4. Lucy
4
LUCY
E than hands me a protein bar, and I open it with shaking fingers. Now that we’re out of the rain, the water has cooled on my skin and the cold has set in. I huddle into myself, not wanting the big search and rescue man to see me shiver. I don’t want him to think I can’t handle myself out here.
“Where does it hurt?”
Ethan crouches next to me, and his voice is surprisingly gentle for a big man’s. His hood is pushed back and his hair is clipped short underneath. Faint stubble covers his square jaw, and his dark eyes peer at me with professional concern.
Great. I’m one more worry for him. The stupid schoolteacher who insisted on following him and now has a sprained ankle.
My glasses are smeared with water. I wiped them on my shirt but that just made them smudgy.
“It’s just a sprained ankle,” I say. “Nothing to worry about.”
He raises his eyebrows at me, not convinced. “Mind if I take a look?”
The last thing I want is this gorgeous specimen of a man inspecting my feet. Besides, now that Olivia’s been found I need to get back to the parking lot where our school trip started this morning. Most of the parents have turned up to collect their kids, but I came on the bus and that’s my ride home.
I may still be able to salvage my evening and go through with my plans. The thought makes my belly recoil, but I put that aside and focus on the man in front of me.
The hot, burly man who’s unlacing my boot carefully like it’s my bodice he’s unlacing and not my muddy walking shoe.
The thought has heat creeping through my body, which must just be his human touch warming me up.
Ethan slides off my shoe, and I wince as sharp pain jolts up my leg.
“Did that hurt?”
“When you bumped the ankle it did.”
He peels back my sock, and his bare fingers brush over the skin of my ankle. A mixture of pleasure and pain course through me, turning my skin to fire.
I suck in through my teeth, and he looks up at me sharply.
“It feels…weird.” There’s no other word for the sensations humming through my body. A dull pain when he touches the ankle, heat when his fingers brush any other part of me.
I wonder if it’s a sign of exposure and if I’ve been out here too long.
“Looks like it took a nasty knock when you fell. It might be sprained, or it might just be bruising.” He rolls my sock back on, and I miss the contact of his hand. “Either way, we need to get it seen to. Do you think you can walk?”
I’m not sure but I nod, because what alternative is there?
“I’ll let them know we’re on our way and that you need medical attention.”
I shake my head. “Don’t make a fuss.” Everyone’s already been out here looking for Olivia. I don’t need anything special done for me.
Ethan frowns as he finishes tying up my shoelace. “You’re worth making a fuss for, Lucy.”
He stands up abruptly and unclips his radio. While he communicates with his team, I pull myself up by leaning against the rock wall.
I hobble to the cave entrance and peer out at the sheets of rain.
The rain hasn’t eased up any, but I’m keen to get going as soon as possible. If it’s only some bruising, then I can still make it out tonight. I just need a hot shower, and I’ll be okay.
“We can go this way.” Ethan indicates a path that winds around the rock ledge. “It’ll be safer than climbing down the rocks, and there’s another river crossing just above the waterfall.”
I nod, trying to show more confidence than I feel. But when I step away from the rock wall and put pressure on my foot, the pain shoots through it.
“Here, lean on me.”
Ethan slides an arm around my waist, and I lean into his bulk. He’s warm and sturdy, and even through the rain his scent reaches me, wet pine needles and a subtle musky aftershave.
We move slowly, and I hate that I’m holding him back. But the trail is uneven, and every step is uncertain. It doesn’t help that the rain falls heavier as soon as we leave the cave.
It seems to take forever to loop around back to the river. The gentle waters are now a gushing torrent, and sticks and debris bob along in the angry white peaks.
Ethan frowns at the river and the partially submerged rocks of the river crossing. The ones that aren’t covered with water are almost completely submerged and slick with rain.
“Shit,” Ethan mutters. His keen eyes scan the river, but I already know what he’s going to tell me.
“We can’t cross here. The river’s swollen and it’s not safe.”
Not with a twisted ankle, is what he leaves unsaid. He might have made it on his own but not with me weighing him down.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “If we go back the other way, I’m sure I can scramble down.”
Ethan peers up at the sky. Progress has been slow with my sore ankle and with the heavy clouds. The late afternoon is fast turning into evening.
“I hope you don’t have any plans for the night, Lucy.”
I frown at him, wondering if he can see into my mind. “I do actually.”
He shakes his head. “Sorry, but it’s not safe to cross the river, and even being out in these conditions with night approaching is unsafe.”
An uneasy feeling starts in my stomach. “What are you saying?”
“There’s an old trappers’ hut not far from here. The safest thing to do is shelter there for the night. Hopefully it will rain itself out, and we can get a team in tomorrow to carry you out.”
“I don’t need carrying out.” I need to get home, is what I don’t add. I cannot spend tonight out in these woods. Not tonight of all nights.
“Sorry, sweetheart.” He looks generally concerned. “I know these woods, and I know when I’m beat. We need to take shelter before it gets dark and one of us ends up with an injury that requires more than ice and rest.”
I think about the satin underwear waiting at my place, that new dress and the heels I’ve been practicing walking in around the house.
“No.” I say it forcefully, like I do when I need to get the kids’ attention in the classroom. “I need to get home.”
His expression darkens. “Your boyfriend will understand.”
Before I have time to protest or explain that I don’t have a boyfriend, my feet leave the ground and he hoists me over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” My voice is lost in the rain.
Ethan makes a beeline for the woods, walking faster without me leaning on him.
“I’m getting us to safety while we still have light.”
I pound on his back and try to ignore the way my body shivers and my core clenches against him. “Put me down.”
He ignores my pleas and carries me deeper into the woods.