucket. Meredith heard Gray on the stairs. He rounded the banister and stepped into the kitchen.
“That smells d—” He stopped midsentence, and Meredith looked up to see him covering his eyes. “The flashing… turn it off.”
“What?” And then she gasped. “Oh shit!” Meredith darted across the kitchen and flipped off the fire engine lights.
“Oh, God, Gray! I’m so s—” But she turned to see his shoulders jerk and his knees buckle. She shot forward, reaching for his elbow as he tipped toward her. Meredith thought she could steady him and lower him gently to the floor.
She was wrong.
He didn’t simply fall over. Gray’s body tackled her. His shoulder caught her cheek, snapping her head back. The weight of him knocked Meredith off her feet. When her back hit the floor, the wind left her in a rush.
Gray convulsed on top of her.
Oscar screamed.
And Meredith could not breathe.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IT WAS LIKEa dream. The kind when running and shouting were near impossible, and survival depended on flight and warning. The kind of dream where everything was shrouded in fog, and sounds floated through a torrent in the ear, time pouring slow like molasses.
He was gone the moment the second red flash pierced his pupil. And then he was falling. All two hundred pounds of him, falling with the force of double, onto this fair and fragile girl half his size.
He couldn’t stop himself. Couldn’t brace her. But he felt it all. The way her body gave no resistance, her head and torso sailing back as though she chose it. The way his shoulder came down onto her solar plexus when he landed, her diaphragm spasming under his weight. The way spittle leaked from his mouth onto her neck. He had one clear, fully formed thought as his muscles jerked without mercy.
If I piss my pants, I’ll kill myself.
It seemed like ages before she breathed beneath him, a long wheeze, shuddering and desperate. This sound rang clear to him as his head beat against her face. Her son, screaming in terror, came near them, and Gray felt rather than saw Meredith raise a hand to stop him. Two figures closed in, and he knew Vulcan and Juno smelled fear and sensed danger. Their low growls punctuated the rush in his ears.
