Chapter 2

Rock Martens glanced up at the breathtaking woman who’d just crashed into him and tried to control both his response to the pain radiating up his leg, and his body’s reaction to seeing her crouched next to him.

He’d been angry with her – until he’d stared into her electric blue eyes. Wow! Anger, pain and lust fought for dominance with a tiny bit of shame. He’d been an asshole to her. Rightfully so. Instead of admitting her guilt, she’d acted … feisty. Adorable! No, not the least bit adorable. She might be gorgeous and her curvaceous hips might do crazy things to his libido, but she was just another irresponsible brat.

Yes, she was one of those disaster-prone hip girls speeding along the coast on their expensive bikes without concern for anyone else besides themselves. He’d bet she was some entitled C-list actress believing the world owed her something.

The burning pain in his ankle reminded him of his predicament. There was no way it would support his weight. But he tried to get up anyways.

“Ouch!”

Her expression changed from annoyance to concern, and her voice became soft. “I’m so sorry. Do think you could get up if I helped you?”

He stared with wide open eyes into her sweet face and fought the urge to cup it between his palms and kiss her seductive mouth.

“You okay?” she asked again, interrupting his dreams of kissing her.

“More or less. But we need to get off the pavement,” he told her.

“Here, maybe you can lean on me and then you won’t have to put any weight on your leg,” the young woman said and her genuine smile warmed his insides. As did the prospect of getting close to her curvaceous body.

The next moment, she wrapped an arm around his chest, snaking it beneath his arm and trying to lift him up. Her fresh, minty scent with a hint of sweat sent his sex hormones into overdrive.

“Wait,” he said, savoring the nearness of her soft body. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m at least double your weight.”

She wasn’t one of those awful rail-thin women who chased size zero, but at around five feet five she couldn’t weigh more than one hundred thirty pounds. He dwarfed her with his six foot four inch frame and two hundred twenty pounds of hard-earned muscle.

After another glance into her electric blue eyes, he re-arranged her arm and used his free hand and his good leg to push himself up to a partial standing position. His bad ankle throbbed in time to his heartbeat and he gritted his teeth against the stabbing pain.

“There’s a bench over there,” the girl pointed out. “Do you think you can make it?”

In your arms I can make anything. Gorgeous. He bit his tongue and answered instead, “If I can lean on you.”

“Sure,” she said with the sweetest smile. “My name is Vivian, by the way.”

“Rock,” he said. She abruptly stopped and the sudden movement sent searing pain into his system. “My name. It’s Rock.”

“Oh! I thought that was what you said, but then again, I thought maybe I heard you wrong,” Vivian answered with the cutest red cheeks he’d ever seen.

Rock hid his grin at her rambling words. He’d had enough women fawning over him to know the signs. And this one had definitely checked him out. He could smell her attraction. He slowly licked his lips, giving himself a secret thumbs-up when her eyes went dark and she did the same. That girl was ripe.

They reached the bench and he sat down, taking a few deep breaths before he bent to the task of examining his ankle. It had swelled to almost double its normal size. As much as he wanted to, he knew better than to remove the constricting footwear. At least, not until he could figure out how to get medical help.

“You need to see a doctor, or maybe even go to the hospital.” Vivian had taken the seat besides him and as he looked over, he glanced straight onto her décolleté. She’d opened the zipper of her cycling top about four inches, just enough to lure his glance into following the soft line of her breasts molded by the tight stretch material. Another of his body parts was about to swell to at least double its size.

“Now you’re ogling,” she quipped.

“I wasn’t. Thanks to you running me over I have to focus on keeping the pain at bay.”

“And the swelling,” she said with pursed lips.

The rushing in his ears indicated Rock was flushing like a schoolboy. He preferred to ignore her remark and busied himself with untying and tying his shoes. Anything to keep his hands and mind busy.

“Should we call an ambulance?” Vivian broke the silence.

“I’m not sure they’ll be able to drive on this path.” Rock had parked his car about three miles away, in one of the huge parking lots adjacent to the beach, before taking off for his daily run. He was training for a charity triathlon two months from now. As three-times Iron Man Hawaii World Champion, he’d been anticipated to be the crowd puller for the event.

Vivian nodded and then looked down the coastline from the direction she’d just come. “My car is back there, but it’s several miles away.” Then she brightened. “There’s an urgent care facility about a quarter of a mile that direction.” She pointed up the cross street just behind them.

