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“Probably chocolate chip, if Mrs. Lansky made them.” Hannah moved closer to the couch. “Would you like one?”
He glanced up at her, and his narrowed, dark expression might have made her step away if she hadn’t already figured out he wasn’t nearly as dangerous as he appeared.
Well, at least, she didn’t think he was.
She’d been so worried for the past hour, she hadn’t taken the time to really look at the man. With his long legs and broad shoulders, he practically filled her small, rose floral sofa. Dr. Lansky had raised his patient’s left leg onto her coffee table, and she’d slipped a sofa pillow under his sprained ankle. He hadn’t complained once that he was in pain, but she’d seen a muscle twitch in his jaw when the doctor had asked him to bend his foot.
His hair was long, nearly to his shoulders, black and thick and shiny. His eyebrows, just as dark as his hair, slashed over eyes as hard and black as obsidian. His strong, square jaw hadn’t been shaved for a while, which only added to that menacing look of his face, and underneath his firm, serious mouth, was a small, jagged scar.
She noticed another scar that sliced like a lightning bolt across his right bicep, let her gaze slide downward to his broad, bare chest, a chest lightly sprinkled with dark hair that narrowed downward over a hard, flat belly and disappeared behind the snap of his jeans.
Oh, my.
Hannah swallowed hard, then jerked her eyes back up to his face. Her heart skipped as he met her gaze with his own. His expression wasn’t quite as fierce as it had been a moment ago, though it was certainly just as intense. She might have been offended at the blatant interest in his eyes if she hadn’t been the one staring so hard at him.
“Mr. Granger—”
“Seth.”
“Seth.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “I don’t know how to thank you for saving Maddie the way you did.”
When he said nothing, just gave her a look that said he might have a suggestion or two, Hannah quickly continued. “I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but from what little I managed to gather, she’d accidentally tossed Suzie, her doll, up in the tree and it caught on a branch. Both of my daughters then conveniently forgot they aren’t allowed to climb trees without adult supervision. If you hadn’t come along when you did—”
“I did,” Seth said with a shrug. “And she’s fine.”
“Yes.” Hannah heard her daughters’ laughter outside on the porch and said a silent prayer of thanks. “But you, however, and your motorcycle, are not. I’m deeply sorry for that, and any inconvenience we’ve caused you.”
“Look,” Seth sighed, “it’s done, and it is what it is. I’ll stay overnight in town, get my bike back in the morning and be on my way.”
Hannah put a hand out to stop Seth when he lifted his leg and set it on the floor, but he ignored her warning. She watched as his jaw tightened, and his face went pale. The slow breath he exhaled pretty much said it all: he wasn’t going anywhere on that leg. Not now, and not in the morning, either.
Men. They could be such fools at times.
“Seth.” She sat on the sofa beside him and gently lifted his leg back up on the cushion. Perspiration beaded his forehead. “I admire your determination, but it might be time for you to consider a new plan. I have a suggestion.”
“I can hardly wait to hear.” Seth closed his eyes and laid his head back on the sofa.
“Good. Because you’re going to.”
One of his eyes slid open. Hannah ignored the frown he gave her, then reached for the damp washcloth she’d laid on the coffee table and dabbed at his forehead.
He reached up and wrapped his hand around her upper arm.
Breath held, she waited for him to release her, but he didn’t. Both of his eyes were open now, that dark, intense gaze completely focused on her.
Hannah felt her pulse race as he continued to stare silently at her. His hand moved slowly up her arm; the texture of his callused palm on her skin sent ripples of electricity shimmering through her body.
She stared back at him, too startled to move, too startled even to speak. She’d never experienced anything like this before. Never experienced anything like him. When his gaze drifted to her mouth, her insides fluttered. The heat of his body, the masculine scent of his skin, overwhelmed her.
Time stopped. Time and a sense of where she was, who she was, and certainly who she was with. Nothing seemed to exist but this moment, this incredible heart-stopping, mind-blowing instant. If she’d had the presence of mind, she would have pulled away, would have even been offended at the brazen stroke of his thumb on her arm. But she didn’t pull away. She wasn’t offended.
