Page 11 of Suddenly Tempted
He was making himself sound more confident than he actually was. He had no idea what they would find here. He walked to the nearest door and opened it, seeing a small bedroom with two single beds pushed to opposite sides. There were blankets on both, but other than them, a small desk, and an empty locker, the room was bare. The girl had opened the door next to it, revealing another room that was deserted except for a few old boxes and a stack of toilet paper.
“Sure, everything we need,” she said, her voice thick with sarcasm.
Devlin grunted at her, then walked to the final door.
Please.Please have a radio.
He opened the door and flicked on the light. Ahead was what looked like a cosy living room, a corner sofa against two walls, a coffee table, a log-burning stove, and a TV table. There was no TV, though, and certainly no radio or phones. Devlin tried to ignore the sense of dread that was rising inside him. He knew from experience that the supplies they didn’t appear to have were essential to surviving this kind of environment. He walked to the sofa and sat down, wincing at the pain in his arm. He’d have to check it soon to see if it was broken, but he was too afraid to find out.
Just like he was too afraid to think about what might happen to them, stranded here on the mountain.
“I don’t see a radio,” the girl said. “I don’t see food. I don’t see medicine. All I see is a sofa and some toilet paper, and we can’t eat either of them.”
“Just give me a minute,” he snapped back. “Can you please just shut up and let me think.”
“Because you’ve done such a good job of thinking about everything so far,” she replied.
He glared at her, but the anger he felt soon dwindled away. She looked so fragile standing there in the doorway, so vulnerable. Her big eyes were fierce, but they were also full of fear. She knew how close they had come to death, and she was probably in shock. She was also turning a bit blue around the lips.
“Listen, lady,” he said, and her mouth fell open in shock.
“Lady?” she interrupted. “You don’t even remember my name?”
He held up his good hand to try to calm her. But she was right, he didn’t know her name. Maybe he was in shock too. Or, more likely, he just hadn’t paid attention when she told him back at the resort. Devlin hated himself a little. He could barely see her beneath the puffy jacket bubbling up around her chin, but just her presence in the room was like his own personal pain relief.
“It’sDarcy,” she shot. “Darcy Wainwright. Which you’d have heard perfectly well if you hadn’t been so in love with the sound of your own voice.”
“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” he said, trying to stay calm. “Can you please just let me think.”
“Sure,” she stated. She walked to the arm of the sofa, as far away from him as was possible to be, and perched there, shivering. “Think away.”
Devlin sighed.
“Okay,” he said. “We need a plan. And the first thing to do is make sure we don’t freeze.” He looked at Darcy, offering a gentle smile, trying not to let the way her lips were vibrating with the cold distract him. “And at the risk of looking like exactly the kind of womanising monster everyone says I am, the first thing we need to do is get you out of those wet clothes.”
Chapter 6
DARCY
How dare he!
Darcy couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. Not only had Devlin practically thrown her into a helicopter and crashed her into a mountain, but now here he was trying to get her to undress. She threw him a look that she hoped he’d feel like a slap around the face, happy to see that it wounded him. His smug smile vanished.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just mean that it can be dangerous to sit in wet clothes. It can be fatal. Trust me, I’ve had hypothermia twice and once it very nearly killed me. I need to change too.”
Darcy raised an eyebrow, feeling her cheeks heat. The idea of Devlin undressing made her brain stutter and heat pool in her, fierce enough to melt all the snow in the Alps.
“Uh . . .” she stuttered, hoping he’d blame her hesitation on her chattering teeth. “Change into what? I didn’t see any closets.”
“I’ll do a thorough search in a minute,” Devlin suggested. “There must be something we can use. I’ll get that fire lit as well. I saw some logs back in the room we came through.”
That thought was a welcome one, too, and Darcy nodded.
“I’ll have a look for some food,” she said. “If this place used to be a science outpost, then there must be something here.”
“Good,” Devlin replied. “Like I said, we’re going to be fine.”
She wished she could be as sure as he was. Through the single small window she could see that the storm was even more furious, snow hurling itself against the building as if the mountain had fists. The sound of the wind was like an army of ghosts, and it sent chills through her. With no food, no clothes, a small amount of wood, and no radio, they’d have to head back out there sooner or later.
