Always Dangerous

by Dee J. Adams

  “Help is coming, babe. Another car coming up the hill saw what happened and called it in. We just have to hold on. Can you do that for me?” He said the words softly in her ear with all the confidence and sex appeal she remembered from a couple of months ago. His warm hand nestled right under her breasts and hugged her tightly against him. He sounded so calm, like this was just another average day.

  Kim nodded as her scraped fingers searched for handholds. “You had r-rope in your car?” she asked numbly. If he hadn’t, she’d be at the canyon floor splattered on the wreck of her rental.

  “Hey, after a 7.1, you can bet any self-respecting Angelino has an up-to-date earthquake kit including all the incidentals for emergencies in their house and their car. So, yeah, I have rope that was already tied into a slip knot and a forty pound survival pack in the trunk.”

  Lucky her. Long minutes ticked by before Kim’s breathing evened out and her teeth stopped clanking together.

  “Are you okay?” The quiet concern in his voice chipped away at the anger she harbored. His question reminded her how much she hurt. Between road rash from the slide, the branches poking her torso and the bruises forming everywhere else, she felt like she’d been through a shredder. A hell of a ride for the little bun in her oven. God, she hoped the baby was okay. In the scheme of things, though, this was just a really painful amusement ride…without the amusement.

  Thanks to him, she was alive. “Yeah. I think so. Just kind of shaken up.” It was hard to stay angry at Leo after he risked his life to save hers, and it was doubly hard to resist that rough-tender tone of his voice, but she still didn’t know what to say to him. As minutes ticked by, the presence of Leo’s growing erection against her ass brought her focus back to the man’s shamelessness and away from her cramping fingers holding protruding rocks.

  “You’re kidding me, right?” she said, trying to edge closer to the mountain to escape the pressure of his dick between her ass cheeks. Just because he saved her didn’t mean she had to put up with this crap.

  He chuckled, his breath fanning her ear. Little pinpricks of sensation prickled her skin. Probably all those scrapes again. “I can’t help it. You have a very nice ass. Really, when you think about it, I’m complimenting you.”

  Frustration bubbled out. Leo’s sex life was no big secret, but like a fool she’d added her name to the notches on his bedpost. Look where that got her? She tried to shift, but only succeeded in rubbing against Leo and settling him more firmly against her. “Can you not compliment me this very moment?”

  “Out of my control, babe.”

  Frustration warred with gratitude and she rolled her eyes. Sirens wailed in the canyon and relief washed through her like cool water in a soothing brook. “Thank God,” Kim breathed.

  “Not sure he’s the one to thank. I’m the one who caught you, remember?”

  “Oh for God’s sake.” She felt the curve of his lips against her temple. “You think this is funny?” Kim braved a head turn to look him in the face, but any humor that might have been there quickly vanished as he squeezed her tighter.

  He stroked some hair off her cheek. “This is the farthest thing from funny I’ve ever dealt with.” His blue-eyed gaze drilled into hers. “When we get on solid ground, you’re going to tell me just what the hell you were thinking taking these curves at fifty miles an hour. Were you trying to kill yourself?”

  “No!” she snapped. “I mean, I was upset, but I didn’t do it on purpose.” God, what if this had been her fault? Had she lost control of the car because she wasn’t paying attention? No, the car had definitely been tough to control. “Something was wrong with the steering wheel.” The sirens got louder and stopped almost directly over them.

  “What?”

  “I hit the brakes and because I couldn’t steer, I went into the gravel and lost control in the—” she sniffed the air, “—skid. Do you smell that?”

  Leo took a whiff of her hair. “You smell great.” Did he just nuzzle her? No. She was hallucinating. Near death experiences probably did that to a person.

  “Not me.” She sniffed again. “Smoke. I smell smoke.”

  Looking over his shoulder, Leo nodded. “You’ve got insurance on your rental, right? Because it’s burning.”

