Billionaire Bachelors 7 ; The Billionaire's Final Stand(25)

Kinsey sighed as she stepped outside and was instantly and irritatingly soaked. You'd think she'd be used to the Seattle rain by now. But she hated getting drenched, always shivering as she waited for the 'consistently late' bus.

No one else was standing with her as she did her best to stay dry. She was looking at the ground when she heard a car horn. She ignored it until it beeped again. When she looked up, her eyes locked with Austin's. She sent him a miserable glare.

"Get in. I'll give you a ride," he hollered.

"No thanks," she answered before turning away and looking down the street, hoping to see the bus down the block. She was out of luck.

"Come on, Kinsey. Am I really so bad that you'd rather get drenched than accept a ride? It's too late for you to be hanging out on the street, anyway."

Kinsey thought about it as another shiver racked her body. Finally, her low tolerance of the wet, cold and dark won out and she reluctantly rose. Though miserable, she took her time walking over and climbing in. She felt a bit of evil glee as she soaked his seat.

The blast of the furnace blowing hot air in her face made her feel like giggling. It was such a welcomed relief. As the heat started seeping through her clothes, she couldn't stop the tremors racking her frame. The harder she tried, the worse they got. She locked her jaw, but her teeth kept on chattering.

Austin gave her an 'I told you so' look that she chose to ignore.

"Where's your car?"

"In the shop, again," she replied. Her car had a mind of its own and decided when and where it wanted to work. She really needed to get another one, but she couldn't stand spending some of her hard-earned savings.

"Where you headed?" he asked as he put the car into drive and started moving down the busy street.

"I'm just going two miles down the road to the super center," she replied.

"What a coincidence. I'm on my way there, too," he said with a grin directed her way. She'd bet her next paycheck he hadn't been planning on going to the discount center. For that matter, she couldn't imagine him shopping, period. He probably had others do it for him.

They rode in silence during the short minutes to the store. Luck was on his side as he found a close parking space. As soon as he turned off the motor, she reluctantly jumped from the warm vehicle. Her still soaked clothes got even more wet as she ran for the double doors.

Just as she was about to reach the entrance, she caught her toe on the edge of the sidewalk and went flying to the ground, landing in a six inch puddle. The wind was knocked out of her as water flew up her nose. Kinsey was too shocked and numb to feel pain. She was sure her knees were bruised, if not bleeding, and her elbow was most likely going to have a nice scrape, as well.

Suddenly she was hauled into the air and pulled tightly against Austin's chest as he jogged the remaining feet to the entrance of the store. He walked through the doors and took a sharp right, then gently sat her down on a metal bench.

He kneeled before her and lifted up her soaked scrubs to look at her knees. She was too cold and miserable to protest the inappropriate touching. Her teeth chattered as his incredibly warm hands ran down her sore legs. She glanced down, and sighed in relief to see the skin wasn't broken - just bruised.

"I'll be right back," he told her before jumping to his feet and jogging away.

For once she didn't argue. He returned in less than ten minutes holding a sack. Then he gently picked her back up and moved toward the bathrooms. Before she realized what he was doing, he walked inside the 'family care' room and shut and locked the door behind them.




 

 

Without saying anything, he stripped her coat off, dropping it on the large sink counter, then grabbed the bottom of her scrub top and hauled it over her head. When his hands reached for her pants, she regained some semblance of control and stopped him.

"What are you doing?" she tried to snap, but the effect was ruined by her chattering teeth.

"You need to get out of these clothes. You're actually turning blue. I've never before seen someone turn blue, just heard the expression, but I'm worried about you getting hypothermia. I'll turn my back if you want to finish, but the clothes need to come off, now," he answered.

"F..f … fine," she stuttered. Dang the chattering.

Austin handed her a new towel with the tag still on and she wrapped it around her arms, grateful he'd gotten a large beach sized one. Just getting rid of the jacket and top was helping her fight off the chill. With trembling fingers she gripped her scrub bottoms and tugged them down her legs. It was difficult since they were plastered to her body, but she finally managed to kick them off.

She ran the towel across her body, still wearing her wet bra and panties, but not willing to fully strip, though he was staying true to his word and keeping his back to her. She'd make him leave the room, but then someone could walk by and see her in a nearly nude state. She didn't know which was worse.