Page 65 of In Hiding

The look on her face said it all.

Fuck.

“Sarah?”

She stood stock still, her chest barely moving. Her eyes were wide and frightened, her skin had paled to snow white and she stared at him with her mouth open as a tear spilled down her cheek.

She swallowed. It was as if the action released her from her paralysis. “What the hell is going on?”

“I can explain.”

Without looking down, she patted the table until she picked up a page from the file. She waved it in the air. “You knew?”

Words failed him. He nodded. “Yes.”

“How?”

“I know a private eye. I asked her to find you.”

She swayed dangerously to the left before righting herself. Glancing at the paper, she shook her head. Green eyes turned hard and her jaw clenched. She threw the paper back on the table in disgust before glaring at him.

“You’re fired. Pack your stuff and go.”

“Sarah,” he protested as she stormed toward him. “Please. Let me explain.”

She stopped at his side and looked at him with repulsion. “No. You lied. You manipulated me and that is unforgivable.”

Before he could stop her, she fled out the door into the cold. Her boots still sat at the door and her coat hung on the peg, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. Jake chased after her, knowing her body wouldn’t cope with the freezing conditions.

By the time he got to the veranda, rain fell in thick sheets again. It soaked through her knitted sweater and drenched her hair as she stumbled through the knee-deep snow but somehow, she kept moving toward the main house. Jake ran after her, calling her name.

Either she didn’t hear him or she ignored him, but as he watched, her progress slowed to little more than one painful step after another. A second later, she fell to her hands and knees, her body shivering with such ferocity he feared for her life.

“No!” she screamed when he reached her side. “Back off.”

“Sarah, come on.”

As if in response, the rain became sleet and slashed at them. Every impact stung his face, and he could feel the cold seeping into his muscles. Unprotected as she was, she had to be losing body heat and control by the second. He put a hand on her arm. She flinched and glared at him with eyes so full of hurt it brought him to his knees.

“Please, Sarah. You’re freezing.”

Her teeth chattered so hard he thought she’d chip a tooth. “You’re an ass, Jake Langley.”

He nodded. “I know and we can discuss that later. First, we need to get you to safety.”

She shook her head but had no strength left to fight him. He stood and lifted her by the shoulders. Scooping her into his arms, he turned back to the guest house. He slipped on a patch of slush and went down on a knee, the crunch in the joint sending a zing of pain through his thigh, but he gritted his teeth and pushed on.

Inside, he set her on the sofa and grabbed a blanket. Wrapping it around her shoulders, he sat beside her.

“You need to let me explain.”

She glared at him. “I d-d-don’t n-need to d-d-do anyth-th-thing.”

Her blue lips scared him half to death and reminded him of how perilously close she’d come to disaster a few weeks ago. He needed to get her out of those wet clothes or she’d lose too much body heat. But how? She sure as hell wouldn’t let him undress her.

Standing, Jake went to his room and found a pair of trackpants and a heavy-knit sweater. They’d be too large for her, but they were all he had. On the way back, he grabbed some towels for them both.

“Here.” He dropped the clothes beside her. “You need to get dry before you go into shock.” He handed her a towel. “I’ll do the same, but I’ll give you some privacy.”

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