  Kim knocked her head against the rock in front of her, totally defeated. “Of course it is.” Her luggage and purse were still in it because she’d come straight from the airport. Her second trip to L.A. in as many months, and for the second time in a row she’d lost everything but the clothes on her back. And if the scratches stinging her skin were any indication, then she didn’t even have the clothes on her back. The cramping in her fingers moved into her hands and arms.

  “Looks like you’re going on another shopping spree. I’m beginning to wonder if you like any of the clothes you pack.”

  She ignored his attempt at humor. The last time they’d shopped together he’d taken her to a posh store in Beverly Hills. What a disaster of a trip that had been. At least this time she could afford the clothes. That thought perked her up. She kept forgetting she had money. Not that she had it yet, but it was coming. Thank you, Aunt Carolyn.

  “Hey, you two all right?” someone called.

  “Just hanging around,” Leo called. “Could use a hand ASAP.”

  “Coming down as we speak,” the guy replied.

  A minute later, two firemen slid down next to them. They strapped a harness around Kim before taking her out of Leo’s arms. Leo got a harness of his own. Kim and her rescuer went up first and Leo followed with his guy. Two more firemen helped pull her up and away from the edge.

  Her jaw nearly hit the ground when she looked down at herself. Her legs were scraped, bloody and bruised. Her tattered shirt barely covered anything. One of the men brought her a yellow synthetic blanket and covered her. When she spotted Leo coming over the edge, she breathed her first real sigh of relief.

  Oddly, the scenery started spinning. For a second she wondered if it was an earthquake. She’d only experienced one small one at Leo’s house during her last visit, but it had been enough to freak her out. Except now, no one seemed the least bit concerned, so maybe— Darkness closed in from the outside and suddenly her knees felt like Jell-O. Then—poof—everything went black.

  Leo saw Kim’s eyes roll back in her head a split second before she went limp. He scrambled out of the harness and leaped forward just as the paramedic caught her before she hit the hard-packed earth. His relief at actually having Kim safe quickly disappeared with her faint.

  “Her pulse is elevated,” the paramedic said. He had two fingers on her wrist and his eyes on his watch.

  Kind of a no-brainer, but Leo didn’t say it out loud. “That’s normal, right? Under the circumstances?” He ignored the sharp pain in his knee as he crouched on her other side. He must have tweaked something going over the mountain.

  The guy nodded as he checked out a cut along her hairline. The vivid trickle of blood, although tiny, cut a sharp contrast against her pale skin. All around them the firemen scrambled to get hoses over the cliff so they could douse the burning car.

  “She was fine a few minutes ago,” Leo added. “Maybe it was just the stress of the whole thing. Or the relief of being rescued.” Or her pregnancy. “Oh shit. I forgot, she’s pregnant.”

  The paramedic looked up. “How far along is she?”

  Double shit. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me.” But if he was the father and they did the deed two months ago, then… “Maybe eight weeks.”

  “Do you know if she’s a high risk pregnancy?”

  “A what?” The blood drained from Leo’s face. High risk pregnancy. Is that what Megan had been? Is that why she’d been born with so many issues? Down’s Syndrome, cleft palate, seizure disorders. You name it and Megan dealt with it. “No,” he blurted, because if he said it, maybe it would be so. Maybe Kim had a healthy baby growing inside her right now. His baby. “I have no idea. She’s healthy. She’s fine.” At least he prayed so.
What if something was seriously wrong with her? What if she hit her head and this was some kind of delayed reaction? They might not have seen each other for a couple of months, but they’d talked and emailed. She’d stormed into his life like a trooper on a mission and now he couldn’t imagine her not being there at all.

  The paramedic listened to her heart with a stethoscope. “How long have you known her?” Premature silver streaks in his black hair glistened in the sun.

  Leo took offense at the question. “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

  “If you don’t know her that well then you probably don’t know if she has any health issues.”

  Tamping back his raging annoyance, Leo clenched his jaw. “Two months.” It sounded stupid to say it out loud. They barely knew each other and she was pregnant with his baby. A sick sense of dread coated his intestines. Pregnant.

  “Your baby?”

  The question hit him like last month’s major earthquake. Hard, fast and painful. The paramedic took his silence as an affirmative.

