‘I’m not that desperate, Josh,’ she cut in tearfully. ‘Despite what I said about my not getting out a lot, and you being so drop-dead gorgeous no woman could resist falling at your feet,obviously, I don’t have to resort to following men around. For your information, the jacket and hat I’m wearing are everywhere at the moment. Thanks for the company.’ She snatched up her bag and jumped to her feet.
‘Kim…’ His heart flipping over, Josh grabbed his rucksack and followed. He really was good at messing things up, wasn’t he? Anyone would think he worked at it. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, almost falling into her as the train lurched to a stop. ‘It was a genuine mistake.’
Ignoring him, she hit the doors open button and stepped down onto the platform.
Josh followed, feeling worse by the second. Had he really upset her that much? ‘Kim,’ he called, almost at a run to keep up with her as she neared the steps to street level. ‘I was mistaken. Please don’t go off upset. I didn’t mean—’
‘Let go of my arm, please,’ she cut in, her cheeks blazing.
‘What?’ Josh followed her gaze down. ‘Right, sorry.’ He hadn’t even realised he was holding onto it.
‘Thank you,’ she said curtly. ‘Now, do you thinkyoucould stop followingme?’
He stared at her, thunderstruck. ‘I’m not…’ Christ, what was she talking about? This was his station. He wasn’tfollowingher. ‘Look, I’ve said I’m sorry. I’m going now, okay.’ Holding his hands up, he stepped away from her.
‘Good,’ she said, tears springing to her eyes. ‘You know, I can’t believe I was so wrong about you. That I actually thought you werenice.’
Watching her whirl around and fly up the steps, he shook his head in bewilderment, then turned away.
He was a yard along the platform, trying to work out what the hell had just happened, when a sharp scream stopped him in his tracks.
Spinning back, he saw her tumbling down the steps and instinctively ran.
‘Shit,’ he muttered, dropping to his knees at her side. ‘Kim?’ he said, fear gripping him as she lay motionless, swiftly followed by immeasurable relief when she stirred.Thank God.‘Don’t move,’ he urged her, thinking she might have injuries that weren’t obvious.
‘What happened?’ she mumbled, clearly disorientated.
Josh shuffled around to support her shoulders as she insisted on trying to raise herself. ‘You fell,’ he told her. ‘You lost consciousness. It’s probably better if you stay still. You might have broken something.’ He prayed that she hadn’t. God forbid she’d damaged her neck or her spine. He would never forgive himself if she had.
He searched her eyes. They were flecked with confusion. ‘Does it hurt anywhere?’ he asked gently.
Blinking, she attempted to move, and then winced. ‘My ankle,’ she said, squeezing her eyes closed.
‘I’ve called an ambulance,’ a guy in the gathering crowd said. ‘Here, would she like my coat?’ he asked, halfway out of it.
‘No. I’m all right.’ Kim pulled herself to a sitting position, despite Josh advising her not to. ‘It’s only my ankle. If I could just get to a taxi.’
‘The ambulance is already on its way,’ the guy told her. ‘If I were you, I’d stay put. It’ll be a hell of an effort getting up those stairs. You could take the lift, but then you have to get out of the station to the taxi rank.’
‘He’s right,’ Josh agreed. ‘I could help you if you really want to get a taxi, but it’s probably better not to put any weight on that ankle, just in case.’
As she scanned his face, fresh tears in her eyes, Josh felt incredibly guilty. He wasn’t sure how this whole thing had started, but he could definitely have handled it better. ‘I could wait with you,’ he offered. ‘Come with you to the hospital if you like.’
She dropped her gaze. ‘I’d like that,’ she said quietly.
Once the crowd had started to disperse, she looked back at him, her expression full of remorse. ‘I’m sorry, Josh. I overreacted. It was childish. It’s not you…’ she faltered. ‘My ex accused me of all sorts of things. He said I was stalking him, when it was the other way around. He told my friends I was obsessed with him, when all I wanted was him out of my life. He was so convincing…’ She stopped, looking desperate.
‘Hey, it’s okay,’ Josh tried to reassure her, his heart wrenching as a sob escaped her.
‘None of the things he said were true,’ Kim went on, looking at him beseechingly, as if she needed him to believe her. ‘Even when I first went out with him, he tried to make me think everything was my fault, that I deserved all I got, and now…’
All she got?Which was what, precisely? Josh felt his gut twist. ‘There’s no harm done, I promise you,’ he said, supporting her with one arm and reaching with his other hand to wipe a tear gently away from her cheek with his thumb. ‘Apart from that ankle.’
She sniffed. ‘You were right,’ she said with a tremulous smile. ‘Looks like I was determined to throw myself at you.’
‘Pretty spectacularly, as it happens.’ Josh smiled back. He didn’t know how he’d managed to get himself into this, but there was no way he could leave her now.
Nine
