Free Breaking Her No-Dating Rule by Amalie Berlin Page B

to Ellory. She put her hand in his, not thinking about what he wanted. It seemed like the natural thing to do. The warm squeeze of one hand, the other relieving her of the inhaler, cleared up what he wanted. Quickly, she let go of the medicine and Anson, and stepped back from the group.
    “Respiratory infection?” she heard him ask Nate, who nodded. “If you’re not completely over them, it’s not a good idea to go out and exert yourself in the cold. Remember that.”
     

CHAPTER SIX
    F OR THE NEXT half-hour Ellory watched Anson listen to the lungs of the other patient guests, and then he made his crew breathe for him as well. He gave the same speech at least four times. Prolonged exposure to severe cold could damage nose, sinus, throat, and lungs when someone was healthy, let alone when they were getting over an infection or illness that had damaged them—as had been the case with Nate. She did very little but follow, watch, and listen.
    Well, that and look the man over.
    She wanted to kiss him again.
    The world was coming apart at the seams, winter and wind and random acts of crazy nature, someone stuck out in it, someone’s heart breaking, friends in anguish, and Ellory herself caught in a full-on lust-o-thon with the man who’d taken charge of keeping everyone alive.
    The only thing saving her had been the dog. He’d joined their tour of rooms as soon as they’d stumbled over him, and now he kept her company.
    She spent most of the time crouched beside the big black fuzzball, petting him and whispering to keep herself occupied. Noting the changes in the rooms. She hadn’t been in the fireplace suites in a long time. They’d been remodeled since she’d last been there. They were a blend of the new and the old, modern classy mixed with the comforting classics. But everything was secondary to the fireplaces.
    Max was fascinated with her opinion on the décor and the superiority of the lobby fireplace to the ones in these rooms. They were top of the line, the logs looked every bit the real thing, and the hidden burners fed by gas and flames that wound through the wood...but it wasn’t the same.
    He agreed, wood definitely was better. “You’re right. I should probably do some research and find out which one is the worst for the environment. But if we’re using a hominess scale rather than the Scoville scale—or is that just about how hot peppers are?”
    Real fire and all, but it didn’t smell the same. And it didn’t talk to you, make comforting noises when the lights went out and the only thing to listen to was the wind.
    Anson was saying something...talking treatment. More drugs, no doubt.
    “What about the saunas?” Ellory snapped back into the conversation, standing in a room with just Anson, her buddy Max, and the last two members of his crew.
    All of them looked at her.
    “Steam is good for soothing the respiratory system.” She shifted to one foot, half-afraid the people in the room were going to give her hell for even suggesting something natural compared to whatever came from a pharmacy and had the backing of the FDA. “It’d bring in moisture to what’s been dried out. And we could put some therapeutic oils into the mist. Maybe some eucalyptus and rosemary...stuff that’s anti-inflammatory and good for decongestion?”
    Anson smiled at her but shook his head—nicely contradicting himself. “It’s not a bad idea, the steam and oils actually sound quite good if you’ve got the quality oils for it. But moving them into the sauna might put more stress on their systems than would be beneficial. It can dehydrate and they’re all probably more than a little dehydrated as it is.” He looked at the other two. “Are we pushing liquids?”
    A small conversation occurred about drinks and Ellory cut back in.
    “We could just do it in a bowl and tent a towel over, a breathing treatment without getting everyone awkwardly naked together in the sauna. And I have good oils. Nothing synthetic, of