The Texan's Diamond Bride by TERESA HILL Read Free Book Online Page A

“Yes, please. A fire.”
    He went inside, and she turned on the phone and dialed. There was a ton of static on the line, a couple of seconds when she thought she heard Blake, frantic and calling her name, and then nothing.
    Finally, on the fourth try, she could hear him.
    “Hey, sorry about that. I got caught in the storm, but I’m fine,” she yelled into the phone.
    “What?”
    “I’m fine!”
    “Paige—”
    “Out of the mine, taking shelter in a cabin. I’m fine.”
    “Cabin?”
    “Yes. I’m in a cabin. We’ll wait out the storm here. I’ll call as soon as I can. Don’t worry. And don’t do anything stupid, like send someone to get me. You’ll give our whole plan away. Blake? Blake—”
    But he was gone. There was nothing but static now.
    Oh, well. He got the important parts, she thought. She was safe, out of the mine, out of the storm, and he didn’t need to do anything.
    Which would be incredibly hard for her big brother, but Paige had to hope that he’d sit tight.
    She clicked off the phone and opened the door to the cabin to find no real light, just what she had from her own helmet lamp. Slowly panning the room, she saw a roughly made wooden bed in one corner, a giant fireplace, two chairs, shelves with dry stores of food, a sink and what she really, really hoped was a bathroom behind a door in a corner.
    She was still standing on the threshold, literallydripping wet, when the door opened and out came her cowboy, already out of his wet clothes and into a pair of dry jeans, pulling on a dry flannel shirt.
    “I’m afraid there’s no electricity, and I was making too much of a mess to do the fire first,” he said. “Stay where you are. I’ll bring dry clothes to you. Believe me, it’s going to be easier this way.”
    She didn’t argue, feeling like a drowned rat and looking away, not wanting anyone, especially him, to see her looking this bad and grateful that there wasn’t much light in the cabin yet.
    He came back a moment later with a pair of sweatpants and another flannel shirt, even a pair of men’s boxers.
    “Best I have to offer,” he said. “Now, my advice to you would be to get naked right here at the door and drop your clothes where they are. Because there’s only one dry towel left, and I imagine you’d rather have it for yourself and not bring all the water and mud into the cabin.”
    “Did you strip at the door?” she asked.
    “No, I just wish I had.”
    Paige laughed and motioned for him to turn around so she could start stripping. She’d do anything right then to be warm and dry.
    He turned to the side and held up the towel between them. She didn’t think she’d ever taken her clothes off that quickly. Not that it was easy, since everything was heavy with water and her fingers were practically numb.
    But she got them off, leaving them in a sopping pile on the floor in the doorway, then took the towel and wrapped it around herself.
    He just grinned and handed her the dry clothes.
    “Is that a real bathroom over there?” she asked.
    “There’s no hot water, if that’s what you’re asking. But there is running water. Rainwater collection system on the roof, so there’s no shortage of water now. Some semblance of a shower, if you could stand the cold. But there is a toilet that flushes and everything.”
    “That’s it. I’m in love with this place,” she said, heading across the room for the bathroom. “If there were dry socks somewhere, I’d be in heaven.”
    “I’ll see what I can do,” he promised.
    “And a fire? Dry socks and a fire? You are my hero!”
    “Simple girl, are you? Easy to please?”
    “Today I am,” she promised, shutting herself into the tiny bathroom.
    He’d found a candle in the bathroom and left it burning. The room was tiny, primitive, but clean. She rubbed herself down briskly, dismissed completely the idea of a cold shower right now. Maybe once he got a big fire going, she’d try it. For the moment, she hurried into the