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“Gina.”
The weak call from the hall brought her up short. Frowning, she hurried though the kitchen. Her eyes widened at the sight of Dean slumped against the wall, soaking wet. As she rushed to his side, the security system began beeping a warning, and the red light flashed increasingly faster.
“What’s the code?”
He had to repeat it twice before she got the little light back to green again. Then she turned her full attention on him. “What happened? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at Mike’s?”
“Y-you o-k-kay?”
Forget soaking wet. His clothes were practically frozen on his body and stiff to the touch. The hand she grabbed was like a block of ice, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably. Yet the concern in his brown eyes was unmistakable.
“I’m fine, but we’ve got to get you warmed up.” She dragged his arm over her shoulder, and let him lean against her as she led him to the couch in the great room. God, he was so cold, his entire body was wracked with shivers. “Take off those wet clothes while I start the fire.”
As soon as the flames licked at the paper she’d laid beneath the wood earlier, she turned back to find him still fumbling with the first button on his shirt. His fingers must be numb, and his tie kept getting in the way. A tie? She’d never seen him wear one before, and even half-frozen, he looked so damn hot.
She hurried around the coffee table and knelt in front of him on the area rug to brush his hands out of the way. “Let me help.”
He didn’t prot
est, and after loosening the tie, she pulled it over his head and tossed it aside. Ignoring the few drops of moisture that flicked from his hair, she started on the buttons of his shirt. She kept her gaze focused on her hands as they moved lower, then lower still. Positioned between his thighs, she felt the tremors that shook his chilled body, as well as the weight of his gaze with each wild beat of her heart.
A couple tugs freed the shirttails from his pants, and she rose up to push the material back over his shoulders. If his skin wasn’t so icy, she’d have taken extra time to enjoy the task. Making quick work of the buttons at his wrists, she sent the shirt to join his tie.
The fire behind her warmed her back, but it was an entirely different heat that warmed her face as he leaned back on the couch while she reached for the buckle on his belt.
A quick peek though her lashes caught his tired attempt at a smile. “If I weren’t so d-damn c-cold, I’d be enj-joying this.”
She had a feeling he still was, despite the chatter of his teeth. At least it’d lessened in intensity. Giving him a brief smile, she pulled the belt free, then undid the fastener of his dress pants and slid the zipper down. Next came the shoes and his soggy socks.
Needing a distraction as he lifted his hips to help her slide his slacks down, she asked, “What the heck happened, anyway?”
“Some j-jerk almost hit me. I rolled m-my c-car.”
Alarm fisted her hand in the drenched pants as she set them aside and sat back on her heels. “What? Why were you even out here? You were supposed to be at Mike’s.”
“I thought Jack might c-come by.”
Her eyes widened as pain hit her chest. He still didn’t trust her. “Are you serious? You still think I’m—”
“No,” he exclaimed weakly. “Not like that.” He closed his eyes with a sigh, then looked at her again. “We m-made sure the employee we suspect is feeding Jack information knew the house would be empty. We were h-hoping to get him to do something s-stupid. Then I found out you were still here.”
“Oh.” Ooooh. He’d driven out in the ice storm to make sure she was safe. Her heart swelled with emotion as she ran her gaze over his body, now bare except for those clinging boxer briefs. There was no holding back her frown at the thought of him getting hurt because of her. But besides the near hypothermia, he seemed unharmed with no visible injuries.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Other than the fact I’ll probably be s-sore as hell tomorrow.”
“And your SUV?”
“P-pretty sure it’s totaled.”
“Where did this happen?”
“Couple miles away.”
Miles. She blinked back an unexpected sting of tears and got to her feet. His cold hand locked on her wrist with plenty of strength, and she paused in surprise. His gaze flicked down toward his waist, then back to her face. Ironically, the clear message lightened the mood even as her stomach fluttered in nervous excitement. The man was going to be just fine.
With a soft laugh, she shook her head and reached for the blanket she’d been using earlier. “You’ll have to manage those on your own.” An infinitesimal narrowing of his eyes preceded his indrawn breath to speak, but she stalled him by tossing the blanket in his face. “No—no dares.”
