not?” His tone was sharper than he’d intended.
She glared. “Because I changed purses this morning and I didn’t think to put the emergency inhaler in my bag. I was burying my brother. I was not expecting to get crushed by a giant.”
Her voice had a distinct edge to it now, but her eyes glistened with tears. She was more upset than angry. This had to be a nightmare for her and surprisingly, he felt bad for her. Again his conscience was taking him unawares.
He didn’t have time for the demons of his own remorse and he couldn’t do anything about her hurt feelings. Instead, he took her miniscule purse from the seat and dumped it on the floor of the limo. The time for being polite or charming was long past. What mattered now was looking after her as best he could.
“Hey,” she wheezed.
Hairbrush, wallet, lipstick, cell phone, compact—nothing resembling an inhaler. Damn.
“I could’ve just reached in and looked for it,” she protested. Another coughing fit racked her small frame.
“Quicker this way,” he muttered. He tried to fit everything back in the impossibly tiny bag and was alarmed by the ferocity of her coughs. Naturally, the contents wouldn’t fit.
Women’s purses. He’d been all over the world, faced exotic things that had made grown men gawk while he stood unmoved. Still, a woman’s purse seemed just a bit forbidden and slightly mysterious.
He quit trying to shove in the hairbrush and pulled his cell phone back from his pocket. At this point, he’d be better off doing something he was capable of—letting Donner know about the new wrinkle in their situation.
“What kind of inhaler do you use?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“What kind of meds do you need for your asthma?”
“Who are you?” she repeated, breathless with confusion and discomfort.
“I’m someone who’s here to protect you and right now I’m your pharmacist. What kind of meds do you need?”
“An albuterol nebulizer and Symbicort.” She gave him the milligrams. “I think I could use an EpiPen, too.”
“All right.” He typed the instructions into his phone.
Donner replied immediately and Shaun grimaced.
He studied Trevor’s sister as she leaned her head back against the carpet. With all the shards of glass scattered about, it was easier for her to stay on the floor where she’d been originally. Her eyes were closed but he remembered their unusual color—like a single malt scotch.
He took the time to study her smooth, porcelain white skin. She had an exotic mole above her upper lip à la Cindy Crawford and features that were so delicate; she looked like a china doll—except for the wheezing that was growing progressively louder. He focused on her lips for any signs of asphyxia but they were still healthy and pink, not the slightest tinge of blue. Very soft looking, too. He looked away. Now was not the time to get distracted by a very kissable set of lips.
He debated explaining a bit more about what was going on but decided against it. She was struggling to breathe and she needed to be able to concentrate to understand the Pandora’s box that had been opened with her brother’s death. He settled for taking care of her instead. Over the years he’d found that actions tended to speak much louder than words, anyway.
“Do you need to see a doctor?” he asked.
She didn’t open her eyes. “If I get my meds, I’ll be fine.”
He wasn’t so sure about that. He reached for her wrist. “I want to take your pulse.”
She didn’t argue and that concerned him more than anything. He took her hand in his. It was small like the rest of her and her nails were free of polish. Her wrist felt impossibly fragile as he counted the frantic beats. Her eyes were still closed and he took the opportunity to stare at her once more.
Her black skirt was pulled up to midthigh; she obviously hadn’t realized that yet. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t getting an eyeful. He was so distracted by the fact that she wore stockings and a garter belt instead of traditional panty hose that initially he didn’t realize he was gaping. He contemplated the red lace straps attached to gossamer nylons while he tried to take her pulse and glanced back at her face to find her staring straight at him.
Busted. He dropped her hand with a plop.
What was wrong with him? He didn’t get distracted, especially in the middle of work. Of course in the midst of being shot at, he didn’t usually see women in red garter belts with beautiful legs, either. Abigail Trevor was his own personal fantasy come true. Too bad it had to be happening in the middle of a job gone completely sideways.
“Your resting pulse is 120. That’s pretty high.”
“It’s not a resting pulse rate when someone’s shooting at you,” she snapped, pulling her skirt down to hide his tantalizing view. “Can I sit up now?”
He moved back carefully to make room for her. “Sure, if you feel like it.”
“I’ll be able to breathe better that way.” Avoiding the glass, she propped herself up on an elbow.
He was mindful not to focus on her legs or the way her outfit, that wasn’t made for crawling around on the floor of a limo, strained across her chest.
“Please tell me what’s going on.” Her breathing intensified when she hauled herself to a sitting position.
“I’m here to protect you, that’s a promise.”
“You said that. And I suppose if you meant me harm, you wouldn’t be ordering asthma meds.”
He nodded as she continued to wheeze and his phone vibrated. Donner was sending more instructions. Shaun leaned forward to give Carl the new directions.
“Once you get your medicine, we’ll talk.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that,” she muttered but again she didn’t argue and given her earlier behavior, that ratcheted up his concern.
Moments later Carl pulled up in front of the Washington Marriott Wardman Park. Shaun wondered if he could get a severely asthmatic woman through the lobby without attracting attention.
The valet opened the door, no comment beyond a raised eyebrow to find both passengers seated on the carpet surrounded by the remnants of broken windows. Who knew what the man thought? He’d probably seen it all. Shaun and Abigail looked as if they’d been having sex on the floor of the limo, except for the glass bits all around them. Shaun tipped the doorman two twenties as he crawled out.
Glass skittered to the ground when he stood. He reached back to help Abigail get brushed off and out of the car. More shards fell to the pavement with tiny chinking sounds. Carl drove off as soon as the door closed behind her.
Abigail coughed and her eyes widened ever so slightly when she saw where they were. Squaring her shoulders, she walked with him toward a side entrance from the valet stand.
“How
