Duty To Protect. Beth Cornelison

“And this whole camping out thing is sounding better all the time. I’m not so much against you staying over as I am opposed to having my life dictated to me.”

      Riley put on an innocent face. “I would never presume to dictate.”

      Hannah bustled back into the room with a nurse on her heels. “Here we go.”

      “Just sign these release forms, and you are free to go.” The nurse handed Ginny a clipboard with several papers attached.

      After she awkwardly scratched her name on the forms with her left hand and handed them back to the nurse, Ginny gave the wheelchair a one-handed slap. “All righty then. Let’s bust this joint.”

      Riley fell in behind her and steered the wheelchair toward the elevator. As he reached past her to mash the down button, he leaned into the sweet, baby powder scent at her neck and murmured, “As a bonus, while I’m at your place tonight, I could work on fixing your plumbing problems if you want.”

      Ginny tilted her head to glance at him, putting her tempting mouth a breath away from his. “Would this be babysitting cleverly disguised as maintenance assistance?”

      He smiled. “Not at all. I’m totally clear on your feelings regarding babysitting. This is seduction disguised as maintenance assistance, pure and simple.”

      Her face lit with a humored grin for a moment, but then her eyebrows tugged together, and her smile faltered. “I hope you don’t think I’m the kind of girl who’ll sleep with a guy just because he fixed my dishwasher. I’m not that easy.”

      He grunted, twisting his lips in a wry grin. “Believe me, with you, easy never crossed my mind.”

      Ginny’s eyes twinkled. “Then by all means, grab your tools and come on over.”

      * * *

      Before Riley could make it around to the passenger side of his truck, Ginny had popped the door open and was struggling to climb out. She slid down from the high seat to the asphalt of the apartment’s parking lot, and her knees buckled weakly.

      “Hey, take it easy.” He was there in a flash, his arm around her, supporting her. He narrowed his gray eyes on her, an adorable wrinkle of worry creasing the bridge of his nose. “There’s a reason the hospital discharges patients in a wheelchair, Ginny. Your body’s still healing. Go slow. Lean on me.”

      As she opened her mouth to protest, he hooked her left arm around his neck, pulled her up against his taut, muscled frame and anchored his arm at her waist. All thoughts of arguing fled.

      Riley, under normal circumstances, could make Ginny’s breath catch, her body hum. Riley, up close and personal, sent her body into overdrive. Her heart thrummed. Her head swam. Her skin tingled.

      Being cautious about moving the relationship too fast didn’t mean she was immune to Riley’s…er, charms. Even if she could have walked in by herself, she would have faked an injury at that moment just to be held so close to his solid strength. She inhaled the spice of his aftershave, and a heady thrill swirled from her nape to her toes.

      But even as she savored the sweet sensations Riley inspired, her head told her to go slow with him. His heroism on her behalf could easily be clouding her painkiller-muddled perception.

      And, Lord knew, her history of misjudging men spoke for itself. Painfully so. Her own dating track record aside, she could never forget the heartache her poor judgment with men had caused her college roommate, Donna. A deep ache sliced through Ginny, lessening the headiness she felt from Riley’s proximity.

      Thoughts of Donna nagging her, Ginny studied Riley’s rough-hewn features again. Sure, he was handsome as sin, thoughtful, brave….

      But other men she’d dated had been handsome, polite, and had seemed charming—until she discovered there was a wife waiting at home or that the charm was an act to get her into bed.

      Not that in bed wasn’t where she hoped to end up with Riley…eventually. But first, she had to be sure he was as good as his first impression purported. She had a heck of a lot still to learn about this man before she’d let herself believe he was all he seemed.

      The expression “too good to be true” rang in her head. What was the real Riley like?

      “Ginny? You okay?”

      She realized she was staring at him like a schoolgirl and shook herself. “Yeah. Thanks. Thought I could do it alone, but my knees thought otherwise.”

      “Listen, soon enough things will be back to the status quo. For now, you need to listen to your body. Don’t tax yourself, okay?”

      As Riley guided her, taking baby steps toward the door, she itched to move at a faster pace, take the lead and steer him along a different course. Perhaps a route that afforded her a few extra minutes of snuggling close to his sturdy body?

      Instead she gave him an apologetic grin. “Sorry, I don’t do pampering well. My mom says my favorite phrase from the time I could talk was ‘Do it myself!’ That’s never changed. I need my independence.”

      “Nothing wrong with that…as long as it’s practical. Besides, every now and then everyone deserves a little TLC.” Riley slowed further as they reached a short flight of steps leading to the apartment entrance. “Consider this your turn.”

      “I really don’t need help. Dealing with this—” She held up her casted right arm. “—will be tricky at first, but I’m up to the challenge.”

      To prove her point, she pulled away from his grasp and trudged up the steps at a quicker pace. The show of defiance left her a tad winded and more than a little dizzy. Apparently yesterday’s brief oxygen deprivation had taken a bigger toll on her than she’d thought.

      When she hesitated at the top of the steps, Riley stepped back into place beside her. She covered her effort to regain her equilibrium with a bright smile and by sliding an arm around his waist as if giving him a flirtatious hug.

      The lift of his blond eyebrow said he wasn’t fooled.

      He braced a hand under her left elbow and drew her up against him again. “Need a minute to catch your breath?”

      She tilted her head back to meet his gaze. “Maybe. But your holding me like this is not going to help. Being this close to you seems to leave me breathless.”

      He hitched up the corner of his mouth in a provocative grin. “The feeling is mutual, gorgeous.”

      Ginny shook herself from her starry-eyed daze and leaned more weight against the railing.

       Slow down!

      “You know, as a counselor, I spend a lot of time talking with clients, helping them decide a plan of action, ways to change their life. But all our talk is no good if they don’t suit words to action, if they don’t follow through.”

      “The whole ‘actions speak louder than words’ thing?”

      She shrugged. “Something like that. So it’s a matter of professional pride that I do things for myself. I have an example to set, you know?”

      With a steadying breath, she pulled away from him again to head for the door.

      “An example. Right.” But he sounded unconvinced as he drew her back up against him. “Speaking of actions, I’ve been bummed about something since yesterday, when I visited you in the hospital.”

      Her brow knitted in confusion. “Bummed?”

      “Yeah, bummed! When I revived you, you missed the whole your-lips-on-mine thing. I figure all this flirting is really just going over points we’ve already established. We know there’s a definite sizzle between us.”

      She gave him a suspicious nod. “Yeah?”

      “And rather than keep wondering what a real kiss would be like…”

      Ginny