Million Dollar Marriage by Maggie Shayne

Author:Maggie Shayne
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781460311356
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-12-17T05:00:00+00:00

Eight

The water seemed to close in around her, and it was so unexpected that she swallowed some, choked, and swallowed some more, as she flailed her arms and kicked her legs, striving for the surface.

Then Holden was there. She felt his strong arms around her, pulling her upward. She broke surface, gasping, choking, water running over her face, her hair in her eyes. But his hands pushed it away, palms smooth on her wet skin.

“Are you okay?” He shouted the question, making her aware of the now roaring wind, the pounding rain, the crashing thunder growing louder all the time. Blinking her eyes open, she was immediately blinded by strobelike flashes of lightning, and Holden’s face seemed to flicker before her.

Then he was pulling her, and she could only assume they were heading toward the dock. No, that was wrong, the shore itself. No sooner did her feet touch the bottom in the shallower waters than she felt herself lifted off them. And Holden carried her the rest of the way, up out of the water, sloshing through it to the shore beyond. Once on dry land, he ran, still carrying her. Only seconds seemed to pass before he was kicking the door closed behind him, and carrying her to the sofa, lowering her onto it. He pulled his arms from beneath her, but she closed hers around him and clung, shivering.

“All right,” he said softly. “All right, it’s okay.” His arms came back around her, and he held her close for a long moment. “You’re okay, now, all right? Hmm?”

Nodding hard against his shoulder, she said, “I’m f-freezing.”

“I know. Hold on, okay?”

Again she nodded, and this time when he pulled away, she let him go. She hugged herself, shaking, watching Holden in the firelight. He didn’t walk. He ran, first to the fireplace to jam several more chunks of wood into the flames, then up the stairs. She couldn’t stop shivering. The fire’s warmth barely seemed to be touching her here. Getting off the sofa, she moved closer to the fireplace, and sank to the floor right in front of it, her knees drawn to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.

Only moments later Holden was back again, his arms loaded down. He set the stack of towels and things down on the floor, and knelt beside her. “Loosen up your arms for me,” he said, and when she did, he peeled her dripping wet T-shirt off over her head.

Wearing no bra, she automatically crossed her arms in front of her chest. But Holden only paused for a second, his gaze lingering on her breasts for an instant before he jerked it away as if by force, and reached for a towel. Gently, he rubbed her down. Her back, her arms. Her shoulders and neck. Her belly. Then he draped the towel around her, and snatched up another to rub at her wet hair. When he finished, he said, “Stand up, let’s get you out of those jeans.”

Still shaking

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