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“Why are you carrying the damn woman?”
“Chris!” Declan scolded before he’d even made it in the door.
“What? You’re the one who said not to call her naked lady.” Chris shrugged.
If Chris cursed in front of Lauren, Declan’s ass was grass.
“Her name is Natalie, remember? That’s what we’rebothgoing to call her.” Declan lumbered through the kitchen and into the great room. After laying Natalie on the sofa, he grabbed the first aid kit from the kitchen cabinet. Natalie stayed intently focused on him as he worked. In the light, the gold flecks in her brown eyes sucked the breath from his lungs. They were beautiful, especially with how they were fringed by long lashes.
He regarded her high cheekbones, taking in her flawless, soft skin. The woman might be stubborn and difficult, but damn, she was gorgeous. He swallowed hard.Stop noticing that shit.
He locked his jaw as she studied his face. No matter how badly he wanted to look away, she held him captive with that attention. Did she recognize him? If she did, she didn’t mention it. His teammates, especially Ryan, would get a kick out of that thought. He’d never cared about his fame in the past. And really, he wasn’t sure he wanted Natalie to recognize him anyway. But the idea that his baseball skills could impress her was an unusual stroke to his ego.
“Is it bad?” Natalie winced when he brushed the gauze against the harsh red skin marring her forehead.
“No. It’s just a burn from the airbag. It will be fine in a couple of days.” It would probably heal faster than the damn bruise on his cheek.
“Thank you,” she whispered, swallowing hard.
At the sight, Declan’s annoyance evaporated. The lavender scent filled his nose again, and he almost leaned in to get a better whiff. He needed to put some serious space between them. Because the combination of stubborn and sweet was pulling him in fast.
He pushed to his feet, glancing around in search of a distraction from the hold she had on him. The wall of windows made the room drafty, and if they were sleeping here tonight, he should at least start a fire.
Kneeling down, he arranged the wood in the hearth while Chris sat on the floor, playing with the dinosaur figurines he had brought and half watching the end of the movie. If Chris wasn’t in bed in the next thirty minutes, he’d be a crank in the morning, so Declan would have to hurry this along.
“Once I get the fire started, I’ll head back to your car to get your bag. You probably need stuff for tonight, right?”
“It can wait until tomorrow. I’ve caused enough problems for you.” She sighed. “Sorry about your gate.”
He grumbled. “If you would have listened…”
“I know.” Natalie’s tone held a note of defeat, causing guilt to slam hard into his gut. There was no reason for him to be such a bear. Unlike Finn, he wasn’t a charmer. Even when he tried, he never could pull it off, so if she was stuck here for a while, she’d have to get used to him. He shook his head, trying not to think about living with the beautiful blonde for what could be a few days, by the looks of the storm. Because if there was one thing he had a weakness for, it was a gorgeous blonde. Especially one who needed him to take care of her.
5
Natalie blinked,then immediately pinched her eyelids closed, blocking out the glaring sun beating down on her through the windows that lined the one wall. The blanket of white snow that covered the ground and nearby trees made the sky impossibly brighter. She turned her head away and cracked an eye open.
Wait,what?
Had she slept on the sofa? She vaguely remembered Declan carrying her in and inspecting her face. But he was asleep in the adjacent chair. He shifted and groaned before he tilted his face and studied her. She cringed at the purple-blue bruise that had darkened overnight along the top of his cheekbone and under his eye.
“Did you sleep in that chair all night?” she croaked before she cleared the morning out of her throat.
Her mouth felt dry, and her whole body was stiff. Like she’d—
Ugh, the gate. She’d crashed into his gate.
“I checked on you throughout the night. You don’t remember?” Declan got to his feet and stretched his arms above his head, a glimpse of perfectly chiseled abs peeking out from under his shirt. Try as she might, she couldn’t pull her attention away from the wisps of dark hair leading down to the gray sweats sitting low on his hips. She swallowed hard.
He cleared his throat, and her eyes shot up. The smirk pulling at his lips said he’d caught her staring, and her faced heated.
He was married, for Pete’s sake. She shouldn’t be ogling him. Even if he had that V of muscles she’d never seen in real life.
She shook her head and winced a bit at the ache pounding in her head.
“I did wake you several times. Finn is mad enough that I didn’t forbid you from rushing out into the snow squall. My brother would kill me if I ignored the possibility of a concussion.”
Ah. So the nice man who assisted her with the rental was worried. Not the grump in front of her. That made more sense.
