forcing her hands to drop. Muttering a Portuguese curse, Luc rubbed the back of his neck and kept his gaze on the ground. Kate honestly had no clue what to do. Say something? Walk away without a word?
What was the logical next step after being yelled at by her boss, then kissed as if he needed her like air in his lungs for his survival? And then pushed away with a filthy term her mother would blush at...
Clearing her throat, Kate wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’m not quite sure why you did that, but let’s chalk it up to the heat of the moment. We’ll both laugh about it tomorrow.”
And dream about it tonight.
“You just push me too far.” His intense gaze swept over her, but he kept his distance. “For a year I’ve argued with you, but you’ve always had my back. I know there’ve been times you’ve intervened and stood up for me without my even knowing. As far as employees go, you’re the best.”
Confused, Kate ran her hands up and down her arms as the ocean breeze chilled her damp skin. “Okay. Where are you going with this?”
“Nowhere,” he all but yelled, flinging his arms out. “What just happened can’t happen again because you’re an employee and I don’t sleep with staff. Ever.”
Kate couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from her. “You kissed me. Nobody mentioned sex.”
His gaze heated her in ways that a hot bubble bath never could have. “I don’t have to mention it. When I look at you I think it, and after tasting you, I feel it.”
If he thought those words would deter her, he didn’t know her at all. Kate reached forward, but Luc stepped back.
“Don’t,” he growled. “Just go on back to your cottage and we’ll forget this happened.”
Smoothing wet tendrils off her forehead, Kate shook her head. “Oh, no. You can’t drop that bomb, give me a proverbial pat on the head and send me off to bed. You went from arguing to kissing me to throwing sex into the conversation in the span of two minutes. You’ll understand if I can’t keep up with your hormonal swings tonight.”
The muscle tic in his jaw, the clenched fists at his sides, were all indicators he was irritated, frustrated and angry. He had no one to blame but himself, and she wasn’t going to be caught up in his inner turmoil.
“This is ridiculous,” she said with a sigh. “We’re both obviously not in a position to talk without saying something we don’t mean.”
“I always mean what I say,” he retorted. “Otherwise I wouldn’t say it.”
Rolling her eyes, Kate again waved a hand through the air. “Fine. You meant what you said about wanting to have sex with me.”
“Don’t twist my words,” he growled.
Kate met his leveled gaze, knowing full well she was poking the bear. “Did you or did you not say you thought of having sex with me? That you actually feel it.”
He moved around her, heading for the steps leading to the beach. “This conversation is over. Go home, Kate.”
She stared at his retreating back for all of five seconds before she took off after him. Just because he was royalty and she was his assistant didn’t mean he could dismiss her anytime he wanted. Rude was rude no matter one’s social status.
She didn’t say a word as she followed him. Luc’s long strides ate up the ground as he headed toward the dock. Surely the man wasn’t going out on his Jet Ski now. Granted, the water was calm since the storm had passed, but it was dark and he was angry.
Just as she was about to call his name, he went down. The heavy thud had her moving faster, her thighs burning from running across the sand. She prayed the sound of him falling was much worse than any injury.
“Luc,” she called as she approached. “Are you all right?”
He didn’t move, didn’t respond, but lay perfectly still on the wet dock. Dread consumed her. The second she stepped onto the dock, her feet slid a bit, too, and she tripped over a loose board that had warped slightly higher than the others.
The dock obviously hadn’t been repaired like the rest of the outdoor spaces on this property.
Kate crouched next to him, instantly noticing the swollen knot at his temple. He’d hit his head on a post, from what she could tell.
“Luc.” She brushed his hair off his forehead, afraid to move him, and hoping he’d only passed out. “Can you hear me?”
She stroked his cheek as she ran her gaze down his body to see if there were any other injuries. How could he be up one second and out cold the next? Fear threatened to overtake her the instant she realized she didn’t have her phone.
Maybe she was irresponsible, but she’d have to worry about that later. Right now she had no clue how serious Luc’s injury was, but the fact he still hadn’t moved had terror pumping through her.
Shifting so her knees weren’t digging into the wood, Kate sat on her hip and kept patting Luc’s face. “Come on, Luc. Wake up. Argue with me some more.”
Torn between rushing back to the house for her phone to call for help and waiting to see if he woke on his own, Kate started patting down his shorts, hoping he carried his cell in his pocket.
One pocket was empty, and before she could reach to the other side, Luc groaned and tried to shift his body.
“Wait,” she told him, pressing a hand to his shoulder as he started to rise. “Don’t move. Are you hurt anywhere?”
He blinked as he stared up at her. Thankfully, the bright light from the lamppost was helping her assess his injuries, since the sun had set.
Luc’s brows drew together in confusion. “Why were you feeling me up?”
Relief swept through her. “I wasn’t feeling you up,” she retorted, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and slowly helping him to sit up. “I was checking your pockets for a cell phone. You fell and hit your head on the post. I was worried because you were out for a few minutes.”
Luc reached up, wincing as his fingers encountered the bump on his head, which was already turning blue. “Damn, that hurts.”
“Let’s get you back up to the house.” Kate helped him to his feet, then slid her arm around his waist to steady him. “You okay? Feeling dizzy or anything?”
He stared down at her, blinked a few times and frowned. “This is crazy,” he muttered.
“What?”
With his thumb and index finger, he wiped his eyes and held the bridge of his nose. He probably had the mother of all headaches right now. All the more reason to get this big guy moving toward the house, because if he went back down, she couldn’t carry him.
“I know you,” he murmured. “I just... Damn it, your name isn’t coming to me.”
Kate froze. “You don’t know my name?” This was not good. That ball of fear in her stomach grew.
Shaking his head, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started leading them off the dock. “I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought. Why isn’t it coming to me?”
Kate pressed a hand to his abdomen, halting his progress. She shifted just enough to look him in the eyes. Since she wasn’t a medic and never had any kind of training other than a basic CPR course, she had no idea what signs to look for with a head trauma.
“Look at me,” she ordered. “You know me, Luc. You know my name.”
Blowing out a breath, he hung his head. “I... It’s on the tip of my tongue. Damn, why can’t I remember?”
He glanced back up at her, worry filling his dark eyes. This was not good, not good at all. She was going to have to get him back to the house and call the palace