Page 40 of Doctor Grump

At least, of course, until a car came barrelling down toward us and nearly took Piper out.

17

PIPER

Ididn’t see the car at first.

I didn’t see anything while I was walking next to Ian. My heart was beating too damn fast, excited about the fact that we were actually talking and having a conversation. I was giddy like a silly little teenage girl, but I couldn’t help it. Ian, on a normal day, was devastatingly good-looking enough, but seeing him relaxed like this was somehow even more breathtaking. And when he smiled, it dazzled me. He had a dazzling smile, and I told him so. He frowned.

“What?” I asked.

“Men don’t want to be called dazzling,” he said. “Handsome or hot, maybe, but not dazzling.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, I think you’re better than handsome or hot. I think you’re dazzling.”

He muttered something and turned away, but not before I saw the obvious discomfort morphing on his face.

“Oh my God,” I gushed with a giggle. “Are you blushing?”

“No,” he denied, but it was clearly a lie. His fair coloring betrayed him, and I could see the red spreading down his neck.

“Yes, you are. You’re almost the same color as your hair.”

He cursed, and I laughed out loud this time, dancing around him to try to catch his expression while he clearly evaded me. “I can’t believe the great Ian Graham blushed because I called him dazzling.”

“I said I’m not blushing, damn it.”

That was when I heard the quiet roar of a vehicle getting rapidly closer. We were walking on a street with no sidewalks, but rarely did any cars come this way as it was at the back of a residential area. The hum of the car only registered in the back of my mind, and of course, I didn’t see the car until it damn near ran over me. If not for Ian expertly spinning me out of the way, I would have been a goner.

“Fucking maniac,” Ian said to the back of the speeding vehicle, and he nearly went after it but hesitated when he glanced back at me. Rage highlighted his features. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, but my heart was racing in my chest, this time for a whole different reason. I had nearly been run over, and the shock rendered me silent. “I can’t believe that just happened.”

“I can,” he muttered. “People drive like maniacs in this town.” He pulled out his phone and proceeded to dial a short number. I glanced at him. “What are you doing?”

“Reporting it,” he said. “I didn’t get a good look at the guy, but I got his license plate number.”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to,” I said with a wave of my hand.

Rather than the statement calming him down, it only seemed to anger him even more. He turned to glare at me. “Stop saying that.”

“Saying what?”

“That you’re fine. Why do you keep acting like things that happen to you don’t matter?”

“I’m not….” I shook my head, wondering where this intensity was coming from. “I was just saying that it was probably some drunk idiot who had a little too much at brunch. I don’t think it’s worth getting the police involved.”

“It is if I say it is,” he said stubbornly, then proceeded to stay on the phone long enough to get into contact with the police service. He didn’t talk much while he waited, but his hands remained around my waist, a comforting presence after the near accident. And despite my words, I couldn’t deny the warm feeling it brought to my chest. Not just that he saved my life, but because he seemed ready to take out the guy for nearly hurting me. I wasn’t used to inspiring that kind of passion from the people I dated. Sure, my friends stuck up for me, but for some reason, this seemed different.

It seemed like the near-fatal accident might have affected him even more than it affected me.

“Damn people,” he said after he got off the phone.

“What did they say?”

“They said they’ll look into it. But I don’t think it’s a priority for them.”

“Of course it isn’t,” I said. “They probably have a bunch of other real crimes to solve. This was just something of an accident.”

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