Page 109 of Let Me Be the One
Tanner withdrew. For a few seconds, he appeared to struggle before he turned direct. “Is that your body talking or your pride?”
Callie said, “Both?”
“Babe, I can see you’re hurt. If I had those bruises,I’dbe hurting.” He lightly touched her leg, and true enough, his expression was pained.
Swallowing down emotion, Callie gave him a full truth. “It would be nice if just once you wanted to be with me because you like me, not because I need help.”
“Christ.” He stood to tower over her, his expression fierce. “How can you even think…” Agitated, he paced away. Or more like stormed away. Every step a stomp.
It fascinated Callie. “How can I think what?”
He spun to face her and threw out his arms. “That I don’t like you? I fuckingmorethan like you. That should be obvious.”
Wow. Okay, that sounded genuine. And calm, in-control Tanner, unraveling and having a fit? She liked it. How twisted was that?
She wished she could get to her feet too, square off with him face-to-face for this discussion, but she plain didn’t feel like moving yet. She settled onsaying, “That’s odd, since you’re always trying to get me to move away.”
Almost immediately, he shuttered his expression. “We shouldn’t ignore that broken window. Something else could get in.”
So much for liking her.
One look at the ladder and Callie knew there was no way she’d go back up there—if she even could with her arm and hip throbbing.
“I can temporarily cover it,” Tanner offered.
The very last thing she wanted to do was impose on him, and yet, she sensed it would hurt him more if she refused. “Okay, thank you.” When his gaze locked to hers, she smiled. “Seriously, I hate bothering you, but—”
Abruptly, he turned away.
Message received. He didn’t want her gratitude. For the next twenty minutes, Tanner was busy getting tools from her garage, along with scraps of plywood, while she stewed in silence.
So he more than liked her, but he didn’t want to talk about it? Men were so damned complicated.
It made a racket when he went up again and began hammering the cover into place. When he finally finished and put the pulldown ladder away, she was relieved. On top of the aches and pains in her body, her head was starting to pound.
“It’s not pretty,” he said. “But it’s secure. Liam can probably recommend someone to replace the glass if that’s what you want, or you could permanently board up the window.”
“I like the second idea.” She did not want any more snake surprises. It was bad enough finding them outside.
Tanner patted his thigh and Blu got down. “Goodboy.” He petted the dog, then eased into his place beside Callie and lifted the compress off her arm with a wince. “It could be broken.”
Cautiously, she wiggled her fingers. “It’s sore, but not enough pain to be a break.”
“Can you straighten it?” Tanner helped by supporting her wrist and elbow.
Very carefully, in small degrees, she moved her arm, bent her elbow, and turned her wrist. Yes it hurt. Fiercely. But not the way she assumed a break would hurt. “Some aspirin and rest, and I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Though he clearly didn’t want to, Tanner accepted that. “Let’s check out your leg.”
“I’m not wearing shorts.”
“Believe me, honey, I noticed.” He lifted away the ice. His voice went a little hoarse when he said, “God, that looks awful.”
“I bruise easily.” Although she’d never had bruises like these. It was easier to see her thigh than her arm. Yup, it did look horrid—a swollen hot-pink splotch the size of her fist, surrounded by purple that faded into dark blue. “Looks like the galaxy, right?”
He was not in a teasing mood. “You could have broken your neck.”
If he hadn’t whispered it, she might have been offended. “It’s not like I meant to fall. The snake startled me.”
