Chapter 8
Shanna reached for her right ankle as Kevin knelt beside her, hissing in a sharp gasp when stabbing pain took her breath away. She appreciated him not asking if she was okay when clearly she wasn’t.
“Can you move it?”
The slightest shift of her leg brought tears to her eyes. She clenched her teeth and tried to rotate her ankle. A low moan escaped her clamped lips.
Kevin sat back on his heels and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “You can’t walk on that.”
She swiped at her tears with frustration. “I have to.”
“First we wrap.” He shrugged the pack from his shoulders, dug out the first aid kit, and began by having her swallow a couple of ibuprofen for the pain. “We’re going to have to take off your boot.”
Great.
She undid the laces, and he eased the boot from her foot with one hand gripping her calf, the other pulling. His expression twisted in remorse when she couldn’t hold back a soft whimper.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
“Not your fault. I should’ve watched where I was going.”
Bad as this was, she couldn’t help think of the rest of the way back. The campsite was about a half-hour away, over uneven ground, up and down little forested hills and valleys. To somewhat use his expression, she was totally screwed.
“Do you have any ice in your cooler?”
“There’s some left.”
“I’ll wrap this now, and when we get back, you’ll ice and elevate while I pack up.”
“Pack up?” she asked with a frown.
“Yes. Pack up.” At her indrawn breath to argue, he stated, “You need to get this x-rayed, Shanna.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Leaving was the same as quitting in her book. Not happening.
He glanced up, his frown cutting a deep V on his forehead. He opened his mouth, then shut it again with a sigh and shake of his head. “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”
“I’m not leaving,” she repeated firmly.
He ignored her and wrapped her ankle, his large hands surprisingly nimble with the bandage.
“You’re pretty good at that,” she complimented grudgingly.
“I spent a couple winters as a ski instructor out in Colorado during college. We had to take basic first aid, so I’ve wrapped my share of ankles.”
Never went camping as a kid, but he’d been a ski instructor. “Do you still ski?”
“Not nearly as much as I’d like to.” He glanced up as he finished the job and secured the metal clips to keep the elastic bandage in place. “Your boot has to go back on. It’ll help keep the swelling down. Ready?”
She nodded and grit her way through the process.
“Do you ski?” he asked while tying her laces.
“I’ve always wanted to learn, but never did.”
“I’ll teach you sometime.”
She blinked at the easy words, but before she could determine if it was a real offer or just an offhand comment, he zipped the backpack closed and stood to help her up. She accepted his hand, and once she was standing on her good foot, she gingerly tried to put weight on her injured one. A stab of fiery pain made her gasp and hop on her left leg. She grabbed the trunk of a nearby tree for balance while she breathed through the worst of it.
Concern creased Kevin’s forehead as he stooped for the backpack. “Yeah, you’re definitely not walking on that.”
“What’s the alternative?” she snapped, frustration and emotion getting the better of her.
“I’ll carry you.”
“You can’t carry me that far.”
“Wanna bet?”
She tilted her head, slightly annoyed with the reappearance of his macho ego. Besides, she didn’t doubt he was strong enough, but it was way too much to ask.
He held out the pack while motioning with his other hand for her to hurry up. “Put this on and I’ll throw you over my shoulder fireman-style. That way you can keep your foot elevated higher than your heart.”
Her mouth gaped open as she gripped the tree trunk. Good God. She’d throw up in less than a minute. “You’re not serious. Are you?”
He rolled his eyes, a slight smirk tugging the corner of his mouth. “Of course not. You’ll ride piggyback. Now let’s go.”
As she put the pack on, he took a knee in front of her so she could climb onto his back. Her pulse skipped as she imagined him in the same position, only facing her, his warm hazel gaze turned up to hers, his hand extended with a—
“We doing this today or tomorrow?” he prompted over his shoulder.
She shook away the ridiculous fantasy and awkwardly placed one hand on his firm shoulder while hopping closer, trying to figure out where to put her injured leg. He guided her knee to his thigh, and reached for her hand to pull her arm around his neck.
“Lean forward and hang on,” he instructed.
Her breasts pressed against his back as she leaned, and with a seemingly effortless push, he stood and wrapped his arms back under her thighs. After a couple of jostling adjustments that made her feel like a ragdoll, he strode off as if she were no heavier than the backpack.
“If you need to rest, just let me know,” she said.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I will.”
