Читать книгу Thwarting Cupid - Lori Crawford - Страница 7

Chapter 4

And Carissa did. But not about his teasing. Now that the pain in her back had eased, she was free to focus on the absurd turn of events that had her stretched out on her living room floor while one sexy James Hutchington held her hand and stared at her with those gorgeous green eyes of his. Now he was playing with her fingers and her train of thought was as good as gone. She needed to say something. Anything.

“This ice is really cold.”

“If it weren't, it would be water.”

She laughed in spite of herself. She'd almost forgotten how much of a smart aleck he was. “Cute.”

He had the nerve to wink at her. “I know.”

“And incorrigible.” Carissa reached for the ice bags with her free hand and grimaced at the pain that came shooting back. He rolled over on his side and caught her other hand.

“You've got another seven minutes yet before we take it off.” He frowned at her. “That looked like it hurt. Are you still in pain?”

“Not when I'm still, apparently.”

“Then be still.” He quirked an eyebrow at her then returned to his previous position on his back beside her.

“Ummm.... I think I'd like to see your medical license.”

“Too bad. I left it in my other pants.” He quirked his lips. “But feel free to search these if you're able.”

She shoved at him the best she could with the arm he still held captive. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Nah. That was a real invitation.”

Carissa laughed because she didn't know what else to do. “You must really be going through a dry spell if you have to resort to attempting your charm on an obvious cripple.”

He gave a playful shrug, but she thought she detected a note of seriousness in his eyes. “I figured if I laid the groundwork now, I'd have less to worry about once you were up and around.”

“Nice.” She snorted and rolled her eyes. “You really know how to charm a girl.”

He rolled to his side and propped his head on an elbow to stare down at her. All of a sudden, there was nothing playful about him. It scared her and excited her all at once. Given her position, there was nowhere for her to hide anything from his intense gaze. “Do you want me to charm you?”

Okay. So this conversation had taken an unexpected turn. What did he expect her to say to that? Did she dare tell him the truth? That she'd love for him to do just that. But how would their friendship change if it didn't work out?

It wouldn't have been such a big deal if she hadn’t known they were neighbors. But she knew things had a way of working out so she'd be running into him all the time the moment she felt the need to avoid him. Did she dare risk it?

Carissa stared up into his eyes and saw he was waiting for an answer to his question. His gaze was steady. He was waiting patiently for her to make up her mind. It would be so easy for her to make some wisecrack and break the tension of the moment. It was a tension that desperately needing breaking. It had been one thing to flirt and carry on in a crowded room of donors. It was quite another to do the same alone in her apartment while stretched out on the floor within spitting distance of a couch and a bed in just the next room. She knew what she should do. What she needed to do.

So she said, “Yes,” with a voice so quiet she almost didn't hear herself.

He went stock still for a moment. Had she made the right choice? What in the world had her putting herself out there like that? Was it too late for her to take it back? Before he could think she was serious. Except she was serious. Oh crap!

A gentle palm cupped her cheek. Carissa opened her eyes as he turned her head so she could see him. The smile on his face put a stop to all the panicked thoughts jostling around in her brain. It wasn't in the least mocking. In fact, it looked... relieved? Had he been on the same pins and needles just now as she had? The idea astounded her. His reply shocked the mess out of her.

“Okay.” He stretched out beside her again and stared up at the ceiling.

“Seriously, okay?”

“Yeah. Except, I can't seem to think of one single charming thing to say.” He blew out a breath and she realized exactly how serious he was. He wanted to charm her and was drawing a blank. The fact that he admitted it did the trick. Hutch was so cute. She smiled and hooked her arm around so she could cup his cheek. He turned his head to look at her.

“Consider me charmed.”

A frown flitted over his face before a puzzled expression settled there. “But I didn't even do anything.”

“You've done more than you know.”

* * * *

They never made it to the restaurant, so he ordered pizza instead from what turned out to be her favorite restaurant as well as his. Their similarities hadn't stopped there, either. While they ate, they talked about anything and everything and found they agreed more often than not. He couldn’t believe he had this much in common with her and had never even known it. Of course, their previous time together had been much more focused on the work.

Hutch rolled over to look at her while ignoring his own creaks and aches that came from too much time spent on the floor. He was getting old, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Light from the television flickered over her sleeping features. She looked so peaceful. He hated to disturb her.

