Snowbound - Harlequin.com

124 SNOWBOUND
Crap. Oh, crap. He’d heard a tree limb snap. That’s all.
But he’d seen blood. A jet of it, spraying the snow
with red. God. Maybe not. More dazed than he usually
was when he snapped out of a flashback, he stared at
the face of the woman he held pinned down.
She saw something in his eyes and went still. “Are
you all right?” she whispered.
“No.Yes. Damn.” Voice guttural, he rolled to one side.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Just stand up. No one
noticed anything.”
Adrenaline still pumping, physically battle-ready,
he got up with her. All three boys were on their feet
laughing. They weren’t soldiers; they were kids. No
blood dyed the snow a shocking crimson. He reached
up and scrubbed a gloved hand over his face.
“Ms. Mac, we’re going in,” Erin said.
Fiona had been staring worriedly up at him. He
couldn’t make himself meet her eyes, but he felt her
gaze. Now she turned her head.
“Cold?”
“My feet are ice blocks,” one of the girls said.
“Mine, too.” Willow, he thought.
“I’m going in,” Amy declared.
His brain was moving sluggishly, but he realized
that Amy wore boots, and hadn’t taken a turn with the
snow shovel.
She’d have been useless anyway.
“Give me just a few minutes and I’ll be in as well,”
Fiona told them.
“First bath!” one of the voices claimed, as feet
thudded on the porch boards.