Page 44 of My Fearless Fake Fling

He cleared his throat. “I’ve got some bandages in the backpack. Let me wrap that gash.” He pulled a roll of bandages, medical tape, and peroxide from the backpack he wore. He poured the peroxide over all my cuts and scrapes and then wrapped my wounds until my leg looked like a mummy.

Still, my shoulder kept me from being able to move. I hated being so weak. We had to go, so I swallowed hard and pushed past the pain. Leaning against him, we hobbled slowly back down the mountain. Every movement made me wince. But I thought I hid it pretty well.

It was dark by the time we found the campsite. Len had to use a flashlight to guide our way for like half the journey. By the time he set me down close to the firepit, I felt like I was going to puke. Pain. Who knew it could cause such a reaction?

As Len started building a fire, I bent over and puked. Or I tried to puke. Nothing really came up. But that man was back at my side in an instant.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Part of me wanted to blow it off, keep him from worrying. Yet I couldn’t lie. Not to Len. He’d saved my life. “I dislocated my shoulder,” I admitted.

His eyes grew huge as a scowl spread across his lips. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

“You’ve been dealing with a dislocation this whole time? Kam, I know how to pop it back. With the jobs I do, I had to take triage training.”

Why didn’t I think of that? Oh yeah, because I’d almost died and I’d been in pain ever since.

“I didn’t think of that,” I said.

A soft chuckle escaped him. From the harrowing experience up at the summit, we’d gotten back to the point where he could chuckle. Sneaky. I’d gotten so lost in his chuckle that I neglected to notice him position himself to my opposite shoulder.

“Ready?” he asked.

I nodded. Now or never.

He wrapped himself around me, hands locked at my armpit, and the best I can describe it, it sort of looked like an intense Heimlich maneuver. In and up in one smooth motion. It hurt so much worse.

Two tries, we actually heard it pop back into place. I felt it pop. The pain fled as soon as joint found socket. Instantaneously. Sure, it stayed sore, but I’d take sore over outright pain any day of the week.

He kissed me then. Not one of his lust-filled Len kisses—well, okay, nottotallyone of his lust-filled Len kisses—there was relief mixed in there. I detected warmth, too.

Just as quickly as he swept me up, he abruptly let me go. “Fire,” he said and set about finishing getting the fire going. He placed a pot real close, close enough for it to heat up hot. Then he opened two cans of beef stew and dumped them in the pot, along with a can of peas, corn, and carrots. He even added seasoning from a seasoning mix he’d brought. The man seriously thought of everything. Really, how had he managed to pack all this with an hour of prep time before we’d left?

Ten minutes passed before I sat, my leg stretched out in front of me, with a bowl of stew on my lap. Len tore off three soft rolls from the package and handed two of them to me. One he dropped in his bowl so he could tear himself off a second.

In relative silence,companionablesilence, we ate our supper. He twisted off the cap of a dark stout beer for himself but handed me a pineapple cider instead. Bellies full, he cleaned up the dinner and lay down with his arms folded behind his head as a makeshift pillow. I lay down next to him.

“Thank you,” I said. “You saved my life today.”

“I thought I was going to lose you, honestly.” A soft breath of air left his nose. “I’d never been so scared in my entire life.”

“Join the club.”

“Don’t ever do that to me again, Kam.”

My back went taut, the lightness leaving my words. “It’s not like I did it on purpose. There were loose rocks. I slipped. It was an accident.”

“I know, jeepus, I know. How would you expect me to go on?”

“It’d be tough, but as it wasn’t your fault, you’d find a way.”

“I’d find a way,” he muttered. “Right. Just don’t do it again.”

I knew it was still his fear talking, so instead of arguing, I agreed. “Okay, Len. I won’t do it again.”

“Woman, you are so going to be the death ofme.”

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