  “Let’s get her—”

  “Hey, what happened,” Kim murmured, her lashes flickering open.

  “You about took another header.” Leo took her hand and squeezed, relieved to see her pretty green eyes open and alert.

  “How do you feel?” the paramedic asked.

  “I’m okay,” Kim said, trying to sit up. “I guess I got a little lightheaded. Going over a cliff can really take it out of you.” She crinkled her nose. “And I haven’t had much to eat today, so that isn’t doing me any favors.”

  “You’re pregnant,” the paramedic said. “You need to take care of you and the one you’re carrying. Don’t forget to eat.”

  “How did you know?” Her wide eyes narrowed before she shot a glance to Leo then saluted the paramedic. “Ah. Yes sir…” She checked out his name badge. “Mr. Lora.”

  “Call me Dan.” He handed her a bottle of water along with a lethal smile. “Here. Drink this. It’s important to stay hydrated.”

  Leo hated that face. All straight white teeth and sex appeal.

  God, he’d never cared whether a guy smiled at someone he was dating or not. Here he was, not even technically dating Kim and his insides felt as if they might snap apart from frustration. Was that jealousy? “So, Dan,” he said to break up the love fest and put an end to all his mental gymnastics. “Maybe it’s time we take her to the hospital to get checked out.”

  “I’m fine,” Kim said, drinking the water. “I mean aside from all the scratches, I’m really okay, just a temporary lack of oxygen to the brain. I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

  Dan began cleaning the worst of her scratches. The fire department doused the car fire and another unit needed to be called in to handle the subsequent brush fire. Police arrived at the scene and took a statement since the whole mess had been so destructive on so many levels and any insurance companies involved would want answers.

  Hours later, when all was said and done, the burnt out rental had been hoisted up the cliff—minus Kim’s purse with all her ID. She sat in the passenger’s seat of Leo’s Mercedes. All the bandages made her look like a real life Raggedy Ann doll.

  “You know there’s not really a choice in the matter,” he told her. “Your ID, clothes and credit cards are toast. You kind of have to stay with me. Again.”

  “I kind of don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do,” she snapped.

  Touchy. But he couldn’t blame her. She’d had a stressful afternoon. Plus she was kind of cute when she pouted like that. “I know you’re not pissed that I saved you. So you’re either mad that I got turned on before the fire department came or you’re mad because you’re pregnant.”

  She faced him, her eyes blazing with heat. And not the good kind. “I’m pregnant because we had sex.” Didn’t make it his fault that their birth control efforts didn’t work, but now wasn’t the time to remind of her that. “I’m mad that you think you can tell me what to do about this pregnancy.”

  “And then there’s that.” Leo dragged a hand through his hair.

  “Besides…” She turned away from him and checked out a ripped fingernail. “We don’t know if my ID is toast or not. It might have ejected out of the car and is just waiting for me to find it.”

  Was she for real? “At the bottom of the mountain?” he asked with a big dose of are you nuts in the subtext. “None of the guys who hoisted up the car saw it, so chances are everything is gone.”

  “Not acceptable,” she said softly. “I need to look.”

  The woman never gave up. She might’ve been in a bind two months ago when she lost her luggage, but at least she’d had her ID. He couldn’t fault her need to exhaust the possibilities. But it warranted a very important question.

  “How exactly do you plan to look for it?”

  “I’m going to hike down there tomorrow. I may as well. I’m going to have to wait for temporary ID, credit cards and all the other stuff I need. I have nothing to lose.”

  Leo shook his head and almost laughed, but managed to keep it buried. “Uh, hello? You nearly lost your life today. A few hours ago? Did you forget that already?”

  “No. Don’t be a…” She bit back the slam and growled instead. “That was an uncontrolled descent. With the right gear, I can hike to the spot and look for my stuff.” She eyed him with speculation. “Don’t feel obligated to join me.” She sounded way too hopeful.

  Like he’d let her do that kind of a trek by herself? It was just another indication of how little she thought of him and it stung more than he wanted to admit. “Should you be hiking a big mountain in your condition?”

