Duty To Protect. Beth Cornelison

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СКАЧАТЬ her brow. “Why does talking about it make you…uncomfortable?”

      Riley blinked and sat back a bit, clearly caught off-guard by her question. He shrugged again. “I don’t know. It’s just not that big of a deal.”

      Ginny scoffed in disagreement. “You saved a life! That’s huge!” She paused long enough to swallow and soothe the fire in her throat. “And not because…it was me. Saving any life is major. Big-time huge.”

      She stopped only long enough to pull another breath into her aching lungs, then plowed on. The passion she felt for her argument overrode the effort it took to rasp it out. “You should be proud of it. Feel good about it. Hell, you’re even…allowed to gloat a little.” Ginny quirked a little smile. “Just don’t be obnoxious about it, you know?”

      Riley shook his head, dismissal and disbelief etched in his expression. “Look, I’m glad you’re okay. That I feel good about. As for me, my part in it, I’m a firefighter, and I was just doing my job.”

      Ginny opened her mouth to press the issue but snapped it closed again. This was her first opportunity to really talk to Riley. She didn’t want to spend the time arguing the merit of his heroics or making him feel uncomfortable. Although as a counselor, she found his reluctance to accept praise and thanks for his good deed intriguing.

      She pointed at him with her left hand, narrowed her eyes and scowled playfully. “Okay, I’ll let your mysterious reasons for your modesty slide…this time. But next time…”

      He caught the finger she wagged at him and lowered it to the bed. The warmth of his hand curled intimately around hers, knocked the teasing grin from her lips and stole her breath.

      His work-roughened palm abraded her hand, made tender from heat damage equivalent to a sunburn. But she didn’t give her sore skin a second thought. Having Riley hold her hand felt ridiculously good. Such a simple thing, that touch. Yet a crackling energy and awareness snapped along her nerve endings.

      He arched an eyebrow. “Next time? Let’s hope there is no next time. One near-death experience for you is enough!”

      “Touché,” she croaked, glad the crack in her voice could be excused as the result of smoke inhalation.

      “So…have the doctors said when you can go home?”

      “Tomorrow, if my vitals remain good.” She noted that, although the topic had changed, he still held her hand. Warmth blossomed in her chest, put a grin on her lips.

      Maybe, like her mom’s constant touching, Riley’s grip on her hand was a hint that he wasn’t as unaffected by her close call or his part in saving her life as he wanted her to think. Ginny knew through her training, her experience with counseling, that body language spoke volumes.

      “I’ll be off tomorrow. I can come get you. Drive you home.”

      Ginny tightened her grip on his hand. “It’s nice of you to offer, but…not necessary. My mom or Megan can—”

      “I don’t mind. I want to help.” Riley’s eyes held the same bright intensity she’d noticed earlier. His silver gaze held her transfixed for a moment before he seemed to realize how serious he’d become and laughed it off with a shrug. “Besides, you live in my building, so it’s hardly out of the way. What are neighbors for?”

      “Okay. Tell you what…you can be my buffer.”

      “Buffer?”

      “Yeah. My mom is going to want to be here regardless, ’cause she lives to dote on her kids. Borderline smothering. I love Mom, but…hate the smothering. You can be my buffer, run interference.”

      Riley turned one palm up. “If that’s what you need, I aim to please.” He gave her fingers another gentle squeeze before he pulled away and rose from the chair. “I think I should let you rest. I’m glad you’re okay, Ginny.”

      “And I’m glad you were on duty last night. Getting mouth-to-mouth from anyone else…” She gave him a sultry smile. “…just wouldn’t have been half as much fun.”

      A smoldering heat flared in Riley’s gaze. He hesitated a moment, as if deciding whether to match her flirtation with a suggestive comment of his own.

      “Go ahead. Say it,” she prompted.

      He looked a bit surprised that she’d read his intent so easily, then grinned more broadly. “I think I’d rather show you.” He tapped her nose with his finger. “But later. You get well, and then we’ll have some real fun.”

      With a small wave, he sauntered out to the corridor, leaving Ginny with another breathtaking view of his jeans-clad backside and ample fodder for her imagination.

      Compunction twisted in her chest, and she sighed. Had she gone too far? Had she misled Riley about her intentions? Maybe.

      She’d mastered the art of flirtation over the years. But though she’d like to believe someday she and Riley might follow up on their banter, in truth, she was a long way from having an intimate relationship with him. Intimacy took time, took trust, took a whole lot of work. This time she had to look before she leaped. She had to be sure.

      The real question was, was she ready to put in the work for a shot at something deeper with Riley Sinclair?

      And was he ready to put in the effort to have a relationship with her?

      His body thrumming, Riley strode toward the hospital elevator and indulged in a mental picture of himself having a steamy variety of fun with his seductress neighbor.

      Get a grip. Save the X-rated fantasies for a while. The woman just had a brush with death.

      A brush with death.

      A chill skimmed down Riley’s spine as he jabbed the elevator button. He hadn’t realized until he saw Ginny again today how deeply her near miss still affected him. If he’d thought he’d put the surge of memories and emotion to bed yesterday at the fire scene, he’d been wrong. What’s worse, his emotions were so close to the surface that Ginny had picked up on his edginess.

      And why wouldn’t she? She was a counselor. Her job was all about reading people and dealing with emotions.

      The knot in Riley’s gut cinched a bit tighter. Before he came back tomorrow to take Ginny home from the hospital, he definitely had to get some perspective, lock those memories of his failure with Jodi away where they’d be safe.

      But he also couldn’t repeat the mistakes he’d made with Erin.

      He pinched the bridge of his nose as the internal push-pull of responsibilities battled inside him.

      He stepped on the elevator and drew a deep breath. Reining in his emotions should be easy enough. The crisis had passed. And he felt better about Ginny after seeing her.

      She had color back in her cheeks. The soot and grime had been washed from her pale blond hair, and the spark of humor and vitality had returned to her sky-blue eyes.

      He’d meant it when he said she looked good. Except for a few scratches and the cast on her arm, she looked every bit the sultry siren who’d spent the last several weeks tempting him with СКАЧАТЬ