He clenched his teeth and breathed in deep. The smell of the antiseptic almost gagged him. He tried not to think about what she was doing until she was done cleaning his wound. Then she used the butterfly bandages to keep the cut together. At least the stinging was over.
As she worked, he tried to ignore the feeling of her hands on his chest. Outside of the pain, her touch felt amazing. Man, he needed to get himself under control. Finally, she taped some gauze on it to catch the blood.
“There, you’re all fixed up.” She patted his chest.
He grabbed her hand. The warmth of her skin radiated through him. She blinked and looked away, but he tilted her chin toward him and she met his gaze. Her eyes were the color of the sky on a cloudless day. “Thank you.”
She swallowed. “You’re welcome.”
He let go of her hand and she stood, gathering the first-aid supplies. He sat up. “Just don’t tell anyone I screamed. It would ruin my reputation.”
She snorted. “Yeah, I can just imagine what your reputation was in prison. A rich guy like you tossed into the clinker with all those hardened criminals.”
He sobered. He didn’t want to think about prison or how he’d almost been killed twice. “Yeah.”
She ignored his tone. “I bought a ham for us. I figured it would last a few days, at least.”
He stood, tossed his T-shirt on the couch and followed her into the kitchen. “Ham sounds delicious.”
Her gaze flickered to his bare chest. “And I got potatoes.”
“We’ll have a feast.”
She picked up the package of T-shirts she bought yesterday and tossed them to him. Then she pulled out a spray cleaner and started spraying the countertops. She must have spent quite a bit of money at the store. He wondered how much she had left.
He pulled a clean shirt on over his head. “I’ll need to get my brother to wire some cash. Maybe I can run into town this evening.”
Meg shot him a worried look. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Exhausted.”
“Then worry about it tomorrow.”
He scratched at his stubble. It was probably best to wait so he didn’t run off the side of the mountain if he got drowsy while driving. “Okay.”
She wiped the counters with a rag. “If you can get a fire going out back, I’ll cook us the ham.”
“Will do.” He’d been chopping wood while she’d run to the store. It wouldn’t take long to get a fire going.
Meg looked like she wanted to say something else but hesitated. “What?” he asked.
“If we could find a lake or something to bathe in, that would be nice too.”
“There’s a stream about thirty yards out back but it’s water from the melting snow, so it’s freezing.”
Disappointment settled across her features. “Oh.”
“Maybe I can bring up a few buckets and heat it over the fire. Then you can sponge bathe.”
She gave him a smile. “Okay.”
He liked it when she smiled, but he pushed that thought out of his head. He couldn’t be making any moves on Meg. She’d just come out of a terrible relationship. She was in no place to start anything new. Plus, his life was a complete mess right now.
He walked through the screen door. It was one of those old ones without a door closer, just a chain, and a spring so it slammed shut. The fresh smell of pine trees greeted him. He reached down and picked up the ax. It had been left outside, propped up against the house, and the wooden handle was rough. It looked like the ax head could pop off any second. At least it held while he’d chopped wood earlier. He grabbed another log and set it on the chopping stump. He’d sleep well tonight. He was so tired, he almost couldn’t lift the ax.
As he got into a rhythm of chopping and lifting, his mind wandered to his brother. Nicholas. His biggest support system. He probably shouldn’t forget Zane too, his childhood best friend. Having Nicholas and Zane on his side was important to Cade. He, Nicholas and Zane had gone through a lot together. Zane had grown up in the foster care system and had spent every summer pretty much living at Cade and Nicholas’s house. He was like another brother.
Cade swung the ax down, hearing the satisfied thwacking noise as it chopped cleanly in half. His childhood had been ideal until his mother died. Nicholas had turned to drugs, and Cade had buried himself in schoolwork. After college Cade built himself a successful business, hiring Zane as soon as he could afford it. And he and Zane watched as Nicholas spiraled out of control with his addiction. When Nicholas was finally at rock bottom, Cade had dragged him to rehab, promising him a job if he got his life back together.