Page 108 of Kiss an Angel

She forced herself to put aside her worries for the moment and enjoy the present. “You’re a brave man.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because this time you’re going to be the patient.”

That night, halfway through the evening performance, the wind picked up. As the nylon sides of the big top began to swell and deflate like a great bellows, Alex ignored Sheba’s assurances that the storm would blow over and ordered Jack to stop the show.

The ringmaster made the announcement in a low-key manner, telling the audience they needed to take down the big top as a safety measure and guaranteeing everyone a full refund. While Sheba fumed and added up the lost revenue, Alex instructed the musicians to play a lively tune to speed the crowd’s departure.

Some of the audience members wanted to hang back in the top’s marquee to keep dry, and they had to be urged along. As he helped with the evacuation, he kept thinking about getting to Daisy and making sure she’d followed his orders to sit in the truck until the wind abated.

What if she hadn’t done as he said? What if she was out there in the wind right now looking for someone’s lost child or helping an elderly person get to a car? Damn it, and wouldn’t that be just like her! She had more heart than common sense, and she wouldn’t think twice about her own safety if she thought someone was in trouble.

A cold sweat broke out on his skin, and it took all his self-control to look reassuring as the crowd filed through. He kept telling himself she’d be all right and even managed a smile as he remembered the dirty trick he’d played on her.

He’d laughed more in the short time they’d been together than he had in his entire life. He never knew what she’d do next; she made him feel like the kid he’d never been. What would he do when she was gone? He refused to think about it. He’d cope, that was all, just as he’d coped with everything else. Life had made him a loner, and that was the way he liked it.

As the last of the crowd left the big top, the wind grew more fierce, and the wet nylon whipped and billowed. Alex was afraid if they didn’t get the top down quickly, they’d lose it, and he moved from one group of workers to another, issuing orders and helping loosen the jumper ropes to get the quarter poles down. One of the workers released a rope too soon, and it lashed him across the cheek, but he’d felt the lash before, and he shrugged off the pain.

Cold rain trickled down his neck and blinded his eyes, wind plastered his slicker to his chest, and all the time he worked, he thought about Daisy. You’d better be in that truck, angel. You’d better be keeping yourself safe. Safe for me.

Daisy huddled in the center of Sinjun’s cage with the tiger curled around her and the rain pommeling them through the bars. Alex hadn’t trusted the safety of the trailer in the storm, and he’d told her to go to the truck until the wind abated. She’d been on her way there when she’d heard Sinjun’s wild roar and known the storm had terrified him.

He’d been left outside, exposed to the elements, while the workers attended to the big top. At first she’d stood in front of the cage, but the lashing of the wind and rain made it hard to stay upright. He grew frantic when she tried to find some shelter beneath the cage, and that left her with no other choice but to climb inside with him.

Now he curled around her like a big old pussy cat. She felt the vibration of his quiet breathing through her back, and the warmth from his body drove out the chill. As she huddled closer against his fur, she felt nearly as peaceful as she’d been only hours before when she lay in Alex’s arms.

Daisy wasn’t in his truck.

She wasn’t in the trailer.

Alex ran through the lot, frantically searching for her. What had she done this time? Where had she gone? Damn it, this was all his fault! He knew how scatterbrained she could be, and he should have watched her better. The moment the storm broke, he should have carried her to the truck and tied her to the wheel.

He’d always prided himself on having a cool head in a crisis, but now he couldn’t think. The storm had eased soon after they’d gotten the top down, and he’d spent a few minutes making a cursory check for damage. Some flying debris had hit the windshield of one of the trucks, and a concession wagon had overturned. They had some ripped nylon, but they didn’t seem to have suffered any serious harm, so he set out to find her. When he’d reached his truck, however, she hadn’t been there, and that was when his panic had set in.

Why hadn’t he watched her better? She was too fragile for this life, too trusting. God, don’t let anything happen to her.

On the other side of the lot, he saw a flash of light, but one of the semis blocked his view. As he ran toward it, he heard Daisy’s voice and his muscles went weak with relief. He rushed around the front of the semi and thought he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life than the sight of her holding a flashlight and directing two of the workmen as they loaded Sinjun’s cage into the back of the menagerie truck.

He wanted to shake her for frightening him so badly, but he resisted the urge. It wasn’t her fault that he’d turned into a lily-livered wimp.

As she caught sight of him, her mouth curled in a smile so full of delight that warmth spread all the way to his toes. “You’re safe! I was so worried about you.”

He cleared his throat and took a calming breath. “Need some help?”

“I think we’ve just about got it.” She scrambled into the truck.

Although he wanted nothing so much as to carry her back to the trailer and love her until morning, he understood her well enough by now to know that no amount of bullying on his part would get her out of that truck until she’d made certain all the animals under her charge were safely tucked in for the night. If he let her, she’d probably read them a bedtime story.

She finally emerged and, without a moment’s hesitation, stretched out her arms and threw herself off the top of the ramp into his arms. As he caught her against his chest, he decided this was what he liked the most about her. The way she didn’t hesitate. She’d known he’d catch her, no matter what.

“Did you stay in the truck during the storm?” He planted a rough, desperate kiss in her wet hair.

“Ummm . . . I stayed warm, I’ll tell you that.”

“Good. Let’s get back to the trailer. Both of us could use a hot shower.”

“First I need to—”

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