Safe From the Dark Read Online Free Page B

feet, clutching the iron
bedpost until her balance reasserted herself.
    Her
suitcase and laptop sat by the door, along with a pile of towels – another
pleasant surprise. Evie felt a twinge of guilt. She hadn’t been at her best
yesterday, and while she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she
had to admit that her night would have been worse without Colin’s take-charge
attitude. If she was planning to live here, she had to make friends. She
shouldn’t let herself become irked by the mayor’s high-handedness or his
annoyingly sexy smile.
    I’ll
call and thank him. Later. Shower first.
    The
thought of hot water pushed Evie to gather clean clothes and towels and make
her way into the connecting bathroom. Ten minutes later she was standing half
under the hot spray, blissfully rinsing shampoo from her hair while she
carefully kept her bandages dry. The water did wonders for her stiff muscles,
and while Evie pulled on jeans and a soft cream-colored sweater, she was amazed
at how much better she felt after a good night’s sleep. Squeezing the excess
water from her hair, she ran a quick brush through it, her mind on breakfast.
    She
stepped into the living room and stopped short.
    Colin
Daniels was sitting at her kitchen table, drinking tea and reading the
newspaper like he belonged there. He was still in the same clothes from
yesterday, but he’d obviously showered, his dark hair still damp. Evie tried to
ignore the idea of Colin in the upstairs shower, soapy and hot, but a quick,
shocking pulse of interest had her clenching her thighs.
    “Hey,
you’re up!” He smiled and set the paper down.
    “I
thought you’d be gone by now.” Okay, that wasn’t the best thing to blurt out
when trying to make a fresh start. Clearly Colin didn’t think so either, as one
eyebrow went up and the smile vanished. Evie took a fortifying breath and tried
again.
    “Sorry,
I’m not quite awake yet. Thank you for getting my things. And for calling the
doctor. I didn’t realize that I’d pushed myself so hard. I was in a hurry to
get up here.”
    Colin
considered her for a long moment, and then smoothly got to his feet, the easy
smile returning to his face.
    “Anytime.
I polished off the Thai, so there’s nothing left to eat unless you like baking
soda or rat poison. I can run into town and pick up a few things.”
    “Don’t
worry, I’ll be fine. I just need to get my car – ”
    But
Colin was shaking his head.
    “You’re
going to need a tow truck to pull it out, and Pete’s not going to be able to
make it up until this afternoon.”
    Evie
blew out a frustrated breath, and Colin grinned.
    “You’ve
been in the city too long. Things up here take time.”
    “It’s
going to take a while to get used to that,” Evie admitted.
    “Jocelyn
said to take it easy, so why don’t you just hang out – ”
     “Look,
I can’t just sit around all day – it’s not me. But you don’t need to babysit. I’ve
got a bunch of errands to run. If you wouldn’t mind dropping me in town, I can
find my own way back.”
    Colin
shook his head, laughing.
    “How
about a compromise? Let’s go to Mary’s and get some breakfast, and then you can
run your errands and stock up. When you’re ready to go, I’ll give you a ride
and make sure you don’t collapse on the way back up the hill. It’s close to
home anyway. Deal?”
    Evie
only hesitated a moment before shaking his hand, and wondered if he felt the
tingle where their skin touched.
    “Sure.
Thanks.”
    She
started to pull her hand back, but he held on, tugging her a little closer.
    “Evie,”
he said softly, “I don’t know what happened to you, but it’s a small community.
We look out for each other. I hope that someday you’ll feel at home here.”
    He
let her go and started for the door, leaving her to follow, sudden tears
pricking behind her eyes.
      I’m
a mess, she thought as she grabbed a jacket and hurried after him. She was
so used to judgment and condemnation