The Texan's Diamond Bride. Teresa Hill

her eyes and blocking the lightning, at least a bit.

      “Go to sleep,” he said. “I won’t let anything hurt you.”

      She tried. Really tried.

      But the wind slowly and steadily picked up, the fierceness of the storm growing with every moment. Every bolt of lightning had her struggling more and more to cover her fears, to stay still, to keep breathing easily and deeply, when all she wanted to do was get as close to him as possible and beg him to make it all stop.

      It was a foolish thing, being afraid of something as simple as a storm, and yet, there it was. Caught in this eerily dark world, she was afraid.

      And there was so little in life she truly feared.

      She worked her face deeper into the curve between his shoulder and his neck and closed her eyes. “It is the hurricane, isn’t it? The way the winds keep building. It’s…That’s what hurricane winds do.”

      “Yeah, it looks like we got the hurricane,” he told her, arms holding her tight.

      “So we just sit here and see how much worse it gets?” That seemed completely unreasonable.

      “Not much else to do, Red.”

      “I mean, we don’t know how much worse it’s going to get or when its going to stop—”

      “No, we don’t.”

      “Tornadoes spring up from these storms when they’re over land—”

      “Sometimes,” he admitted.

      “Tornadoes, lightning, flooding. Perfect night—”

      She broke off with a gasp as a huge clap of thunder drowned out her words.

      He scooped her up and deposited her sideways on his lap, even closer than she had been to him, draped the blanket around her and grinned as he looked down into her eyes.

      “You know, I could make you forget,” he said.

      “What?”

      “The storm. That you’re afraid—”

      She sputtered, surprised and furious. “I am not afraid!”

      “Red, you flinch every time a bolt of lightning strikes. Not a lot, and I know you’re fighting it, but you do. And that’s fine. I mean, it’s no big deal. We’re all afraid of something, and I’m just saying, I’m here. I’m happy to be of help, to get you through the night. Whatever it takes.”

      Paige shook her head, having a hard time thinking, between being on guard about when and where the next bit of lightning might strike and trying to hide her fears and then having this man…this altogether tempting specimen of man make her an offer of…what, exactly?

      “Are you saying, you’ll…that you’ll—”

      “Whatever you want,” he said smoothly, a hint of amusement and, she thought, sheer wickedness in his tone.

      “You think I would be so caught up in you and whatever you were doing to me, that I’d forget all about the storm and being afraid? You think you’re that good?”

      “I’m saying I’m willing to try, that I’d certainly give it my best shot. I mean…I managed to distract you for the last few moments, didn’t I?”

      “I—I—I can’t believe you—”

      “You haven’t flinched over the last two lightning strikes, in case you didn’t notice. So from where I sit, it seems to be working.”

       From where he sat!

      Well, from where she sat, she was…She was on top of him, all lean muscles and heat and…and…

      She had pushed herself upright at one point, wasn’t snuggled against him as she had been at first, but she was still sitting on his lap, her hands pressed against his chest for balance and to keep her from getting any closer.

      “I don’t…I just…I don’t do this.”

      “Do what? Snuggle? Kiss? Play around a little?”

       Play around a little?

      “That’s what you’re offering to do?” she asked.

      He shrugged easily. “I’m saying I’m open to the possibilities.”

      He made it sound so innocent, like nothing of consequence at all. Like passing the time in casual conversation or something.

      “Actually,” he said. “Now that I think about it, not absolutely anything. We couldn’t actually have sex. No condoms. I don’t generally ride around the ranch prepared in that particular way.”

      “Not an opportunity that normally presents itself during a normal workday at the ranch?” she quipped.

      “No, Red. I have to say, it just doesn’t happen. Damned shame, don’t you think? I love working this ranch. Something like that happened every now and then…Well, I’d have to say the job would be just about perfect then.”

      “Get lonely out here, Cowboy?”

      He nodded.

      She shook her head. “I can’t decide what to make of you. If you were half-serious about that or just…just—”

      “I was going to kiss you,” he admitted, laughing beautifully, that rich, deep voice of his wrapping around her like a spell in the dark. “Although I am up for just about anything you’d like. I mean…a man needs to take care of a woman. It’s just…what a man does.”

      “Make the sacrifice? Since I’m afraid and everything?”

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      “Is this some cowboy code you live by? You’re honor bound to offer your body to a woman in distress—”

      “That’s just what a man does.”

      Paige didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or charmed.

      Both, probably.

      “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.

      “You don’t have to say anything. I was just letting you know you had options.”

      “Oh, well. Options. Okay.”

      “But really, why don’t you just stay here with me, lean down against me.” He eased her down against his chest. “There you go. And let your head go right here.” Against that warm, inviting curve of his shoulder and his neck. “That’s it. Close your eyes.”

      He spread the blanket over her and him. She could feel him breathing deeply and easily, feel the heat of his body, his heartbeat beneath one of her palms.

      He put one of his hands over her ear, and with the other ear buried against his chest, it blocked out a lot of the sound, making a little cocoon of safety for her.

      It was nice.

      Really nice.

      “Go to sleep,” he whispered. “You’ll be fine.”

      She tried.

      She really did.

      But the storm kept going. She’d be nearly asleep, then find herself jerked out of that half sleep by lightning, feel his arms tighten around her to let her know she wasn’t alone, feel the glorious heat of his big, hard body, and then find herself thinking of what he’d offered.

      It was just a night.

      Just a little comfort in the dark on a big, scary night.

      She knew lightning wasn’t going to come snaking inside the rock overhang and get her. It wasn’t chasing after her.

      But an irrational fear was just that—an irrational fear.

      And she’d been battling this one since