The next five seconds seemed to take five hours. Everything happened in slow motion.
A glance to his left showed a rusty Toyota Celica circa nineteen-ninety-should-be-in-a-junkyard-somewhere speeding through the parking lot, swerving side-to-side like it was being driven by a three-year-old. Or the kind of drunk to open up the bar at eight AM, close it down at two AM, and then spend the intervening hours sleeping it off on a park bench.
At first he thought the sedan would plow into the row of parked cars, and he waited for the screech of metal and the tinkle of breaking glass. But the driver straightened out and the sedan’s bent and broken grill pointed right at Chrissy.
Even though Officer Ryan was closer to her by a good eight feet, the policeman talked on his cell phone and plugged his free ear with a thick finger, making him oblivious to the oncoming catastrophe.
“Chrissy!” Both syllables exploded out of Wolf’s throat like cannon blasts.
He didn’t feel the pavement pounding beneath his flip-flops. Didn’t feel the hot air filling his lungs. Didn’t even notice the scrape of the bay cedar shrub as it grazed the denim covering his back shin when he hurdled over it. All he knew was that the only woman he had ever loved was inches away from becoming a hood ornament, and—
Damn, this is gonna hurt,he thought as she turned to him a split second before he caught her in his arms. Her eyes were wide with shock. Her sweet mouth was open around a startled scream. But she didn’t have time to let loose with it. The Toyota was upon them and he jumped into the air, taking her with him.
Twisting his body so it was his back that slid across the hot metal hood of the speeding car, he did his best to protect her injured shoulder. And then they were airborne again, the unyielding pavement coming up to meet them way,waytoo quickly.
He heard himself grunt when he hit the ground, Chrissy’s weight driving him into the surface. His lungs felt like they’d been flattened by a mallet, and he would have liked nothing better than to lie there and catch his breath, take stock of his bodyandChristina’s, but the Celica was making for the parking lot exit and—
“Get—” he wheezed, flinging his arm toward the fishtailing sedan when he saw the uniformed policeman sprinting in their direction. “The plate!” he finally managed.
“No need.” Ryan shook his head, squatting next to them. “I know exactly who that was.” He activated the radio clipped to his bulletproof vest. “Dispatch, this is Officer Ryan over at Lower Keys Medical Center. Be advised, Cliff Barnes is behind the wheel of his Toyota and headed south on Kennedy Drive. Get officers to take him off the road. He nearly ran over a couple of folks, and Lord knows he might not miss next time.”
“Roger that.” A crackling voice sounded from the officer’s radio. “Dispatching units now.”
Apparently, when it came to drunken bumper cars, this Cliff character was a repeat offender.Just my luck,Wolf thought, patting Chrissy’s uninjured shoulder and taking comfort in the sound of her ribald cursing.
He lifted his chin to check on her and found her face-first in his crotch. He’d managed to protect her from the impact, but he’d skidded afterward.
“You okay, darlin’?” His vision had returned to normal and he could clearly see the look on her face was equal partsdid that truly just happen?andholy shit!
She made an unequivocal sound at the back of her throat that could’ve passed for either ayesor ano. Tentatively, she felt of the bandage over her shoulder and then nodded.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Szarek.” Officer Ryan was still squatted next to them. “I was on the phone and didn’t hear—”
“It’s okay.” Chrissy cut him off. “Wolf was Johnny-on-the-spot.” She pushed up on her good elbow and then stared down at his crotch.
Now that the danger had passed, the devil that lived in Wolf had him saying before he could think better of it, “You don’t have to do that, darlin’. A simplethanks for keepin’ me from gettin’ my ass run overwill do.”
Her lips flattened into a straight line. “Did you binge eat asshole flakes this morning?”
His lungs hadn’t fully recovered, so the laugh that burst out of him sounded wheezy.
“I swear, right when I’m starting to like you,” she added, “you go and prove you’re a…a…”
He used her fumbling to help her stand, taking quick stock of his injures. A cherry on his elbow that would burn like a bitch when he washed it, and maybe a bruised tailbone.
Not too shabby. Considering.
“A what?” he prompted when they were both back on their feet.
“Aguy,” she finished with a huff.
Wolf blinked at Officer Ryan, feigning bewilderment. “She says that like it’s a bad thing.”
The policeman shrugged. “My wife says the same thing. No matter how many times I’ve tried to explain she shouldn’t judge me based on something I can’t do a thing about, she judges me all the same.”
Wolf slapped a commiserating hand on Officer Ryan’s shoulder. “Damned by our chromosomes.”
“Oh, spare me from fragile male egos.” Chrissy bent to retrieve the plastic bag that held her belongings. When she straightened, she swayed.
