Maryn thought of those large hands lifting her out of the bed earlier. She didn’t want to be a wussy female, but hewasvery capable. “Just do what you did earlier. That didn’t hurt the stitches.”
Wrapping his hands underneath her arms, he easily lifted her to solid footing. Her face was inches away from his chest. Maryn glanced up, holding his gaze and enjoying having him near when she was upright and semi-lucid.
“Thanks,” she whispered, her voice much huskier than it should’ve been. She cleared her throat.
Tuck stepped back and grabbed a water bottle. “Do you need this?”
She nodded. Tuck lifted it to her lips and squeezed a bit in. Earlier he’d done something similar to give her pain meds, but it hadn’t felt nearly so intimate.
“Do you want to just stand for a few minutes?” He grasped her right elbow as if to support her.
Maryn should’ve told him she didn’t need him to hold her up, she was feeling okay just standing here, but she liked his touch too much to say anything. “Could we go down to the basement and check on Max? I want to thank him for saving my life.”
“I thought I was the one who saved your life.” The glint in Tucker’s eyes told her he was teasing. “Are you sure you’re up to that many stairs?”
“If I’m not, I’m sure you’ll carry me.”
He lifted his eyebrows and then swept her off her feet before she could tell him she’d been teasing. Maryn couldn’t lift her hands too high without tugging at unhealed flesh so she placed them both against that well-formed chest. Tuck grinned down at her and walked toward the stairs.
“Okay. That worked out well for me. I might have to keep you around as my own personal body lifter.”
Tuck chuckled. “You don’t strike me as the helpless sort.”
“True. But you have to admit this is kinda fun.” She licked her lips and blinked up at him.
“More than kinda,” he whispered, almost too quiet for her to hear.
Maryn leaned in close to him so she didn’t keep flirting and embarrass him too much as he easily descended the four sets of stairs to reach the basement. This house was a bit massive for her, but she wasn’t going to complain about all this time spent in Tuck’s arms. Her heart was beating quickly and happy nerve endings instead of the stinking pain receptors were firing at triple speed.
At the far north side of the sprawling basement there was an entrance to a lower garage. The space was full of snowmobiles, four-wheelers, side by sides, and a brown dog.
The dog ran up to them. Tuck sat Maryn on her feet and she bent down and gently stroked his head. “Max. Thank you.”
Max tilted his head up and barked. Tucker buried his fingers in the dog’s fur. “She’s a good pup, isn’t she?”
“She? You’ve been letting me call a girl a boy and what kind of a name is Max for a girl?”
“Maxine,” Tuck explained. “After Johnson’s favorite grandmother. I think I told you earlier, but you were pretty drugged.”
“Gotcha.” Maryn shook her head. She glanced over the dog’s body, seeing bits of shaved fur and stitches. “Did she suffer much?”
“She did fine. Braxton took good care of her and you can see she’s already running around like nothing happened.”
“What a good girl.” Maryn stroked her head some more, but then her legs wobbled and she would’ve fallen if Tuck hadn’t wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held on. “Whew and I haven’t even been drinking.”
Tuck held her steady for a second. “You’re trying to do too much, let’s get you back to bed.”
“No, please. Couldn’t we go sit in your lovely sunroom for a bit?”
Tuck gently lifted her off her feet and carried her back up the stairs. Maryn was feeling tired, but she was not ready to lie back in the bed. She wanted to talk to Tuck and pretend everything was normal for a minute. He walked through the main area and Mama Porter beamed at them from the kitchen. “Oh, it’s good to see you up and about.”
“I’m not really up. Tuck’s having to carry me everywhere like a baby.”
“You’ll get your strength back soon.” She bustled from one pot to the other. “Supper’s almost ready. Do you want me to bring it upstairs?”
“Sure,” Tuck said.
“Could we please eat in the sunroom again?” Maryn asked him.