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His low curse surprised her. “For God’s sake, Bella. I thought you might be tired. Forgive me for being a gentleman. Hell, I think I’ll walk. It’s the only thing that will keep me from strangling you.”
Before she could say a word, he took off on foot, striding down the hill at a breakneck pace. “Wait,” she cried. “It’s a long way. I’m sorry.”
Either he didn’t hear her or he was too angry to stop.
Muttering beneath her breath, she jumped into the Jeep and started the engine. Or tried to. The motor gave a wheezing sound and died. “No, no, no…” she cried. When she cranked the ignition a second time, the engine didn’t respond at all.
Swallowing her pride was the only option. She was good at a lot of things, but auto mechanics was not one of them.
Ian had long legs, and he was in his physical prime. Though she jogged down the hill, it took her several minutes to find him. He was sitting on a rock, his elbows on his knees.
“Where’s the Jeep?” he asked, his tone mildly conversational.
“Where do you think?” She clapped her hand over her mouth. Ian was right. She was cranky. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “It’s still up behind the house. I couldn’t get it started. Why are you sitting here?”
He stood and brushed off his pants. “When you didn’t pass me, I started to wonder what had happened to you.”
“I’m fine. We might have to walk back to Portree, though. The Jeep is deader than dead.”
“Let me take a look at it.”
Less than an hour ago, Bella had been in Ian’s arms waiting for a kiss that never came. Now they trudged back up the hill in silence, together, but apart. Not exactly the most romantic evening Bella had ever spent with a man, but not the worst, either. She and Ian were the proverbial oil and water. In spite of that fact, or perhaps because of it, she found him stimulating in more ways than one.
The lane was steep. Bella tried to keep her huffing and puffing to a minimum, so Ian wouldn’t judge. She wasn’t a slug; she exercised. Sometimes. Her companion, on the other hand, strode along as if enjoying a walk in the park. It was demoralizing and inexplicable. For a brainiac who spent his days focused on cerebral matters, the man was a remarkable physical specimen.
Disaster lurked in the darkness. Bella didn’t see one of the small potholes and went down hard on her left foot. Her ankle twisted awkwardly and pain shot up her leg as she collapsed in an ungainly heap.
When she yelped, Ian stopped immediately and crouched beside her. “Don’t move,” he said. “Ye don’t want to make it worse.”
“Thank you, Doctor Larrimore.” The sarcasm was instinctive, although in hindsight, she realized he probably did have a doctorate, rendering the insult somewhat moot.
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Finley talks about you like you’re an angel. The man must be blinded by fraternal devotion. Ye’ve a mouth like a heider.”
“A heider?” Sometimes with his accent she wasn’t sure she understood the words.
“Aye. A heider…a crazy person. I never know what ye’ll come up with next.”
“Can you quit haranguing me long enough to look at my ankle, please?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he gently lifted her leg out of the hole and rested her ankle in his hand. “I left my phone in the Jeep. Can ye shine the light from yours?”
Bella fumbled in her pocket, trying to keep movement to a minimum. The pain made her nauseated. When she managed to engage the flashlight app, she groaned. Ian probed gently, but even his light touch was agonizing. Her foot had swollen visibly already.
He removed her sock and shoe. “We’ve got to get you back,” he said calmly. “We’ll need ice and painkillers.”
“It’s not that bad,” Bella protested.
He lifted her chin with a finger, forcing her to look at him. “Out of curiosity, if I were to say the sky is blue, would you disagree?”
“Is that supposed to be funny?”
“Not at all. I’m merely trying to gauge the depth of your commitment to contrarianism.”
“That’s not a real thing.”
He helped her to her feet, supporting her with one hand. “Of course it is. I’m going to turn around now. Do you think you can get up on my back? Put your arms around my neck and balance on one foot.”
“I’m not a child. I can figure this out.”