Rock followed her tapered finger with his gaze, and bit back his sharp retort. Her suggestion was ridiculous.

“You may have noticed that I’m not up to walking a lot.” It came out much more condescending than he’d intended. Gosh, the woman triggered his defenses.

A shadow of hurt or guilt crossed her face and he wanted to take his words back and tell her it was okay. Like hell! What was happening with him? Since when did he care about the emotions of one of Hollywood’s superficial playgirls?

“I did notice. And I already said I’m sorry.” She spat the words at him and the gleam in her eyes made her even more attractive. Then she pointed to her bike. “Lucky for you, my bike is fine. You can sit on the bike and I’ll push you to the urgent care facility.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Rock said, shaking his head. But the moment he locked eyes with her, her entire appearance softened as if she wanted to morph into him, and his body took notice. That’s an excellent idea. You’ll get up close and personal. Appreciating those luscious curves.

“Do you have a better idea?” Like him, she oscillated between anger and attraction.

If he’d met her under different circumstances, he’d charm her into his bed. But right now he had more serious problems. The impending triathlon was the most important event of the year for his charity foundation Rock Solid. It drew a ton of publicity for the foundation and the funds raised during this single event were vital to implement his plans for building a state-of-the art rehab center. Without him as star attraction, he might as well kick the entire event into the gutter.

“I don’t, but you can’t push me on that bike. Thanks, but no thanks,” Rock said and pushed himself to stand on one leg. Ouch. Hopping along until he reached the next street was out of the question.

“Told you so.” The feisty girl smirked at him. “Now stop being stubborn and do as I say.”

Secretly he admired her strong character, but he wouldn’t let her boss him around.

“You really think I’m putting my life into your hands? Haven’t you done enough damage already?” With satisfaction he observed her flushing bright red. Does she think she can just bat her eyelashes at me and I’ll forget about the accident?

“Look, I am sorry. How often do you want me to repeat it?”

With that adorable look on your face? A million times. Or more.  “You think that’s enough to excuse your irresponsible behavior? Haven’t you learned that—“

“Are you going to lecture me or do you want my help?” Vivian said with a quivering lip.

Rock had no idea why he acted so aggressively in her presence. Probably the shock. Or the adrenaline coursing through his veins. It reminded him of the tension he always felt before an important race.

Vivian looked at him with the frightened eyes of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, but then she grabbed her bike and wheeled it over to him. “Come on, Rock. We need to get you to a doctor. Your ankle is turning purple.”

Rock looked down and nodded. We? Since when are we a pair? But for some reason he liked the notion of we.

“Please? Let me do something to help make this right?” Vivian asked him quietly.

“Okay, we’ll give it a try,” he agreed with a smile. She was too cute to be angry with her for long. And the visible guilt on her face tugged at his heart strings. Rock was an expert at feeling guilty and blaming himself. It’s what he’d been doing for years.

Vivian’s face lit up with her relieved smile. “Okay. I’ll steady the bike and you climb on the seat.”

She held the bike up and Rock lifted his injured leg across the middle bar, gritting his teeth against the stabbing pain every movement inflicted. He almost laughed out loud at the ridiculous situation, but another sharp lance of agony wiped the smile from his face.

“Okay, I’m on the bike. Now what?” he asked, while he inhaled the floral scent of her shampoo and wondered whether the hair that flowed out from under her helmet would feel as soft as it looked.

“You steer and I push,” she said, capturing her lower lip between her teeth.

He wanted do that same thing.

“You okay?” Vivian asked him as he lowered his torso to grab the handlebar. Then she put one hand on his and the other on his hip. The tingling in his hand and hip almost rivaled the one in his ankle.

Vivian walked next to her bike, pushing him along with her as they headed up the small cross street. It took them fifteen minutes until they finally reached the urgent care facility.

“Here we are,” she said with the sweetest smile he’d ever seen and he was happy and sad at once to have reached their destination. Vivian helped him to hobble inside.

“What do we have here?” the receptionist inquired as Vivian helped him into the waiting area.

“Bike versus human. Unfortunately for this man, he was the human in the equation,” Vivian answered.

Rock nodded, “My ankle got banged up.”

“Well, let’s get you into an exam room and have a look. Shall we?” the receptionist called someone and moments later, a nurse appeared pushing an empty wheelchair.

