Page 26 of Take It Offline
Yeah, no shit. I bite back my frustration in favor of helping her up. I haul myself back up to my feet and reach down, but she just stares at my hand like she doesn’t know what to do with it.
“Not trying to kill you, I promise.”
Tentatively, she slips her hand in mine. The instant we touch, the world around us slows.
“You sure you’re all right?” I ask as I carefully pull her up and scan for cuts. My heart is flipping like a fish out of water. “Nothing sprained? No broken bones?”
Emma stands, grimacing. “Only a bruised ego.”
I take a step back and look her over, not bothering to hide my appreciation. “You look pretty good to me.”
The eye roll she gives me is 100 percent expected, even though it lacks its usual bite. The shock must be worse than I thought.
Maybe it’s the adrenaline coursing through me or the way those leggings make my head spin, but I find myself saying, “Let me drive you home.”
She stalls, frowning at me.
“No, thank you.”
I sigh. Sure,I get it. We aren’t friends. But when Emma takes a step and winces, I can’t leave her to walk home like this.
“At least order a ride,” I say.
She looks away, chewing her lip, and I’m starting to think I should just walk away. If she’d rather hurt herself than be near me, then so be it. That’s a game I’ll never win.
When she finally meets my eye, I raise a brow in question.
“Don’t make me regret this,” she says, shuffling to the passenger side of my car.
If anyone’s going to have regrets, it’ll be me.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I can’t hide my smile, though, as I slip into the driver’s seat.
It’s no secret Emma hates me.
I can’t exactly blame her. She made her reasons clear and there’s a hell of a high chance I’ll never change her mind.
What she doesn’t know is that I don’t feel the same way.
The farther I drive, the more I’m convinced she’s pulling my leg. “You really want me to believe you were gonna walk all this way? Did your driver get the weekend off or what?”
She side-eyes me, her jaw ticking. “Believe what you want. I walk it every day. To and from work. I don’t have a driver, or a car, and I’m not allergic to public transportation. Any other aspersions you want to throw at me? Because I’ll get out at the next light.”
I knew a guy like that once. He’d never had the need for a license because he never learned to drive. But Lang was an environmental activist. I’m not sure Emma’s reasons are the same.
Or maybe they are, since I’ve already established thatnothingabout her makes sense to me.
I risk a glance over and find her watching me, brows raised like she’s waiting for a response.
What? Does she want a gold star?
When I turn back to the road without answering, Emma shifts to look out her window.
It’s another two blocks before she speaks again. “One good deed hardly makes up for what you did.”
My chest tightens. Christ, I can’t win. “Hey, I’m trying here. What are you doing?”
She lets out a disgruntled sound and crosses her arms over her chest. It pushes her tits up, and I have to focus not to crash the car. “I don’t have anything to apologize for.”
