“Oh,” Allie gave a small sigh of disappointment.
“I did learn basic defense though.”
“Oh yeah, against this?”She kicked out at him playfully but lost her balance when she stepped down on a rock as she lifted her other leg.Her ankle gave way, and she started to stumble.Her arms went out in a windmill motion to try and save herself from injury.
Carson snatched her before she could topple over and embarrass herself.His hands were along her sides, just under her breasts.No doubt he could feel her heart galloping.“You alright?”he asked in concern then looked around.“Let’s sit you down so I can look at your ankle.”
“Carson don’t bother; I’m fine.The only thing hurt is my pride.”She tried stepping away before she did something even more embarrassing like trying to kiss him, but his grip remained firm yet gentle.As if he didn’t want to hurt her, but wanted her to stay in his arms.She tried not to notice, but it was impossible not to.
“I just want to be sure,” he remarked as he maneuvered around her to snake his left arm behind her back underneath the backpack to her side and guided her to a large boulder next to the trail.She hoped her back wasn’t sweaty.That was all she needed to add to her embarrassment.
Allie sat down on the rock and allowed Carson to remove her shoe and touch her ankle.Sandy would be so proud of her right now.Allie could see her now when she retold this tale.Sandy would be jumping up and down with joy.Claiming it was all her ingenious idea, when in fact it had just been Allie goofing around and not watching where she was stepping.
“Carson, this really isn’t necessary.”He was making a big deal out of nothing.She hadn’t even rolled her ankle.She’d just slipped on a loose stone, nothing to worry about.Her ankle didn’t even hurt.
Carson squatted down between her legs and looked up at her.It was hard to read his expression from behind his glasses.“Indulge me.I’d hate for your ankle to swell and then I’d have to carry you back down.”
Sandy said men liked to play heroes like that, but she supposed with everything he was carrying and then adding her weight on top of it, it wouldn’t be pleasant.They had already crossed some heavier terrain.
Allied nodded, signaling he could begin, though the exam wasn’t needed.She felt perfectly fine.The boots she wore also covered her ankle to prevent rolling.
Allie held perfectly still as Carson’s hand worked down her bare leg.She wore khaki shorts and a black tank top that showed off the top swells of her breasts—at Sandy’s insistence—and her hiking boots.She was really glad she’d decided to shave at the last minute this morning.
“How’s that?”he asked, pressing against the area right above her ankle with his finger and thumb.
“Fine.”She wasproud her voice remained steady while the rest of her was turning into a puddle of mush.
“No pain?”His thumb prodded along her calf muscles.
“No.I thought it was my ankle you were worried about, not my calf?”
“I just want to be thorough.”He sounded unmoved by the task, as if he were a doctor that did this every day.
Her belly quivered at the glide of his hands caressing her skin.His hand wrapped around the back of her calf, his thumb probing the muscle.A barely audible groan stole from her lips before she could clamp her mouth shut, hoping Carson hadn’t heard.
Of course, he did.The man missed nothing.His hand stilled, and he looked up at her.“You are injured,” he accused.
Shit, how to tell him it wasn’t a sound of pain but pleasure.“I’m not.I’m just ticklish there,” she said, saying the first thing that came to her mind.
Carson stared at her for a moment.
She felt under such scrutiny even though she couldn’t see his eyes.She still felt them on her.“I think that’s enough.”She tried pulling her leg away, but he refused to let her go.
“I still need to check your ankle.”Carson unlaced her shoe and pulled it off, followed by her sock.
He turned her foot this way and that.Asking if anythinghurt with each new position.It was completely fine.“See, I told you, you were worrying for nothing.You’re saved from carrying me down the trail.”She smiled, trying to quell her racing heart and striving to appear calm when she was really a bundle of nerves.
Every glide of Carson’s hands on her body felt like electricity shooting through her straight to her core.It was as if her body had been dead, and he’d just revived it.She had never responded so much to a man’s touch before.
Carson’s hands were still on her foot, just resting there.Allie wasn’t sure if he was conscious of the action.He was looking up at her.Those damn sunglasses still prevented her from seeing his eyes.She wondered what he was thinking.
“Well, I’m glad it turned out to be nothing.I’ve known people who rolled their ankles and waved it off, that turned out to be fractures.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.I like to think I can handle my share of pain, but growing up as I did, I learned when an injury was serious or when you could walk it off.”
“Your older brothers?They rough-housed a lot?”
Allie started laughing as memories flooded her mind.“Are you kidding?My mother threatened to wrap my brothers up in bubble wrap if they didn’t stop getting cuts and bruises.Eventually, she learned if it wasn’t profusely bleeding, at an odd angle, or a bone sticking out, you were going to survive.”
