Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Autumn watched him with wide eyes as she scooted back in her seat, then raised her foot.
He picked her foot up, studying it. Fine? They definitely had different definitions of fine. It was swollen, and when he prodded at it, she winced and hissed.
“Right. This is not fine.” He gave her a stern look. “You need to have this elevated and iced.”
“What? No. Really, there’s nothing wrong with it.” She tried to tug her foot free. “It’ll be all good in an hour or so. I do this all the time.”
“You do?”
“Sure.”
“I thought you were graceful like a ballerina.” Reaching over to grab a cushion, he placed it on the coffee table before setting her ankle on it. Then he put the ice pack over her foot.
“I am graceful like a ballerina. Nice of you to notice.” She closed her eyes, frowning.
“Autumn?”
She grunted.
Concern filled him. “Are you all right?” She seemed paler and thinner than she had in the photos he’d found of her.
“I’m fine.”
“Autumn,” he said warningly. “Please tell me.”
She opened one eye. “You’re quite bossy for a stranger. You know, I should be panicking over you being in my house. Why aren’t I panicking?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you know I’m not going to hurt you. Does it feel to you like we’ve met before?”
“I . . . it kind of does.” She opened her other eye, then winced. “Ouch.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve got a bit of a headache. And maybe my foot hurts. Just a little.”
“Do you have any painkillers?”
“In the bathroom. It’s liquid stuff. I don’t like pills.”
She was adorable. Even though he hated that she was in pain. “I’ll go get it.” He walked out of the room and searched the small house until he found the bathroom. There was water all over the floor. Was that how she’d twisted her ankle? He made a mental note to come back and clean this up so she didn’t have to deal with it.
Searching through her cabinets, he found the bottle of painkiller. It had a small measuring cup on the lid. He glanced into the mirror with a groan. Quickly, he cleaned himself up as best he could. Hopefully, his nose didn’t bruise. He didn’t want to have to explain to Ink exactly how he’d gotten hurt. The other man tended to be protective of all his employees.
“Right, I found your bottle of . . .” he trailed off as he walked into the living room and found that she wasn’t where he left her.
Shoot. How did he keep her in one place?
She was like a toddler. Getting into trouble wherever they went, but so darn cute, all you wanted to do was cuddle them when you did catch them being naughty.
“Autumn? Where are you?” he called out.
“In the kitchen.”
He moved into the kitchen to find her pouring some coffee into a huge mug. “You shouldn’t be on that foot.”
“I needed coffee. I barely slept last night or the night before and I was falling asleep on the couch.”
He gave her an exasperated look, shaking his head. It seemed like it wouldn’t be a bad thing if she did fall asleep. She looked exhausted. And he didn’t think coffee was going to help. In fact, it would just make it worse.
“Caffeine in large quantities isn’t good for you when you’re tired. It’ll just make you jittery and anxious.”
Okay. If looks could kill, he’d be writhing on the floor in pain.
Okay then. “Could you sit down again and put your foot up? Please? I’m worried about it.”
Her shoulders dropped, and she smiled at him. “That’s really nice of you to be worried. Considering we don’t even know each other. Do you want some pain relief too? Your nose looks painful.”
“It’s fine. Maybe you could come back into the living room . . .” he grew silent as she tried to pull herself up onto the counter. She managed to get up, only to start sliding off again.
Jumping forward, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her back onto the counter.
“Thank you,” she said. “You’re very strong.”
Not really. She weighed next to nothing. He studied her face until she cleared her throat and he realized he was standing way too close to her. He jumped back, feeling his face grow red. “Um, sorry. Painkiller I’ve your got. I mean, I’ve got your painkiller.” He held up the bottle, shaking it.
Lord. What was wrong with him?
A lot. A lot of stuff is wrong with you.
She poured some out and drank it down with a shudder. “Juice box.”
“What?”
“Can you get me a juice box please?”
“Oh, yep. Sure.” He rushed over to the fridge and opened it, pulling out a juice box and rushing back to her.
“Quick, quick, quick. That was gross.” She took it from him and tried to stab the straw into the hole. “Get into the hole. Get in, you tiny little stick. Get in. Get in. Get in.” She put the juice box on the bench, then raised her hand as though she was going to whack it.