“I’ll be fine, Miss Hotchkiss,” he said. “All I need is for you to step off of my toe, and—”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said, for what seemed the hundredth time. She took a step back.
He winced as he flexed his toes.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He shuddered. “Don’t say that again.”
“But—”
“I insist.”
“At least let me see to your foot.” She bent down.
“Please don’t.” There were few situations in which James thought begging appropriate, but this was one of them.
“All right,” she said, straightening up. “But I should—”
Smack!
“Oh, my head!” she yelped, rubbing the top of her scalp.
“My chin,” James barely managed to get out.
Her blue eyes filled with worry and embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”
“Brilliant aim, Miss Hotchkiss,” he said, shutting his eyes in agony. “Right where you whacked me with your hand.”
He heard her gulp. “I’m sorry.”
And that was when he made his fatal mistake. Never again would he keep his eyes closed around a suspiciously clumsy female, no matter how appealing she was. He didn’t know how she managed it, but he heard a surprised yelp, and then somehow her entire body crashed into his, and he went tumbling toward the ground.
Well, he thought he’d hit the ground.
If it had occurred to him to hope, he would have hoped to hit the ground.
But as it turned out, he should have prayed he’d hit the ground. It would have been so much more pleasant than the rosebush.
Chapter 5
“I’m sorry!”
“Don’t say that,” he growled, trying to decide which bit of him hurt the worst.
“But I am!” she wailed. “Here, let me help you up.”
“Don’t,” he yelled frantically, finishing with a somewhat quieter, “touch me. Please.”
Her lips parted with mortified horror, she started blinking rapidly, and for a moment James thought she might cry. “It’s perfectly all right,” he forced himself to lie. “I’m not hurt.” At her incredulous stare, he added, “Very much.”
She swallowed. “I’m so clumsy. Even Susan refuses to dance with me.”
“Susan?”
“My sister. She’s fourteen.”
“Ah,” he said, then added under his breath, “Smart girl.”