Max was trying to convince himself as well as Alison, Luc thought. He appreciated the situation, knowing how he would have felt if Alison or Ike were out in this storm. “I’m sure you’re right.”
Nonetheless, Luc added silently, at first light, storm or no storm, he intended to form a search party with Max and some of the others to find the pair.
Her neck hurt.
April opened her eyes slowly. Why did her neck feel so stiff?
The next moment, she had her answer. She’d fallen asleep using Jimmy’s arm as her pillow.
They were both on the floor, curled up in front of the fire, a moth-eaten blanket serving as a cover. The multicolored blanket had been kicked aside sometime during the night, probably only a short while ago. Otherwise, Jimmy would have grown cold and reached for it, she thought. Lying where it was, bunched at his hip, it allowed her a perfect view of the man sleeping next to her.
Ignoring the crick in her neck, April lifted herself up onto her elbow so that she could see him more clearly. The fire was dying, but daylight was slowly pushing its way into the cabin as the chill began to settle in.
The man was magnificent.
His body, even in sleep, was taut and hard. An itch at the center of her palm tempted her to pass her hand over the sculpted form. April refrained, afraid of waking him. Content, for the moment, to just look.
She could feel her body begin to heat, could feel that same, strong urge she’d dealt with all last night take over. It made her want to run even though running was not an option.
It made her want to stay.
“It’s not polite to stare, you know.”
Startled, she nearly jumped. April looked up to discover that Jimmy was awake and watching her, an amused grin lighting his face.
Something within her breast quickened.
She felt a blush taking hold, traveling up her neck. “I wasn’t staring, I was…”
He arched a brow, his amusement growing as he watched the blush advance up her neck to her cheeks. “Admiring?” he suggested.
April cleared her throat. “Wondering why you weren’t cold.”
“Actually, I was.” The chill he felt, despite his proximity to the fireplace, had woken him. “Want to warm me up?”
They’d made love a total of four times last night. She found his stamina overwhelming. “Aren’t you tired yet?”
The look he gave her was pure innocence. “I rested up.”
She looked toward the box of canned goods. They never had gotten around to opening any of them. “You need to eat.”
He caught her hand as she began to rise, bringing it to him. “Later.”
Jimmy pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. How was it possible that he wanted her now more than he had when they’d made love for the first time? That each time only whetted his appetite more? He heard alarms go off within his head, but tried to not pay any attention to them. There would be time enough later, when they got back, to get his life on an even keel again.
He smiled into her eyes. “Right now, I need a pick-me-up.”
“That’s what I just said.” This time, she made no attempt to get up.
“No,” he laughed, pulling her to him until she was cradled within the hollow of his arm, “you didn’t.”
Any inclination that she might have had, however faint, to dispute the matter disappeared the second before he kissed her.
April used the flat of her hand to wipe away some of the grime that had accumulated on the window and looked out. It had taken them a long while before they’d finally gotten around to getting dressed again. She’d prepared them a breakfast of beans and dried fruit, recalling other breakfasts she’d made here just like this one, for Max and June while their mother had sat by the window, looking forlornly out. Waiting for a man who never came.
She banished the thought from her mind as she renewed a vow never to allow that to happen to her. Never to let her heart be cleaved in two because of a man. You enjoy them and then you leave them. Before they leave you. “I think it’s finally letting up.”
Jimmy came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her against him. The back of her head nestled against his chest. It amazed him how much he enjoyed the way she fit against him.
“I’m not sure if I’m entirely happy about that,” he confessed. “This is the longest I’ve ever relaxed in the last ten years.”
April twisted around in his arms and looked up at him, amusement mixing with disbelief. “Relaxed? If this is how you relax, I’d hate to see what you’re like when you’re going full-steam ahead.”
He laughed, then nuzzled her neck before kissing it. “You might enjoy it.”
There they went again, those tiny sensations, skittering all along her body. There was nothing wrong with that, she told herself, as long as she kept things in perspective.
And didn’t lose her head.
Her eyes crinkled. “I might at that.”
His arms tightened around her, bringing her closer to him. Arousing him as he recalled the way she felt beneath him last night and in the wee hours of the morning. Like shimmering quicksilver.
“You know, I was kind of looking forward to them finding our nude bodies, frozen together in a clinch.”
“No, you weren’t,” she contradicted. Romantic or not, that was far too drastic an end to contemplate for someone with as much life as Jimmy had. “Besides, we wouldn’t have died in here.”
Very slowly, with his hands on either side of her waist, he began to move his fingers in gentle, hypnotic circles. “Oh?”
It was difficult to keep to her train of thought, or to hang on to her resolve to not let this game between them go too far. “I wouldn’t have let us. Once the storm lets up, I intend to get us home.”
There was this spark of determination in her eyes that mesmerized him. “On foot?”
Why would he say that? They hadn’t gotten here on foot. “No, in the car.”
He smiled. She’d overlooked an obvious point. It was nice to know that he came in handy for something. “Not with a dead battery. At these temperatures, it’s probably frozen.”
