“I think we need to take that shoe off.You’re starting to swell.”Bracing her foot on his raised knee, he tugged at the toggle that crimped the elastic lace of her water shoe.It didn’t budge.“It’s stuck.”He bent low to examine it.“There’s no way that’s coming off.Hold tight, I’m going to try and ease the shoe off.”
She sucked in a bracing breath and nodded.
He tugged.
Pain rocketed through her, bile rose in her throat.
She screamed.
He stopped wiggling the shoe.
Holding her foot with his left hand, he reached into the right pocket of his shorts.“Yes,” he declared and held up a small folding knife.
“You carry a jackknife?”She wrinkled her nose.“What CEO carries a knife?”
“One that likes to be prepared?”he replied, his tone somewhere between a laugh and sarcasm.“This might hurt, but we have to get the shoe off.”He flipped open the blade, slid it under the lace, and with a quick snap upward, cut the lace.
Her foot jerked; she screamed again without meaning to.The relief was instantaneous.“Oooh.That’s better.”
Working quickly but gently, he worked the lace out of its eyelets and stuffed it in his pocket.“Ready?”he asked.“I’m going to pull it off now, and it’s still pretty tight.”
Tensing her entire body, ready for the pain, she nodded.She swallowed another scream, and in five agonizing seconds, the shoe was off.She pushed out a steadying breath.“Thanks.”
“Into the water you go.”He lowered her foot and slowly removed his hands before he looked right into her eyes.“Will you be okay while I’m going to catch the boat?”
Breathless, she nodded, because her mouth was suddenly too dry to form words.Where had this unbidden attraction come from?Now was NOT the time to become interested in a man, this man.Sure, he was attractive and had a good sense of humor.But why now?She’d injured her foot, not her head.
She shook her head to clear the errant thoughts.Who was she trying to kid?She’d been hot for him from her first glance.Being with him only made that heat turn to genuine affection.
Eric rose and made his way carefully to a partially submerged log sticking out from the bank.Their canoe was pushing against it.Hopefully, it would stay there until he reached it.
“Don’t try to save the boat if it’s damaged, just grab our stuff,” she called.He didn’t acknowledge her, and she wondered if he heard her over the roar of the water.
He grabbed the boat’s mooring line and attempted to pull the canoe back to where she was sitting.After a few stumbling steps, he dropped the rope and stood looking at the canoe.She wished she could see his face to see what he was thinking.
He fumbled around inside the boat and lifted her bag from the canoe.Water poured from it as he slung the strap over his shoulder.He grabbed his bag and headed back toward her.
“It’s a good thing our bags were tied in.The cooler and the remains of our lunch are gone, as are our water bottles.They must have been tossed out when we flipped.”
“Dang.”
“There’s a twelve-inch hole in the lower left side.Everything is soaked.I’m going to shore.I’ll wring out everything.And hang it to dry a bit before we strike out.If we can.That foot might give you trouble.”
“Don’t go in my bag,” she blurted.She didn’t want him going through her underthings.Geez!“Can’t you just help me to shore, and I’ll do it myself?”
He gave her a side-eyed look of confusion, not sure what to say.He looked around.Just downstream, past the log that had trapped the canoe, was a patch of sunlight.“I’ll take the bags to the sun, drop them off, and come back for you.”
“I can make it.Just get me to shore, and I can hop along.”
“That hill is eight feet high.You can’t climb it.But,” he waved past the tree and canoe, “down there, it’s much flatter.And sunny.I’ll go first and come back.”
“Fine.”
He laughed.
“What?”She gave him her sternest glare.
“I know what it means when a woman says fine.”He grinned.
