My stare clung to the large black SUV as it parked at the curb, the driver obscured by the darkly tinted windows. My throat closed, trapping my breath like a cage as I waited anxiously to see if it was him.
The driver left the engine running and got out, striding purposefully around the front end. The first thing my addled brain registered was the flapping black fabric of a long coat.
He stayed.
Breath whooshed out of me in a rush, and I slumped into the wheelchair, grateful for the support. He didn’t look at me, but the way he opened the passenger door stirred a wild fluttering sensation just beneath my ribs.
The nurse pushed the chair forward as Kieran turned. His attention carried an unsettling gravity, making me realize everyone else I’d met had only ever tossed me a passing glance or perfunctory awareness. I’d never been someone’s entire focus until now.
Instantly, his lips thinned into a harsh line, and I shrank back under the weight of his glare. “What the hell are you wearing?”
I glanced down at myself like I needed a reminder. “My clothes.”
“Why are they wet?” he demanded.
“‘Cause it was raining when I wrecked?” I phrased it like a question, which was stupid because I wasn’t asking. I was telling.
Be more assertive!
Kieran muttered something under his breath and stepped onto the curb, stripping off the trench as he moved. I swallowed thickly, watching the way his shoulders and arms strained under the black button-up beneath the coat.
“Let’s go.” Kieran was gruff when I just sat there staring.
I pushed out of the chair, hissing in pain when I used too much pressure on my injured hand.
Kieran leaned in, wrapping an arm around my torso, and hauled me the rest of the way up. When he straightened, my feet were no longer on the pavement but dangling there uselessly.
I shivered at the warmth of his body and then inhaled his woodsy scent.
“Are you sniffing me?”
Caught in the act. My eyes flew up, instantly colliding with his. Mine widened, which sent a jolt of pain through my skull, but I didn’t look away.
Something warm and electric passed between us. Something so palpable my hand fisted in the front of his shirt. We hung there, suspended for uncounted moments, held hostage by this thing without a name.
He broke free first, ripping away his gaze with a gruff sound. “Stand on your own.”
“Put me on the ground.”
Surprised, he glanced down to see that, in fact, he was holding me.
My feet stung from the force with which he slapped me on the ground before he stepped back hastily.
“I can see that you will be in good hands,” the nurse said, drawing our stares. “You be sure and get some rest, hon. And if you start to feel worse, be sure to come back in.”
I nodded even though I definitely wasn’t coming back.
She turned and pushed the wheelchair back through the double glass doors, leaving me fully alone with Kieran.
Awkwardness settled over me, and I shuffled on the sidewalk, not sure what to do.
Clearly not suffering the same affliction, Kieran shook out the trench and wrapped it around me, enclosing me in a cocoon of his scent and warmth.
“In the car,” he directed, hand on my shoulder.
Grabbing the coat from the inside, I held it around me and moved forward, feet tangling in the too-long fabric.
“Christ,” Kieran spat, scooping me up just before I face-planted. “A walking hazard.”
