The Protector (Game of Chance, #1)(18)

“Ummmm,” he sighed.

Carlise froze as his hand eased up her thigh to her hip—then under the shirt she wore.

He’d never done that before. His hand seemed huge on her waist, and his thumb brushed against the sensitive skin of her side in a slow caress.

It felt good. Better than good. Her nipples immediately hardened, and the sudden longing for his hand to move higher was almost a physical ache.

“Riggs, JJ is on the phone. He wants to talk to you.”

His hand stopped moving as her words sank in. His head tilted back, and he stared up at her. They stayed frozen for a heartbeat, his warm hand on her bare skin, his leg pressing against her own, his gaze suddenly piercing in its intensity.

“What?” he asked in a croak.

“Your friend. JJ. He’s on the phone. He’s worried about you. You’ve been sick for days, and he wants to make sure I haven’t gone all Misery on you and tied you to the bed or something. He’s threatening to come up here if he doesn’t get to talk to you. And trust me, that wouldn’t be safe. The storm is still crazy out there, and there’s at least two feet of snow on the ground. The drifts are probably double that. I’m not sure he could make it if he tried . . . although I’m guessing that wouldn’t stop him. Please, can you wake up enough to reassure him that you’re okay, and I’m not holding you hostage or something?”

Carlise knew she was babbling, and that JJ could hear every word she was saying, but she was more nervous about the way she felt with Riggs wrapped around her than she was about this JJ person’s opinion of her.

Taking a deep breath, Riggs removed his hand from under her shirt and rolled over onto his back, breaking their physical contact.

Carlise felt almost cold when he held out his hand for the phone.

This was it. The beginning of their end. Not that there’d ever been anything between them, actually. Not really. He’d been delirious, for God’s sake. It was immoral and ridiculous to think there’d been any kind of connection while the guy was out of his mind.

She was starting to scoot off the bed, to give Riggs as much privacy as she could in the one-room cabin—maybe she’d go into the bathroom—when his hand shot out and wrapped around her thigh, holding her in place.

Carlise froze, a frown on her face as she stared down at her leg, where Riggs was holding her. Vaguely, she knew she could break his grip, but she was so startled that she simply sat still.

“JJ?” Riggs said in a husky voice after he’d brought the phone up to his ear.

Carlise couldn’t hear his friend’s side of the conversation, but she held her breath, hoping both men would be reassured after speaking with each other.

“Yeah . . . I feel like crap . . . uh-huh . . . I don’t know . . . what day is it? Seriously? Damn. Yeah, I felt it coming on when I heard something on my porch. Went out to investigate and saw a pathetic dog. It wanted me to follow it. I did, and that’s when I found Carlise.”

He met her gaze, and Carlise inhaled deeply. She’d been wondering what in the world had brought a very sick Riggs out into the storm. It seemed the dog truly had saved her. He’d led Riggs right to her.

She was extremely relieved that he seemed to remember. Glad she wouldn’t have to explain who she was and why she was in his cabin in the middle of a storm.

Riggs listened to something JJ was saying, then continued speaking. “I know, man. I have no idea, but I’m good. Yeah, promise.” He looked around the cabin, then locked eyes with Carlise again. “It looks like she’s got everything under control. I’m weak as hell. I’m not going anywhere for a few days at least.”

He frowned slightly, then, “No, it’s fine. JJ, she’s at least fifty pounds lighter than I am, a few inches shorter, and if she wanted to do something to me, she’s had three days to do it. We’re fine. Okay . . . yes, if I need anything, I’ll let you know. Right. I haven’t asked, but I’m assuming she has a car out there somewhere, which is probably buried by now. Uh-huh. Right. I’d appreciate that. The last thing I need is Cal or Bob showing up on my doorstep. Thanks. No . . . Why? What’re you going to say to her? Fine. But don’t scare her. I mean it.”

Then Riggs held the phone out and said, “JJ wants to talk to you again.”

Carlise stared at the phone for a moment before accepting it. She expected Riggs’s hand to move, but it didn’t. It stayed clamped on her leg.

“Hello?” she said tentatively into the phone.

“I’m sorry,” JJ said without hesitation. “Chappy is one of my best friends, and he’s never had anyone up at that cabin except for me and our other friends. When you answered his phone, I panicked. I’m truly sorry if I scared you.”

“It’s okay,” she said softly.

“It’s not. But I’ll do what I can to make up for it. You drive up there?”

“Uh . . . yeah. I got lost. When the snow got really bad, I drove off the road into a tree and got stuck.”

“You’re lucky Chappy found you.”

“I know.”

“What kind of car?”

“What?”

“What kind of car do you have?”

“A Honda CR-V.”

“Four-wheel drive?”

“Yeah.”