She heaved another of her great sighs, but he sensed a slight relenting—and a further shoring up of determination. It would take more than a little opposition to make the fight go out of this lady.
Her jaw clenched, she took a slow, testing step.
No wobble.
No yelp.
She cut him a sharp glance that saidsee?
He spread his hands before him peaceably. “Two more steps, and you’re rid of me forever.”
He caught a glimpse of emotion as it passed behind her eyes—uncertainty.
Forever was only two steps away.
Dev tensed with anticipation. He needed to be ready if she did, indeed, wobble. She wouldn’t fall again—not on his watch.
Ifshe wobbled?
More likewhen.
She took a second step, her relief palpable when she didn’t wobble or yelp. He admired her tenacity.
Her sense of relief, however, would prove her downfall, as she followed that successful second step with a hasty third. The yelp that scraped across her throat was sudden and instinctual, an honest reaction to pain.
But she didn’t wobble, so Dev stayed his impulse to rush toward her.
Instead, he waited.
Eyes squeezed shut, she went still. As if the possibility existed that when she opened her eyes, he would be gone and this strange interlude would’ve never happened.
He cleared his throat.
Her eyes remained closed.
Still, he waited.
Then, her mouth moving as little as possible, out mumbled two stubborn words. He angled forward as if he hadn’t heard them. “What was that?”
Her eyes slid open, opaque gray piercing through thick black lashes. Once one got past the sharpness of those eyes, it became apparent the woman had remarkable eyes…arresting eyes.
“All…right,” she said, each syllable distinctly enunciated, those remarkable, arresting eyes throwing daggers.
His mouth twitched, but he managed to keep a smile suppressed. The movement, however, was enough to catch her attention. Her gaze lingered a few ticks of time too long on his mouth, before sliding away.
As the torrent of rain had blessedly subsided into a light mist, he retrieved his hunter, who was sheltering beneath a sprawling oak and led him to the woman. Her knuckles shone white, so tightly was she clutching the satchel before her. For a silent moment, they stood facing each other, the understanding in her eyes matching his.
There was only one way for her to mount this horse.
With his help.
The five feet that separated them… Well, it might as well have been five miles.
For the first time in Dev’s adult male life, he had no idea how to bridge the gap between himself and a woman who had consented to him putting his hands on her.
But this blasted woman couldn’t bloody well walk.
Right.
