Stay With Me, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 5) (21 page)
Read Stay With Me, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 5) Online
Authors: J.H. Croix
He grinned. “No need to ask.”
She returned his grin and unzipped the tent flap, disappearing through it. He dug through his own backpack and tugged out another set of clothes. Moments later, he was lacing up his boots when he heard a shuffling sound and then a thump. Lacey’s sharp cry was distinct. He scrambled out of the tent to find her on the ground by the blackened fire circle.
Peter and Chad, two of the photographers on the trip with them, were nearby. Chad was kneeling beside Lacey. “You okay?” he asked.
Quinn raced to Lacey’s side, kneeling down. “What happened?”
Lacey had fallen in a tangle, her legs crossed at the ankles. She started to move, all but swatting Chad and Quinn away, but her hand flopped on the ground. Quinn eased an arm around her back, propping her weight against him. “Easy. Tell me what happened.”
Lacey shook her head. “I can’t see well. Everything’s all blurry.”
Chad caught his eyes. “She said a minute ago that her legs felt tired and then all the sudden she collapsed.”
Quinn’s doctor brain switched on and he started rifling through possibilities right away. Given her slip yesterday, it could be related solely to that, or it could be something else. Right now, he just needed to get her comfortable.
“Let’s get you over to one of the chairs.” He and Chad slowly eased her up.
He could sense her irritation. The fact she didn’t shove them away and stand on her own concerned him. Once she was seated in a camp chair, he stood and glanced around. “Can you grab me that water bottle?” he asked, gesturing to Peter who’d been waiting nearby while he and Chad had helped Lacey to the chair.
Peter snagged the water bottle in question and strode in his direction. Quinn met him on the way. “Notice anything before she fell?” he asked, his voice low.
“Not much more than what Chad said. She mentioned her legs felt tired. Before that, she seemed, I don’t know, kind of out of it. Just for a minute or so and then she fell.”
Quinn nodded as he took the proffered water bottle from Peter. “Thanks. We’ll give her a few to see if she’s feeling better. Hope you guys don’t mind.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “Of course not! You’ve already given us the best trip we’ve ever had. We’re happy to sit tight as long as we need. Don’t even worry about it.”
“Good to know. Let me see how she’s doing.”
Quinn headed back to Lacey’s side, hooking his hand around a camp chair on the way over and setting it down beside her. “Have some water,” he said, handing her the bottle.
She accepted it from him and took a long swallow. After she lowered it, he noticed her grip was shaky, so he reached over and took it from her. “How you feeling now?”
She canted her eyes to his and he saw fear in their depths, such an unusual feeling for Lacey, it worried him. “Weird. I feel weird,” she finally said. “After I came out of the tent, I just started to feel funny. One of my legs felt numb and both of them felt weak. For a second, I couldn’t see right and then I just fell. That blurry thing is gone and my legs are starting to feel more normal, but it’s just weird. What the hell happened?”
Quinn’s mind flipped through possibilities, but he didn’t want to go there right now with her. “Maybe your fall was a little harder than you thought. Let’s see how you feel after a little bit. You still up for coffee?”
She grinned and nodded emphatically. “That might be just what I need.”
* * *
T
wo days later
, Lacey made her way along the gravel path leading to the airstrip that would fly them out of Katmai and back to Diamond Creek. After her odd episode the other morning, she’d had some of Quinn’s coffee and felt like herself after that. The rest of the trip had been uneventful. Well, they’d had a close encounter with a brown bear and breathed a sigh of relief after they avoided two mama moose and their calves. Quinn was taking up the rear as they made their way to the airstrip. She could hear the whirr of the plane’s prop in the distance. She glanced skyward and suddenly her vision blurred again. She stopped right where she was and shook her head. Just like the other day, her legs felt weak and one of them started tingling. “No, no, no, no,” she mumbled to herself. She must have looked up too quickly. That’s probably what happened the other morning. She ignored the weakness and tingling and started walking again. Her right leg wouldn’t cooperate. She felt as if she was dragging it behind her. On sheer will alone, she kept trudging along the path.
Before she knew it, Quinn was at her side, catching her as she fell. His hold was so strong, steady and sure. She just let go because she couldn’t hold herself up anymore. The last thing she remembered were Quinn’s amber eyes locking onto hers. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
C
oming Soon
!
When We Fall
(A Last Frontier Lodge Novel)
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hank
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iamond Creek Alaska Novels
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ast Frontier Lodge Novels
Christmas on the Last Frontier
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atamount Lion Shifters
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host Cat Shifters
T
o my dogs
who make life fun, to my hubby who keeps inspiring me, and to some feathered friends who have kept me laughing this summer. Always: my readers. Hugs and gracious thanks for your support!
B
estselling
author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in the historical farmlands of Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. Croix writes sexy contemporary romance and steamy paranormal shifter romance with strong independent women and rugged alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. Take a walk on the wild side of romance with her bestselling novels!