She was turned on.
Her skin felt hot, she had trouble breathing and her breasts ached.
How is this possible? Hannah asked herself numbly. She certainly wasn’t the kind of woman who could be turned on by a stranger—she wasn’t even the kind of woman who was turned on by men she knew, for heaven’s sake. She’d accepted the fact long ago that she wasn’t like most women. Sex, when she’d been married, had been all right, she supposed, but she’d never understood what all the hoopla had been about.
“So what do you suggest I do?”
“What?” Hannah blinked, stared at Seth, then blinked again. She had all kinds of suggestions, none of which she would have had the courage to speak out loud. “Suggest?”
“You said you have a suggestion.” His hand slid up to her wrist, then he tugged the washcloth from her fingers and tossed it on the coffee table. “So what is it?”
A suggestion? Hannah struggled to gain her composure and remember exactly what she’d said before he’d touched her and turned her world upside down.
“I—you…well—” Hannah felt her cheeks flush, knew she sounded like a babbling idiot. So she just blurted it out. “You can stay here.”
“Here?” He tilted a look at her. “You mean in your house?”
“Yes.” Her pulse was still racing, but her breathing was nearly back to normal, thank goodness. “I’ve been converting my house to a bed-and-breakfast for the past six months. I only have two more bedrooms to finish and then I can open for business. You can stay in one of the rooms I’ve finished.”
He stared at her for what felt like minutes, though it was only seconds. She waited, breath held, until he finally said, “You’d let a complete stranger stay in your house?”
“I realize how naive that sounds,” Hannah said evenly. “But after what you did, the way you never even gave a thought to yourself when you saved Maddie, the way you talked to her when you climbed out on that branch, well, I’m certain you’re a person I can trust. I’ll just consider you the first guest of the Wild Rose.”
“The Wild Rose?”
“That’s what I’m going to call my bed-and-breakfast,” Hannah said. “You won’t even have to walk up any stairs. I have two finished guest rooms on the ground floor. You can have your pick.”
“Hannah.” Seth shook his head. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Well, actually, that’s not completely true.” Hannah shifted awkwardly. “Mrs. Peterson found your wallet on my front lawn. She insisted that it was lying open and she ‘just happened’ to notice your Albuquerque police badge.”
He lifted a brow. “‘Just happened’ to notice?”
Hannah reached for the wallet sitting on the end table. “Along with the fact that you’re single, thirty years old, six-foot-four, with black eyes and black hair.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t ‘just happen’ to notice my weight and the fact that I’m an organ donor, too,” he said sarcastically.
“Actually, she did. I’m sorry.” Her cheeks turned pink as she handed him the wallet. “You’re already a bit of a celebrity here. Billy Bishop from the Ridgewater Gazette wants to do a cover story on you.”
Terrific. Seth held back on the groan threatening to surface. Jarris would just love hearing that one of his undercover detectives had his picture plastered on the front page of this backwater town. Throw in the story about how he’d broken his superior’s nose after a bad bust last week, then how he’d been suspended for six weeks, and Jarris would probably be so happy he’d burst a blood vessel.
“No story. You tell Billy Bob—”
“Billy Bishop.”
“Whatever. You tell him absolutely, positively, no story.”
“I’ll try,” Hannah said hesitantly. “But you don’t know Billy.”
“Let’s keep it that way.” Seth stared at the bag of frozen peas covering his ankle. As much as he hated to admit it, his foot hurt like hell. He didn’t like it, but he knew he had to face the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere today and probably not tomorrow, either. “I’ll need to speak to the tow-truck driver before he leaves. I’ll need some kind of time frame on the repairs.”
“I’ll go see if he’s still here.” Hannah stood, glanced toward the front door and the sound of people talking outside. “I—I am sorry about all this. My daughters are usually very well behaved, but sometimes they act up when—” she hesitated, then drew in a slow breath “—when there’s a lot going on.”
