Page 10 of SEAL by Fate

Having no clue about the situation, he felt relief that she had backed out. Instinct warned him that she’d been in trouble and things would have been far worse if she’d gone through with the marriage. Uncapping the lid to the bottle, he handed it over and she sipped. “Not too much. It’s possible you have a concussion.”

“I’ve lost my clothes,” she muttered.

“Sorry. They were wet and I took them off.”

She blinked. “You did?”

Would she slap him? “Yes.” He wouldn’t blame her if she did.

“I’m glad to get that horrible thing off,” she mumbled. “Is this your place?” She tried sitting up but squinted and touched her temple.

“No. I found the key in your coat.”

“I think I have some aspirin in my purse…ahh, wait…I don’t have my purse, do I?”

“I didn’t see it in your car.” His mind came up with a dozen questions, but he didn’t want to bombard her, not when he could see she had a headache. He could use an aspirin himself.

“I didn’t get very far walking, did I?”

“You wouldn’t have gotten far in those shoes you were wearing.”

“The only other option would have been barefoot.”

“I need to know. Should I be on the lookout for a rejected groom?” He didn’t want any trouble, unless it came to him protecting the beauty.

There was a hesitation that spoke volumes, and it contradicted her response. “No.”

Gray nodded, not feeling convinced, but he wouldn’t pressure her. Fact was, neither of them were going anywhere tonight, maybe not tomorrow. This definitely wasn’t how the night was supposed to go down, but maybe a twist of fate kept him from making a big mistake that could have cost him his life. Sleeping Beauty—or rather, Stormy seemed okay and by morning he hoped she was much better. Tomorrow he could walk back to the accident scene and see if there was a chance he could get the sports car out of the snow, but the Jeep wasn’t going anywhere until a tow truck could make the mountain. He had his gun safely tucked in the closet and they had a roof over their heads. When the sun came up he’d devise a plan, but for now, he’d attempt to relax and hope the aching in his knee and arm didn’t get worse.

He watched her eyes drift shut and that was his cue to retire to the bedroom and grab some winks too. Dropping into the bed, his head had barely hit the pillow when he closed his eyes and was out like a light.

*

Phantom smiled. His plans were coming together. Even Mother Nature worked in his favor. He touched his arm in thought. The bullet wound had healed, but his anger hadn’t. He didn’t like anyone getting in the way of his plans and Agent Carlisle had made a dire mistake when he foiled Phantom’s plans.

Soon—very, very soon—he’d show the lawman.

Phantom clicked on the TV, scrolled through the channels and stopped on a news channel. There was breaking news on another soft target attack. This made him thirsty, but he had to stay focused on his plans. He’d spent too long waiting for the day that he’d see Carlisle pay the price.

Patience was a virtue.

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