12 Gifts for Christmas. Джулия Кеннер

the dangers of pushing yourself too hard. You may be the head of a successful business empire and famous throughout Spain, but you are still human.”

      “I’ve had a lot of work to accomplish,” he admitted.

      “Don’t we all, but that’s the reason why this particular flu hit you especially hard. Follow my advice and take it easy for a while.” He smiled. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

      “Gracias, doctor.”

       “De nada.”

      As Des looked at Ally again he considered the doctor’s words. Perhaps he should take some time off from work and find more … pleasurable ways to fill his life.

      CHAPTER FIVE

      “DON’T leave yet, Ally.” Des was afraid she’d follow the doctor out of the room.

      She gripped the side rail of his bed. “You need to rest.”

      “I’ve been unconscious for twenty-four hours, I feel like company. Do you mind?”

      As Des said the words, he realized he meant them. But not just any company would do. Only hers. He realized that, too. His friend Raoul wouldn’t believe how quickly his whole attitude was changing. Des would have to text him later.

      “I’ll stay for a while longer.” She pulled up a chair to the side of the hospital bed. “Oh, before I forget, Miguel went up to the amphitheatre and brought back all our things. There was a trail of debris from the cascade to the car.”

      “When you went through my pockets, did you find my phone?”

      “Oh, yes—” She reached in her purse. “Here it is. I’ll put it on your bedside table.”

       “Gracias.”

      “I’m afraid I didn’t have another thing on my mind after you passed out except to drive you here. I’ve still got the keys to your truck, too.”

      “That’s good,” he murmured. “Keep them until tomorrow. That way if you’re willing, you can visit me and then drive me home.”

      There was a slight hesitation that concerned him before she said, “Of course I will. You went out of your way to accommodate me. Until you fell, I was really enjoying the climb.”

      A nurse came in to change his IV bag, then slipped out again.

      Ally smiled at him. “Can I bring you anything from your room at the posada?”

      “I could use my electric razor. It’s in the bathroom with my other things.”

      “Tell you what. Why don’t I leave now and bring them back to you?”

      “In other words, I could do with a shave.”

      “Did I say that?”

      His black brows quirked in amusement. “You didn’t have to.”

      “Where’s the card key for your room?”

      “A monk’s cell doesn’t have something as modern as an electronic card to open the door—it has a metal key. It’s with my car keys.”

      “Oh—” She reached in her purse once more and brought out the keys. “Which one opens your room?”

      He took hold of her hand to show her. It trembled at the contact. Pleased by the response he said, “It’s the middle one.”

      She quickly eased her hand away. “What room number?”

      “Mine doesn’t have one. It has an exterior entry around the west side of the posada. You can’t miss it since it’s the only one.”

      “That sounds rather mysterious.”

      A low chuckle came out of him. “Wait till you see it.”

      She moved the chair against the wall. “I’ll be back soon.”

      “Hurry,” he called out as she opened the door and left.

       Hurry?

      More than the word, the urgency in Des’s tone caused Ally to tremble again. She couldn’t believe he was the same forbidding stranger she’d met in the posada dining room, let alone the unconscious man she’d brought into the hospital so ill she’d feared for his life.

      The warm, compassionate Spaniard who’d just listened to her heartache and then told her about his own broken engagement showed a completely new side of him, and the change was doing odd things to her equilibrium. The increasingly strong attraction she felt toward him sent off warning bells in her brain. She’d come here for adventure, not to get involved in a romance.

      He was a gorgeous man. Against the pristine white of the clinic’s sheets and pillow, his coloring and rugged features made him the most sensational-looking male she’d ever seen. Too sensational. Too perfect. Unlike her.

      If those black eyes were ever to see what cancer had done to her body … She couldn’t face that. She’d needed to get away from him. Which was why she’d jumped up and offered to go get his things from the hotel. Anything to keep her distance.

      Not that he’d shown any sign of romantic interest. Though she knew he was grateful for her help, she was under no illusions that his attraction to her was as powerful as hers was for him. And even though he had to be feeling terrible right now, he was awake and probably itching to get out of the hospital.

      A dynamic man like him who ran a multibillion-dollar hotel business and went ice climbing to relax was probably a horrible patient and couldn’t take advantage of the rest.

      When she drove back to the posada, she found Inez at the front desk and filled her in. “I know the children were hoping I could eat dinner with them, but Señor Pastrana needs a little waiting on. Tell them I’ll be back tonight and I can read a story to them before they go to sleep. I bought them some Christmas books. Tonight we can read one of my favorites—How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They’ll love it.”

      “I’m sure I will, too!” Inez smiled. “But don’t worry about anything else right now. Des’s health is more important.”

      “He’s doing amazingly well. The doctor said he only had a light concussion.”

      Inez crossed herself. “I’ll tell Miguel. We’ve both been anxious. We visited him twice, but both times he was still asleep.”

      “Thankfully he’s awake now. I better go and get his things. See you later, Inez.”

      After a shower in her room and a change of clothes into jeans and a kelly-green crewneck sweater, Ally dashed out the front doors of the inn and around the side. She felt strange walking into Des’s private hotel room, but he had given her permission.

      Once she stepped over the threshold, she was delighted by the way the room felt and looked like a window into the past. But she didn’t have time to examine everything; Des needed his things.

      Later, when she entered his room at the clinic, his black eyes darted from her to the suitcase.

      “I didn’t know what you’d want so I just brought everything,” she explained.

      For the second time in the past few hours he burst into laughter. The sound thrilled her.

      “Why don’t you put the bag down and pull up a chair so we can talk.” As she did his bidding, he rolled onto his side toward her, taking care with the IV in his arm. “What did you think of my room?”

      She glanced at him. “It felt as if I’d just stepped into a seventeenth-century priest’s inner sanctum. To be honest, I loved it so much I wish I’d known about it so I could have reserved it before I arrived.”

      “You can’t reserve it. When the corporation bought the monastery, I had it all remodeled except that room. It’s mine.”

      “Well,