Snowed In With A Billionaire. Karen Booth

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СКАЧАТЬ then returned to her face. “It’s much nicer in here.”

      A vaguely familiar tingle zipped through her. Was he flirting with her? Was Prince Charming making the moves? A breath of cold air crossed her shoulders and she realized then that the top of her robe had gaped quite significantly. It wasn’t a full-on wardrobe malfunction, but it wasn’t far off. She quickly covered up and re-cinched the tie. Embarrassment covered her from head to toe.

      “Can I make you a cup of tea?” She wasn’t sure what else to offer the man who’d showed up at her door again.

      “That would be great, but I was hoping we could call my doctor together. I’ll feel a lot better about things if you just talk to him.”

      “So I don’t have to go anywhere?”

      “Nope. You can do this from the comfort of your own home.”

      My own home. If only. “Okay. Do you want to have a seat in the living room while I run upstairs and get dressed?”

      “You don’t have to change on my account. I think you look pretty amazing just as you are.”

      There it was again—that flirtatious lilt to his voice. Or maybe he was just one of those men whose every comment came off with an edge of innuendo. Regardless of whether he was trying hard or not, she had a deep desire to comb her fingers through his hair, if only to learn whether it was as thick as it looked. It’d been more than a year since she’d been with a man, and that one had been a deeply disappointing kisser—weak lips and a hesitant tongue. If a man was going to kiss her, she wanted him to go for it. Send a message. Alex looked like he could knock a woman off her heels with a single kiss. And here they were, all alone in this big beautiful house, she in a near state of undress.

      “You’re sweet, but I think it would be best if I was wearing something that more closely resembled clothes. I’ll be right back.”

      She turned and darted up the stairs, mumbling to herself, “What in the hell are you doing? Why did you let him inside? That was really, really dumb. We’re going to call his doctor? At night? How weird is that?”

      Learning firsthand how adept Alex was at talking her into something, she needed to remain on her toes. She also needed to remain calm and allow him to leave of his own accord. Making a stink was a good way to arouse suspicion, and she didn’t want to give him any reason to decide she was acting strangely or quite possibly didn’t belong in this house. For all she knew, he’d call the police. Surely a guy as thorough and conscientious as Alex wouldn’t even hesitate to turn her in if he thought she wasn’t on the up-and-up. She had to do her best to appear to belong here. She had to make things seem as normal as possible, then hope he would leave so she could return to her sad, but relatively safe existence where she still got to sleep in an amazing bed.

      Dressed in far less revealing pajama pants, tank top and hoodie, Joy hurried back downstairs. As she turned the corner for the living room, she saw the glow and heard the crackle of a fire in the hearth. She hadn’t bargained on Alex making himself at home. “Oh. You built a fire.”

      “Well, yeah. Look at it out there.” He tossed his head toward the long wall of the living room, where the windows soared to the top of the cathedral ceiling and stood in single file like soldiers. The night sky was a midnight blue, dotted with fat, glowing snowflakes. “That’s half the point of having a mountain house. To build a roaring fire when it’s snowing.”

      Except that building a fire created a wisp of smoke that trailed from the chimney, letting anyone who might happen to drive by know that someone was staying there. Sure, it was a long shot, but if that person knew the Marshalls and decided to stop by or call Mariella to ask how long she’d be in town? That would be very bad. She not only didn’t make a habit of lighting the wood-burning fireplaces, she’d been careful to use as few lights as possible. “Um. Sure. It’s very nice.”

      “I thought so.” He plopped down on one of two sprawling sectional couches, each covered in plush tapestry fabric in shades of taupe and rust. He pulled out his phone. “Come. Sit. We’ll call the doctor.” He patted the sofa cushion right next to him.

      This was officially the strangest situation Joy had ever been in, but she’d be lying if she’d said she didn’t want to sit close to him without a car’s center console between them. “Okay.” She carefully took the seat next to him. It was impossible not to fixate on his warm and masculine smell, or just how big his hands were as he cradled the phone.

      The screen came to life, showing a tiny picture of the two of them in the bottom corner. She couldn’t help but notice that they looked cute together, even when he was dressed nicely in a black sweater and jeans while she was in her PJs. “A video call?”

      “Well, yeah. He’s probably going to want to see you. I figured this is easier.”

      Another face popped onto the screen, a face so familiar that Joy had to blink several times to be certain she was seeing who she was seeing. Holy crap. This was no regular doctor. This was Dr. David, the doctor who made a living on the TV talk show circuit. He was the guy every network called when there was a big health scare and people needed someone impossibly good-looking to talk them off the ledge. “Alex? Are you seriously calling me from Vail? Shouldn’t you be hitting the slopes?” Dr. David asked.

      Oh, great. Alex isn’t just a guy with a super expensive car and a house in Switzerland. He’s on a first-name basis with celebrities. What world am I living in, anyway?

      Alex laughed. “I’ve been doing some of that, but I was calling because I have a friend who might have hit her head. I was hoping you could talk to her.”

      He tilted the phone in Joy’s direction, and she had no choice but to wave and say, “Hi. I’m the friend. I’m Joy.”

      “Hello, Joy. I’m Dr. David.”

      Well, duh. Another wave of embarrassment hit her. She was sure his first question was going to be why her cheeks were flaming red. “Hi, Dr. David.” She did her best to pass it off as if she chatted with ridiculously famous people every day.

      “Tell me what’s going on,” he said.

      Joy glanced over at Alex. He looked so uncertain and worried, it made it hard to know what to say. He was concerned about her. That was why he’d come back. This revelation was sweet, but dangerous. Joy needed to be invisible right now, not attracting attention.

      * * *

      Alex listened as Joy told the story of the near-accident. With every word out of her mouth, he felt exponentially guiltier. She’d really, truly been in harm’s way and it had all been his fault. He quite literally could have killed her. He could have ended the life of this beautiful woman. The weight of that sat squarely on his shoulders. Call it his biggest fear, but ever since he’d been a kid, he’d worried about making a choice that would lead to an irreversible mistake. If he hadn’t decided to go for a drive, Joy wouldn’t have ended up in the snowbank.

      As reluctant as she’d seemed to accept help, he would have to insist on whatever Dr. David’s orders were. No ifs, ands, or buts.

      Dr. David was nodding and writing down some notes. “Okay, well, it sounds to me like you’re going to be okay. It doesn’t sound like you’ve sustained any kind of serious injury.”

      Joy sighed and her shoulders dropped in relief. “Oh, good. Thank you.”

      “That СКАЧАТЬ