A tree branch was coming toward her head. She tightened both arms around his neck and ducked her head next to his. “Watch out—”
He’d already veered to the right so she cleared the branch with a foot to spare.
“Trust me, Shanna. That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?”
A reluctant smile cut through the throb of her ankle, but she didn’t answer. Two steps later, he nearly tripped, and she held on for dear life as he regained his balance.
“We’re good,” he muttered. “We’re fine.”
“Barely. Maybe I should—”
“Stop choking me? That’d be great.”
“Sorry.” She immediately loosened her grip.
Beneath her left forearm, she could feel the racing beat of his heart. When he resumed walking, she noticed he slowed down a bit, and they reached camp without any more incidents.
He set her down near the campfire pit. The back of his shirt was wet with sweat from where she’d been pressed against him for the past half-hour. The front of hers was wet, as well as her back from the pack.
Plucking the sticky cotton away from her heated skin, she glanced longingly at the lake. A swim would be awesome right about now.
Kevin rolled one of the logs within a few feet of the one bumping her right knee. “Sit.”
Shanna turned toward the tent. “I need to get my—”
“Sit,” he repeated in his familiar, no-nonsense business tone as he blocked her way. “Or I’m tossing you in the canoe and we’re leaving.”
She sat, but crossed her arms to give him a mutinous glare.
He bent to lift her injured foot onto the other log, and she quickly reached back to grip her log for balance. A few adjustments took the edge off her sharp grimace, and then she watched him move this way and that, until her boot was off and she had an ice pack on her ankle.
Kevin stood in front of her, hands braced on his hips. “Here’s the deal. I’ll give you tonight to see how things go. If the pain isn’t any better tomorrow morning, we’re going to the ER, got it?”
The unbending authority in his voice raised her hackles, but she glimpsed a flicker of worry in his expression as he glanced at her foot. He was giving her a fair option. That he was giving her an option at all was something else to consider.
“Okay,” she agreed.
Surprise brought his gaze back to hers, but he quickly masked it. “I’m not done with the conditions yet. You’re also going to rest, keep your foot up, and let me do everything that needs to be done tonight.”
Like she was going to argue him waiting on her hand and foot?
“Sounds like a win-win-win for me.” She gave him a smug grin and stuck her hand out. When he reached forward, she pulled back a few inches. “Wait, do we need to swap spit for this, too?”
His fingers closed around hers as he leaned closer. “Only if you want to seal it with a kiss.”
Yes, please.
She swallowed hard against the impulse to say those two words, but in the next moment, he released her hand and stepped back.
“I’m going to set up something more comfortable,” he advised. “Do you want to recline out here, or in your tent?”
The breeze off the lake made the sticky summer heat bearable. “Out here for now, please.”
“Fair warning, I’m taking a swim to rinse off after that hike.”
“I don’t care.” She’d seen his boxers numerous times in the past two days. What was once more?
An opportunity to sneak a peek and dream.
“I actually would like to rinse off, too.”
“Later. First, you gotta give the ice and gravity time to do their job.”
She made a face, but didn’t argue.
Twenty minutes later, she reclined on a makeshift bed of cut branches cushioned by both their sleeping bags. Her foot was elevated without the icepack for a little while, she had a cold beer within reach, and her e-reader in hand. Kevin propped a makeshift crutch at her side in case she needed to get to the bathroom, and then he readied the campfire to be lit when it was time to make dinner.
After one last check to make sure she didn’t need anything else, he strode toward the shore while pulling his shirt over his head.
Over the top of her device, Shanna enjoyed the smooth play of muscles in his back as he leaned to drape his shirt on the edge of the canoe next to the extra towel she’d offered for him to use. He undid the button and zipper on his cargo shorts and bent to slide them—her eyes widened—and his boxers—all the way off.
Good Lord. What if someone happened by? She cast a quick glance around. They were pretty remote, but that didn’t mean boaters couldn’t motor past or paddle into their secluded little cove.
What do you care? Just enjoy the naked.
Her mouth went dry and her pulse sped up as Kevin dropped his shorts and briefs on top of his shirt then strode thigh deep into the water before diving under. By the time he surfaced and swiped his hair back from his forehead, she made sure her head was ducked so it appeared she was fully engrossed in her digital book.
Whatever it took to keep from mentally drooling over those impressive biceps on the arms that had carried her over a mile back to camp.