Crossed Hearts (Matchmaker Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF Page A

“I’m filthy!”
    The tightening of his fingers was his only response. Leah didn’t protest further. Her legs were stiff and sore; she wasn’t sure she’d have made it up on her own. His hand fell away, though, the instant she was standing, and he stood back for her to precede him into the cabin.
    She took three steps into the warmth, then stopped. Behind her the door closed. Before her the fire blazed. Beneath her was a rapidly spreading puddle of mud.
    Removing her glasses, she started to wipe them on her jacket, only to realize after several swipes that it wouldn’t help. Glasses dangling, she looked helplessly around.
    “Not exactly dressed for the weather, are you?” the trapper asked.
    His voice was deep, faintly gravelly. Leah’s eyes shot to his face. Though his features were fuzzy, his immense size was not. It had been one thing for him to tower over her when she’d been collapsed on the porch; now she was standing, all five-seven of her. He had to be close to six-four, and was strapping to boot. She wondered if she should fear him.
    “Are you Garrick Rodenhiser?” Her voice sounded odd. It was hoarse and as shaky as the rest of her.
    He nodded.
    She noted that he was dressed darkly and that he was bearded, but if he was who he said, then he was a friend of Victoria’s, and she was safe.
    “I need help,” she croaked, forcing the words out with great effort. “My car got stuck in the mud—”
    “You need a shower,” Garrick interrupted. He strode to the far side of the room—the large and only room of the cabin—where he opened a closet and drew out several clean towels. Though he didn’t know who his guest was, she was not only trembling like a leaf, she was also making a mess on his floor. The sooner she was clean and warm, the sooner she could explain her presence.
    Flipping on the bathroom light, he tossed the towels onto the counter by the sink, then gestured for Leah to come. When she didn’t move, he gestured again. “There’s plenty of hot water. And soap and shampoo.”
    Leah looked down at her clothes. They were nearly unrecognizable as those she’d put on that morning. “It wasn’t like this in the movie,” she cried weakly.
    Garrick stiffened, wondering if he was being set up. “Excuse me?”
    “ Romancing the Stone. They went through rain and mud, but their clothes came out looking clean.”
    He hadn’t seen a movie in four years, and whether or not her remark was innocent remained to be seen. “You’d better take them off.”
    “But I don’t have any others.” Her body shook; her teeth clicked together between words. “They’re in my car.”
    Garrick set off for the side of the room, where a huge bed shared the wall with a low dresser. He opened one drawer after another, finally returning to toss a pile of neatly folded clothes into the bathroom by the towels.
    This time when he gestured, Leah moved. Her gait was stilted, though, and before she’d reached the bathroom, she was stopped by a raspy inquiry.
    “What happened to your leg?”
    She shot a glance at her thigh and swallowed hard. Not even the coating of mud on her pants could hide the fact that they were torn and she was bleeding. “I fell.”
    “What did you hit?”
    “Something sharp.” Rooted to the spot by curiosity as much as fatigue, she watched Garrick head for the part of the room that served as a kitchen, open a cabinet and set a large first-aid kit on the counter. He rummaged through and came up with a bottle of disinfectant and bandaging material, which he then added to the gathering pile in the bathroom.
    “Take your shower,” he instructed. “I’ll make coffee.”
    “Brandy, I need brandy,” she blurted out.
    “Sorry. No brandy.”
    “Whiskey?” she asked more meekly. Didn’t all woodsmen drink, preferably the potent, homemade stuff?
    “Sorry.”
    “Anything?” she whispered.
    Garrick shook his head. He almost wished he did have something strong. Despite the warmth of the