Page 87 of Mountain Rescue
“Did they do this to you when you were captured?” She trailed the tip of her finger down the scar on his face.
“Uh-huh.”
“They came so close to your eye.”
Because they’d been aiming for his eye, but he wasn’t going to share all the gory details with her. “You really tore your feet up.” After cleaning them, he rubbed ointment on the soles. “You mind if I get a pair of socks out of your suitcase?”
“No.”
“Be right back.” He grabbed the thickest socks she had and put them on her when he returned to the bathroom. “I’ll put some more salve on them before you go to bed.” He took the bag of corn from her, cleaned the cut on her face, thankful it wasn’t deep, then put ointment on it. He gave her back the frozen corn. “Keep this on your face for a while.”
“Thank you.”
He leaned back on his heels. “For what?” It still angered him that she’d had to save herself...hell, that he’d even left her alone so Hargrove could get to her.
“For taking care of me.”
“When are you planning on going home?” He wanted to ask if she’d like to come to Montana after she finished filming her next movie, but he hesitated. She hadn’t dropped any hints that she wanted to see him again after she went home. Maybe before he asked her that, he should feel her out, see if she was interested in trying for some kind of long-distance relationship.
“I need to go soon. In a few days, I guess.”
That was disappointing. He was hoping she’d stay another week or two. He’d planned to talk to her later tonight about what she wanted where they were concerned, but he needed to know. “I was thinking maybe we could keep seeing each other. It won’t be easy, but you could come to Montana between movies, and I could come see you sometimes.”
“I’d like that. A lot.”
“Yeah?” He was pretty sure his grin stretched from ear to ear. Also, he really liked how her eyes lit up when he’d asked.
“Yeah. I was afraid you were ready for me to get out of your hair.”
“Not sure I’ll ever be ready for that.” He wished they weren’t committed to going out tonight. They didn’t have much time left, and he selfishly wanted her to himself. “Are you sure you’re up for going over to Jack’s tonight? Maybe you should keep off those feet.”
“I’d like to go. I haven’t gotten to spend much time with Nichole, and really, my feet are feeling better already. Besides, I have to go give Deke my statement, so we can do that on the way.”
“Let’s see how they feel when you walk on them.” He put his hands on her waist and lifted her, then eased her down on her feet.
“See, all better,” she said, looking over her shoulder as she left the bathroom.
He was positive they hurt worse than she let on, and he’d make sure she stayed off them the rest of the day. “I guess we need to get dressed then.”
As he had—much to her protests—at the police station, when they got to Jack and Nichole’s, he carried her in. She’d tried to wear her running shoes, but they’d hurt her feet. They’d had a bit of an argument when she’d wanted to wear sandals and he’d been adamant that she was keeping the socks on. He’d won that one.
“I feel silly,” she said as he rang the doorbell.
“What? Don’t women think it’s swoon-worthy when their man carries them? Besides, I like you in my arms.”
She grinned at him. “So you’re my man, huh?”
“I’d like to be.”
Before she could respond to that, Jack opened the door. “What have we here?”
“Her feet are shredded from running barefoot in the woods. We’re going to make her stay off them.”
“Copy that. Nichole’s out on the deck.”
He followed Jack to the back, and as soon as they stepped out, Nichole jumped up. “Oh my God, Jack told me what happened. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. My feet are a little messed up is all.”
