Read Online The Trouble with Magic (Loveswept) by Mary Kay McComas - Free Book Online Page A

“Would it help to lay down, do you think? That’s why I came looking for you. I had hoped all along that I wouldn’t have to go through with this. I didn’t even prepare a room for you. Was there, I mean, do you have a preference? There are plenty of rooms to choose from.”
    He moaned and closed his eyes, as if making a decision would be too painful a process for his brain.
    “Should go back,” he muttered. “See the hotel doctor.”
    “I don’t have much, but I think I have something for your pain, and you can rest over here on the couch while I make up your bed,” she said, as if she hadn’t heard his suggestion. She eased his leg off the arm of the chair. “Do you think your stomach could tolerate a little soup or something?”
    With a pathetic sigh, he allowed her to assist him to his feet. Taking small, old-man steps and leaning on her heavily—liking the strength beneath the softness of her—he shuffled over to the couch.
    “There you go,” she said, a bit winded with the exertion. “Lay your head down now and rest. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
    “Suite,” he mumbled when he guessed her to be close to the doorway.
    “I’m sorry?” She came back to him, bending low to catch his words.
    “Master suite.” It had been an impulsive choice on his part, but the more he thought about it, the better he liked it. If he couldn’t drum up enough symptoms to make her think he was dying, he could always wear her down by running her cute little behind off.
    “Oh, yes. The master suite. Certainly. I’ll only be a minute.”
    His eyes rolled heavenward as he mentally counted her steps to the door. “Water?”
    “I missed that,” she said, coming back and bending low. She smelled like lilacs. “Can I get you something?”
    He took a deep breath, filling his head with a scent of springtime. “Could I bother you for some water?”
    “I was just going after some.” She patted his shoulder reassuringly. “You rest now. Think happy thoughts.”
    Happy thoughts ... Lilacs. Bubbles. A long black braid sprouting flyaway curls. Pale, flushed naked skin. Fathomless dark eyes a man could get lost in. ... How come his doctor never prescribed happy thoughts?
    Harriet rushed into the room moments later with a mild analgesic and a glass of water. She got to her knees and tended him with unselfish mercy.
    “There,” she said, placing a cool, calming hand to his brow, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to do. “I’ll have your bed made by the time those go to work and then you can go upstairs and, hopefully, sleep the rest of the pain away. I’ll have a nice supper ready when you wake up, and soon you’ll be right as rain again.”
    His groaning grunt was a warning for her not to count on it.
    “Can I get you anything before I go?”
    A feeble shake of his head.
    “I’ll hurry.”
    He opened one eye to watch her go. “Cold,” he said, when she reached the door.
    It was a good sixteen feet from the door to the couch. She crossed them patiently, bending at the waist to hear his newest complaint.
    “I’m so cold,” he murmured.
    “I’ll get you a blanket. Can I get you anything else while I’m at it?”
    “No. No. Don’t want to be a bother. ...”
    “It’s no bother, Mr. Duns—Payton,” she said softly. “I know that what I did is stressful to you. I’m the cause of your pain.”
    No lie.
    “Just ... the blanket,” he said, controlling his deep hardy voice to a sad little whine. “Please.”
    “I’ll be right back.”
    It’s written in stone, sweetheart, he thought, enjoying himself immensely. It was like payback for everything she’d done to him since the first time he’d heard her name.
    He waited until she’d left the room this time and then raised his voice by a hair. “... ice ... pain.”
    “Did you say something?” she asked, hurrying back into the room and over to the invalid.
    “I ... I just thought that perhaps some ice ... a cool compress would