  “Pregnancy doesn’t make me physically challenged. As long as I have plenty of water and some granola bars, I’ll be fine.” Her look softened as she watched him, her dark lashes framing her amazing green eyes.

  No way in hell. “There is no I. Don’t think for a minute that you’d be going alone.”

  She had the sense to look sufficiently reprimanded. “Okay. I’m sorry I snapped. Sorry I’m being a pain in the ass. I’m sorry the car went over the edge and I nearly got you killed trying to save me. Thank you for coming to my rescue.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I owe you one.” She met his gaze, truce in her eyes. “You never told me… How did you even know I was in trouble?”

  He had to come clean about this. “It wasn’t that I knew you were in trouble. I just wasn’t finished with our conversation. You dropped a bomb on me then stalked out of my place pretty fast afterward. You didn’t give me much time to process. So, I followed you to continue the conversation. You’re what…? About eight weeks along at this point.” At her nod, he continued, “When did you discover you were pregnant?”

  “A few days ago. I saw my doctor right away to confirm it. Look, this was just as big a surprise for me, okay. I didn’t plan it. I told you not to worry about it.”

  “It’s not that simple.” Leo wiped a hand down his face. As much as he liked her, he wasn’t ready to confide in her about Megan. It was too soon. Hell maybe he never would. Besides, maybe with some gentle persuasion, he could convince her she really didn’t want to be a single mom. “Hey, I know it was accidental, okay.” He sighed, frustrated and scared. “C’mon,” he said, cranking the engine. “Let’s go back to my place and get you some clothes. We’ll hit the mall before everything closes.”

  The faintest smile curved her lips. “The mall? I never would’ve believed it.”

  Because Leo Frost didn’t do malls. He’d told her that before. “Trust me. That makes two of us.”

  “Do you think Cesar is open now?”

  Leo shot her a look. “Cesar? In Beverly Hills?” At her nod, he checked his watch. “Yeah, he should be open. If not he’ll keep the store open for us.” One little problem did exist. “Um, you do remember the last time we were there, correct?”

  “Correct.” She nodded. “That’s the reason we need to go back.”

  “That makes no sense whatsoev
er,” Leo replied as he pulled a U and drove back up to his place.

  “Trust me. It makes perfect sense.” But she didn’t elaborate.

  Chapter Six

  Back at Leo’s house, Kim stripped off what remained of her clothes, which didn’t happen to be much. Another outfit ruined. It seemed every time she encountered Leo, she also managed to destroy the clothes on her back. She wiped off the sweat and grit with a damp cloth since she couldn’t submerge her freshly bandaged cuts and scrapes in a warm bath. After pulling on a pair of his workout shorts and a T-shirt, she glimpsed in the mirror and shook her head. She looked like a twelve year old wearing her father’s clothes. She couldn’t walk into Cesar’s shop like this. A mall trip was definitely in her future and she couldn’t do that without a credit card.

  She placed a hand over her flat stomach, a wave of protectiveness washing through her. Clothes didn’t matter. What mattered was the baby growing inside her. A little girl? A boy? Names…she needed to start thinking of names. Maybe Susan after her mom, or David for her dad. Kim wiped at the wetness from her eyes and took a deep breath, shoving the loneliness aside.

  First order of business: call the credit card company. Second: get along with Leo for the rest of the night. Maybe if she chose to block out the callous way he’d treated her pregnancy she could do that. He had saved her life after all. She had to remember that.

  Kim came out of the bathroom and looked down the hallway. This house was so different from Leo’s spacious Beverly Hills home. It was a fraction of the size with not nearly as much open space and light. She took a quick peak into the master bedroom before walking back down the hallway and down the stairs. From what she could tell, he hardly had any of his old belongings. Maybe he’d sold the house with everything intact. A wave of sadness hit her chest and she vowed to have more patience and understanding. She had delivered a big bomb. Plus, she’d had a few days to get used to the idea so the least she could do was give him the same amount of time.

  Since she’d lost her shoes sometime during her accident, she padded quietly downstairs.