Can’t Hurry Love, Nadine Millard [10 best novels of all time .TXT] 📗

you ok?” Only seconds later, Paige was hunkering down beside Josh.

Beth felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment at the fuss she was causing. “I’m good,” she insisted. “I just tripped. But it’s fine, honestly.” Planting her hands on the rock, she tried to stand but the second she put weight on her ankle, the pain shot through her again, and she fell to her butt, gasping for air.

“Not fine then,” Josh said, earning himself a scowl. “Isn’t it lucky that there’s a doctor on hand?”

She wanted to say something cutting, but she was in too much pain, so she just sat there seething.

“Should we call for help?” Paige asked.

“No!” Beth answered before Josh got the chance. “Honestly, I’ve just twisted my ankle. Please don’t bother anyone.”

“We don’t know what you’ve done yet,” Josh said with irritating calm. “I need to grab my bag. Stay here and don’t move.”

“Good thing you told me that,” Beth said like a child. “I was just about to run a marathon.”

Her little tantrum only seemed to amuse him, which only made her mood blacken. She was embarrassed and sore.

“Beth, oh dear. Have you sprained your ankle?” John the actuary popped up behind Paige, tsking and shaking his head. “You know, 25,000 Americans a day sprain an ankle. And interestingly—“

“Paige,” Josh was back and interrupting John before Beth had a chance to tell him where he could shove his interesting facts. “Why don’t you lead the group back to the parking lot. I’ll fix up the patient here and get her home safely.”

Paige looked at Beth, raising her brows slightly.

Beth knew Paige was trying to gauge how she felt about it. She nodded slightly letting her friend know it was ok.

Not that she had much of a choice.

Within minutes, the group had packed up and were heading away.

“This really isn’t necessary,” Beth said, her cheeks scalding and her heart nearly slamming out of her chest. Josh ran a hand down her calf as he lifted her foot gently to examine it, and Beth thanked the Lord and every angel she could think of that she’d shaved her legs yesterday. “Why are you doing that?” She gulped as he began to unlace her boot.

“Because you can’t walk,” Josh said matter-of-factly.

“I can,” she said sulkily. “Just give me a couple of pain pills, and I’ll be on my way.”

“No,” he said firmly. “We’ll stay here until I’m sure it’s safe for you to move it.”

“I don’t have time for this. Why are you making such a big deal out of it, keeping me here against my will?” she snapped churlishly.

“Because I can’t get enough of that sunny personality,” he countered drily. “Now will you stop acting like a five-year-old long enough for me to examine you? I think I have some stickers I use to keep kids occupied if that’ll help?”

Her rude hand gesture just seemed to amuse him further, so she sat there mutinously quiet while he examined her leg and tied her in even more knots than usual.

Chapter Fourteen

Josh did a pretty good job of keeping his worry in check while he thoroughly examined Beth’s ankle. The rest of him proved a little more difficult to control.

He could tell by how pale she was that she was hurting, but she sat there tight-lipped while he checked for breaks or a sprain. It didn’t take more than a few minutes, but he prolonged it as long as possible like a lovesick teenager.

Her skin was like satin. And he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight remembering the feel of it… imagining the rest of her feeling the same…

“Josh?”

Jolted back to the present and away from dangerous territory, he rummaged in his bag for a couple of painkillers.

“Being the amazing physician I am, I was able to save the foot,” he said as he handed her the pills and a bottle of water.

She rolled her eyes but dutifully swallowed the meds.

“I guess I’m lucky that you were here then,” she said wryly.

“There’s some slight swelling, so I’d say you’ve got yourself a minor sprain,” he said. “The good news is you won’t lose a limb any time soon.”

“The bad news?”

“You’ll have to ice the swelling. And stay off it.”

Her eyes widened in dismay, and a rogue curl fell over her cheek.

Without thinking, he reached out and smoothed it behind her ear, watching in fascination as her cheeks turned pink.

“I-I can’t stay off it,” she mumbled hoarsely before clearing her throat. “The speed dating thing is tonight.”

“Well, I don’t know how speedy you’ll manage to be with a sprained ankle,” Josh said, removing his hand from her before he did something stupid.

“I can’t not go,” she said miserably.

He wanted her to stay home tonight — as a doctor and a red-blooded, jealous male. But she looked so upset that his heart twisted.

“Let’s get you home,” he said. “It doesn’t start until eight, right? We’ll see how it is in a few hours.”

She smiled up at him, and he had to remind himself that smile wasn’t for him. It was for some man who would be able to give her what she needed.

“Come on, invalid.” He stood and gently pulled her to stand. Much as he’d like to pull a Thor and carry her all the way down the trail, he knew it was beyond his abilities. Scouting the area, he found a stick that could help hold her weight. Then he put an arm around her, and they started their slow descent. He kept her close the entire time and tried not to think about how perfect she felt beside him.

The painkillers had taken the edge off the throbbing in her ankle. Beth stared out the window as the scenery gave way to the edges of town. There was Sheraton, the hotel where Josh had been staying when he first came to town. The place he’d first kissed her and very possibly ruined her for all future men.

Remembering it made her throat