Rock gratefully sat down, but then he immediately missed having Vivian’s arms wrapped around him. He looked up at her from the corner of his eye and saw her struggling to keep herself together. Her genuine concern tugged at his heartstrings and he reached up to squeeze her hand. “I’m going to be fine.”

Vivian nodded and gave him a tight smile. “I know.”

The nurse wheeled him into an exam room with curtains to offer some privacy when needed. She snagged a stool with his foot and removed Rock’s shoe.

Rock groaned when the nurse’s movements tweaked his ankle. Vivian had followed them inside and lingered near the door, guilt written all over her face.

“Sorry about that.” The nurse said, “I better call the physician on duty.” The doctor arrived a few minutes later and probed around Rock’s ankle and then shook his head saying, “Based upon the bruising, I’d say it’s probably broken.”

“Broken?” Vivian gasped from the foot of the examine room.

“That’s just a guess,” Rock answered.

The physician shook his head. “Not really. I’ve been practicing medicine for almost forty years. I can usually tell if a bone is broken, and this one definitely is. You’ll need x-rays to make sure it’s not a splintered fracture, but my machine is down. I’ll stabilize the ankle for you and then you should visit the hospital emergency room.”

Vivian nodded, jerking her phone from the band on her arm and whispering into the phone. When she hung up, her eyes caught Rock’s and she flushed. Her guilty face was too cute.

“I called a taxi for us,” she explained.

“What about your bike?” Rock asked.

Vivian looked at the physician. “Would it be okay if I left my bike chained up outside your office?”

The man nodded. “Sure. All done,” he announced a moment later and Rock looked down to see his ankle encased in an air splint. “Now, they’ll take x-rays at the hospital and then probably give you a walking boot. Make sure you follow their instructions. Don’t be a smart guy and try to do too much too soon.”

Rock looked uneasy and then asked, “Doc, what’s the healing time from something like this? I have a triathlon to run in two months’ time.”

“Sorry to say, but that’s off the table for you. Even if you were walking by then without a brace, running that far could cause the fracture to spread,” the physician said with a serious voice, wheeling Rock into the waiting area and then addressing Vivian. “Get your boyfriend to the hospital and make sure he rests his ankle. You can leave the wheelchair besides the entry door. I’m sorry, but the next patient is waiting.”

“Thanks for fixing him up,” Vivian answered, but Rock hadn’t missed the light in her eyes at the physician’s assumption they were a couple.

As they waited for the cab to arrive, Rock leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling. He’d founded the charity Rock Solid several years back when he’d retired from his active sports career – riddled with guilt over the death of his best friend, Tristan. The foundation helped amputees adapt to normal life and become independent again. This triathlon was the most important fundraiser of the year, and without a crowd puller, the financial success would be meager at best.

He’d already signed contracts for the construction of a huge state-of-the-art rehab center on the outskirts of Los Angeles and the entire project was doomed if he couldn’t raise enough money.

“It’s a catastrophe if I can’t participate in the triathlon race.” Rock started at the sound of his own voice. Had he actually said it aloud?

“Let me run in your place,” Vivian said and looked at him with pleading blue eyes.

“You?” Rock couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Yes, please. It’s the least I can do.” She sat by his side, kneading her hands, and trapping that seductive lower lip between her teeth again.

The offer was ridiculous. “You…” he stuttered, noting the tension in her body, the guilt, and wanting to ease it away, “…you can run a triathlon?”

“Sure,” she answered with a confident nod of her head.

Rock looked at her, the idea that she would run in his place was more than just ridiculous, it was idiotic. A nobody taking the place of an Ironman Winner? But then again, she was so cute, standing there silently pleading with him.

If you decline, you might never see her again. His entire body tensed at that prospect.

“You’re on.” Rock held out his hand and they sealed the deal with a handshake. A handshake that sent zings of electric pleasure though his body. He started to like the idea of Vivian racing in his place, as long as it meant he had a reason to see her again.

“Thanks,” Vivian gave him her cutest smile.

“No problem—“A honking horn interrupted him.

“Our taxi. I’ll wheel you outside,” she said and swiftly pushed the wheelchair toward the idling taxi. The cab driver helped him settle into the seat, while Vivian returned the wheelchair. Then they drove to the nearest hospital.

Once they were on their way, she looked at Rock, but he made an effort to keep his eyes closed. Rock could feel the tension rolling off of her, but right at this particular moment, he needed to regain control of his libido. Or he would be prone to tear off her clothes right here and now.