Page 20 of Slow Burn
Covertly, I took a few fortifying breaths before I straightened her leg and slid one of her decorative pillows under her foot. Once it was elevated, I pressed the bag of frozen peas against her swollen ankle. She instantly hissed out a breath and jerked upright, which pulled a whine from her dog before he gave her cheek a meaningful lick.
"I think you sprained it," I told her.
She eyed her foot. "Yeah."
I had zero clues what to do next. Dragging a hand along the back of my neck, I took a step backward and then another and another. Just as I wanted to spin around and get the hell out of there, her soft, "Wait" stopped me in my tracks.
Not daring to move a step closer, I simply stared at her. She nibbled on her lip, it was the first sign of nervousness I'd seen on her since we met. "Thanks for the help." Her sugary sweet voice slid over my skin leaving a trail of goosebumps.
"Sure." My throat felt scratchy, I barely fought the urge to clear it.
"I'm Maddie, by the way."
I closed my eyes. I didn't want to put a name to that gorgeous face and sweet voice. She was already screwing with my equilibrium as a nameless stranger. How much worse would it be now that I knew what she felt like, smelled like? Now that I had a name to whisper in the dark.
Slowly; very, very slowly, I opened my eyes, my gaze immediately colliding with her warm one. "Adam."
"Adam," she echoed, and I had to flee.
10
MADDIE
There were moments in life that you just knew would be significant. Moments that would stay branded in your brain for the rest of eternity. Watching Adam screw his eyes shut, unable to hide the tortured look on his face, was that moment for me.
Even though he was long gone, I could still see him standing in my living room. Impossibly big and beautifully damaged. If I'd been braver, I would have asked him to stay. I wanted to; the words just wouldn't leave the safety of my mind.
My gaze flicked to the glass door that he'd shut behind him when he'd left. I grinned. I hadn't been wrong about those capable arms. At five-foot-six, I wasn't a petite little thing by any means, but he'd picked me up and carried me home as if I weighed nothing. His freaking breathing had still been even when he'd delivered me to my couch.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply. He'd smelled like coffee and soap, a mix that most certainly shouldn't have set my senses on fire, and yet that's exactly what it had done. It'd been so difficult not to drop my head to his shoulder and take a deep breath ofhim. Or to lift my handto his beard like I'd imagined doing so many times already.
And then there was the expression on his face when I'd wanted to know how he knew I was hurt. There had been the tiniest crack in those features that always seemed so aloof. Had he been watching me? And if he had, was it only that once?
Oh, I knew I should have been creeped out. But there was no way I could ignore the thrill of excitement that bubbled through my veins at the mere thought of his dark gaze on me.
I opened my eyes and sighed. I needed to stop. There was no space in my brain for Adam and his big hands, strong arms, and ruggedly sexy face. I had no right to wonder what it would feel like if he dragged his palms up my bare thighs. Would he use those hands of his to pin me down while he moved between my legs or would they explore every inch of my body?
Just thinking about both possibilities sent shivering need through my veins. And I hadn't even gotten to his mouth yet. My eyes were halfway shut, my thoughts well on their way to becoming less PG, when my phone shrieked to life from the kitchen counter where I'd left it this morning.
If it hadn't been Frankie's ringtone bouncing off the walls, I wouldn't even have entertained the idea of getting up. With a heavy sigh, I shifted to remove the now watery peas from my leg, studying it with a scrunched-up nose. The skin was a muddled mess of blue and purple, and myankle looked very much like Jennah's had during the last month of her pregnancy.
The sprain wasn't bad and the pain manageable, but only because I'd been keeping my leg still for over an hour. From inside the kitchen, The Jonas Brothers stopped singing for all of two seconds before the chorus of Frankie's favorite song started up again.
Sucking in a breath, I slowly lowered my leg to the ground before gingerly straightening to my full height. Very much like on the beach a while ago, I took one step, and a sharp, stabbing pain immediately shot up my leg.
"Ow," I groaned. Sheldon, bless his little k-9 heart, whined right along with me before smothering my leg with doggy kisses. "Thanks, buddy, but you gotta give me room to walk." Somehow my words made sense because he stopped licking and trotted off.
In the time it took me to cross from the living room to the kitchen, Frankie had phoned me four times. I knew if I didn't get back to her soon, she'd hop in her car and drive over here without giving it a second thought.
Next to baking, worrying was her favorite thing to do.
The instant I had my phone, I pulled up her number and pressed the green button. She answered almost immediately. "What the hell? I've been calling and calling. I thought something bad had happened to you. I was about to come over there."
"Aaand breathe." I bit my cheek to keep the smile out of my voice.
"It's not funny." Apparently, it didn't work.
"I'm not laughing, I swear."
