“Buy tampons.”
He gives me a look. “Of course, I do. I don’t care.”
“None of my ex-boyfriends would do it, it was always a categoric no.”
“They’re idiots,” he says, ripping something. I turn to see what he’s doing. He’s taken the nice white shirt he wore on his journey here and is tearing it into strips. “Come on. Better get you down to the lake as it’s easier than using bottled water.”
Once I’m seated on the rocky beach, long grasses tickling my arms in the breeze, James takes off his trainers and steps in barefoot, squatting down to my eye height. He cleans my leg diligently, taking care to be gentle when I hiss, clenching my fists and biting the insides of my cheeks. He watches me, his blue eyes warm when they connect with mine. I try to ignore the heat building in my core whenever he’s nice to me. It’s the last thing I want to be thinking about considering he’s both my colleagueandmy nemesis. I’m waiting for him to suddenly lash out with a smart comment or jibe.
“Why’re you being so kind to me?” I say. I mean it in a jokey way but it comes out more vulnerable than I was going for.
James is carefully cleaning off the dried blood near my ankle. “Would you prefer for me to pick another fight?”
I can’t stop myself from smiling. “At least it will feel somewhere closer to normal.”
“Alright, give me a second.” He’s quiet for a moment then chuckles suddenly. “You know I’m way better at rattling you when I don’t have to think about it. I can’t come up with anything right now.”
“Nothing? Not a single thing to annoy me?”
He presses his lips together and shakes his head. “Nada.”
“How disappointing.”
Once he’s finished, he rises to his full height again offering me both his hands to help me up too. I take them, but hold back, watching, as he returns to our makeshift camp.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say he actually cared about me all of a sudden. It was like he purposefully didn’t take the bait to nettle me just now. I don’t believe he can’t think of at least one thing which would set us off.
Maybe I read him all wrong these past six years. Or maybe he read me all wrong.
Then I remember how he tried to discourage me from going for the director role earlier in the day and it stings in a different way. Somehow, that discussion got right to the centre of me. The place that harbours my lack of self-confidence and people-pleasing tendencies. And it hurt. I look over at the man who is now fiddling with the tent. I’m used to snakes. He doesn’t look like one right now. But I know who he is really. All this flirty nonsense between us needs to end here.
I will not fall for James Gloatman.
Chapter Eleven
James wraps the driest sleeping bag around my shoulders as I perch on the rock back by the campsite. My gash doesn’t look quite so bad now without the blood. He’s been careful to only clean around it, trying hard not to get any more unsterilised water in, or around, the actual cut itself. Without any phones to use, it all feels a little more serious than it did this morning.
He pulls my leg out in front of me to inspect. It just so happens he is one of the first-aid-trained staff in our company. “I don’t think you’ll need stitches. I’m still worried it might get infected though. Should we pour some of the vodka on there? I’ve seen that done in a film before.”
“That sounds painful.”
James winces. “Probably will be. Let’s just keep an eye on it, yeah?”
“So, what? Do we just leave it?”
He leans back to take the strips of his shirt from where they’re hanging. Turning back to me with a grimace, he says, “I think we should bandage it to prevent dirt getting in. I found this leaf.” He’s holding a big waxy leaf he’s picked off a bush somewhere. “I’ll use this as a gauze. You don’t want to risk it getting mucky. And given our current situation that could pose somewhat tricky.”
“Have you done this before?”
He laughs nervously. “No. I’m massively improvising here. Please don’t sue me if it goes wrong.”
“Only person I’m suing is Michael.”
“Well, well,” he says, smiling. “That’s my girl.”
My eyebrows shoot upwards, realising what he’s said. James must realise too, as his smile vanishes. He coughs to clear his throat, rearranging his already arranged strips of shirt. “I’m glad you’re finally starting to see him for the raging lunatic he is.”
I nod. “Right.”
