But as she held him close against her, as the feel of her soft breasts pressed against his chest registered through the haze of pain, Seth began to imagine other things. His body responded to her closeness and the faint scent of her floral perfume. Though he was certain he didn’t need her assistance, he let her hold him for a moment, let himself enjoy her arms circling his chest and the feel of her slender curves pressed against him. He might be injured, but he certainly wasn’t dead.
“I really think you should lie down now,” she persisted.
In a different scenario, one where they were both naked, those words would have been music to his ears and he would have readily agreed. In this case, unfortunately, he simply wanted to gain his balance back and get the hell out of town.
He stepped away from the woman, wobbled a bit, then looked at his bike. He could see the front rim was twisted. Not good, he thought with a frown.
At the sound of a close, low growl, Seth whipped his head back around, which made the earth spin again.
Definitely not good.
Seth watched helplessly as a German shepherd the size of a pony came tearing at him.
Two
“Beau! Down!”
The animal stopped instantly at the woman’s command and went into a crouch. Seth released the breath he’d been holding.
Good God, he thought. What next? A swarm of killer bees would rain down on him or maybe a meteor would fall out of the sky and he’d be right in its path?
“Good boy,” Hannah said sweetly to the dog. “Stay.”
Beau wagged his tail and obeyed Hannah’s command, but his black eyes quickly darted back to the stranger.
“Nice dog you’ve got there.” Seth kept a close eye on the animal.
“He belongs to Mrs. Peterson, but he’s sort of adopted me and the girls. He’ll be fine now.” Hannah turned back around. “You don’t have to worry.”
“Did I say I was worried?” Seth said irritably. “I crash my motorcycle through fences, fall out of trees and face ferocious dogs all the time. Just another day in the life.”
Hannah raised a brow. “You must have a very interesting life, Mr—”
“Granger. Seth Granger.”
“Well, Mr. Granger,” she said. “Since you’re so determined to be up, why don’t we get you inside? The doctor should be here shortly and he can take a look at that head of yours.”
“There’s nothing to look at,” Seth insisted, then frowned when the woman smiled. “I mean, I’m fine.”
“Maybe so, but it wouldn’t hurt to—”
“Look.” He brushed grass off his shirt. “I appreciate your concern, and I’m glad your little girl is all right. I’ll just stop by a repair shop in town and have my bike checked, then be on my way.”
Seth wasn’t certain exactly what happened next. He’d taken a step toward his bike and his leg just went out from under him. Hannah gasped and made a lunge at him, but as her arms came around him, intended to stop his fall, she went down, too.
Because he couldn’t stop it, he held her tight and brought her down on top of him, rather than underneath him.
Damn. This was the second time he’d found himself holding this woman close. She felt even better this time, with her body snug against his, lying on top of him. The heat of her skin seeped through his T-shirt and the feel of her long legs stretched out over his made the pain in his leg and the pounding in his head secondary.
At the sound of a low growl, Seth closed his eyes, then sighed heavily.
“All right,” he said through clenched teeth. “You and Killer here win. I’ll wait for the doc.”
“You’re a lucky man.” Dr. Lansky, dressed in a blue plaid shirt and beige fisherman shorts, pushed his glasses up his nose as he stared at his patient’s leg. “Looks like you’ve got just a nasty sprain instead of a break.”
Since the doctor and Hannah had brought Seth into the house and settled him on the sofa, then stripped off his torn T-shirt and slit his jeans open to expose his ankle, he’d been surrounded by chaos. The phone had rung several times, neighbors had knocked on the door and a small crowd had gathered to watch Seth’s motorcycle be towed away by the repair shop. His head was pounding like a drum and his leg hurt like a son of a bitch.
Of all the things that Seth felt, lucky was not one of them.
He ground his teeth together, struggling to hold back the swear words threatening to erupt. At least the cut on his head hadn’t required stitches and the scratch on his shoulder was only superficial. He glanced at Hannah, who stood beside the sofa, her pretty lips pressed together with concern. Seth watched as two little blond, curly-topped heads—obviously twins—peeked from each side of their mother’s hips and stared at him with big blue eyes.
With that blond hair and those blue eyes, Seth thought, there was no question the girls looked like their mother. Given all this commotion, Seth couldn’t help but wonder where the twins’ father was.
Seth glanced at Hannah’s hand. No ring.
“We should X-ray to be sure, though.” The balding doctor continued to stare at Seth’s swollen ankle. “Can’t be too careful, you know.”
“I can drive him to the hospital,” Hannah offered. “Just let me get my—”
“That won’t be necessary.” Seth shook his head, wished that he hadn’t when a bolt of pain shot through his skull. “It’s not broken.”
“So, Mr. Granger—” the doctor slipped his glasses off and settled them in the pocket of his shirt “—along with your ability to fly and scale tall trees in a single bound, you also have X-ray vision?”
“I’ve had a broken bone or two.” Four to be exact, Seth thought, plus he’d been shot once and stabbed twice. He’d be damned if he’d let a twisted ankle get the better of him. “I’ll be fine by the morning.”
“I’m sure you will.” The doctor took a prescription pad out of the black leather bag he’d brought over. “In the meantime, you might want to take some pain medication. I recommend that you stay off that foot for several days.”
“That’s not possible. I need to get back on the road right away.”
Dr. Lansky ripped the prescription from his pad, then handed it to Hannah. “I don’t see any signs of concussion, but keep an eye on him, anyway. Clammy skin, eyes dilated, confusion.”
“Should I change the dressing over his eye?” she asked.
“In the morning should be fine, you can—”
“Hey,” Seth interrupted. “First of all, I’m sitting right here, you can talk to me. Second, I can change my own dressing. And third, I won’t be here in the morning.”
“Whatever you say.” With raised eyebrows, the doctor glanced at Hannah, then looked at the two little girls and smiled. “Mrs. Lansky is outside passing out cookies. You girls want one?”
The children looked earnestly at their mother. Clearly they understood they’d caused all the commotion, but cookies were cookies, after all, and they could only hope.
Any other time, Hannah would have said absolutely not. Any other time, her daughters would be sitting in their room with a major time-out, probably until they were old enough to drive.
But the fact was, Hannah herself was still shaken by the afternoon’s events.