Page 6 of My Mountain Man Valentine
Which means we’re going to need a rescue.
4
LUCY
Ethan hands me a protein bar, and I open it with shaking fingers. Now that we’re out of the rain, the water has cooled on my skin and the cold has set in. I huddle into myself, not wanting the big search and rescue man to see me shiver. I don’t want him to think I can’t handle myself out here.
“Where does it hurt?”
Ethan crouches next to me, and his voice is surprisingly gentle for a big man’s. His hood is pushed back and his hair is clipped short underneath. Faint stubble covers his square jaw, and his dark eyes peer at me with professional concern.
Great. I’m one more worry for him. The stupid schoolteacher who insisted on following him and now has a sprained ankle.
My glasses are smeared with water. I wiped them on my shirt but that just made them smudgy.
“It’s just a sprained ankle,” I say. “Nothing to worry about.”
He raises his eyebrows at me, not convinced. “Mind if I take a look?”
The last thing I want is this gorgeous specimen of a man inspecting my feet. Besides, now that Olivia’s been found I need to get back to the parking lot where our school trip started thismorning. Most of the parents have turned up to collect their kids, but I came on the bus and that’s my ride home.
I may still be able to salvage my evening and go through with my plans. The thought makes my belly recoil, but I put that aside and focus on the man in front of me.
The hot, burly man who’s unlacing my boot carefully like it’s my bodice he’s unlacing and not my muddy walking shoe.
The thought has heat creeping through my body, which must just be his human touch warming me up.
Ethan slides off my shoe, and I wince as sharp pain jolts up my leg.
“Did that hurt?”
“When you bumped the ankle it did.”
He peels back my sock, and his bare fingers brush over the skin of my ankle. A mixture of pleasure and pain course through me, turning my skin to fire.
I suck in through my teeth, and he looks up at me sharply.
“It feels…weird.” There’s no other word for the sensations humming through my body. A dull pain when he touches the ankle, heat when his fingers brush any other part of me.
I wonder if it’s a sign of exposure and if I’ve been out here too long.
“Looks like it took a nasty knock when you fell. It might be sprained, or it might just be bruising.” He rolls my sock back on, and I miss the contact of his hand. “Either way, we need to get it seen to. Do you think you can walk?”
I’m not sure but I nod, because what alternative is there?
“I’ll let them know we’re on our way and that you need medical attention.”
I shake my head. “Don’t make a fuss.” Everyone’s already been out here looking for Olivia. I don’t need anything special done for me.
Ethan frowns as he finishes tying up my shoelace. “You’re worth making a fuss for, Lucy.”
He stands up abruptly and unclips his radio. While he communicates with his team, I pull myself up by leaning against the rock wall.
I hobble to the cave entrance and peer out at the sheets of rain.
The rain hasn’t eased up any, but I’m keen to get going as soon as possible. If it’s only some bruising, then I can still make it out tonight. I just need a hot shower, and I’ll be okay.
“We can go this way.” Ethan indicates a path that winds around the rock ledge. “It’ll be safer than climbing down the rocks, and there’s another river crossing just above the waterfall.”
