“I said get out. Now.”
She froze for a second then quickly stood, banging her knee against the corner of the woo
den desk.
“Ow! Crap!” She grabbed at her knee, nearly toppling over as pain engulfed her. Damn, that hurt.
Someone wrapped their arms around her to hold her steady. When she glanced up, she found herself blinking up into James March’s handsome face.
Crap.
“S-sorry.”
He growled something under his breath. Then he shocked her by swinging her up into his arms. She was surprised he could hold her weight, but he showed no sign of strain as he carried her to the dark, leather sofa.
He stalked over to the small fridge at the wet bar and pulled out ice tray. Grabbing a towel from one of the drawers, he dumped the ice in it then walked back over and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she said, unable to help herself. Her manners were too ingrained not to say thank you when something was given to her, even if this man was one of the rudest she’d ever met.
She held the towel filled with ice on her knee, wincing a little. Wow, she’d banged it good.
She sat for a few seconds then swung her legs off the side of the couch.
He sighed, a sound filled with irritation, then grabbed her legs and swung them back.
“Stay there.”
She frowned at him.
“You just told me to leave.”
“And then you banged your knee.”
“It’s fine. Just bruised.” She tried to move again, but he stopped her once more. It was like one of those bad black and white comedies. Only neither of them laughed. He pulled the towel away from her leg.
“Stay there. I need to make certain you didn’t break anything.”
She sighed, trying to ignore how her skin tingled as he lightly pressed down on her knee. It hurt a little but it was nothing major.
“Don’t try to pretend you care about my health.”
“I care about not getting sued.”
Oh. That made more sense.
He sighed again as he looked over at the mess on the floor.
“Look, I’m sorry I was cleaning in here when I shouldn’t have been. But that mess is your fault.”
Shut up, Kinley. You need this job.
Yeah, except she was pretty certain she was fired anyway, no matter what she said now, and he’d annoyed her enough to earn a piece of her mind.
“My fault?” He gave her an incredulous look.
“You startled me. I was trying to find whatever had gone up the vacuum when you startled me. And, by the way, you’re welcome.”
“I didn’t say thank you.”