Busted (Promise Harbor Wedding) - By Sydney Somers Page 0,19
hard into his awareness, radiating up his spine. The ache in his side felt like he’d taken one too many dives across the ice. And then there was the stinging in his chest—
Jackson released the kitten, trying not to outright toss the furball across the grass. Ten seconds ago he would have traded his favorite jersey for the kitten’s ability to land on its feet.
“Sweet Jesus.” He rolled to his side and found Hayley in the same position facing him, cradling her wrist to her chest.
“You okay?”
She looked at him and burst out laughing. Almost immediately, she winced. “Shit, that hurts.” She laughed again. “Last night I arrested you and just now made you fall out of a tree, and you’re asking if I’m okay?”
Despite the teeth-gritting ache in his bad knee, he smiled. He could almost appreciate the pain being brought on by something other than a careless mistake that had ruined more than just the ligaments in his knee.
“Eric was right. Any sane guy would have wanted to get far away from me.”
“I’ll consider bolting when I’m sure I can stand.”
Hayley surveyed him from head to toe, her brows scrunched together in an adorable frown. “You didn’t break anything, did you?”
He’d earned his share of sprains and fractures over the years, and nothing felt anywhere close to that kind of pain at the moment. Still, his body had taken one hell of a hit. “Don’t worry. My hockey career is already over.” Saying as much aloud always sucked, but he was a little too distracted by the worry in her eyes to get hung up on it this time.
“Sorry about that.”
“Not your fault the stupid cat climbed a tree.” The same stupid cat that sat licking its paws only a few feet away.
Her expression softened. “I meant about hockey.”
“Oh.” He leaned up on his elbows, gritting his teeth at the pain that stretched across his side. Perfect. A bruised rib was just what he needed after a bar fight and dropping out of a tree.
“You’re bleeding.”
“The icing on the cake,” he muttered, then dragged himself up to see if anything else hurt. Nothing else registered, though, when he noticed her still cradling her wrist. “Let me see.”
She waved him off. “Just a little sprain. No big deal.”
No big deal didn’t make sense with the way she avoided putting weight on it when she stood. Jackson didn’t let her get any further until she held it out for inspection.
With a sigh, she thrust her hand toward him. He gently probed her wrist, trying not to notice how smooth and warm her skin was beneath his fingers. She hissed out a breath and tugged her hand free.
With her left hand, she scooped up the kitten and continued along the path to her building. Seeing her favor one leg just a bit made it impossible to decide which one of them was in rougher shape.
He picked up his stuff along with Hayley’s discard sandals and trailed after her. His bad knee spasmed in protest for a minute, then settled into its usual dull pain. He’d gotten used to ignoring it for the most part, and it certainly helped that he was following Hayley and her killer legs even a guy on his deathbed would have appreciated. He couldn’t have asked for a better distraction from the lingering discomfort that would undoubtedly be worse in the morning.
Hayley knocked at the first apartment they came to, and an elderly man with a cane and a Beatles T-shirt opened the door.
He scowled down at the kitten. “More trouble, Copernicus?” He held his hand out, and Hayley handed the little bugger over. The kitten immediately snuggled in to him.
“Hope he wasn’t too much trouble for you, Hayley.”
Apparently the man had missed their gold-medal-winning dismount.
“Not at all,” she lied, giving Jackson a subtle shake of her head, as if he’d say otherwise.
The man’s white head bobbed. “How are the boys doing? Matt says you’re almost as good of a coach as your grandfather. My grandson isn’t giving you a hard time, is he? I know he’s been talking about you working with them on top of hockey camp this summer.”
“It’s no problem at all. Pete’s a good kid. Plays hard.”
The man nodded. “As good as this one someday maybe?” He gestured to Jackson. “Enjoy the wedding.” He closed the door, and Hayley led the way upstairs.
On the way she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Allie is going to kill me.” She opened the door at