Batter of Wits (Green Valley Chronicles #22) - Smartypants Romance Page 0,24

of Tucker's thigh when he patted his hand there. His hands were warm, so warm that I could feel it through the heavy socks I was wearing, and fingers sure as he touched the side of my ankle with a gentleness that surprised me, given his size.

"Are you first-aid certified?" Grady asked.

"Yes, sir. You never know what'll pop up around here, and I like to be prepared."

Grady's eyes, the exact same shade as my own, gleamed with that little tidbit.

"How much rafting have you done around these parts?"

Tucker paused. “A bit.”

“And you like being a lawyer?”

"Umm, hang on, let me just give this ankle a peek."

I gave my brother a look, because while my bone was screaming in pain, he was all but conducting an interview.

What? he mouthed.

Stop it, I mouthed back.

Grady shrugged unrepentantly. He's great, he mouthed.

My eyes narrowed so far that I could barely see him through the slits.

"Glad to see you can glare at other people like that too, Angry Girl," Tucker said. "I'd hate to think it's only me."

I sighed. "Oh, trust me, my little brother has been acquainted with this look his entire life."

"So I'm not special, is what you're saying."

"Ha. Not exactly."

The words had just left my lips when Tucker wrapped his palm around the back of my calf, his skin on mine for the first time since I met him. It was an innocent touch, meant so that he could carefully set my heel on the ground.

I was so grateful that I hadn't been in the middle of a sentence, that there wasn’t things I was trying to say, because they would've dried up in my mouth like sawdust. Goosebumps popped along the entire length of my legs, from the tips of my toes straight up to my belly button. I wanted to scrape my hands along the surface of my skin, run the flat edge of a knife over the bumps until they disappeared.

I had no business getting goosebumps over this man.

Because I didn't like him, even if I didn't hate him anymore.

And he had a girlfriend, as the drive to the trail taught me. Which was fine, because I didn't particularly like him.

His faceless girlfriend and her flowery-ass southern name could have him, I thought firmly.

My legs might not have known that, but they could easily be ignored. Those legs hadn't been touched in a year and a half by anyone other than my gynecologist. And my last boyfriend hardly knew what to do with them as it was.

The guys conferred quietly about how to get me back to the car, and I gingerly pulled my boot back up over my ankle.

Tucker stood and propped his hands on his hips. "Do you think you can stand?"

Grady held out his hand for me, and I took it, putting all my weight on my good foot. Carefully, I set my other leg down. It hurt, but it wasn't broken.

Then again, all I was doing was standing in one place.

"Standing is a bit different than walking," I said with a grimace. "But I can probably hobble along, as long as you two aren't clocking my progress. In fact, I'll make my way back. You two go."

Grady pulled his hat off his head and ran his hands through his messy hair. "I don't know."

"No way," Tucker said at the same time.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "I might not be setting any land speed records, but I'm fine."

Tucker crossed his arms over his chest and for the first time since I saw him roll down that window in his truck on the pretty stretch of road where he found me, Tucker glared at me.

"If you think we're dumb enough or mean enough to let an injured woman walk a mile by herself, then you've lost your mind."

I did some arm-crossing of my own. "So it's a woman thing?"

"No," he said, all patience and steady gazes and giant arms still folded across his giant chest. "It's a common-sense thing. I wouldn't let anyone walk back alone if they were injured. I could call for a Ranger to come help you back, but it's hard to say how long it would take them to get here. They've got just a few acres to cover and I'm not letting you sit here with an injured foot for who the hell knows how long."

I tilted my head. "Not letting me?"

Grady whistled under his breath.

Tucker leaned his face closer to mine. "I don't know who or what is coming down that trail