Page 14 of Just a Plot Twist
It bothers me that Al assumes I’m the kind of guy who leaves injured women on the trail without a second thought. That’s not what happened. “I don’t know her,” I explain. “She expressly asked me to leave.”
My dad probably wouldn’t have left her.
“How serious is her injury?” Al asks.
I remember the pain flashing in her eyes. “It’s probably worse than she thinks it is.”
A quizzical look crosses his face. “I better head down to check on her. If we need to contact the EMTs, we’d better do that as soon as we get into cell range.”
EMTs? Despite myself, I smile. Claire is not going to react well to that. She would probably rather die than be beholden to some emergency personnel.
Why does it give me the slightest zing of satisfaction knowing she’s going to hate it?
“I’ll come with you,” I tell him.
The guide announces he has to go check on a hiker and that those who want to stay longer, can. He’s a quieter sort of guy, yet leadership comes naturally to him as the president of the hiking club.
I follow him down, my foot strikes lighter and bouncier as we tramp down the mountain. It’s a nice change from having to trudge up.
She’s near the clearing and has her legging pulled up. I’m surprised at the jolt of desire within me as I take in her leg. I already noted before that the rest of her is nice as well.
I sigh audibly. I can’t think like that. She’s Sophie’s sister, first of all. And she clearly isn’t interested in me.
“Hello, little lady,” the guide says jovially.
I whistle under my breath. She is not going to like being called “little lady.”
“Can I take a look at that rolled ankle?”
Claire gives me a look likeYou got him involved?But she doesn’t protest as she lifts her foot in the air and yanks up her pant leg a little more. Her ankle is swollen and red.
“Wow, yeah,” Al says. “That’s a pretty good roll you’ve got there.” He gives both of us a thoughtful look. “I’ll go further down until I get into cell range and then call an ambulance. They’ll send a couple of guys up who can get you down the mountain.”
“Uh, no!” Panic crosses over Claire’s face. “That’s not necessary. I—” She looks miserably torn. “I can call my brother-in-law to help me.” She sighs, and her eyes fill with tears, but she dashes them away with her hand, further smearing her face with mud.
I step to her, lift the hem of my Dri-FIT shirt, and wipe the mud from above her lip. Her gaze skitters to my bare abdomen before meeting mine. She flinches away. “Hold still, Claire. You look like you wrestled with a puddle.”
An embarrassed, very quiet, “Oh” escapes her lips and she stays dutifully still while I wipe her face.
I make up my mind.
Because right now, I’m gonna get a do-over and help this woman out.
I tear my eyes from her gaze to look over at the guide.
“You don’t need to call emergency services,” I say. “I’ll carry her down.”
Chapter 5
Claire
If this weren’t so unbelievably embarrassing, it might actually be sort of romantic.
Handsome hero rescues damsel in distress and carries her, like the swooniest protector imaginable, down the wild mountain to safety.
But no. It’s not that at all.
He is handsome, which is clear even now that I’m so up close and personal. I’m piggybacking it, so my view is mostly of the back of his head. But I catch glimpses of his face when he dips his head to go under tree branches or to say something to me.
