Page 3 of Making the Call
Luke
I may be on vacation,but my body’s trained to wake up before the sun each day. I manage to sleep in until six, but beyond that, I might as well be wasting the day away. I get up, change into some shorts and a t-shirt, put my running shoes on, and begin to stretch. I don’t have a state-of-the-art gym out here, but I do have the open road. Well, I do have a weight bench and a few free weights in a spare bedroom, but not much more than that.
I’m out the door within minutes, making my way across the island in no time. Since it’s not a big island, I have a route planned that takes me along the outskirts, maximizing the amount of pavement, so I can get a good run in. The sun’s bright in the sky, and the weather’s warm. As I run, I take in the stillness of the island, since its inhabitants are still enjoying their Wednesday morning from the warmth of their beds. I make my way up and over hills, sharing my morning with the few deer and the birds chirping in the distance. I have one earbud in, and my favorite playlist beats out a rhythm I easily keep pace with.
Rounding the last bend, my heart clenches in my chest as I witness a bad accident. Ahead of me, a bicyclist flies over their handlebars at the bottom of the hill. They go ass over end and skid across the pavement, to an abrupt stop.Fuck, that had to hurt.From the looks of it, they must’ve hit the large pothole on the side of the road. Their tire’s now bent and twisted in an unusual shape.Damn, they had to be cruising down this hill.I pick up my pace to see if I can be of any assistance.
The closer I get, the more I realize it’s a woman who’s fallen off her bike. Thank fuck, she’s wearing a helmet since her head bounced across the pavement a few times. By the time I arrive at the scene, she’s sitting up inspecting the gravel embedded into her knees, palms, and elbows.Christ, that looks awful.Her curly brown hair spills out from her helmet, and her back is to me as I approach.
“Are you okay?” I ask, so I don’t scare her.
“I’ll live, but I don’t think my bike will.” She glances to me then winces as she pulls a large pebble from the palm of her hand. She points in the direction of her bike, and I can confirm for myself, it won’t be in working order anytime soon. “Do you have a phone I can borrow? I seem to have lost mine in the wreck.” I look around the area but have no luck spotting a phone. She takes off her helmet, and her brown hair springs free. It distracts me for a moment because she suddenly takes out her ponytail, shaking her locks free. God, even with dirt in it, it’s beautiful. Her curly hair comes to life with each movement, catching hints of auburn in the sunlight. It’s almost mesmerizing, but eventually, I remember my manners.
“Um, I live just two driveways down. Would you like come to my place to clean up, or maybe I can call someone for you? I left my phone at home this morning, so I’ll have to go home either way before I can help you.” I walk over to her and hold out a hand. “Do you think you can walk?”
“It’ll just be easier if I come with you.” She lets out a groan as pain radiates across her face. I immediately reach out to assist her into a standing position.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask as I steady her. She immediately begins hobbling as weight is put onto her feet. “Here, let me help you.”
As if on instinct, I reach behind her back and under her knees to pick her up. Standing at her full height, she comes only up to my shoulders. She’s a slender woman with curves in all the right places. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s around my age, and she can’t weigh more than 140 pounds. I can easily carry her to my house and get her fixed up in no time.
“Wha… What are you doing?” she stammers as I walk in the direction of my home.
“I’m taking you to my place to get you cleaned up. Then I’ll come back for your phone and bike, to take you wherever you need to go,” I say as I reach the entrance to my driveway.
“But I don’t even know you. You could be an axe murderer for all I know.”
I can’t help the grin spreading across my face. She’s adorable as she attempts to get stern and pin me with her ocean-blue eyes. There’s a girlish presence about her, but her body tells me she’s fully a woman. The short riding shorts she’s wearing have crept up her thighs, and I can tell she works out regularly by the firmness of her beautiful body. Her loose tank has risen as well, revealing a toned abdomen.She’s definitely all woman.
“Well, I’m Luke. I’m pretty sure if I were an axe murderer, the community would’ve found me out by now. It’s a small island. I can promise you, I have nothing but good intentions. I’ll let you sit out on my back deck and tend to your wounds without making you step foot in my house. I have a housekeeper, who lives in the apartment above the garage over there. So, if you’d like to have someone present, I’ll gladly wake her if it’ll make you feel more comfortable.”
Heat creeps up her face, making it turn slightly red.She is adorable.“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Besides, you didn’t have to help. You could have just left me on the side of the road,” she says as she shakes her head to hide her embarrassment. Her hair brushes my bare chest, and my senses go on overdrive.Calm the fuck down, Luke. She’s injured, and you’re only helping her out.
“What kind of company do you keep, if you think I’d just leave you out alongside the narrow road with no shoulder?” I ask incredulously.
“It was a figure of speech,” she deadpans, her eyes narrowing.
“Just checking,” I reply, not knowing what to say. I walk up the steps to my back deck and set her down on a lounge chair.
“Wow, you have an amazing view,” she whispers as I set her down.
“It’s incredible,” I say before I open the French doors to go inside. “I have a first aid kit, I’ll be right back.”
I rush upstairs to my bathroom and return only a few minutes later to find the mysterious woman on my porch beginning to pick out rocks from her palms.She sure is stubborn.“Here, let me help.” I open the kit and look for a pair of tweezers. She appears to just have major road rash, but I should look things over as I help her clean her wounds. She may need a trip to the mainland to an urgent care clinic if anything needs stitches.
We spend the next few minutes cleaning out her gashes. It’s just as I expected, only road rash. It’ll hurt like hell for a few days, but she doesn’t have any major injuries. She does her best to control her winces as I clean out each area. I try to distract her with conversation, though I’m not sure how effective it is.
“So, do you have a name?” I ask as I go through a particularly gnarled piece of skin on her knee.
Embarrassment floods her features. Her face flushes with color, and her ocean-blue eyes are suddenly hidden beneath her long lashes. “Uh, it’s Dani?” she states, making it sound like a question and causing me to narrow my eyes at her. Before I can say anything, she continues, “It’s short for Danika.”
“Well, Dani…” I draw in a deep breath as I attack a stubborn piece of debris from her left knee. “What brings you barreling down the road this early in the morning?”
“I was trying to wake up by getting a workout in. I stayed up late last night working on a project, and I need to get into the zone, so I can continue today.” A look of apprehension flickers across her face, as if she’s revealed too much.
Not sure if I should pry further into what she’s revealed, or let it go, I stick with a safe line of conversation. “Well, let’s get you cleaned up so you can get back to it.”
Dani lets out a groan, and I’m unsure if it’s in frustration or from pain. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to work today,” she says as she shakes her head in disgust.Well, at least she solved that mystery. Her project must be important.
