Page 25 of Off the Grid
Leo lifted his arms to cover his face, years of training having drilled into him the importance of protecting his head. He rolled roughly over the forest floor until his thighs hit a trunk and his body spun out, coming to a hard stop. He didn’t take a second to breathe. Ignoring the pain, Leo jumped to his feet.
“McKenzie!”
He ran forward and dropped to his knees beside her body, which was as still as—
No, don’t even think it.
He forced the memories from his mind and cupped her face, careful not to move her spine as he gently rubbed his thumb across her cheek. It was warm. “McKenzie, wake up.”
She didn’t stir.
“McKenzie,” he whispered, unable to deny the strained, pleading edge to his voice. Leo pressed his fingers to her wrist. The pulse beneath her skin was strong. He leapt over her chest and knelt on the other side of her body. From that angle, he saw the blood dripping from a cut in her forehead.Dammit, she hit her head.Leo reached out and lightly pressed his fingers to the already swelling area around the wound.
“Ow,” McKenzie groaned and stirred.
“You’re all right.” A heavy breath pushed the words out in a rush.
“Depends on the definition.”
He arched a brow, feeding off her combative tone. “You’re alive.”
“Barely.”
“You’re safe.”
“Safely in the middle of nowhere.”
“You’re in one piece.”
“Despite your best efforts,” she drawled again.
Leo sat back, unable to keep an indignant huff from slipping through his lips as he rolled to his feet. He couldn’t win with her—why even bother? Yet just as he was about to turn around and march back to the bike currently in shambles on the forest floor, her voice stopped him.
“Agent Alvarez?” These words were softer than the wind, barely there and raw with a sort of vulnerability he hadn’t heard from her yet. Leo hesitantly glanced down, meeting her bright eyes, which were wide and beaming with gratitude. “Thank you for saving my life. I don’t—I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
All the fight left him. Leo reached out his hand. “You can call me Leo.”
“Leo,” she repeated slowly, as though testing how it sounded on her tongue. McKenzie reached up and grabbed the fingers he’d offered. He pulled her easily to her feet, forgetting how tall she was until she stood nose to nose with him. Her body weighed practically nothing at all she was so slender. Their eyes met across the small distance. Even with that ugly bruise on her forehead, growing more and more purple by the second, she was breathtaking. It took Leo a moment to remember he still held her hand.
As soon as he did, he dropped it and turned back to the bike.
“I’m not setting foot—or, well, ass—upon that thing again,” she called to his back.
Leo rolled his eyes. “It’s not the bike’s fault we crashed.”
“No. It’s yours.”
Well, I walked right into that one.He sighed, trying to ignore the amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “It’s your lucky day, Miss Harper.”
“McKenzie.”
He ignored the comment—it just felt wrong to chastise someone by using their first name. “This poor, innocent, beautiful bike is well and truly wrecked.”
“Good riddance.”
“Shh,” he admonished. “She might hear you.”
McKenzie rolled her eyes. “So that’s your thing? Motor vehicles?”
