HER BODYGUARD

“You’re freezing,” she said softly.

“I’ll warm up, don’t worry.” he said, dismissing his well-being like it didn’t matter once again.

“Oh, please. It’s almost as cold in here as it is out there.” She said,NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

Cold and getting colder. Her nose felt like a small slab of ice. She gathered her feet underneath her and wrapped the blankets tighter. It had been a little chilly, even that morning, so she’d worn lacy tights, though she’d been tempted to go without them. Now, she was very grateful for at least that one good choice she’d made in a day and evening of really bad ones.

He tried his phone again. “Nothing,” he told her after a minute.

“What time is it? Do you know?”

He pulled back the sleeves of the jacket and sweatshirt to reveal his watch.

“Twelve-forty,” he said.

She shivered a little. “Already tomorrow…” she said.

She watched as he bent and got the other blanket from the kit under the floor and settled it around himself.

“You mentioned there’s a thermal tarp in there, too.” She said,

He tugged the blanket closer, hunching his head down into the soft folds. “And?” he asked.

“You should use it, get your body temperature back up.” Kimberly said.

He just sat there, a large dark lump in the murky dimness of the cab. Annoyance nipped at her. The man made denial of his own basic comfort into something an art form. Just because she had gotten them into this mess didn’t mean he had to freeze to death before help came.

And then he did bend over again. He brought out the tarp, which resembled nothing so much as a much-folded slab of aluminum foil. It caught what little ambient light there was and gleamed silver. “Here. You use it. You need to stay bundled up until help comes.” he said to her.

She made no move to take it. “You need it more than I do.” She said,

“Take it, Kimberly,” he said sternly.

She looked away. “How long will the flares last?” she asked. Changing the topic.

“Kimberly,” he called.

Slowly, she turned her head to face his shadowed form once more. She asked again, “The flares?”

He was still holding out the tarp. While she only sat where she was, unmoving, waiting for him to answer her, he dropped it onto the seat between them. “I don’t know. Up to an hour, possibly.” he replied.

“And if help doesn’t come by then?” Kimberly asked.

“It will come eventually. The storm will end. In the morning, they’ll have searchers looking for us. We’re on a much traveled highway and there will be vehicles we can flag down as soon as the road is passable again. We only need to keep warm until they find us.” he explained.

She looked at him for a long time. Then she dared to say it. It had been on her mind for a while, but she didn’t know how it would sound. But now she knew it had to be done. So she said it.

“We need to share our body heat. We need to share the blankets and the tarp.” She said,

He sat very still. She felt the intense regard of his gaze through the gloom. Finally, he admitted it, too.

“You’re right.” he said.

They moved simultaneously. He picked up the tarp and started opening it. She helped. It was big, much bigger than the blankets.

When it was fully opened and billowed out over both seats, he said, “I’ll sit back against the door. You sit between my legs. We can wrap two blankets and the tarp around both of us. You can take the third blanket for extra protection on your legs and feet.”

It was a good plan-as much as it covered.

“What about your feet?” she asked.

“No problem.” he replied.

She peered toward the floor. She couldn’t see his boots. It was too dark down there. But she had a very strong feeling that they were soaked through.

“Are those boots waterproof?” she asked.

“They’re fine,” he replied.

“Wrong answer. You can’t sit here all night with wet feet. You’ll get frostbite.” Kimberly said.

“I’m all right.” Asher insisted.

“Oh, stop it. As soon as the storm ends, you’re going to want to get out and stand on the side of the road to flag someone down. You won’t be able to do that if your feet are frozen. But if you take off the boots and get your feet under the blankets and tarp, our body heat will dry your socks-all of which is completely obvious, and you know that it is.” Kimberly said.

He said with exceeding grimness, “You keep talking about body heat.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He sounded so discouraged. Weary to the core. She felt bad about that-really bad. Why she didn’t know.

“Listen to me, Asher . I mean this sincerely. I am very sorry about what’s happened and I know that it’s all my fault. I know the last thing you want to do is to share body heat with me.” Kimberly said.

“There. You just said it again.” he said.

“I’m sorry. Again. But it has to be done.”

“And you have no idea what I want.” His voice was deeper than ever. Rough in a delicious way that made her swallow hard.

Her silly heart got all fluttery. She commanded it to settle down. “We have to do this.” She said,

“Yes,” he said. “I know.”

“So take off those boots.” She instructed.

“All right.” He lifted a foot.

“Here. Let me help.” She said,

He sent her one of those glances. Even through the dark, she could read it. She knew just what he was thinking. It was a bit weird.

But then he surprised her and swung one wet boot her way. She let go of her blankets, took the boot in both hands, by the wet toe and the soggy heel, and removed it, after which he offered her the other one. She took it off, too.

Yes, it did seem a very intimate thing to be doing for him. And it made her so sad all of a sudden, made her realize that nothing would ever happen between them.

She shook her head. She didn’t want anything to happen anyway. She told herself.