Completely Smitten by Kristine Grayson Read Free Book Online

cover herself up—although part of him wondered why he was doing that. He would never have done so in the past. But then, he wouldn’t have cooked his special sauce for just anyone either. He would have radioed for a plane and gotten the offending tourist off his property as quickly as possible.
    He looked into the bedroom as if he hadn’t known she was gone. Then he looked in the bathroom.
    She was still sitting on the edge of the tub, but she had covered herself. She clutched the washcloth in one hand. The medical kit had fallen into the tub.
    He hadn’t realized how very beautiful she was. In repose, she had been merely lovely, her angular features almost mismatched. But with light in her eyes and animation in her face, she became the most beautiful woman he had ever seen—and he’d seen some world-famous beauties, from Helen of Troy to Emma Lost.
    He attempted nonchalance. He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms. Then he smiled.
    “Hello,” he said, and waited for her response.
    Four
    Ariel clutched the damp washcloth in her right hand. She was unable to move, unable to speak. Her dream angel stood before her.
    His voice was as stunning as he was. Deep, rich, warm. He had a bit of an accent, one that she couldn’t place except by elimination. It wasn’t Southern or Midwestern. It had a clipped edge, but it wasn’t British or Australian, maybe not even European. It seemed almost uniquely its own.
    She hadn’t imagined him. He had carried her from the cliff face. He had brought her here, to his house, and bandaged the wounds on her arms. He had put her in his bed and covered her with his blanket.
    He had held her close, just like she had dreamed.
    He was staring at her, waiting for some kind of response to his greeting.
    “Hi,” she said, feeling like a complete idiot. He had saved her life and she couldn’t say anything other than “hi” ? He probably thought her as dumb as she felt.
    “How’re you feeling?”
    She shrugged. “Pretty good, considering.”
    That was dumb too. She should have told him about the ankle, about the muscles and scrapes.
    His skin glistened. He looked completely robust, the picture of health. “I didn’t realize how badly scraped your legs were.”
    “I’m scraped all over,” she said, and flushed.
    He averted his gaze, as if she were sitting in front of him naked. “I only saw your arms.”
    Was that an apology? “I figured that out from the bandages.”
    She set the washcloth on the side of the tub. She wasn’t going to work on her scrapes, not while the handsomest man she’d ever seen was standing right in front of her.
    “What happened?” she asked. “I mean, after I slid off the cliff.”
    His gaze met hers again, and something passed through his eyes. She got the oddest sense that he was about to lie to her.
    “You landed on a ledge.”
    That wasn’t what she had expected him to say, and yet it felt right. She remembered lying on stone when she first saw him, remembered the eagles flying overhead.
    “How far down?”
    “Thirty feet or so.”
    “Wow.” Falls like that killed people all the time. “I really must be tough.”
    He turned his head quizzically. “What?”
    She grinned. “People always said I was superhuman. I guess this proves it.”
    He grinned back. It added an impish charm to his face. “I guess so.”
    A strange euphoria was building inside her. Maybe it was finally becoming clear to her deep down that she had survived the impossible.
    “No one’ll believe I came out of a thirty-foot fall with scrapes and a broken ankle. Absolutely no one. You didn’t, by chance, make a video?”
    “What?” The grin had left his face.
    “A video,” she said. “To show my friends, maybe sell to those late-night real-life video shows—‘Amazing Disasters’ or something like that.”
    He stepped into the room. “What happened to your ankle?”
    She tilted her leg toward him. “I think I broke it.”
    He stared at her ankle as if