Page 58 of My Heart Before You

“You’re right. Since I’ve met you, I’ve sure taken a beating. I promise things like this don’t normally happen to me.”

Her lips downturned as she pushed from the wall. “I’ll grab our stuff and meet you at that bench,” she said pointing while she skate-walked away.

With her attention diverted, Colin moved with a full limp to the bench before collapsing onto it and unlacing his rented skate. It was painful to remove, and he allowed a groan to break from his lips. His ankle was already swelling and turning the beginning stages of purple.

“How’s it looking?” She flopped down next to him, putting her gear bag on the floor.

Quickly pulling his sock up to conceal the injury, he shrugged. “I’ll survive.”

She eyed him for a second then went on unlacing her skates with quick efficient movements. A slightly pleasurable sound escaped her throat as she pulled off her skate that made him swallow hard. Focusing on unlacing his second skate, he tried to keep his thoughts clean.

When they both had their boots back on, her eyes fixed on his. “You still up for coffee?”

“Absolutely.”

Pushing up from the bench, she led the way back to Beacon Street. As he controlled the limp in his step, he fell behind in the conversation, giving single-word or nonverbal answers.

They were nearly to the road when she rounded on him. “When are you going to admit that you sprained your ankle?”

“I, ah . . .” He blinked at the irritated slant of her eyebrows before letting out a resigned exhale. “Is it so bad that I don’t want our second date to end early because I accidentally fell on the ice?”

Her beautiful freckled skin relaxed under the knitted flower sewn to the rim of her beanie, a wishful nod to a season nowhere in sight. She pushed back a small chestnut tendril stealthily trying to escape at her forehead.

“This is my fault. I was just so floored after watching you play on our first date. The way the music possessed you, and it seemed as if you had a tangible relationship with it. I thought I’d show you something I was good at. Maybe show off a little. It was childish and . . .” She looked him up and down. “. . . apparently dangerous. Are you even going to be able to work like that? It looks like you’re in pain just standing here.”

His breath quickened in his chest. “You enjoyed the music?”

“Colin.” Her gorgeous eyes raised before resting on his. “I basically forced you to buy a piano. Of course, I enjoyed the music.”

He stared intently back at her. “You didn’t force me to do anything. I wanted to play for you.”

That tense spell he’d experienced when he was this close to her washed over him. He wondered if she could feel this static electricity pulling at every fiber of her body too. Maybe she even craved his touch as much as he wished for hers. Completely forgetting the last hour, he stepped forward with his left foot.

Emilie frowned at his unmasked cringe and went straight into nurse mode. “I don’t think we’re going to coffee. You can hardly walk on that.”

Damn it.

“I can manage.”

“No, you can’t.” She dug her cell phone out of a pocket of her skate bag, pulled a glove off with her teeth, and took a few seconds tapping onto it. The glove hung from her mouth while she typed, and he tried not to be envious of a piece of fabric.

“Okay, it’ll be here in five minutes.” She snatched the glove from her mouth and held it in her bare hand with her phone.

“What will be here?”

They heard a horn honking on the street twenty feet away.

“Are you Emilie?” A man was hanging out of the driver’s side of a grey sedan, the Uber sticker visible in the passenger window.

“Huh. One second instead of five minutes. Gotta love that.” She called to the driver, “Yes! Thank you. We’ll be right there.”

In a split second, she repositioned her gear bag crossbody away from him, and tucked up under his left shoulder. “It’s okay. You can lean on me.”

She wrapped her arm around his back and took a step towards the car, pulling him with her. This wasn’t exactly the contact he was craving a moment ago, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“Where are we going?” They three leg walked to the car.

“Your place, to treat your ankle.” Her voice held a business-like quality. “You know for a doctor, you don’t seem to know the basics. Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation.”

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