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“Just last week, a few of us trekked up here to spend our weekend off away from the bustling hotel and fancy guests. Fortunately, there are still canned goods, flashlights, water, and blankets stashed in here because we planned to come back for another peaceful weekend. We should be good for a couple of days.”
Jamie was still inspecting the room when I made my revelation. He turned to me with wide eyes. “Days?”
There was no point in even checking for a cell phone signal in these woods, so I pulled out the two-way radio I had stashed in my hiking pack and fiddled with it. I brought it along in case I had found Jamie in a worse state and needed to get him medical help pronto. Another wave of relief hit me hard because here he was doing just fine… soaked to the bone but still in one piece. I, on the other hand, was in pain.
I pulled in a sharp breath when I tried putting pressure on my foot and hopped over to a chipped wooden bench that one of the staff carved. There was no furniture in the old cabin except a few handmade chairs.
“Yup. I hate to break it to you, Jamie, but you might very well be stuck with me for that long.”
There was a hint of worry in his eyes, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Was he worried that he wouldn’t survive out here away from the luxury of the resort or was he bummed that we might be stuck together for too long? Choosing not to think too much about it, I sat down and tried the radio.
It took a few attempts before a female voice penetrated the silence.
“Kendra, is that you?” I asked, with a bit of relief.
“Charlotte?” Static crackled distorting whatever she said.
Jamie stood with his arms folded over his chest, watching me.
“I didn’t catch that, Kendra, but thank God it’s you.”
I didn’t want Josh, the hater, involved in this. He’d probably work up some devious plan to have me blamed for a guest being in danger and get me fired.
After some more static, the radio cleared. “Where are you, Charlotte? Mark has been asking for you.”
I suppressed a groan as I looked skyward. Our supervisor would surely grill my ass for taking off without letting him know what was happening. However, I hoped that I’d find Jamie and have him back at the resort without incident.
“Tell him I went searching for a guest. I found him and he’s fine, but making it back right now is a no-go.”
“Where…” There was a series of rattling again. “...you?”
“Crashing in one of the cabins.”
“Okay, I’ll pass on the message and get back to you. Stay safe.”
“Thanks, Kendra.”
Blowing out a breath, I rested the radio beside me and started kicking off my boot. Jamie appeared and crouched at my feet to help.
“I’ve got it,” I said. “You should get out of those wet clothes.” Almost immediately, I processed what I said and regretted it. “I mean… you don’t have any dry clothes, and you can’t lounge around here naked…” My nervous giggle made me wince internally. Jesus. I was seriously anxious about being here with him, especially after last night.
He gazed up at me with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “I’ll figure something out after I check out your ankle.”
My breath hitched when he slid my boot and sock off to run his fingers over my ankle. “Jesus. Charlotte, this is bad.”
Ignoring the tingle that ran up my spine from his gentle touch, I grimaced as I gazed at the discolored skin around the joint that was blown up like a balloon.
“It is,” I sighed. I winced when I wiggled my toes. “On the bright side, it isn’t broken. The swelling will go down soon.”
Jamie didn’t seem to see the bright side. He stared at my ankle with deeply furrowed eyebrows. The sheer despair clouding his features was unnecessary for a sprained ankle, in my opinion.
“Gosh, Jamie, I won’t die from the minor injury,” I joked. “You look so morbid.”
His expression didn’t lighten and he didn’t laugh as I expected. He still held on to my foot as he murmured, “It figures I’d cause another woman pain on my birthday. I’m fucking cursed.”
My eyebrows popped up. Mr. Solemn didn’t strike me as the melodramatic type, so his reaction to my injured ankle was too much.
I snorted. “Jamie, relax. I’ll be fine. Why would you think you’re cursed?” He said he caused another woman pain on his birthday. What was that about? Before I could ask, he spoke.
