He nodded, then left me alone in the room. “I’ll see if I can find a fan for you,” he offered and stepped towards the door. “I doubt I can sleep anyway,” I shrugged. “It’s the drawback of living out in the middle of nowhere.” He’d been wearing it shorter since he moved, probably because of the continuous heat. “I’ll call a repairman, but I don’t know how long it will take them to get here.” Peter ran a hand through his dark hair. “That really sucks,” I said and looked away from him. That explained the grease stains all over his jeans and the smudge that ran just above his naval, on the hard contours of his abdomen. And, as it turns out, I know nothing about air conditioning units,” he sighed. I’ve been out back trying to fix it, but the sun is really getting to me. “As long as you’re okay.” Peter sounded reluctant to let the topic die. “It’s over now, and I’m done talking about it.” Right before I woke up, I felt really scared, and I couldn’t move.” I shook my head again, this time to clear it. “There weren’t images, but I felt paralyzed. “No.” I furrowed my brow, trying to remember what exactly woke me up. “You were just sleeping, and then you were afraid?” He dropped his hand from my arm and studied my face. I wanted to tell him everything, but I couldn’t explain what freaked me out so much. He put his hand on my arm, and his bright emerald eyes managed calmed me a bit. I bit my lip and pushed my hair behind my ear. “Alice, you’re terrified.” He heard the panicked racing of my heart and no matter what I did, I couldn’t slow it. He’d been working on showing me his gentler side, but it still surprised me. “What’s going on?” His voice had taken on a protective edge that I was unaccustomed to hearing from him. Every time I saw him, I wished he would get less attractive. If I hadn’t been so distracted by my own terror, I might have taken the time to hate how perfect and gorgeous Peter looked. I took his hand, and when he pulled me to my feet, I noticed the sweat gleaming all over his chest and his arms. “Are you okay?” He walked over to me and bent down so he could help me up. “What are you doing on the floor?” Peter asked. My heart pounded like crazy, and that’s what summoned Peter. I finally remembered where I was, but I still couldn’t shake the panic. I sat on the floor and squinted up in the brightness to see who turned it on Peter stood in the doorway, wearing only ripped jeans, and he stared down at me. I’d been training hard to work on my strength and grace, and I hated when my clumsiness returned. Cursing myself, I rubbed my knee, even though the pain had stopped. I tripped over my own foot and fell onto the floor with a heavy thud. I woke up expecting the familiarity and safety of my bedroom, and this wasn’t it.

Wisdom by amanda hocking