Page 2 of Erik's Salvation
“I’m so sorry, Angelo, I’m going to need to call you back. I have a…situation.”
A box of lingerie falling from her grasp in the middle of a street counted as a situation, didn’t it? Thank God there wasn’t any traffic.
“Of course, Miss Jacobs. I’ll call on Monday.”
She cringed, hating to end the call like this.Damn you, Brigid.
Once the phone was in her pocket, she started to bend when a loud, deep voice shouted from behind, causing her to jump.
“Watch out!”
A body suddenly collided with hers, then she was flying, the whip of the air brushing across her face as a car sped past. The world was a blur as she gritted her teeth, preparing for impact with the ground—but the person turned so they landed on the pavement, and she landed on top of them.
For a moment, there was stillness, not even the whistle of the wind. Once the shock passed, she pushed against a very hard chest to look into the most intensely beautiful set of hazel eyes she’d ever seen.
Man, he was gorgeous. And that short, thick brown hair had her fingers twitching to run through the strands.
Her breath stalled as his crisp pine scent filled her lungs. She opened her mouth to say hi, to maybe slip in a marriage proposal, but he spoke first.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Her lips snapped shut, the heated air turning cold.
Well, he sounded far from the Prince Charming she’d pegged him for in her mind.
He stood, pulling her to her feet as he went. Then he towered over her. “What were you thinking?” he repeated. “Crossing a street on the phone while carrying so much shit? Were you trying to get yourself killed?”
Okay, so Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome wasn’t going to be her softly spoken knight in shining armor. Fantasy officially dead. “A lot of people talk on the phone while carrying stuff.”
“You shouldn’t. It’s dangerous.” His gaze shifted behind her. “Also, there are panties all over the road.”
For a single heartbeat, she was distracted by the way he’d said panties in that deep, erotic, raspy voice. Then his words computed in her brain, and she spun around to see, yep, there were women’s panties everywhere. Dozens of red lace panties. Black thongs. Hell, there were even purple pairs with little black love hearts.
Heat blasted her cheeks, and she made a silent vow to murder her best friend.
She turned back to Mr. Tall, Dark and Grumpy—yeah, his nickname continued to change—and worked hard to keep her embarrassment at a normal face-isn’t-a-complete-tomato level. “It’s for a friend. She runs a lingerie shop.”
He didn’t seem to care about her explanation. “You need to be more careful.”
Some of the earlier heat returned to her cheeks, her heart thumping that this man would care about her safe—
“I don’t need to spend my Friday nights saving women I don’t know.”
Her jaw dropped. Was he trying to be an ass, or did it just come naturally?
She cleared her throat. “Well, lucky for you, we’ll probably never see each other again.” She straightened, trying to regain just an ounce of dignity and control. “Thank you for saving me. I’m going to go now.”
He shoved a hand into his pocket. “Need help getting your stuff off the road?” His tone told her he’d rather bathe in lava.
“No. Thank you. I’ll text my friend to come down and help me.” Then she’d kill her and hide the evidence. “I’ll need her to bring a new box anyway,” she muttered to herself, gaze moving to the sad-looking broken box sitting off to one side. The guy who’d hit it hadn’t even stopped.
And her poor cereal. Frosted Flakes. Cocoa Krispies. Honey Nut Cheerios. The boxes were crushed.
Farewell, dinner.
“Are you sure?”
She switched her attention to the grump of a man. He seemed reluctant to leave her on the sidewalk alone. Maybe he wasn’t such an ass. “Yes, I’m sure. But thank you.”
