Page 28 of Her Snowbound Hero

Garret had meant to call her yesterday and tell her what was going on but each time he’d picked up the phone, he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to upset her since there was nothing he could do about Darcy until the roads cleared, so he’d told himself the conversation could wait. Guilt stirred suggesting that had been a bad decision. “Darcy’s not another woman.”

“She sure as hell looks like one to me.” Ethan’s voice lowered even more. “When I heard she was pregnant, I pictured a house of a woman with a wedding ring on her finger and some guy named Bubba for a husband. Not a cute blonde who looks like she’s simply hiding a basketball under her shirt and no ring in sight. So level with me. Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Garret struggled to grasp what his brother was asking. Sure, Joss was likely to freak a little when Garret told her about Darcy, but she’d get over it. “What do you mean?”

Ethan stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Darcy’s baby? Are you the father?”

“No.Not even close.” Garret grabbed jeans from a drawer, a fresh pullover from the closet. “How can you even think that? I only met Darcy Friday night.”

“Harry’s going to think the exact same thing and he’s going to go ballistic.”

“Darcy and I are two adults—strangers—in a snow crisis. Harry and Joss will understand.” Garret frowned, well aware Harry wouldn’t like Darcy’s presence in his house. But Harry was his boss, not his father and—

And? Harry would be his father-in-law soon. Garret stalked back to the dresser and grabbed underwear. “Eth, she’d just been released from the hospital. What else could I do when all the motels were full?”

“Hey, I would’ve done the same, but my situation is different in a lot of ways.” He smirked. “No one would’ve thought twice about me picking up a woman. You, on the other hand, are all wrapped up in commitment and obligation. This deal with Darcy looks bad so you’d better be prepared for the fallout. People like a good scandal and this has all the makings of one.”

“You’re right.” Garret sighed, frustrated. He hated being the object of speculation and having people leap to the wrong conclusions. At the sharp nudge from his guilty conscience he had to admit that, under different circumstances, those conclusions wouldn’t be far from the truth. Hewasattracted to Darcy. Damn, why hadn’t he thought through the consequences of his actions more thoroughly? He usually was so careful. “Well, you’re here now. That should smooth things over.”

“You better hope it does.”

“I’ll take her to a motel as soon as a room opens up.”

Ethan sniffed again, walking closer to where Garret stood. “Whatisthat smell?” He stopped sniffing and jerked back in horror. “It’syou?”

“It’s…scented oils. Darcy’s an aromatherapist.” Heat crept into his face at Ethan’s expression.

“Wait a minute. Are you telling me—”

“I had a monster headache. She wanted to repay me for helping her out.”

“So shemassagedyou?” Ethan’s gaze narrowed. “You were dead to the world when I got home. Are you sure you didn’t get a roofie in your drink? You’d better hope photographs don’t wind up on the Internet.”

“She didn’t drug me. Trust me when I say I didn’t fall asleep for a long time afterward, all right? I pretended to be asleep so she’d stop.”

Ethan squeezed his eyes shut with a groan. “This just keeps getting worse. She’spregnant.”

“I know. I’ve already called myself every name you can think of and then some.”

Ethan remained silent for a long moment. “For what it’s worth, you wouldn’t be the only guy getting a stiffy around her—if you don’t look below her chest she’s pretty cute.”

Garret wanted to take Ethan to task for the statement but couldn’t, not when he’d thought the same himself. “Just take it easy and don’t give her a hard time, okay? Everything is fine.”

But everything wasn’t fine.Screweddidn’t begin to cover the state of affairs he’d be in if his parents and Harry, not to mention Joss, misconstrued Darcy’s presence. “I’m going to shower. Do me a favor and help her out in the kitchen. Without the attitude, please.”

Ethan headed toward the door, but paused with his hand on the knob. “I understand why you picked her up. Even why you brought her home. You did the right thing. Just be careful. There are a lot of women who’d take one look at you and decide Junior could use a daddy.”

DARCY BREATHED a sigh of relief as both Garret and Ethan left the kitchen. Breakfast had been a chore to get through with everyone pretending Ethan hadn’t said anything to Garret about her being there. Did he seriously think his voice hadn’t carried through the house? She hadn’t made out every word, but the tone was clear. And the tension between them? Neither man would ever win an award for acting.

She blinked back ridiculous tears and plopped another plate on the counter beside the sink. It was stupid to be upset, but she couldn’t help it. Who’d feel comfortable in a place where they knew they weren’t welcome?

Garret cleared his throat from the doorway. “Sorry about that, I had to take the call. And there you go again. Leave those alone, I’ll put them in the dishwasher.”

Ready to escape, Darcy nodded. “Okay. I think I’m going to go try calling my mom again.”

“Maybe this time you’ll have some luck.”

She made her way through the house, glaring at Ethan’s closed door as she entered Garret’s room.Please, Mom, be home.She grabbed the phone from the base and punched in her mother’s number. This time after two rings, the recorded voice told her to leave a message.

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