Thwarting Cupid. Lori Crawford
the mat, then him. “I've been hanging off the edge of my bed for the last hour. I think that's helping.”
“This will help more.”
She looked at the mat again. “I'm not sure I can get down that low,” she admitted.
He took her arm in his. “I'll help you.” She stared at him for a moment. He stared back. He almost forgot where he was and what he was doing. Something connected between them. Hutch couldn't explain it. But he could see she felt it, too. It was in the way the pain-filled lines eased from her face for just a second. Then they were back, and Hutch remembered his task. He put an arm around Carissa’s waist and guided her to the floor. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall.
“It's okay, sweetheart. You're doing great.” He tried to soothe her with his tone, but he could feel her trembling in his arms. Hutch helped her lay on her back, then lifted her feet to prop them on the couch. He watched Carissa exhale a breath of relief. “Better?”
“Surprisingly, yes.”
He grinned down at her. “Have you ever known me to steer you wrong?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Are we grading on a curve?”
They shared a chuckle that was cut short by her quick gasp. She turned pleading, uncertain eyes on him.
“Trust me?” Hutch said. She gave a tiny nod. “Do you have any Advil?”
“There should be some in the kitchen. Second drawer down on the right.”
“Hang in there.” Hutch stood from where he'd been crouched beside her. Without giving it a second thought, he kicked off his shoes next to a line of hers by the door before heading into the kitchen. How funny that she did the same thing he did? He found the Advil and snooped a bit more until he found some plastic baggies. Hutch filled a couple with ice and grabbed a bottle of water from her refrigerator before rejoining her in the living room.
He held her head while she took the pills. “Three?”
“Yep. Two are a pain killer. We need anti-inflammatory. The ice will help, too.” He held up the bag for her to see. She washed the pills down and then showed him where she needed the ice. Once she was settled again, she closed her eyes in relief.
Hutch sat next to her with his back propped against the couch. Now that the crisis had somewhat passed, he allowed himself a long look at the legs she'd so callously kept hidden from him all these years and decided that he liked what he saw. They were much longer than he would've imagined, had he had the foresight to imagine them. To think, he'd only given serious thought to her well-formed and generous bust line when he allowed his mind to wander where it shouldn't.
Speaking of shouldn't...what in the world was he doing right now? She was injured, for goodness sake. The last place his mind should be is in the gutter. But in the gutter is exactly where it was determined to be, he decided, when his eyes swept over her in one more full-bodied caress.
“Hutch?”
Her quiet voice had his gaze racing back to meet hers. She'd just caught him checking her out. How embarrassing. Usually he was much better at being discreet. Speaking of discreet, another problem was on the rise. He bent his knee closest to her and draped his arm over it hoping his movement looked casual. “Yeah?” Crap. Why the heck was he using his bedroom voice?
“How do you know so much about this?”
Oh good. A neutral question. It would also give him something to derail his current train of thought. “I've been in an accident or three in my time. And speaking of which, why didn't you say something earlier? What were you doing out traipsing all over the city with this kind of injury?” Yeah. None of these questions sounded like an interrogation.
“I didn't think I was injured. I mean, my car was pretty bad where he hit me, but the other guy's barely had a scratch.” She fluttered her hands around while she explained. He caught them and placed them out to her sides, where they needed to be to completely relax her back muscles.
He shook his head. “Rookie mistake. You've gotta get X-rays and stuff to submit to his insurance company. You can't go without getting this treated.”
She looked away and bit her lip. He got the feeling he wasn't going to like what she was about to say.
“I didn't quite get his information.”
Hutch raised an eyebrow and prodded, “Why not?”
“Well, he kinda pretended to get it for me then took off.”
“A hit and run? You were in a hit and run?” He pulled up his other knee and sat forward with his full attention on her.
“I suppose. I think that's what the officer said before he had to run off on a bank robbery. I guess he'll give me details in a day or two.” She shrugged then grimaced at the pain. “On the bright side, remember the guy at the beach?”
“You’re kidding, right? What are the chances?”
“Pretty good, apparently.”
He reached down and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “You've had quite a day haven't you?”
“I suppose I have.” She wrinkled her nose. “You were definitely the highlight. I'm sorry to ruin our dinner plans.”
He waved off her apology. “You didn't ruin anything.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and hit the contacts list. “What do you like on your pizza? We can have dinner right here.”
She bit her lip again in a way that was making him want to kiss it. “You don't have to take pity on me. I'll be fine now. If you have somewhere to be...”
“Then you can take pity on me. I don't want to eat alone.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Besides, it's not often I have a captive audience to bore with stories of extreme philanthropy.”
She groaned and threw an arm across her eyes. “Oh no. Not extreme philanthropy!”
He swiveled on his butt and stretched out beside her. He held her arm on his chest.
“Oh yes. I've been known to elicit tears.” He grinned over at her. “Though I think you've already got kind of a head start.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Sure. Rub it in.”
He snorted. “What? You expect me to ever let you live this down? Think again, babe.”
Chapter 4
And Carissa did. But not about his teasing. Now that the pain in her back had eased, she was free to focus on the absurd turn of events that had her stretched out on her living room floor while one sexy James Hutchington held her hand and stared at her with those gorgeous green eyes of his. Now he was playing with her fingers and her train of thought was as good as gone. She needed to say something. Anything.
“This ice is really cold.”
“If it weren't, it would be water.”
She laughed in spite of herself. She'd almost forgotten how much of a smart aleck he was. “Cute.”
He had the nerve to wink at her. “I know.”
“And incorrigible.” Carissa reached for the ice bags with her free hand and grimaced at the pain that came shooting back. He rolled over on his side and caught her other hand.
“You've got another seven minutes yet before we take it off.” He frowned at her. “That looked like it hurt. Are you still in pain?”
“Not when I'm still, apparently.”
“Then be still.” He quirked an eyebrow at her then returned to his previous position on his back beside her.
“Ummm.... I think I'd like to see your medical license.”
“Too bad. I left it in my other pants.” He quirked his lips. “But feel free to