Seth could tell that Hannah had been about to say one thing, then quickly changed her mind. He admitted it made him curious, but he shrugged it off. Whatever she’d been about to say was none of his business. Unless a person was a criminal or under investigation, he made it a rule never to interfere or pry into anyone’s life. He figured if he didn’t want people butting into his life, then he should keep his nose out of their business, as well.
But there was one thing he wanted to know, though. One thing he felt he needed to know. He glanced at her ringless hand again, but wasn’t about to make any assumptions.
“Will your husband have a problem with me staying here?”
She stilled at his question, then slowly shook her head. “I’m divorced. It’s just me and the girls here.”
Since he wouldn’t be around more than a couple of days, Seth knew it shouldn’t matter to him one way or the other, but the fact she was divorced pleased him. He supposed he just didn’t like the idea of lusting after a married woman. Though he didn’t have many rules in his life, there were a few he never broke.
“So you’re opening a bed-and-breakfast all by yourself?”
“Not exactly. My friend, Lori, is going to work with me two or three days a week, plus Mrs. Peterson next door has already offered her help if I need it. I’m not foolish enough to think I’ll have full occupancy the minute I open my doors, but there’s only one motel in town and we get quite a few people traveling through here.”
“Looking for the world’s largest fruitcake?”
She smiled, didn’t seem to take offense at the slight mocking tone in his voice. “As simple as it might sound to you, the giant fruitcake Wilhem’s Bakery bakes once a year is this town’s claim to fame. Most of the people who live here take it very seriously. And believe it or not, we get our fair share of tourists. With only one small motel in Ridgewater, I should be able to make a living, at least enough to support me and the girls.”
She turned at the knock on her front door. Her expression was apologetic when she looked back at him.
“My neighbors kept a respectable distance while the doctor was in here with you,” she said with a sigh. “But they can only be held at bay for so long. Whether you like it or not, you’re a hero, Mr. Granger, and the town of Ridgewater, Texas, home of the world’s largest fruitcake, is about to welcome you.”
Three
Hannah kept a safe distance from Seth for the rest of the evening. Not that she could have gotten close to him even if she’d wanted to. The town’s phone wires had been burning up since Detective Granger had plowed through her fence and rescued Maddie, and there’d been a steady stream of people coming through the house for the past two hours to meet this mystery man. And though Hannah certainly didn’t approve, Maddie and Missy were the belles of the ball, receiving as much attention as Seth, with everyone telling them what brave little girls they were and patting them on the head. The twins were eating it up and had been eager to retell the incident over and over, embellishing the story each time, until it appeared that Seth truly was the man of steel.
The only thing missing was his red cape and a big S on his chest.
While Maddie and Missy sat together on a chair in the living room and told their story one more time to Helen Myers, a waitress at the town’s diner, Hannah stood by the kitchen door and watched Billy Bishop attempt to pump Seth for information. Though he’d been stiffly polite to the people who had come to meet and gawk at a real, live superhero, Seth was having no part of Billy’s questions.
He still sat on the sofa, his leg on display as if it were a war monument, his face looking as if it might crack at any moment. Everyone oohed and ahhed and shook their heads with sympathy while Billy asked Seth what he’d been thinking when he’d so selflessly snatched Maddie from the tree branch. Seth glared at the twenty-three-year-old, spiky-blond-haired reporter, and Hannah doubted that Billy really wanted to know what Seth was obviously thinking at the moment.
Like it or not—and clearly he didn’t—Seth Granger was big news in Ridgewater. Outside of barbed wire and armed guards, Hannah could see no way to keep her neighbors and townspeople away.
At least they’d come prepared, she thought as she looked at her dining-room table. At present count, she’d received three casseroles, a broccoli-bacon salad, two apple pies, a pecan coffee cake and one half-frozen fruitcake. Since Hannah had set out plates, silverware and coffee, the noise level in the room had dropped several decibels while people ate.
“I saw the whole thing,” Hannah heard Mrs. Peterson tell George Fitzer, who’d just arrived on the scene and was filling a plate with macaroni and cheese. “He was amazing. Truly amazing.”
