Page 8 of Embattled Ever After
In the light of the streetlamp it was almost blinding. She watched Duncan spin the steering wheel as he pushed a button to engage the four-wheel drive and backed out of the space. He glanced at her as they took off. “Not exactly what you expected, huh?”
Alex laughed lightly. “Well, my cute outfit was a total waste. Should have just worn the parka and gotten it over with.”
He grinned at her. “Not a total waste,” he assured her.
Her heart warmed at the subtle praise. Well, at least he’d noticedsomething; that was good to know.
Duncan had no problem driving through the snow and as promised, he pulled up to the single story house without incident. Luckily, it had an attached garage, completely out of the weather. There was a handicapped ramp along the front of the house, as well as several mature trees.
Duncan pulled into his spot and turned off the ignition, then stepped out of the vehicle. Alex didn’t want him to have to circle the truck to open her door so she quickly gathered up her purse and gloves and slipped out of the vehicle.
She was so glad they were out of the weather, but even in here the cold was brutal. In the time she’d been in Frog Dog, the temperature had to have dropped about twenty degrees. As she looked out the slowly closing garage door, the snow was coming down so hard she couldn’t even see across the road.
Alex heard a noise behind her and turned to see Duncan lifting her snowy suitcase out of the pickup truck bed. “Oh, I can get that.”
Duncan waved her away, though, and motioned toward a door a few feet away. He handed her his truck keys. “If you would, open that door for me. It’s the broad gold key.”
Rather than arguing and making them both uncomfortable, she hurried to do as she was told. She opened the door then stood aside as he dragged her case inside the house. As soon as he let her, she took the case herself.
They were in a laundry-room slash mudroom. Duncan propped his cane in a corner then shed his coat and hung it on a coat hook on the wall, shuffling a few other jackets to give her a free hook. “If you want to leave your case here for a few minutes we’ll let the snow melt off, then I’ll show you where you can sleep. Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
She really didn’t want either, but she asked for a bottle of water just to have something to do with her hands. Duncan led her into the kitchen, a bright open area that seemed to get a fair bit of use, judging by the amount of implements scattered along the counters. Everything was pristine, though. There were no glasses in the sink, or tea towels tossed onto a counter after a use. Everything was in its place.
“Wow,” she murmured. “Nice kitchen.”
Duncan glanced at her, his dark eyes narrowed. “I like to cook. It gets tedious eating take-out all the time.”
Alex snorted, crossing to a stool at a raised breakfast bar on the far side of the island. “You’re telling me. I don’t know what I would do without takeout. Some of it is nasty stuff, but when you have five hours to eat, sleep, shower and get back to work, you shave corners where you can.”
Duncan nodded. “I can see that.”
Crossing to the refrigerator he opened the right side and withdrew two bottles of water. He crossed the kitchen and handed her one. Alex noticed that his limp seemed more pronounced now than it had earlier in the night. Actually, was he limping more than when she’d seen him at the hospital in Kansas City? “Sorry about the suitcase. I know it’s monster heavy.”
Shrugging, he moved to the table and chairs a few feet away from the breakfast bar. “It’s no big deal. Your suitcase was just one of many things I did today.”
Did she dare mention that his limp seemed worse? Yes. She was a doctor, damn it. “It seems like your gait is more painful now.”
That dark-eyed look assessed her again. “It is, but again, not because of your suitcase. I lifted with my upper body. The temperature has dropped significantly in the past few hours. That’s a large part of my pain. And I had a long day of on-site meetings and had to oversee an investigation in a rubber facility. I’ve walked more today than I have in a couple of weeks. Your sixty-pound suitcase was a drop in the bucket. Thank you for your concern.”
Though he said it softly, there was a bite to his voice that Alex didn’t like directed toward her. She gave him an elegant shrug before taking the cap off her water and taking a healthy swallow.
Though he hadn’t actually asked for her opinion she felt a little offended that he didn’t appreciate her concern. Then she realized how egotistical that sounded and laughed to herself. Duncan Wilde seemed to be a man used to taking care of himself and others, but not appreciating the reverse.
She glanced out the window. From the glow of the surrounding lights she could see that the snow was still falling heavily. “How long will this storm last?”
Duncan’s dark brows twitched. “Well, this is Colorado. It could snow for days. Easily.”
Alex sighed, knowing he was right. She’d seen the weather forecasts before. Kansas City got snow as well, but nothing like what Colorado did. “Well, I’ll try to be a proper guest for the time that I’m here then. I appreciate you letting me stay here. I’m sorry if it’s an inconvenience.”
Duncan shook his head as he took a swallow from the bottle of water. “It’s not an inconvenience. Don’t worry about it.”
Alex didn’t say anything as she curled her hands around the bottle, kind of wishing she had coffee in her hand. It was very strange trying to shift down from her hectic work schedule. But the quiet of the evening, with the snow softening everything outside, made her feel like she was moving in slow motion. Jet lag from a two-hour flight? Not likely.
She glanced at Duncan. He was staring at her.
“Why did you come out here?”
Alex frowned. “I told you. To see if anyone had seen Aiden.”