AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They continued to walk along the edge of the water, silence taking over. Great. She’d totally messed things up, and now he was suspicious of her. But what could she do about it? She couldn’t take back her words. And trying to say anything else about it would just draw more attention to it. It was best to stay silent.
As they walked, she noticed someone trailing along behind them. A woman. Had she been at the restaurant too? The hair on the back of her neck stood up. But after Riley glanced back again the woman headed up the beach to a villa. Maybe it had all been in Riley’s mind. She did vow to be more aware, though. The last thing she needed was some other reporter zeroing in on her territory.
After a few minutes, Riley stepped on something sharp, and pain shot through her foot. She yelped and involuntarily grabbed onto Shadow’s arm. “Ouch!”
“What happened?”
“I stepped on something. Maybe glass? I don’t know, but be careful. It was sharp.” She hopped around on one foot for a second while she tried to see the bottom of her foot in the dark, in case the glass was embedded into her skin. She couldn’t see, so she tentatively touched it.
Something warm and sticky met her fingers as she explored her foot. “I think I’m bleeding.”
Shadow crouched down, examining her. “Yes, you are.” He scooped her up and carried her toward the resort.
“Is it that bad?”
“You shouldn’t walk on it. I can’t tell yet if you need stitches.”
“Stitches?” Her voice cracked. “Seriously?” She didn’t want to go to the hospital.
“I don’t know. Let’s get you back to the room.”
As Shadow carried her, Riley closed her eyes and wondered how much more embarrassing tonight could be. She’d made a mess of her cover story and now was practically bleeding all over the pop star. This was totally going down in her Riley Hall of Fame moments, right along with the time she accidentally sat on Matt Damon’s lap while sneaking a seat at an awards show.
Chapter 10
Jalen tried not to stumble as he carried Riley across the sand, his heart in his throat. She’d sliced up her foot pretty good, from what he could tell. As Jalen approached the deck, Neil, his oldest security guard, scrambled to let him inside. “Everything okay, Sir?”
“We’re okay, just a bit of glass on the beach.” He tried to sound reassuring, in case Riley was freaking out. He couldn’t quite tell.
Sir Barks jumped and made all kinds of noise as he entered the room.
“Do you need anything?” Neil asked.
“Can you run to the front desk and get a first aid kit? Also, get our shoes. We left them on the beach.”
Neil nodded and left. Jalen carried Riley into the bathroom and set her down on the toilet. Sir barks whined at being ignored but sat down on the bathroom floor beside where Jalen was crouched down.
“Let’s have a look.” He gingerly lifted her foot. There was more blood than he’d thought, and it was hard to tell where the gash started and stopped. Red liquid dripped to the tile floor, making a tapping sound.
“How bad is it?”
“Well, it’s bleeding pretty good, but I can’t tell yet how deep it is. Let’s get it cleaned up. Do you think you can stand on one foot?”
“Yes.”
He helped her up and over to the glass shower door. Luckily, the shower had a removable head, so he unhooked it and turned the water on. Testing the temperature, he waited until it was warm before he raised her knee and sprayed her foot.
She sucked in a breath as blood turned the water pink.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No. It just stings.”
“I’m sorry.” He tried to be gentler, but he needed to get all the sand out of the wound, so he continued to slowly work his way over the skin. The skin on her foot was surprisingly soft. When it looked good, he shut off the water. “Are you okay if I carry you into the other room?”
She nodded, so he picked her up and carried her to the couch. Sir Barks followed him, his tail wagging. Jalen wrapped her foot in a hand towel and applied pressure. The bleeding needed to stop before he could assess it. And he needed to figure out if Riley was slipping into shock.
“Where in New York do you live?”
