Read Online 01 Do You Believe in Magic - The Children of Merlin by Susan Squires - Free Book Online

the
television was saying something about the unusual number of
hurricanes this season. He fumbled for the remote and cut the guy
off in mid-sentence. “Come in. Come in,” he managed, just as she
looked like she’d decided to bolt.
    She took a step into the room.
“I was in Reno, uh, for some... some supplies and I thought I’d
just see if you turned out paralyzed or something.” She closed her
eyes, looking disgusted. “Sorry.”
    So tact wasn’t her strong point.
“Nope.” He managed to move his very swollen and discolored toes on
the foot that was suspended. “Soon to be fully functional.”
    “Good.”
    The silence stretched. Tris felt
his erection bob under the blankets. Thank God for the tray. He
didn’t want her coming too close. She might see it. She’d think he
was a pervert or something. Especially if she knew it was because
he’d been thinking about her. She shifted her weight from foot to
foot.
    “Well. That’s what I wanted to
know. Hope you get well soon.” She turned.
    “Wait,” he called, racking his
suddenly wooden brain. “Wait.” She half turned. Was that relief
warring with the doubt in her expression? “You can’t go because …
because I’m bored stiff,” real stiff, actually, “and
I’ll probably slit my wrists if I have to watch any more TV.”
    “I’m interrupting your dinner.”
She made a little gesture at his tray. How had he not noticed what
delicate hands she had? Strong, sure. Short nails. But still small
and … feminine. Really feminine.
    “You call this dinner?” He
shrugged with his good shoulder. “I guess.” If you happened to like
Jell-O and overcooked green beans and meatloaf made with sawdust.
He almost pushed the tray away to show her he didn’t care about it
until he remembered why he needed that tray.
    She stood on tiptoe to peer at
his dishes and gave a wry smile of agreement. “Too bad I didn’t
bring you something from Jake’s. You seem like a steak kinda
guy.”
    “Yeah.” They were having a
conversation. An actual conversation. That felt … good. He pushed
the plate away on the tray table so she wouldn’t feel like she was
interrupting anything.
    “No, you should eat.” She took
another couple of steps into the room. “When you’ve got an injury,
you need to keep your strength up.”
    Oh, good. It was the feminine
impulse to take care of wounded things. He knew that one up close
and personal, from his mother. “Keep me company while I try to
choke this stuff down.”
    Her suspicious smile was at
least a little wry. He gestured to a chair. She inched around the
perimeter of the room and sat on the edge. “Okay,” she said.
    He pulled the plate forward and
dug into the meatloaf. “Not sure I really thanked you the other
night. I was, uh, kinda out of it.”
    “You did.” She made a
deprecating motion with her head.
    Okay, she didn’t want to talk
about that. God, the meatloaf is awful . “You get the horses
back to your place okay?”
    “Yeah. Gonna head out for LA
with the first load pretty soon.”
    “Long drive with a trailer.”
    “Not too bad. Five hundred miles
or so. Takes about nine, ten hours in my truck with stops and steep
grades and such. No speeding with a load of horses.”
    He nodded, racking his brain.
“You said you were in Reno for supplies?” Brilliant comment,
Tremaine.
    She looked uncomfortable. “Had
my eye on some … some automatic waterers. Got to come into the city
to one of the big suppliers for those.”
    “Oh.” What did he know about
ranch equipment? Nothing in common with her. Isn’t that a
familiar feeling?
    She glanced around nervously
before she come up with a question.“Your bike totaled?”
    “Yeah. Sheriff said they’d take
it over to a scrapyard for me.” Or he could have it shipped to the
shop in LA. José could probably put it back together. Couldn’t
leave a friend to be scrapped in some foreign place like Reno.
    “Good thing you’ve got your
family to come and get you,