April cursed mentally. She’d forgotten about that. Small wonder. He’d driven almost every logical thought out of her head. And he was doing it again now. Because she was trying to pull her thoughts together, she caught both his hands in hers and held them still against her.
“Well, in any case, once the snow lets up, Max and the others will come looking for us.”
That was what he’d been thinking all along. But until they came, he had an excellent way for them to pass the time of day. He brushed her hair away from her neck, pressing a kiss there. “Spoilsports.”
It took effort to keep her eyes from fluttering shut. “You still don’t get the severity of the situation, do you?”
She felt his smile against her skin. “I’m too busy sampling your neck.”
She pulled her head back. “Jimmy, I’m serious. People die out here.”
The playful expression abated from his face for a moment as he looked at her. “People die everywhere. I should know. I deal with it all the time.” The smile returned, the one that felt so intimate, as if he’d never smiled at anyone but her that way. “That’s why it’s so important to enjoy life while you have it. Now, if you don’t mind, I was busy.”
She could feel his body against hers as he pulled her back into his arms. There was no question that he wanted her. April didn’t attempt to squelch the smile that came to her lips. “Again?”
“No,” he contradicted. “Still.”
April felt a giggle bubbling up within her. Breakfast, she decided, could wait. This urgency that suddenly came over her, couldn’t. Telling herself that there was no harm in this, in enjoying a fleeting romance that neither of them took seriously, she wrapped her arms around his neck and plunged back into the haven of his kiss.
Chapter Fourteen
Max stopped short as he saw Shayne reach for his jacket. “You
can’t come with us, Shayne, you’re needed here.”
After raging for more than a day and a half, the storm had finally lessened and Max had gathered together the people he needed to form a search party. He’d only swung by the clinic to pick up smelling salts and bandages in case they proved to be necessary, not to take the other man with him.
Shayne wasn’t about to be argued out of joining the search party. “April and Jimmy went in my place. If I’d gone, we wouldn’t be looking for them.”
Max pushed his black Stetson back on his head with his thumb, his blue eyes sympathetic and intent on Shayne. “No, if you’d gone, we’d be looking for you now. C’mon, Shayne, be reasonable.”
“I am being reasonable.” He checked the inside of his medical bag, then snapped it closed. “When we find them—” he’d nearly said if, but stopped himself at the last moment, acutely aware that they were talking not just about two missing people, but Max’s sister, as well “—they might both be in need of medical attention beyond your limited range.” He looked at Max significantly. “You’re not talking me out of this.”
Max had always known how to choose his battles. “No, I guess not, and I’m wasting time trying. Let’s go.”
But just as they were about to walk out, the clinic door swung open. June, her cheeks flushed, looked relieved to have found them still in town. “Good, you’re still here. I had a feeling you’d stop here,” she told Max as she closed the door behind her. “I’m coming with you.”
Max frowned. He had one sister already out there, he didn’t want to have to go looking for another. “I don’t have time to argue.”
“Fine, then don’t.” There was no way she was going to sit on her hands, waiting. Now that there was a break in the storm, she wanted to get going. There was no telling how fast the next front would move in. “The more people on this search party, the better. You always said that.”
“But not to you.” He knew it was useless to try to make her change her mind and if the next storm hit, they’d lose precious daylight. “All right, we’ll split up. Shayne, while the weather’s with us, I want to use your plane. If April and Jimmy are in an open area, we’ll be able to cover more ground with your plane and spot them that way.”
Shayne nodded. That was just what he’d been thinking. “You got it.”
Stepping outside, Max looked around at the faces of the men Jean-Luc had gathered together.
“Okay, we’ll meet back here at dark. The first sign of the storm hitting, I want everyone back in town. I don’t want any heroes and I sure as hell don’t want to have to go looking for anyone else, understood?” Heads bobbed in silent agreement. “Keep in contact with each other at all times. I don’t know when the next front’s going to hit us but we’ve got an open window now and we need to make the most of it.”
A murmur of voices met his instructions as the men began breaking up into groups of three and four. After one more warning to head back into town at the first sign of the storm worsening, Max took off with Shayne and Ike.
Jimmy had no idea he could feel this way about someone. The chase was over and for him, it had always been all about the chase. That was where the thrill came in. Pursuing the unknown, the unattainable. Once the chase was concluded, he’d savor the rewards, but there was never the same exhilaration attached to that as there had been to the pursuit that had been involved.
This time, it was different.
This time, perhaps because he knew that it was all temporary, the thrill was still there, not just within the chase, but within the victory.
Not only did the thrill remain when he made love with her, but it seemed to be even stronger than before.
It was as if since he knew what was in store for him, he wanted it with an ever-increasing rather than decreasing desire. And when he wasn’t making love with her, he was thinking about making love with her. They’d been in the cabin for a little more than a day, had spent two nights in it and he’d lost track of how many times he’d made love to her in that time.
