Estelle was gone a while.
She finally returned with two more sticks (not they could be called sticks when they were the size of small saplings) of approximately equal length. One had a kink in it but, overall, was straight, while the other had a bulbous end as if it had been a root system once upon a time.
Passing them to me, she smiled. “Here you go.”
My forehead furrowed. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
Stop being an asshole.
I made eye contact. “Um, thanks?”
She crossed her arms. “They’re crutches. At least, this way you can move around—or as much as you can on the uneven terrain. They’re probably a bit long but we can fix them once we get to the beach.”
My eyes bugged. “Seriously? Who are you? MacGyver?”
Instead of laughing, her eyes blackened with annoyance. “Instead of belittling my idea, let’s go.” Grabbing the other stick from beside me, she wedged her tiny frame against mine. “Use one of the crutches and put the rest of your weight on me.”
Oh, hell no.
I pushed her away. “No chance. I’ll crush you. Look at the size of you.”
“I can do it.”
“Your ribs can’t. No way.”
“Those painkillers will dull some of it. I might be smaller than you, but I’m strong.” She grabbed my free arm and slung it over her shoulders. Sucking in a breath, her face waxed with pain. “Come on. I don’t want to leave Conner and Pippa any longer than necessary. Who knows if their self-control will obey me when I said not to eat the small amount of food we found.”
“Food?” My stomach grumbled on command. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place?”
She hissed as I gingerly put my weight on her.
I immediately stopped. “This is ridiculous.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Well, no...”
“Exactly.” Tugging on my wrist, she braced herself against the palm tree and yanked upright.
“Christ.” She didn’t give me a choice. I growled and swore as inch by inch she slid my crippled ass higher up the tree trunk and into a wobbling standing position. My muttered oaths became amplified as my ankle twisted, bellowing with torture. “Fuck me.”
“I’d appreciate it if you kept the curses to a minimum.”
“You try moving with a broken everything, and we’ll see who can keep their speech PG rated.”
She snorted. “You’re such a drama llama.”
I turned rigid. “What did you just call me?”
“A drama llama.” A smirk teased her lips. “I saw it online awhile back. I thought it was kind of funny.”
“Did you seriously just call me a llama?”
“Well, you did say you’d been called worse.”
“Not a bloody barn animal.”
Wedging the crutch under my free arm, she took a step back. I didn’t even notice I’d borne my own weight until she spread her hands in triumph. “First time for everything. Besides, it worked, didn’t it? You’re standing. Best news all day.”
You can say that again.
I flinched as she wrapped an arm around my waist.
My blood thickened as my heart rate accelerated. Different urges replaced thoughts of pain. I wanted to crush her to me and inhale the faint smell of vanilla. I wanted to lick the salt from her skin and thank her in kisses rather than words.
When I didn’t move, she pinched my side. “Come on. Let’s go. What are you waiting for?”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t want to help me.”
Her face tilted up, her eyes wide with questions. “Oh? Try me.” She looked so innocent and eager that it took everything to grin with cockiness rather than overwhelming sincerity.
“Try you?” My voice slipped into a caress; my gaze locking onto her mouth. “I appreciate the invitation, Estelle, but I really don’t think I should.”
She jolted. “That’s the first time you’ve said my name without it sounding like a bad thing.”
Sexual tension catapulted around us stronger, faster, far, far more intense than I’d ever felt before. Her arm jerked around my waist.
I slung mine over her shoulders without thinking.
“Want to know what I’m waiting for? Fine, I said I’d be brutally honest. I’ll be honest.” My head lowered, my lips coming within a whisper of hers. “I’m waiting for a kiss. I don’t want to move just in case you realise how close you are to me and run away while I can’t chase you.”
She panted as I battled with the urge of stealing a kiss or doing what was right and honouring the boundaries of first acquaintance.
I looked up at the tree canopy, exhaling heavily. “You have no idea how hard it is to be a gentleman right now.”
She cleared her throat, trembling a little. “I think you’re delirious with pain.”
I snorted. “Let’s go with that if it makes you feel better.”
“It does. It definitely does.”