She didn’t look fine. Her skin was pale even beneath a layer of dust, and her eyes were dilated and glassy. She looked so damn fragile, and the rasping sound of her voice didn’t reassure him any. He raked his hand through his damp hair and locked his jaw. “I looked back and you were flying off your bike.”
“Quad,” she said.
“Whatever!” He blew out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding tight in his chest. “Jesus, I thought you were going to die.”
Caroline gave a weak chuckle and tried to sit up with a groan. “Nope. Just giving you a practical example of what not to do.”
Josh wrapped his arm around her back, carefully lifting her enough to lean against him. Her body was soft and pliable and he had absolutely no right to notice those things. She was hurt. What if she had internal injuries? Broken bones? In a world where he could call all the shots, he felt totally useless.
“Are you sure we don’t need to call an evac-medical helicopter or something?”
Her brows pinched together, forming a dark vee over her impossibly green eyes, hazed with pain. “Trust me. You don’t need that kind of publicity. Help me get my helmet off.”
“I think your injuries should be our top priority rather than my image at the moment, don’t you? Perhaps we’d better leave your helmet on. You might have broken your neck or fractured something.” Watching her fly backward off the machine as it tipped and rolled, just like she said it could, had sent his brain into a tailspin. He couldn’t get off his machine fast enough to get to her.
“Nothing’s broken. I’m just bruised. Either help me or I’ll do it myself.”
While he admired her determination, he thought it was stupid. He could fix just about any computer, network, or electronic system on the planet, but he knew nothing about fixing the human body.
He worked at the strap beneath her chin and gently removed her helmet. He stroked back the damp hair on her forehead. He didn’t see any blood anywhere, no cuts, so that had to be a good sign, didn’t it? He relaxed slightly as she sat fully upright and rubbed her shoulder.
“So you were trying to be a bad example?” Apparently his teasing worked. She gave him a grin, then winced.
“Yeah. Don’t do that. It hurts.”
The tension in his chest relaxed a fraction and he breathed a bit easier. He liked that Caroline still had a sense of humor even when she was hurt. That inner strength in her was something he admired. He frowned. He needed to find a way to get her back to the staging area so he could drive her to a hospital.
“Do you want me to get help or do think you can still ride?”
“I can ride.”
Only now did Josh take a look at her overturned vehicle. The handlebars were bent, and the front light cracked. The fender might have been bent into the wheel, but it was hard to tell. “I’m not sure your ATV can make it back. It’s pretty banged up.”
“They’re tougher than they look.”
Just like you, he thought. “The handlebars are bent at a seventy-five-degree angle from where they should be. I’d say it’s out of commission for a bit.”
She frowned. “Oh. That does make it difficult.”
He carefully scooped her up.
“What are you doing?” She stiffened slightly in his arms, then winced and relaxed.
“I’m taking you back on my bike.”
“Quad.”
“Whatever,” he said just to humor her. A weak smile lifted her dry lips.
“You were riding really well,” she said softly.
“I had a good instructor.”
“Yeah, can you tell me who so I can take some more lessons?”
He held her close to his chest as he walked up to his machine.
Caroline looked up into his face. The breeze pulled at the soft strands of her hair, forming a dark halo of sorts around her head. He could enjoy waking up to that face every morning, but it was an unrealistic expectation. Women, particularly Caroline Parker, didn’t go for his type. Rich or not. She was too much her own person.
“You know this isn’t going to work.”
“I know.”
“There’s no way you’re going to be able to steer the quad if you’re still holding on to me.”
She hadn’t been talking about them at all. He suddenly felt stupid for letting himself get caught up in his fantasy world and letting it intermingle with the real one. It happened often when he was working intensely on a project, but it never happened with people. Not until now.
“Yeah. Of course,” he said with a shrug. “Can you ride in front of me?”
“The seat isn’t meant for two.”
“What choice do we have? I’m flattered you think I could carry you the three miles back, but I think this is our better option.”
“I could ride behind you.”
“I don’t want you falling off the back while we’re moving.”
“Good point. I don’t think I could take another spill today.”
He lowered her to the ground, his arm still steadying her as she stood.
“Are you sure you’re fit to ride?”
“Just take it slow.”
He nodded and helped her climb on the quad and handed her the helmet she’d removed.
She held it in her hands for a moment, then looked up at him. “Thanks, Josh. I’m supposed to be the one watching out for you, not the other way around.”
Josh shrugged. Taking care of problems was something he excelled at. They just didn’t usually involve a beautiful, injured woman. Careful not to bump her, he climbed on the quad in back of her.
She was right, it was a snug fit, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Her bottom was pressed up tight against his groin, and while he tried to take the trip back to the staging area as slowly as possible given that he didn’t want to jar her, it didn’t stop her butt from rubbing against him in a way that made it damned hard to concentrate.
Josh forced himself to focus. He knew he needed to get her to a doctor as soon as possible. He eased the quad up and over the dunes. The distance across the sand seemed to stretch infinitely. Surely it hadn’t taken them this long to get to the beach. Maybe he’d gotten lost. All the damned dunes looked the same to him now as he peered over her shoulder and gave a little more gas to the quad to pull it up the hill.