All he knew was that it was getting better and that his pulse raced just thinking about her.
Making love with April hadn’t been nearly enough and each time they did, he got no closer to being sated than the last time. If anything, his appetite only grew larger.
It worried him a little, waking up this morning with this yearning for her, this feeling of bewildered loss when he hadn’t found her next to him, but he’d told himself that maybe it was more than the woman he found appealing. It was the fantasy-like quality of the situation that made him feel this way.
After all, how many men dreamed of being snowed in with a desirable woman? He knew they were going to be rescued. It was just a matter of time. By now, they’d been missed and there were probably people out looking for them right at this moment. He was sure of it. Even if the woman he was with wasn’t the sheriff’s sister, he had absolute faith in his sister and Luc. They would have organized a search party to go out the moment the storm let up at little.
Until then, they had shelter, food, and each other. Jimmy was determined to enjoy himself and to make the most of the situation he found himself in, always remembering that it was only that. An idyllic time and nothing more.
Propping himself up on one elbow, he watched as April sat by the fire, combing her hair. Last night they’d fed the table into the flames. It was still burning. He noted the impatient frown that came to her lips as she tried to pull the comb through.
“Your hair’s beautiful.”
She hadn’t thought he was awake yet. “My hair,” she corrected, “is a hopelessly tangled mess. June’s the one with the beautiful hair.”
Leaning over, he touched the ends, sifting them through his fingers. “Not from where I’m sitting.”
As much as she tried to resist, she could feel it happening. She could feel herself falling for Jimmy. Falling for a man who never seemed at a loss for words, who always knew exactly what to say. A man who could make her feel special just by looking at her.
This had to have been how her mother had felt. As though the world began and ended around one being.
She tugged at the comb again, gritting her teeth against the pain. Maybe it was just because they were snowed in.
Very gently, he took the comb from her hand and set it aside. Slipping his fingers along her cheek, he turned her face up to his and kissed her.
She stopped thinking about the comb and excuses.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she stepped out of the cabin. Jimmy had gone out a few minutes earlier to see if he could do anything about getting Alison’s car to run long enough to get them back into town.
The hood was yawning open over him, like a tamed circus lion. He was staring into it with an unenlightened expression on his face, like a man who had met his match and wasn’t happy about it.
She moved closer to him. “Anything?”
Jimmy shook his head. There was no point in hoping that he’d suddenly be hit with a burst of automotive know-how. It wasn’t going to happen. His expertise ended with sticking the key into the ignition and turning it.
“The battery’s dead,” he confirmed. “I can heal a patient, but I haven’t a clue how to bring a dead battery around.” He closed the hood again, not that it mattered. “We’d need Kevin for this.”
He turned from the car to look at her. Why wasn’t he the least bit worried? he wondered. Where was all this inner calm coming from? “How about you? Are you one of those resourceful girls who can fix the engine of a 747 with a bobby pin and a well-placed kick?”
Stepping back into the shelter of the doorway, out of the wind’s reach, she shook her head. “The only kick I can think of placing has nothing to do with a 747 or a dead car.”
Abandoning the defunct vehicle, he turned his attention to April. “This sounds like it might be interesting.”
The fact that he seemed completely unfazed by their predicament meant that the man either had nerves of steel, or brains of mush and d
idn’t comprehend the possibilities they could be facing. “I meant I could kick myself for not staying at the village.”
He wasn’t about to let her upbraid herself, not when it was such a supreme waste of energy. “You had no way of knowing this was going to hit so fast.”
April shook her head, not placated. “But I should have.”
He glanced up at the sky. The dark clouds were there, but in the distance. “It looks like it’s letting up a little. Maybe we should try to get back.”
April knew the danger in thinking that way. Storms hit without warning. If they were out in the open, they could easily die of exposure. She pointed to the darker clouds. However slowly, they were on the move. “It’s just a reprieve. There’s another storm coming soon. I don’t want us to be out in the open when it hits.”
He accepted the verdict. “All right, then let’s go back inside and wait this out. I don’t know about you but I’m getting cold and I need to warm up.” He looked at her significantly.
At this point, she could read him like a book. “You know, at this rate you’re going to wear yourself out before they find us.”
Hooking his thumb into the belt loop of her jeans, he gently pulled her across the threshold and inside the cabin. “Never happen.”
Exhausted, her body damp with the sweat of lovemaking, April fell back against the floor, too spent to even take a deep breath. The cabin felt as if it was spinning out of control.
Just like her, out of control.
Once we get back, it’ll all go back to the way it was, she promised, trying to placate the skittish nerves that kept surfacing.
A sound penetrated her consciousness. It was a distant, rumbling noise.
An engine?
Her eyes flew open and she turned toward Jimmy. His expression gave no indication that he’d heard anything. When he started to say something to her, she quickly put her hand to his mouth to silence him.
“Listen, do you hear anything?” She looked up toward the ceiling as if doing that could somehow help tell her what she was hearing.
The M.D. Meets His Match Page 16