senses went on alert. “Put the call through,” he instructed.
There was a moment of silence, followed by Brenda’s voice politely saying, “Mr. Ritter is on the phone now.”
“This is Jeff Ritter. How can I help you?”
“Oh, Mr. Ritter. Hi. I’m Julie, a volunteer at the shelter. Ashley and Maggie Churchill are here. The problem is Ashley is very sick. Too sick to stay, but she’s refusing to go to a hospital. As she only seems to have the flu, I can’t blame her. But we don’t have the facilities to take care of her. We found your card in her jacket pocket and I was wondering if you’re a friend of the family.”
Jeff knew what she was asking. Would he take responsibility? He reminded himself that Ashley Churchill had already refused his offer to pay for a hotel. Then he remembered the defeat in her eyes when she’d seen the ruin that was her home. She was sick, she had a child and nowhere to go.
It wasn’t his problem, he reminded himself. He didn’t get involved. Not ever. According to his ex-wife he had the compassion of the devil himself and a heart made of stone. Telling the shelter volunteer he wasn’t anything to the Churchill females was the only thing that made sense.
“Yes, I’m a friend of the family,” he said instead. “I’ll be right there to pick them both up. They can stay with me.”
Chapter Two
Ashley tried to remember when she last felt this horrible. It wasn’t just her unsettled stomach, the pounding in her head or even the weakness that invaded her body. She’d reached the absolute low point of her life. In one morning she’d lost her job and her home, and now she and her daughter were being thrown out of the temporary shelter. In her head she knew that it was wrong of her to stay and expose everyone to the flu. There were several elderly residents, along with mothers with babies. But in her heart she felt incredibly alone. Where were she and Maggie supposed to go? She didn’t have the money for a hotel, and even if she did, Ashley knew she was close to physical collapse. If—or rather when—that happened, who was going to watch over her daughter?
Involuntarily her eyelids closed. She desperately wanted to sleep. She wanted this horrible nightmare to end. And just once in her life, she wanted someone else to take charge and make everything better. She wanted to be rescued, just like in those fairy tales she read to her daughter. However, it seemed unlikely a handsome prince would show up to take her away from all her troubles and…
A shadow fell across the cot. Even with her eyes closed Ashley noted the sudden darkening. She forced herself to gather her last bit of strength and look at her visitor. Probably the shelter volunteer, Julie something, who had gently explained she couldn’t stay.
But the person looming over her wasn’t a too-perky student from the nearby college. Rather he was tall, silent and frighteningly familiar. Not a handsome prince, but the evil wizard—a creature both powerful and deadly.
She knew she was hallucinating, because there was no way her soon-to-be ex-boss was really gathering her up in his arms. She was still lying on the cot, imagining it, she told herself even as powerful male strength surrounded her. The illusion was surprisingly real and in it, he carried her as easily as she carried Maggie.
“You’re staying with me until you’re better,” Jeff Ritter said.
She blinked. The voice sounded genuine and she felt the soft whisper of his breath across her cheek as he spoke. Now that she made herself think about it, she could feel the smooth wool of his suit where her hand rested just below his collar at the back of his neck. She blinked, not sure what was real and what was fever induced.
“Are you carrying me?”
Gray eyes stared into her face. “You’re sicker than I thought.”
True or not, it wasn’t much of an answer.
“We can’t—” She pressed her lips together. What couldn’t they do? She couldn’t remember.
“You’ll be safe at my house,” he told her.
Safe? Not likely. Suddenly she was being lowered into nothing. She clutched at Jeff, then sighed in relief when he settled her onto a chair.
“Collect her things,” he said to someone just out of Ashley’s field of vision.
“I’ll get her shoes.”
The last statement, spoken in her daughter’s bright, cheerful voice, brought Ashley back to the land of the living faster than any drug.
“Maggie?”
“She’ll be fine.”
She shook her head slightly and ignored the subsequent wooziness. With a couple of deep breaths, she managed to clear her head enough to focus on the man crouched in front of her. She hadn’t been mistaken—it was Jeff Ritter, all right. Still dressed in his well-tailored suit, still looking distant and the tiniest bit scary.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“Because you’re too sick to stay at the shelter. I’m taking you home until you’re on your feet.”
She wiggled her sock-clad toes and wondered if he had any idea that she felt as if she was going to be sick forever.
“We can’t,” she told him. “I mean, we don’t even know you.”
His steel-gray eyes stared directly into hers. She searched for some flicker of warmth, of humanity, but there was nothing but her tiny reflection in his irises.
“What do you want to know?” he asked. “Should I give you a list of references?”
That would be a start, she thought, but didn’t dare speak the words.
Surprisingly Jeff reached out and touched her cheek with his fingers. Just a fleeting moment of contact, during which she felt heat and amazing gentleness.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to hurt you or Maggie. You’re sick. You need a place to stay. I’m offering one. End of story. I won’t hurt you or pressure you.”
“But…”
“You have anywhere else to go?” he asked.
She shook her head. She wished the answer were different, but it wasn’t. Her solitary job meant she didn’t have any work friends, and she was always rushing into class from dropping Maggie off at school or hurrying out of class to pick up her daughter, so she’d never had time to make friends at the university. Her only acquaintances were her neighbors who were in the same situation she was.
“Mommy, here are your shoes.”
She was more awake now and could offer her daughter a hug and her thanks when the happy little girl returned with her athletic shoes.
Before she could bend over and loosen the laces, Jeff took them from her and began slipping the right shoe on her foot.
The touch of his hand on her ankle was surprisingly intimate. She felt embarrassed and light-headed. The latter sensation could have been from the fever she
