Page 91 of Sugarlips
She was already precariously balanced, perched on her heels as she was, and with our collision Tanja went down with a twist of her ankle as the coffee pot shattered at our feet.
I caught her waist, gripping her tightly and pulling her against my body to stop her from falling into the shards below us. Steam billowed up from the floor amidst the spilled brew and broken glass.Fucking hell.
“Are you okay?” I tried to help her stand upright and she winced, glancing down at her ankle.
There was a cut just above the gold strap of her heels and blood was trickling down her foot.
“Shit,” I muttered and her eyes went wide with fear.
“Is it bad?”
I didn’t know yet, but based on how terrified she looked, I wasn’t about to say that.
Still bracing with one arm, I shoved my hand in the tip jar, pulling out three bucks and handed it to the girls at the window. “Sorry, no coffee tonight. Here’s a refund, and if you come back another night, I’ll give you a free cup of coffee.”
They grimaced as they looked at Tanja and nodded. “Yeah, of course. No worries, dude. Take care of her.”
I yanked theBack in Five Minutessign from behind the counter and hung it over the edge of the truck before gently lifting Tanja in my arms and carrying her away from the open window to the back of the truck where we had the chairs set up.
I set her down on the table, where she pulled her leg up to try to examine the cut. “Oh my, God, do you think I’ll need stitches?”
I raced to the sink, wetting some paper towels, and grabbed the first aid kit. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “Let me see it?”
As I crossed back to her, she stretched out her leg for me to see and I caught her calf in my hand, gently turning the cut toward the light.
Carefully, I wiped the blood away with the wet towel. I didn’t see any glass inside the cut and it was pretty shallow. The bleeding had already stopped with a little bit of pressure. “It looks okay, I think.” I finished cleaning her cut and put a large bandage on it.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome.” I blew out a breath and raked my hands through my hair.Fuck this fucking day. “You may want to have a doctor look at it tomorrow to be sure.”
“Mmm,” her voice purred in a way that made the hairs on my neck stand up. “Maybe you could come over to my place tonight after your shift and take another look?”
“Tanja, no—”
Before I could register what was happening, her other leg, thegoodleg, hooked around my hips and with a quick clamp of her calf muscles she pulled me flush against her. Her spread legs with no panties beneath the romper offered a view of almost everything, and I jerked my gaze up to her face, pressing my palms against her shoulders to keep her at arm’s length.
A hell of a lot of good that did. She clasped her hands around mine and tugged them down to her breasts, rolling my hands over her nipples.
“Oh, comeon,” Tanja cried. “I know your relationship with Chloe isfake.With me, it could be real.”
My hands were still pressed against her breasts.It doesn’t feel real, I wanted to say in regard to her overinflated breasts. “My feelings for Chloearereal. I love her.”
“She doesn’t want you. Trust me, I know Chloe. And if she wanted you, she wouldn’t have waited two months to act on it.”
Fuck. That landed like a sock to the gut. She was right. Of course she was right. No one in their right mind would wait that long if they truly had feelings. I was an idiot.
“That may be, but I still can’t do this with you,” I whispered.
She licked her lips and removed her hands from where they held mine hostage against her breasts. “You sure about that?”
“Tanja?” A small voice echoed.
I jerked my gaze to where Chloe stood in the doorway and panic surged up my spine. “Chloe,” I whispered. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
With a single blink, a thick tear glided down her cheek. “It looks like my two best friends are hooking up.”
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