Page 7 of Cinderella and the Outback Billionaire

‘I’m back,’ she said as she dumped her bags at the door and went around to her side of the tent and began scooping the fine red sand away from it with both hands. ‘Are you awake?’

He groaned. Still in the land of the living.

‘Awesome.’

Under other circumstances she wouldn’t have minded seeing that handsome devil flat on his back and groaning just for her, but this was not that fantasy. She dug faster, wanting a little less weight on her side of the tent so that once inside there would be more room. For all that the tent was supposed to be a two-man job, Reid Blake had done his damnedest to fill it all by himself and the likelihood of them both having to shelter in it for the foreseeable future was high.

‘Can you see anything yet?’ Because she was of a mind to strip off most of her clothes before going inside, seeing as they were caked in dust.

‘No.’

Not so awesome for him.

By the time everything but her clothes was in the tent, she’d broken her promise to not swear for a year.

Reid had somehow dislodged the bandage from his head and had likely been prodding at it with his fingers and then he’d used his fingers to examine his eyes. Either that or he’d started bleeding from his eyes. Either way, hello the stuff of nightmares.

‘What is it? What’s wrong?’

Did he sound sleepy or slurry and did it even matter, what with all the blood loss?

Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, aaargh!

She was panicking.

She wondered if he could sense it.

‘Nothing’s wrong.’ She tried to keep the fear out of her voice and failed miserably. What would she want from a protector she couldn’t see? Reassurance of normality. Something to cling to. Humanity. The ridiculous nature of existence, even. ‘Well, nothing except for the part where the dust is worse than ever so I left my clothes at the door and I’m really hoping you can’t see me because that would be awkward.’ She dragged her backpack closer and unzipped it, spilling everything onto the ground, including her torch. He wasn’t the only one who could barely see in this weird twilight world of dust and—

‘You’re...naked?’

‘Almost,’ she replied as she pointed the torch at the wall and turned it on. Great. Now she could really see the mess he’d made of himself and it was even more terrifying beneath the bright LEDs. He had no colour to his skin other than blood. His left trouser leg was soaked with it. ‘Almost naked, yeah. Better still, I have painkillers. They’re capsules so you’ll have to swallow, but I have water here too. Can you swallow?’

He showed her rather than told her and she sent up a silent cheer as she dragged a sleeveless cotton sundress over her head. ‘Okay, here comes the first tablet. You’re getting three, with a sip of water after each, and then I’m going to clean up your face and do stuff to your leg.’

‘What kind of stuff?’

‘Good, lifesaving stuff.’

‘And you’re going to do this naked?’

‘That’s the way I roll, although I did just pull a dress over my head. But you...what a guy. Half dead and still with the sexy thoughts. I’m impressed.’ She really didn’t want to examine her own response to the wounded man she tended. What kind of woman came across a man in grave danger and thought to herself, I bet skin-on-skin with you would be a glorious thing to experience? She tapped the first tablet against lips that were softer than they looked, and warmer too, and that was a good thing from a first-aid perspective, even if the small contact sent a tingle of sexual awareness through her. ‘Not going there.’

‘Going where?’

‘Straight to hell, most likely. Take your medicine. Don’t make me shove it down your throat, because I will. Have you ever given a cat a worm tablet?’

He laughed weakly, and she caught a glimpse of teeth, a hint of tongue against her fingers and then the capsule was gone. She barely refrained from stroking him as she would an obedient moggy. ‘I don’t want to lift your head up, so get that capsule to the back of your mouth and I’ll pour some water into your mouth and try not to drown you, and then you can swallow. Is that a good plan?’

It was her only plan and she hoped it had legs. Imagine trying to explain to a coroner her part in this man’s death. Yes, your doctor, sir. He drowned in the middle of a dust storm in the desert. Lungs full of water. I’ve no idea how that happened... ‘Are you ready?’ She dribbled water into his mouth and waited way too many seconds until he swallowed. ‘Did it work?’

‘Yes.’

Twice more, he swallowed the pills, and then she ripped the wrapping from a bar of milk chocolate and took a big bite. This was her medication. Food for her frightened soul. ‘Want some?’

‘What is it?’

‘Chocolate. I hear it chases away bad thoughts.’

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