Page 22 of Untouchable
She swatted away the hand that had been on her shoulder, the one he was using to prevent her from rising. She stumbled to her feet, and Caleb had no choice but to put a supporting arm around her waist since she almost collapsed back to the ground.
Kelly smothered a groan and closed her eyes. She held his arm to keep her balance and put her free hand on her belly. Soon she’d have a heavy bruise under one eye and a substantial knot on the side of her head.
“Where are my keys?” she mumbled, pulling away from him and trying again to stand on her own.
Caleb couldn’t believe how foolish she was acting. “Kelly,” he said roughly, then cleared his throat to restore his voice to normal. “I’m not going to let you drive. You have a concussion.”
Now there were tears leaking out of her pained eyes. “I have to go. He’ll find me again.”
Caleb filed that away with the other information he’d gotten from her thus far. Obviously she was running from someone. That would be helpful to know when he began to check into her background more deeply.
She was taking deep breaths and trying to steady herself, and her cheeks and lips were sickeningly white.
Part of Caleb—a part that he’d almost forgotten existed—wanted to take care of her. And the rest of him recognized a good opportunity when he saw one. So his entire self was speaking when he offered, “Come with me then. Let me help you. I’ll take you somewhere safe where you can recover.”
“No. I don’t want you involved. I don’t even know you.” She sucked in an urgent breath, moved her hand back to her stomach, and turned away from him.
Caleb felt a little queasy himself when he asked, “Are you going to be sick?”
“No,” she replied, swallowing the word. “I’m okay.”
She definitely wasn’t okay. Caleb narrowed his eyes. “I’ll take you to the emergency room, or you can come with me and let me help you. Those are your only two options.” He wasn’t used to people not doing what he said, and he didn’t like it at all.
“Can’t go to emergency room,” she gasped. “He’ll find me.”
Caleb’s brow furrowed as he watched her. She was definitely concussed, and there was something else going on here.
“Come with me, Kelly. You have no reason to trust me, but you have no reason to think I’ll harm you either.”
“No.” She put both hands flat on her car for support.
“Kelly.” He put an arm around her waist again since he was afraid she was going to fall down.
Finally she slumped against him. And since she didn’t argue anymore, he took that as her agreement. “My car is a couple of blocks away,” he said gently. “In the parking deck of my office building.”
Kelly tottered beside him for half a block before her knees began to buckle. So, seeing no other available means of getting her to his car, Caleb swung her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way.
He didn’t like it. It made him feel strange—as if the gesture were too clichéd, too heroic, too… something. It didn’t suit him at all. The same way he’d felt making the call to Wes earlier that day.
But Kelly couldn’t walk anymore, and he had to get her to his car somehow. So he did it anyway.
Her body was soft and substantial in his arms. She was basically a dead weight—not trying to support herself or present a pretty picture. It made him uncomfortable. His chest felt too heavy and too tight all at once.
But his mind was whirling. There was a mystery here. So many unanswered questions.
After getting her into his car, he drove to his house outside the city since that would be less visible than his downtown apartment. Kelly was in and out of consciousness, but Caleb kept trying to keep her awake.
When he was stopped at a light, he glanced over and saw that her eyes were closed. So he picked up the phone and texted out a brief message to a guy he used to investigate things he didn’t want listed on the company books.
Find out more information about Kelly Watson. Focus on men she’s been in relationships with.
Kelly’s eyes were still closed when he put his phone back down and accelerated as the light turned green.
His mind was whirling with questions and possibilities.
He didn’t fully trust Kelly. He didn’t fully trust anyone. But he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She obviously needed his help, and he liked that. But he needed to know her story in order to do anything about it.