Down below he could spot the smooth blacktop of the staging area parking lot. Once they got there, Josh hustled Caroline into the car and then quickly loaded the quad into the trailer and unhooked the trailer from their vehicle. There was no reason to drag it along to the local hospital. He’d call to have it picked up along with the broken-down quad they’d left behind.
“How are you feeling?” he said as he slid into the seat beside her and turned the car over. He didn’t wait for her answer. Her eyes were closed and for a second a big lump lodged in his throat. Was she still even conscious?
“Caroline? Wake up. You can’t fall asleep. You might have a concussion.”
Caroline half opened her eyes and glanced out the window. “Where are we going? The hotel is the other direction.”
“Yes, but the local hospital is this way.”
She groaned, leaning her head back on the seat of the car. “I’m fine—”
“Save your breath. You’re going to see a doctor, and I won’t take no for an answer.”
Her eyes shut once more. “You’re going to be ridiculous about this, aren’t you?” She sighed.
Good. At least she was talking. “Yes.”
Caroline tipped her head to the side and opened on eye. “All because you care.”
“Yes.”
“And you expect me to go along with it?”
“Yes.”
“Give me one good reason I should.”
“I’m the boss.”
She snorted. “I said one good reason.”
“It’s all the reason I need.”
“You’re used to getting your own way, aren’t you?”
Josh slid his gaze her way
and looked at her. A bruise was starting to form along the edge of her cheek and temple that worried him. A little color was back in her skin and she wasn’t as pale and shaky as she’d been when he’d taken her back on the quad to the staging area.
“When it comes to my employees, absolutely.”
…
In two hours they were on their way back to the hotel and she had a clean bill of health minus the bruising.
He’d called her his employee.
The word somehow galled her.
It was silly really. Why should she care if Josh only saw her as an employee? That’s precisely what she was, wasn’t it? And precisely how she wanted him to think of her. Not a woman, not a love interest. An employee. It would make doing what she had to do and taking the plans from him easier if he didn’t see her as anything other than an employee.
Caroline shifted in her seat trying to get more comfortable. Aw, hell, who was she kidding? The kiss had changed something between them, and she couldn’t get it out of her head. Or her heart. Without even realizing it, Josh had done a sneak attack across her well-defined line between client and potential boyfriend material, and it made her all kinds of uneasy, especially when she knew what she intended to do to him in order to protect Connor.
Caroline looked at him from beneath her lashes. The salt spray and the helmet had given him a bad-boy surfer look, and with the glasses gone, replaced by contacts, the color of his eyes was an electric blue. She hadn’t really looked at him in profile before. The angles of his face, especially from the side, were more stark and appealing. Some woman was going to be very lucky to snag Josh Martin’s heart, but it wasn’t going to be her. Especially once she humiliated him and gave the plans for Aeon to Mr. X.
But he deserves it. Every bit of it, the little voice inside her head argued. Think what he took from you. From Connor. From your family.
Caroline sighed and steeled her resolve. She would not be attracted to Joshua Martin. She refused to be attracted to him. And she was nothing if not stubborn.
“Do you want a shower before we leave?”
She sighed. “I suppose I should.”
He helped her up to their rooms and by the time she got undressed and out of the hot shower, he’d already packed all their things, minus some clothes he’d left out for her on the bed. Caroline pulled on the clothes, already feeling much better. There was a knock at the door.
“It’s me. Can I come in?” Josh’s muffled voice echoed out in the hallway.
“Come in,” she said.
Josh opened the door and Caroline unwrapped the wet towel from her head, using it to dry her hair, and winced at the soreness in her arm.
“You need help with that?”
She straightened, smoothing her damp hair back. “I got it. Did you go through my clothes?”
“Seemed only fair since you went through mine,” he said, his tone teasing. “Here, I thought you might need this.” He handed her a cup of coffee.
She smiled at him and took the proffered cup. “Thanks. What about the quads? We can’t just leave them out at the staging area.”
“Already called the rental place while I was waiting for you to get your X-rays taken.”
“Wow, a man on a mission. I appreciate it, I just feel like I’ve let you down since I was supposed to be taking care of things and you ended up doing the work.”
“No problem. We’ll be back in Seattle in no time, and then perhaps we can go back to safer methods of reshaping my image. I’m going to take these down to the car. Think you’ll be ready to go soon?”
Caroline blew at the swirl of steam rising from the cup and took a sip, the hot warmth of the coffee trailing down her throat. “Give me ten minutes.”
He nodded, picked up her bags, and headed out the door.
Fifteen minutes later they were in the car headed north. The silence in the car was unnerving her. Maybe she was just agitated. Or perhaps Josh’s mixed signals were getting to her. Either way, sitting was doing neither of them any good.
“I hope you don’t stop trying what I’m suggesting just because I got hurt.”
He glanced at her from the driver’s side. “The thought crossed my mind. Your approach is too unconventional.”
