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The only thing Natalie knew for sure was that Miles Arrieta had something to do with their accident. They were closing in on his virus, and he wouldn’t like that at all.
Natalie took a deep breath. She’d been through a myriad of emotions within the last few minutes. Confusion, horror at what had happened, and then growing panic as she’d tried to wake Kyle and failed. But at least the sun was out, it was warm, and they were alive.
She groped around the airbags, trying to find Kyle’s phone by touch and hoping it had survived the incident intact. Thankfully, it had. She turned it on, grateful to see two bars of service. Not ideal, but better then she’d expected. She moved the device around until she found the optimum reception, then pulled up the phone’s GPS and zoomed in on the red arrow pinpointing their location.
According to the map, they were near the outskirts of a little town called Huber. Just ahead on the other side of these woods, there should be a motel. The Shady Lane Inn. Now all she had to do was rouse Sleeping Beauty and get him on his feet, and they’d be all set.
The Agency had put her through both CPR and EMT training the year before, and she’d checked him over carefully as soon as she’d woken up. Nothing appeared to be broken, though given the time he’d been unconscious, she suspected he had at least a mild concussion.
Natalie edged nearer to Kyle once more and gently slid her fingers through his dark hair, checking for bumps or bleeding she might have missed before. Nothing. She sifted his hair through her fingers a few more times just because…well, it felt so good to touch a man again. Tenderness mixed with the sorrow swelling around her heart.
“You done fondling me, Duchess, so we can get a move on?” Kyle grumbled, peeking one hazel eye open to look at her.
She snatched her hand away and frowned. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough.” He pushed up onto his elbow, then winced and flopped back down again. “Make it stop spinning, please.”
“Sorry. Wish I could.” She rocked back. “I checked your phone, and there’s a small motel just through the forest where we can hopefully get a room.”
“Right.” Kyle blinked out through the shattered windshield for several seconds before tentatively shifting, apparently checking himself over. “Just give me a minute.”
“Sure.” Natalie checked the map once more, then shoved his phone into her jeans pocket. The battery was low on juice, and she wasn’t sure how long it would take them to reach the motel, so it was best to conserve power. “You okay?”
“I think so. My head is killing me, and so is my right shoulder, but I’ll live.”
“Good to know.”
“How about you?” he asked.
“Got a knot on the side of my head, but I’ll be okay. Think you can walk?”
“Yep. Pretty sure.” It took him a few more minutes to extract himself from the car with her help. After they’d wrestled their bags and his phone charger free, together they hobbled away from the wreck site and in the direction of the motel.
Kyle glanced back at the totaled car. “We were lucky to get out of that alive. And we should hurry before they come back.”
“I’m working on it.” Natalie gripped his waist tighter to keep them both steady as they maneuvered around a large log and over a tricky patch of mud. She did her best to spot possible hazards in their path and not focus on how nice it felt to have the weight of Kyle’s arm around her shoulders, the heat of his body pressed into her side. The fact that he was alive. That it wasn’t too late for him, for them.
Eventually they emerged through the last of the trees and underbrush and found themselves at the edge of a fallow field, across from which sat a structure that she presumed was the Shady Lane Inn.
Natalie glanced up at Kyle. “You still doing all right?”
“Yeah,” he said, wincing as he tried to move his right shoulder. “That’s going to leave a bruise, though.”
“Let me see.” She moved to his other side and saw that his charcoal gray T-shirt had been sliced through. The airbag must have hidden the injury from her when she checked before. But now that it was unobstructed, she could see a nasty gash. She cringed. “We’ll need to get that cleaned when we get to the room. You’re a mess.”
“Like you’re ready for the Miss America pageant.” Kyle raised his hand and brushed his fingers over her sore cheek.
Natalie flinched away and returned to her position on his uninjured side. “C’mon, we need to get cleaned up and get some rest, then figure out how to get to Atlanta.”
After watching her for several seconds, he nodded. “Thanks.”
She frowned. “For what?”
“For looking after me back there. And for letting me lean on you now.”
“Oh.” Natalie did her best to ignore the tingling heat his words kindled in her. “It was nothing. You would’ve done the same for me, right?”
“Sure,” Kyle said. “But considering our size difference, it would’ve been a lot easier for me than I’m sure it is for you.”