He hated it so much that he'd already let her sleep for the last two hours. He was still so amped from her admission that she liked him, he didn't even care his date had fallen asleep on him. And he had managed to turn this into a date.

Hutch turned his head to look at the clock on the Carissa's bookshelf. Twelve forty. He really should get home. Not that he had to work the next day. He'd given his staff the next two days off after all their hard work prepping and getting the mailing out. Despite the continued twinges in Carissa’s back, he knew she was determined to go in to her office since she'd missed that day due to the accident. He'd already offered to drive her to and from the office since her other alternative was to take the bus which would only add more strain to her protesting back muscles.

She stretched jarring him out of his thoughts. He smiled when her eyes blinked open. “What time is it?”

“Going on one o'clock.”

“What? Seriously?” She tried to sit up and cringed. He hurried to support her so she didn't fall over, or worse, hurt herself more.

“You are in no shape to go to work in the morning.”

“I can manage.” She rolled over to her knees. Gripping the couch, she pulled herself to her feet. He jumped up to catch her if she was too unsteady. Her stubbornness was one of the things they hadn't seen eye to eye on.

“I can see that.” His droll humor dripped from every word.

She smiled at him and he saw that it cost her. “Great! I knew you'd see things my way.” Still gripping the couch, she cast a look at the door. “I don't want to hold you up. You're probably exhausted by now.”

Carissa was right, but he'd be darned if he was going to let her know that. “I'm fine. But we should get you to bed before I go.”

“You don't have to do that.”

“Think of it as part of my campaign to charm the socks off you.” He tugged on her ponytail and gave her a rakish smile.

She raised an eyebrow. “Sure it's my socks you want off?”

He laughed. “I'm going to take this opportunity to plead the fifth.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her toward her bedroom.

“I just bet you are,” she said in a dry tone, but he could hear her amusement underneath. That was one of things he'd always admired about her. She had a great sense of humor no matter what was imploding around her. On more than one occasion, she'd teased him off the proverbial ledge when things had gone massively wrong during events.

“Need any help getting in your pajamas?” He gave her a sweet smile when he asked. Her mouth dropped open. He shrugged. “What? I'm a man. What'd you expect?”

“Unfortunately for you, these are my pajamas. Good night, Hutch.”

He urged her toward the bed. She eased down on the mattress, which told him her back was still hurting much more than she tried to let on.

“Let me just tuck you in. Then I'll be on my way.”

She stared at him for a moment. “I think I can manage from here.”

“I know you can. Just humor me. I won't sleep a wink all night if I'm worried about you being uncomfortable over here.”

“You're not going to give up are you?”

He grinned. “Nope.”

“Fine.” Carissa pulled her legs under the covers with a small grimace. He raced out to the living room to grab a throw pillow from the couch. “What are you doing?” she asked when he returned and tucked the pillow under her legs.

“You need to keep them elevated. It'll keep the pressure off your back while you sleep. If you roll to your side, put it between your legs.”

He felt his face heat at the mention of between her legs. In the bright light of the bedroom, there was no way she could miss his blush. Even if he kept his head down to fiddle with the covers. His hair wasn't yet long enough to hide his face from her view.

“Between my legs, huh? You're making that up.”

He started to protest his innocence and caught sight of her amused face. “You're laughing at me?”

“You gotta admit. It's pretty funny.” She turned her head to the side. “I don't think I've seen that on you before.”

“I'm funny, huh?” He leaned over her and planted his hands on either side of her body, trapping her. He watched her amusement change to something else. Her breath caught in her throat. He watched the muscles work as she tried to swallow.

“Hutch?”

“Hutch, what?”

“I...I don't know. I...”

He smiled down at her. “You've got this big ole bed right here and I'm awful tired.”

“Hutch...”

“It's so late and my bed is so far away. Maybe I should just stay here for the night.”

“Hutch...”

“Besides, you might need some...looking after in the middle of the night and I'd be too far away to help.”

“I am not sharing my bed with you tonight, Hutch,” she protested.

He wiggled his eyebrows and stood up. “What are you going to do about it?” He crossed the room in a couple strides to turn off the light. By the time he got back to the bed, she was trying to sit up. He lay beside her and tossed an arm and leg over her body holding her in place.

“Okay, okay. You're not funny.”

He nestled as close to her as he could possibly get, intending to be a tease. Except, he went right to sleep.