Once there, she might have a chance. As for not being taken alive, okay, yeah, she had a slight dramatic streak.
She felt him reach for her and darted to the left, where a tree root jutted out of some grasses. She tripped over it, lost her balance and started to go down.
As she did, several things happened at once. There was an awful sensation of pain from her left ankle, she saw something gray and white and furry in a hollowed-out base of the tree, and what felt like a tank plowed into her from the rear.
She hit the ground, all the air rushed out of her lungs, and there were actual spinning lights where the rest of the world should have been.
She resurfaced to someone rolling her onto her back and telling her to take a breath.
Breath? She couldn’t breathe. She really was not going to get out of here alive. Oh, God—she’d been kidding. She didn’t want to die here. Now. Like this.
“Take a breath,” the man repeated. “You’re fine.”
How did he know that? How could he be sure?
Willow opened her mouth and sucked in air. It filled her lungs. She did it again and again until the lights faded and she could focus on everything around her.
Gun Guy sat next to her. He’d removed his jacket. The good news was she could see he was all muscle and it was pretty impressive. The bad news was his gun was totally exposed and she couldn’t pretend it wasn’t there.
“Who are you?” he asked. “Some crazy ex-girlfriend? I usually know them, but every now and then…”
Willow raised herself up on one elbow. “Ex-girlfriend? No way. I wouldn’t date Todd if the continuation of the entire planet depended on it. Well, okay, if it would save some endangered species, maybe. We all have to do our part. It’s important for us to realize that for the planet to continue to be a renewable resource, there are some basic rules we need to follow.”
He held up his hands in the shape of a T. “Time-out. Who are you?” he asked again.
“Oh. Sorry. Willow. My sister is Julie Nelson. She’s engaged to Ryan, Todd’s cousin. But rat fink Todd did everything he could to keep them apart and I can’t let that go. I know I should just accept it and move on, but it was wrong. He thinks because he’s so rich, he’s king of the world or something. Idiot. Who are you?”
“Kane Dennison. I’m in charge of security.”
“Here at the house?”
His expression hardened, as if she’d just insulted him. “For the entire company.”
“Oh, sure. That explains the gun.” She pushed herself into a sitting position and brushed at the grass stains on her sweater. “I wasn’t going to hurt him, you know. I mean come on, look at me. Do I look dangerous? Seriously?”
He tilted his head as if considering the question. “You’re short and scrawny, so I guess not.”
The short she could handle—it was a reality she couldn’t change. But scrawny?
“Excuse me? I’m petite.”
“Is that what they call it?”
“I have curves,” she said, really annoyed and just a little hurt. Maybe she didn’t have big curves or a lot of them, but they were there. “It’s the sweater. It’s bulky, so you can’t see what’s underneath, but I’m very sexy.”
She wasn’t—not really. She tried, of course. But it was a losing cause. Still, to have this man just dismiss her like that was more than annoying.
“I’m sure you’re stunning,” Kane muttered, suddenly looking as if he wished he were anywhere but here. “I’m sorry you’re mad at Todd, but you can’t show up at the man’s house and threaten him. It’s wrong and it’s illegal.”
“Really?” She’d broken the law? “Are you going to have me arrested?”
“Not if you leave quietly and never come back.”
“But I have to talk to him. It’s just one of those things. He needs a good talking to.”
One corner of Kane’s mouth turned up. “You think you can scare him?”
“Maybe.” Although in truth she’d kind of lost her passion for the job. “I could come back later.”
“I’m sure Todd would be delighted to hear that. You have a car?”
“What?” she asked. “Of course I have a car.”
“Then let’s get you to it and we’ll pretend this never happened.”
A course of action that made sense. There were only a couple of problems standing in the way. Standing, or not standing being the main one.
“I can’t,” she said and rotated her foot. Instantly pain shot through her ankle and made her clench her teeth. “I think I broke my ankle when I fell.”
Kane muttered something under his breath and shifted so that he was by her foot. He lifted it gently and held it in one hand while untying the laces with the other.
She wore size six shoes, which, considering she was only five foot three, wasn’t all that dainty. Still, his large hand nearly dwarfed her foot. Wasn’t there some old wives’ tale about guys and big hands?
Willow didn’t know whether to laugh or blush at the thought, so she let it go and watched him carefully remove her athletic shoe.
“Move your toes,” he said.
She did. The pain made her wince.
He peeled off her sock and began to examine her foot. Willow winced again, but this time it had nothing to do with pain. Even with her total lack of medical training, she could see her ankle swelling.
“That can’t be good,” she murmured. “I’m going to walk with a limp for the rest of my life.”
He looked at her. “You sprained your ankle. You’ll need to rest it and ice it for a couple of days, then you’ll be fine.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve seen enough sprains.”
“There’s a lot of that in the security business? You work with especially clumsy people?”
He drew in a long breath. “I just know, okay?”
“Hey, I’m the one with the potentially life-threatening injury here. If anyone gets an attitude, it’s me.”
He muttered something that sounded like “Why me?” then he moved next to her and before she realized what was happening, picked her up in his arms.
The last time Willow had been carried anywhere, she’d been seven and throwing up from too much junk at the county fair. She shrieked and wrapped her arms around Kane’s neck.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Put me down.”
“I’m taking you inside so we can ice your ankle. Then I’ll wrap it and figure out a way to get you home.”
“I can drive.”
“I don’t think so.”
“You said it wasn’t that bad,” she reminded him as she noticed he seemed to carry her effortlessly. Apparently the muscles were for real.
“You’re in some kind of shock. You shouldn’t be driving.”
Shock or not, she didn’t like the sensation of being swept away. She preferred to be in charge of her own destiny. Besides, there were other considerations.
“You left my shoe and sock back there,” she said. “And your jacket.”
“I’ll get them when you’re settled.”
“What