Page 15 of Stranded with the SEAL

“Olivia!” Trevor pounded on the bathroom door, every muscle in his body at the ready. She’d passed out, he was sure of it, and he needed to get in there fast. His mind imagined every hard surface in that bathroom, the hard thunk of bone on porcelain, and blood streaming down Olivia’s face.

He tried the door, finding it locked. He’d have to break it down. “Stand back,” he yelled, just in case she could hear him. “Get away from the door.” There was no response, as he’d expected there wouldn’t be. With a twist of his torso, he kicked in the door. It opened halfway before running into her thigh.

He entered and tapped her cheek repeatedly, calling her name and willing her to wake up.

Her eyes opened and slowly focused on him. “What are you doing?” she mumbled.

“Helping you.”

“I don’t need help. I need hot water so I can take a bath.”

He ran a hand through his hair, sheer frustration bubbling to the surface. “You passed out.”

“No.”

“Yes, you did.”

She bit her lip. “Maybe I just didn’t want to talk to you.”

“You’re joking, right?” His eyes bored into hers, surprised to see they were green, not blue as he’d earlier thought.

“No.” She raised her chin. “I feel like crap, I can’t remember anything, and you’re scaring the hell out of me.”

He raised his eyebrows high. “I’m scaring you? You lock yourself in here with a concussion and a hundred and one things to bang your head on, then you don’t answer me when I try to see if you’re okay.”

She grabbed the sink and got to her feet. “Oh, please. I’m perfectly fine.” She pivoted on her heel and listed dramatically to one side.

Trevor swooped in to catch her. “Oh, you’re fine, all right. Not a damn thing wrong with you.”

She pushed at his chest. “I don’t want you to touch me!”

“I was keeping you from falling over.”

“Let me go.”

He released her and took a step back. “Just don’t lock the door this time.”

Olivia rubbed her arms as if to get rid of his touch. “If it will even close now that you pushed it in. Talk about overkill. What are you, some kind of macho policeman or something like that?”

“Something like that. I’ll go check on your water.”

“Do you want to nail the window shut before you go, just in case I try to escape?”

He crossed his arms. “Olivia, you’re free to leave here anytime you want. I’m not holding you against your will. But there’s a storm raging out there and no shelter for miles — if you can even find it — so I think you’d be better off hanging out with me for the time being.”

Her bottom lip trembled and her voice cracked. “You might want to stop breaking down doors so you don’t scare me to pieces.”

She looked so young, so frightened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think…”

She held up a hand. “It’s okay.”

Damn it all, she was crying, her face crumpling up and her mouth pulling down hard.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, “come here.” He reached for her, but she stayed where she was, eyeing him warily until he dropped his arms. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.

“I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth. Did you drug me last night?”

“Absolutely not.”