Spring River Valley: The Winter Collection (Boxed Set) by Clarice Wynter Read Free Book Online

first-aid kit, but because he’d enjoyed having her soft hands on his skin and seeing the concern in her eyes. “It could use a little second aid, I guess.”
    “ I’ll get the kit.”
    “You don’t have to ,” he said, but he hoped she would.
    “Audrey always says follow-up is vitally important to good medical care. Come on.”
    “Yes, nurse.” He followed her happily out of the office and back to the kitchen. While she cleaned his cut and rebandaged it, he looked her over. Her heavy sweatshirt was still damp, as were his clothes. Though it was warm in the building, the temperature outside had plummeted again. “You know, you shouldn’t go out in these clothes. You’re going to freeze.”
    She plucked at her shirt. “My coat’s dry. I’ll be fine.”
    “But your pants are wet.” He recalled the feel of her round bottom in his hands when he caught her on the stairs. Her sweats fit nice and snug, but the thick material wasn’t going to dry any faster than her shirt.”
    “You don’t have a clothes dryer here, do you?”
    “No, but I do have a solution.”
    She eyed him sidelong. “Oh?”
    “Upstairs there may be a couple of jumpsuits the janitor uses for cleaning. They’re not pretty, but they’re dry.”
    “A janitor’s jumpsuit. Y ay.” Her enthusiasm was underwhelming.
    “Do you want to get into your coat and your car in damp clothes?”
    She pursed her lips. “Not really.”
    “Come on.”
    He led her up the winding stairs to the second floor. To the left lay the bridal suite where wedding parties usually spent happy hour before making their grand entrance down the staircase to greet their guests. He steered Harper away from this plush salon toward a smaller room the employees used for getting changed. The place wasn’t fancy. It had a couple of chairs and metal lockers, a small bathroom, and hanging racks where the wait staff hung their uniforms.
    He pulled two oversized gray jumpsuits out of the closet and handed her one. The embroidered letters RAY adorned the left breast pocket of each suit.
    “You can change in there.” He nodded toward the bathroom.
    She eyed him skeptically for a second, but went in. Her startled yell a second later sent him running to the door.
    “Are you okay? What happened?”
    “Oh, God. I just saw myself in the mirror. You didn’t tell me I look like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.”
    He stifled a laugh. Was she kidding? She was adorable with her hair slightly mussed and tendrils hanging out of her ponytail. Her smudged mascara made her eyes look big and smoky. “You look fine.”
    “I think your wound is affecting your brain.” After a few interesting grunts and groans she emerged from the bathroom, her damp clothes thrown over one arm. She seemed to be swimming in Ray’s jumpsuit, but she’d managed to repair her hair and her makeup, he imagined with nothing more than spit and toilet paper. “You must never speak of this.”
    He couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Are you kidding? I should put this on YouTube. You look great!”
    “I feel like an Oompa Loompa.”
    “Well, the jumpsuits are meant to go over other clothes.”
    “And they’re stiff and scratchy.” She looked down her front, probably without realizing what she was doing. The jumpsuits weren’t the only things that were stiff.
    Grant swallowed. “Lose something?”
    “I can see all the way to the floor.”
    He longed for a look but held himself back. “I’m going to go change. Be right out.” Peeling off his wet shirt and jeans wasn’t easy, but he managed. It felt good to put on something dry that didn’t stick to him. When he emerged from the bathroom, Harper was gone. “Hey? Where’d you go?” Had she left? “Hey, I didn’t mean it about YouTube.”
    “I’m here.”
    He followed her voice across the hall to the bridal suite. She was standing in the doorway leaning on the jamb, her arms crossed over her chest. “This is a pretty room,” she said