“Huh?” He walked to her. “Are you okay?”
“I tripped over a damn log.” She glared at the offending log as though its sole purpose was to knock Mia to the ground. She adjusted her glasses, blowing a chunk of hair from her face. She stood but almost fell again when weight was placed on her left leg. “Ow! Oh my god!” Hobbling her way to the same villainous log, she took a seat, her hand reaching to her ankle.
Her eyes lifted to him, but the gaze never rose higher than his chest. This was when he realized he was still shirtless. Growing self-conscious, he slipped the T-shirt back over his head and resisted saying the words,Eyes up here, Russo.
Snapping from her daze, Mia blushed, and her focus shifted to her ankle.
“Are you hurt?” he asked. His instinct was to scoop her into his arms and take her to safety. Instead, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his joggers. Carrying her was the opposite of maintaining distance and, therefore, not an option.
“I think I just twisted it weird.”
Ross kneeled, taking her ankle in one hand and her bare calf in the other. It was like touching silk, but he tried to push the thought from his mind and keep his hand from sliding the rest of the way up her leg. He studied her while rotating her foot, being careful not to add too much pressure with his grip. “Does this hurt?”
She sucked in a quick breath, biting the corner of a full bottom lip. “Yeah, a little. But I don’t think it’s broken. I think my ego is more injured than my ankle.”
He forced his eyes to her shoe. “What are you doing over here?”
“I just wanted to go on a walk and take pictures. You know, take a break and get out.”
He cocked his head after noticing her hands were empty. “Take pictures? Without a camera?”
“Oh, no, I-I was using my phone. Can you do me a favor and hand it to me? It’s right there in the dirt. I was…looking at a picture on my phone and tripped over the log.”
Reluctantly, Ross unlatched his hands from her leg and retrieved her phone, handing it to her. “Why are you over here, though? If you stay on the trail, you don’t have to worry about things like tripping over logs.”
“I like going off-trail.”
He found her simplistic response, along with her chipper attitude, annoying. It was so typical of Mia. She got to breeze through life as if her cheerfulness and positivity were enough to keep the rain clouds away. It was clear, no one had ever proven anything different to her. He took a deep breath. “It’s not very practical. What if you’re out here, by yourself, you trip over a log, and break your leg?”
“I don’t know. I guess I would cry and then call someone on my phone to help me.”
“Did you even bring any water on this solo hike of yours?”
“No, but—”
“Do you have bear spray?”
Her eyebrows rose. “Bear spray?”
“Black bears have been known to come down to this area. So you break your leg, have no water, and then have nothing to protect yourself against a bear.”
Mia blinked. “Good lord, Ross. You wasted no time in imagining such a dire situation for me.”
“Maybe the next time you think about doing something like this, you’ll decide to come a bit more prepared.”
Her brows returned to their original positions as she watched him, pushing her glasses closer to her face with a single finger. “Here’s another situation for you. What if—and this is ahugewhat if because, obviously, you’re much more logical about this whole hiking thing than I am. But what if I’m out on a nice sunny day, I take some pictures with my phone, and I trip over a log, slightly twisting my ankle, but then you happen along and help me?”
“Or there could be a hungry bear.”
“I guess that’s also possible. But between your imagined situation and my situation, which one actually happened?”
Ross’s mouth opened to reply, but not a single word escaped. The dimple indented her right cheek as a confident smile spread across her face.God damn her. “It must be so nice that you can afford to be careless and get away with it.”
Her bright smile slid away, and, with it, a dollop of guilt plopped onto Ross’s conscience. Despite the situation, he regretted being the cause of the disappearing dimple. Some of the ice surrounding his heart broke off in a snowflake-sized chunk.
He sighed. “Come on. Let me help you.” He offered a hand, pulling her to her feet, and wrapped a supportive arm around her waist. She felt small within his grasp and he again fought the urge to scoop her up. Mia clasped the top of his shoulder and, with his assistance, limped to the trail.
At a slow pace, they made their way on the path with Hermes lagging not far behind. Ross gave Mia a sideways glance and cleared his throat. “How’s your mom, by the way?”
