“See, you know what you’re talking about, Hannah. Please? I’d be really grateful? And imagine how bad you’d feel if I died of leg gangrene.”
“Leg gangrene?”
“Yes, or whole-body sepsis.”
“You’re so dramatic.” I paused and observed the pleading look he was giving me, complete with puppy dog eyes and a lopsided, impish smile. His whole demeanour was completely disarming. And something else too, something I didn’t want to admit to, if I was being totally honest.
“Please?”
“Fine. There’s a human first aid kit in the glove compartment,” I said eventually, wrinkling my nose.
Why am I letting him coerce me into this?
I got out of the car and went round to the passenger side. Meanwhile, Teddy had rifled around until he found the little green case and handed it to me. I cleaned up all the scrapes with antiseptic wipes, using tweezers to pull out some embedded thorns and gravel. It was difficult not to react to the warmth of his skin under my hands, particularly as I worked my way up his thigh, trying to ignore his penetrating focus, which was seemingly directed solely on what I was doing. But I refused to acknowledge it, forcing my mind into professional mode and disengaging all thoughts of anything remotely personal. Especially kissing.
Shit, now I’m thinking about kissing.
Mind on the job, Havens. Come on!
Eventually, after applying a couple of plasters and ignoring the little “ouchy” noises he made occasionally, I chanced a look at his face.
“You’re done.”
“Thanks.”
I finally allowed myself a good look at his face and realised a small trickle of blood had dribbled down and dried on his chin.
“Oh, wait, you’ve bashed your mouth as well.”
“Have I?” His voice was unusually quiet as I leant in closer to examine his split lip.
Against my better judgement, I started to clean up his face, my fingers grazing the stubble of his jaw to steady him. His breath was a soft caress against my skin, taking me back to a certain rugby club field on a balmy summer night, and the taste and feel of his mouth on mine, his hands in my hair, a quiet, seductive moan against my neck. The memories rumbled through my mind, like it had happened fifteen minutes ago instead of fifteen years. I wondered, as I had so many times, why he had kissed me that night, and why I’d never experienced anything even remotely like it since.
And now kissing him is all I can think about. Dammit!
Distracted, I not-so-gently dabbed at the cut on his lip with hand sanitiser rather than the antiseptic cream I had meant to pick up.
“Owww!” Teddy winced, his long fingers encircling my wrist and jerking my hand away. “I think that one’s ok now, Hannah.”
“You’re being an almighty wuss about a few scratches, you know.”
Standing up, I pointedly avoided the bright, clear gaze of his eyes. Categoricallynotnoticing how his irises sparkled as if they were made of summer skies, surrounded by a darker ring of midnight blue. I was totallynothaving to calm my thumping heart rate as I got back into the driver’s seat. Nor did I have to wipe my clammy palms on my jodhpurs so I wouldn’t leave sweaty marks on my steering wheel.
This is ridiculous.
I was a grown woman who would not be derailed by flowery, romantic notions. I had succeeded in life because I had always made sensible, logical decisions every single time. And I would do so again, even when the face of a Greek god was mischievously grinning at me across the interior of my car.
“I was pretty sympathetic when I thought you’d broken your back in that ditch,” he said, arching a brow.
“Overreact much, Teddy?” Pushing my driving glasses upwards on my nose, I started the car and we drove in silence for a few moments.
“I like the glasses, Hannah. They make you look like a hot librarian,” Teddy said, nonchalantly taking a bite of a protein bar that he’d pulled out of his pocket.
I hit the brakes hard, sending us both lurching towards the dashboard. All my medicine bottles rattled in the back, my fingers gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles were white, the skin almost translucent. Luckily, we were still in the country lanes and my impromptu emergency stop hadn’t caused anyone to crash into the back of my car.
“What?!” I looked at him in open-mouthed horror and disbelief.
“What?!” Teddy replied at the same time, a shocked expression on his face, his mouth slightly twisted in mid-chew.