“That’s what Marcus used to call me,” he said slowly. “Are you okay?”
“There’s no air in my lungs,” I croaked, looking down my body and then up at where both legs were akimbo, my feet still braced on the door frame. “Why are they still up there?”
“Baby, you hit your head when you landed, and I’m worried you’ve hurt yourself. I just need to—”
Raising a shaky hand, I waved it in the air. “No need, I’m fine. Just need air.”
It took me a good minute to get to the stage where I felt I could move, but with Remy’s help, I managed to get up onto my elbows. Given that my feet were still braced on the door frame, I’d have to push myself away from it to give them space to drop to the ground, but I didn’t have that level of movement back yet.
“Why don’t I open the door so you’ve got—”
“Dude, no!” I choked out, grabbing his arm as he reached for it. “There’s someone in there.”
Remy’s head jerked, and his eyebrows scrunched together, giving him a butt forehead. “What?”
“I was working, and someone came out to attack me, but their shadow warned me, and I got out of there.”
Slowly moving behind me, Remy put his arms under my armpits. “I’m going to drag you down the hall a bit so I can go into your room. Tell me if it hurts at any point, okay?”
It didn’t hurt, but it did feel weird. It was also mildly embarrassing that my legs were stuck in their foot-to-door position for at least thirty seconds as my brain got the message through to them to drop the fuck down.
Once he had space, Remy opened the door and walked into the room, shutting it behind him for some reason. I could hear him opening doors and drawers as he looked around, but given no scuffling or yelling followed it, I figured that was good news.
God, I hoped it didn’t eat him. Remy was too pretty to be the topic of a campfire horror story.
It all seemed to be going smoothly, but then he yelped, and there was banging from behind the door. Getting to my knees, I crawled down the hallway, planning to grab the monster around the knees so Remy could pummel its head when the door opened, and he came running out of my room, almost tripping over me.
“Daddy longlegs,” he panted, bending at the waist and resting his hands on his thighs. “Biggest fucking one I’ve seen in my life.”
That actually was a perfectly feasible explanation, now that the possibility was on the table for the shadow I’d seen.
“Did you kill it?”
“No.” He shook his head and straightened up. “It flew off, and I got out of there after it dive-bombed me.”
Scooting so that my back was to the wall, I mulled over my options. “I need my laptop from in there, but then I can go and sleep on the couch tonight. It won’t be so bad.”
Waving his hand at the door, he panted, “By all means, go in and get it. Just be warned, he likes to attack from above and behind.”
Almost like it’d just occurred to him it might be in his hair, he did a manic head rub and checked the floor.
“Damn,” I whispered, not wanting to risk it. “I’ll just make up for it tomorrow. I did take time off to go to Addy’s today, so really, I should be working overtime.”
“The ranch can do without you for a couple of days, Tana. Work on your book and get ahead instead of staying on track, then you won’t feel guilty about having you-time.”
Huh, that was pretty wisdomous advice.
Slowly and painfully, I got to my feet, wincing when my ass protested. “I think this is going to hurt a helluva lot more in the morning, and it already hurts like a mother.”
I only just held back the scream that almost burst out of me when he suddenly scooped me off my feet, carrying me bridal style toward his bedroom.
“My shower’s still out of commission until I put some drain unblocking gel down it, but my medicine cabinet’s fully stocked with everything needed for sore muscles, bumps, and bruises. It’s kind of a hazard that comes with working on the ranch.”
That I knew well. In my first week, I’d spent every night with ice packs, heat pads, Bengay, and ibuprofen working their magic on me. The bruises got the ice, the heat worked on the muscles, and the Bengay and ibuprofen served to help me get to sleep. It’s incredible what the not-so-modern world of medicine can do when they work in tandem together.
Still shaking off the events of the last ten minutes, I leaned my head into his shoulder. He shouldn’t smell as good as he did having spent all day working on the ranch, but there was no mistaking the smell that was all Remy under the scents of grass and hay.