“Not unconventional. Adventurous. With trying something adventurous, there’s always a chance you’ll get hurt.”
“Well, how about we hold off on the adventures for a bit, then?”
“No dice. I’ve got a few months to get you noticed to meet your deadline and get you on that list in People magazine. I’ve got to get social reporters talking about you sooner rather than later, and the only way that’s going to happen is if we get you circulating out in public. And we need to do that step by baby step.”
Now it was Josh’s turn to sigh. “The dunes weren’t enough action for you?”
“That was for you to have fun.”
“Yeah, because waiting in urgent care was the height of fun.”
She slapped him playfully on the arm. “Don’t even try to fool me, Josh Martin. I saw your face light up when you were winning the race on the beach. You liked it.”
He gave her a grin that made her stomach flip. “Yeah, that part was fun. So was the practice in the hotel room. Any chance we’re going to need to do more of that before this public outing you’re planning?”
Heat instantly suffused her skin. She knew she was blushing and turned away from Josh to look out the passenger window of the car. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Then how am I going to improve my kissing abilities? You didn’t even give me a grade.”
Caroline tried her best to keep her voice even and unemotional. “You’re just fine in that department. What we need to focus on is your fear of being in crowds.”
His knuckles turned white as his grip increased on the steering wheel. “And how do you propose we do that? I’ve been dealing with enochlophobia since I was a kid.”
“Look, I know it isn’t easy for you, but I think with proper anti-anxiety exercises and by going to a series of outings where the size of the crowd slowly progresses, we can get you past this and achieve your goal at the same time.”
Josh blew out a deliberate long stream of breath. In the confined space of the car she could sense the change in the air around him at the mention of crowds. It wasn’t just tension. It was fear.
“You can do this, Josh. You’re smarter than all of them. Look at all you’ve already accomplished. You’re like Albert Einstein.”
He locked gazes with her, his eyes questioning if this was all bull and she was just saying it to make him feel better about his greatest weakness. “Einstein had a fear of crowds?”
Caroline nodded. “Hated them. Hated public speaking, too. But if one of the fathers of quantum physics can do it, then the future father of space colonization can, too.”
A spark of hope flared in his eyes. “You really believe that, don’t you?”
“Given what you’ve already accomplished, which is a hell of a lot more than most people, yes, I think you can do whatever you put your mind to.” No matter who you hurt in the process…or who hurts you.
The hard lines around his eyes smoothed out. “You’re right. I just need to make up my mind to make this happen.”
She gave him a smile. It was really more of a half smile. It hurt to do more. She was beginning to feel the bruising now and they still had several more hours to go in the car before they even reached Washington State. She needed to do something to keep her mind off the aches, the pain, and the deep-seated unrest settling deep in the pit of her stomach. “As long as I’ve got your undivided attention, perhaps we ought to get started.”
He slid his gaze away from the road and stared at her for a second. “Kind of hard to practice being in a crowd when there are only two of us in the car.”
“True, but we’re going to work on the anti-anxiety part first. You ever try yoga?”
…
Now that was funny. Him? Yoga? W
hy didn’t she just ask if he was ready to give up coffee, too? “No. But if I practice, do I get to bend myself around you?”
“You are a natural flirt, you know that?” She straightened up in her seat and winced. Damn. He’d only been teasing her to keep her occupied. He hated that she’d gotten hurt.
“I was only teasing you.”
“Yeah, like I said, a flirt.”
“Not the same thing.”
“Exactly the same thing.”
He frowned. “Are you telling me to flirt to get over my anxiety in a crowd?”
She shrugged. “Anything that will help you keep your mind off worrying about what’s happening around you could help. Deep breathing. Mental focus. Flirting with a pretty girl.”
Right now just thinking about her being hurt and how to prevent it from ever happening again was enough to occupy his mind completely. Josh grumbled a few choice words under his breath. Damn, she was persistent.
But it would never work because no matter what he tried, he couldn’t picture another woman. And if he went along with her plans, she’d be the only woman he could never have.
Chapter Seven
Caroline was a woman on a mission. She wanted to know precisely where Josh kept the plans for Aeon. And after several days of rest from her mishap, and a week of coaching him on releasing his anxiety, she knew she needed to find another way to push him further if he was going to progress. She’d thought his house was the most stress-free environment for him to practice. It gave her opportunities to search his house, but being there made it too easy for the two of them to be alone together. He needed a target to shoot for.
“I need you to be honest with me. Who is the mystery girl you’re trying to lure into your web?”
Josh hesitated. “I don’t see how that matters when it comes to me learning how to deal with my fear of crowds.”
Caroline tapped her fingers on the granite counter in his kitchen. They were taking a break. This was by far her favorite room in his house. She sipped her water, but kept her eyes focused on him, willing him to fill the silence with the answers she wanted.
After a few painful moments it was clear he wasn’t going to comply, but she was getting used to that. She already learned that once Josh made a decision, he didn’t go back on it.
The Geek Billionaire Makeover Page 7