My arms locked around his neck as my feet left the ground, and before my brain caught up with my body, I was climbing him like a tree, my arms lopped around his neck, suffocating the poor soul.
“Whoa,” he said calmly, cutting through my panic. “Easy there.”
I’d just attacked a stranger.
“I-I’m sorry,” I gasped, still gripping him. “There’s a snake. Right there. Doing… snake things.”
He looked down at me with infuriating calm, as though women routinely leapt onto him in alpine parking lots.
“I see,” he said mildly. “You know, snakes are usually more afraid of you,” he added.
“Untrue,” I muttered, scanning the ground, my feet hooked around his waist. “One bite and I’m dead. And then I crash my car and take out innocent bystanders, so really, this is a public safety issue.”
Silence followed, broken only by my panting breaths.
“Do you see it? Can you kill it? Are there lots of snakes here? Because that’s a deal breaker for me.” I rattled on like a lunatic, then tightened my grip around his neck and his waist, brushing against his hard muscles. “Well, are there?”
“You ask many questions.”
“And you have yet to answer any,” I shot back. “What if it’s under my car? Orinmy car? Can snakes get into cars?”
He let out a low chuckle that shouldn’t have been comforting but somehow was.
That was when I noticed a man in a black suit flanking him, appearing out of nowhere like he’d materialized from the trees. Earpiece. The stance. The unmistakable awareness.
Of course.
“Your bodyguard? Does he kill snakes?” I asked weakly, flicking a glance to his sidekick with raven hair and even darker eyes. “He’s a little late, don’t you think?”
“Don’t worry about him,” he said, giving him a subtle look that sent him retreating a few steps. “Where’s the snake?”
I pointed, my hand trembling.
“There—” I stopped. The post was bare, and I stared dumbly, furious that the snake had made a fool out of me. “It was there. I swear.”
He glanced around, still carrying me like I weighed nothing, then started walking across the lot.
“You don’t have to—” I began.
“You seem unwilling to let go.”
Fair.
“Which car is yours?”
I pointed at the SUV as we approached. “Sorry, I should have parked closer.”
He chuckled. “If you planned on scaling me, yeah, you really should have.”
He stopped beside the vehicle and lowered me gently until my feet met the pavement. My body slid down his and suddenly I was hot and flustered.
I slipped my sandal off. No point limping with one shoe on and I certainly wasn’t going back for the one I lost.
“I guess that’s my cue,” I murmured, smoothing the material of my dress and reclaiming what dignity I had left. I was a respected doctor, for goodness’ sake. “Thank you for… not letting me die via snake-related hysteria.”
He wore an amused expression, assessing me with a dark, piercing gaze. His square jaw spoke of determination while his silver-peppered hair hinted at his mature age. The man was gorgeous, and my cheeks heated with each passing second around him.
“Your sandal.” The bodyguard interrupted the moment, placing it neatly at my feet before stepping away once more. He was younger than my rescuer, although not by much. He had coal-black hair and alarmingly dark eyes. It was clear he didnotlike me hanging off his boss. “We don’t need a Cinderella situation on our hands.”
