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“Sounds great,” he said, but there was a tension in his voice that matched the overall vibe inside the truck. Yes, something was definitely bugging him, and she had a feeling it was her.
She couldn’t get away from him fast enough. He’d barely pulled into her driveway when she was out of the truck with a “thank you.” Jumping down from the truck to the driveway was no problem, but she was so eager to get away that she forgot that the ground might be slick. She rushed up the driveway and onto the sidewalk, eager to put some distance between herself and the heartbreaker behind her.
Too late, she remembered the large patch of ice she’d noticed earlier, when they’d calmly and carefully walked to his truck together. Her shoe landed directly on that icy spot and kept moving. Not expecting the forward momentum, the rest of her body twisted at an odd angle and soon she was falling, face first toward the concrete. She barely got her arms in front of her in time to stop herself from hitting the concrete face first.
So much for not falling on her face in front of him.
22
Things could change in an instant.
Take tonight, for example. Nic was sitting in his truck, watching Charity rush to her door and telling himself this was all for the best. All was fine. She’d be safe in her home and he’d be on his way. But then things went south.
He was shifting into reverse when he saw her foot land on a patch of ice and slide. And then she was falling forward, toward the ground. He had the truck in park and was out of it so fast, he wasn’t even sure how he did it. All he could do was run toward her, mindless of the potential ice patches on the ground. The only thing that mattered was getting to her and making sure she was okay.
She rolled over and was seated on the grass, a stunned expression on her face. But her eyes widened as she saw him nearing.
“I’m fine,” she said.
Fine? No way was he taking her word on that. He knelt in front of her, looking her in the eye.
“What hurts? Did you land on your arm? Your leg?”
It was a silly question. She had both hands cupped over her left knee, so obviously it was her leg.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I just skinned it up a little.” She shook her head. “I’ll go in and slap a bandage on it. It’ll be okay.”
“I’ll help you.”
Nic prepared to refuse to take no for an answer. He stood and moved to her side, kneeling with both arms outstretched. What was he going to do? Lift her up and set her down? She wasn’t even looking in his direction. She was just staring at that knee.
And then suddenly she was in motion, trying to scramble to her feet. It was no easy feat, considering she was half on, half off the sidewalk. But he wasn’t sure how to help.
She was almost to her feet when she plopped right back down again. Her expression was nothing short of stunned.
“Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling next to her again. He wasn’t sure how to help out here. “Just wrap your arms around my neck.”
And that was how he ended up lifting her. It took him an extra few seconds to get in the right position to scoop her up, but she didn’t protest, which was exactly how he knew something wasn’t right. She would have argued that she could walk if she could stand upright.
Getting her inside the house was the biggest challenge, especially since she was worried about Gracie getting out. But she managed to pull the key from her purse, which was still draped around her neck, and unlock the door so he could push it open and get her inside.
“Stay,” he said to Gracie as the pup came charging toward them.
It took some footwork, but he managed to block the dog inside while he shoved the door closed with his hip. Then it was just a matter of getting her to the couch without tripping over the overeager pooch. Gracie was excited to see them, even if she had no idea what was going on.
“I just need to sit for a second.” She sat down, her head resting against the back of the sofa as she stared straight ahead. “I feel lightheaded.”
“Did you hit your head?”
The alarm was apparent in his voice. Maybe he should call for an ambulance. He could carry her out to his truck and rush her to the emergency room.
“No,” she said. “That’s what’s weird about it. It just felt like I was going to pass out for a few seconds there.”
He shifted anxiously from one foot to the other as Gracie ran circles around his feet. “Where did you hit?”
“I landed on my arm, but it feels okay.” She stretched it out. “And then my knee.”
She lifted her skirt, pointing her toes. When she saw what was beneath her skirt, she gasped.
