Heaven And Hell novel Chapter 127

Not surprisingly, he didn't reply, but I did feel his heart beating steadily beneath my palm, which reassured me a lot. "Colton," I said, trying to sound firm, "I would really appreciate it if you would wake up, like, right now."

When he again didn't so much as twitched, I placed my fore and middle fingers against the opening of the bottle and tipped it over, dousing my skin with the cool cleaning solution. It evaporated quickly against my flesh, so I repeated the motion, this time keeping the bottle overturned a bit longer. When I was satisfied that my fingers were wet, I dabbed them under his nose.

"Nyaaaaaaaaaghchoo!"

Colton didn't make much sense as he came to. He shot up like a bullet, blinking and startled, looking very much like someone waking up too quickly from a nightmare.

I lurched back to avoid his flailing arms, but I wasn't quick enough, and he knocked the bottle from my hands. It sailed through the air, spewing Windex all the while.

"What the hell did you do to me?" he demanded once he regained his power of speech.

"What did I do to you?"

He coughed and wrinkled his nose. "I smell like I was bathed in vinegar soup."

"Yeah, 'cause of the Windex and all --"

"Stop it! You --" He jabbed his finger in my direction, then winced at the sudden movement and grabbed his head.

"Colton?" I asked cautiously, forgetting that I was pretty much angry with him for somehow placing the blame for this entire farce on my shoulders. All I could see was that he was in pain. A lot of pain, if his facial expression was any indication.

"Bloody hell," he cursed. "Did someone hit me on the head with a tree?"

"I was tempted to," I tried to joke, hoping that one might take his mind off the pain.

"That I don't doubt. You would have made a great drill sergeant had you been born in another time."

"There are a lot of things I could have done had I been born as anyone but myself," I muttered, "and being engaged to you is totally not one of them."

"Lucky me," Colton replied, still wincing. "Lucky you."

"That remains to be seen."

There was an awkward silence, and then I, feeling that I had to explain to him what had happened while he was unconscious, said,"About the Windex...I suppose I should say sorry, but I was just trying to --"

He didn't reply, just stretched his neck in the opposite direction. After a moment, his eyes fell upon the big cow to his right. "Argh."

I tried not to laugh, so I simply said, "I'm really sorry for walking away a few minutes ago. I didn't realize how hurt you were. If I had, I should never have left. I-I shouldn't have left at all. It was pretty rude of me."

"It's all right," he said gruffly, "but your apology's appreciated and accepted."

I inclined my head. "Delilah and I didn't travel far from my home. It shouldn't be difficult to walk back and lead the cow."

"I am not riding a bloody cow."

"Pshh!" I scoffed. "You'll be fine. Besides, I really want to make a truce. We still have an amazing breakfast served in the kitchen and, er, Brad misses you." I was sure of that. "Please just say yes. I promise my relatives will welcome you. If they ever get out of their barn, at least."

For a moment, I thought he'd never reply. He merely stared at me with such intensity that made me want to look away several times. I was surprised he'd been particularly kind to me today (at least a little) and we'd formed some kind of weird, awkward friendship, but who knew with this guy, right?

And then he said one thing that made me gape a little bit.