“We should give him a trophy,” Mrs. Hinkle, the town librarian said.
“For heaven’s sake, Mildred.” Mrs. Peterson rolled her eyes. “The man didn’t bowl a perfect game, he saved a child.”
“Well, maybe a medal, then.” Mrs. Hinkle reached for the last piece of coffee cake. “Or a plaque.”
“I know what I’d like to give him.”
Startled, Hannah turned at the sound of the voice behind her, saw the look of appraisal in her best friend’s eyes as she stared at Seth.
“Lori Simpson,” Hannah whispered over her shoulder, “shame on you. You’re a married woman and mother of three.”
“What?” Lori, a pretty redhead with big green eyes, gave Hannah an expression of complete innocence. “I was going to say a coconut cream pie.”
Hannah lifted one brow in doubt.
Lori stared across the room and grinned. “And after I smeared the whipped cream all over his body, I’d slowly lick it all off and—”
“Stop.” Hannah felt her cheeks start to warm. In fact, she felt her entire body start to warm at the image Lori had just given her. “You have a gorgeous husband who adores you. How can you talk like that?”
“Oh, Hannah, I’m kidding.” Lori looked back at Seth. “Sort of. And for heaven’s sake, it’s not as if I’d ever do anything like that. Well, except with John, of course. That man is absolutely amazing in the bedroom. Just last week he—”
“Stop!” Hannah put a hand over Lori’s mouth. The last thing Hannah wanted to hear about right now was her best friend’s bedroom escapades. She didn’t want to hear about anyone’s bedroom activities, for that matter. Since her own sex life was so abysmal, it was better to simply leave that subject alone. “Where’s John?”
“He’s home with the kids. Patrick is working on his one-year molars and Nickie, my little drama queen, had a wart burned off her pinkie today and is walking around as if the doctor had amputated.” Lori watched Elma Thumple walk in with a plate of brownies and snagged one as the woman passed by. “Bless his heart, John offered to stay home so I could come over and meet the man who saved my goddaughter’s life. So give me details. Tell Auntie Lori exactly what happened.”
Lori might not officially be Maddie and Missy’s aunt, Hannah thought, but Lori had been through the worst of everything with Hannah for the three years since her divorce. Hannah didn’t know how she would have made it through everything without Lori’s friendship. As far as Hannah was concerned, Lori was as real a sister to her as if they had shared a mother.
“Maybe later, Lor.” Hannah shook her head, blinked at the sudden moisture in her eyes. “It’s been a long day. A tough one.”
“Oh, honey.” Lori frowned and slipped an arm around Hannah’s shoulders. “Knowing this town, I assumed the accounts had been grossly exaggerated when you hadn’t called me yourself.”
“I—I was just so…dazed. And frightened. It all happened so fast.” Darn it, where were these tears coming from? The last thing she needed was to start blubbering in front of all these people. “I’m sorry.”
“Never mind.” Lori hugged her. “We’ll talk later, over a bottle of wine and a box of tissues.”
Hannah had replayed the scene over and over in her mind at least a hundred times in the past three hours: Seth climbing out on that branch while Maddie hung in midair, Seth pulling Maddie up, then handing her over. The crack of the branch and Seth falling. Every single time those images flipped through her brain, Hannah felt her breath catch and her heart stop.
She looked at Seth now, and once again her heart stopped. Only this time, it was because he was looking at her.
And there it was again.
She felt frozen. Absolutely consumed and completely overwhelmed. Helpless to do anything but stare back at him.
She felt the deep, heavy thud of her heart, heard the din of conversation around her, but she simply couldn’t move. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. She felt stripped naked, and yet, she just didn’t care.
She knew she’d been unsteady all afternoon. After what had happened, it was understandable that her emotions would be spiralling.
But this was more than that.
This was something much more.
The thought frightened her. She didn’t want to be attracted to this man. At this point in her life, she didn’t want to be attracted to any man.
He held her gaze with his and still she didn’t look away.
