“Especially with broken glass on the floor.”
It wasn’t like she’d done it on purpose.
She tried to pull her foot away again.
“Stay still,” he ordered, giving her a firm look. “I know it hurts, but if you stay still, I can do it quicker.”
She sighed but kept still.
“There, got it all, I think. But it would be better to wash your foot as well before we put on the antiseptic.”
He picked her up and carried her over to the other counter where the sink was, setting her down and then gently washing her foot. A shiver ran through her, surprising her. Was she attracted to him?
What would it be like to have a fling? To have sex? Could she do that with a stranger?
She shuddered at the thought of him seeing her naked. Touching her.
“Easy,” he said, breaking through the fear threatening to send her into another panic attack. “You’re fine. All clean. Just need the antiseptic. Sorry if this hurts.”
After the antiseptic, he put a bandage on, his movements brisk but gentle. Seemed like overkill to her.
“There, that ought to do it. But I don’t want you walking on that foot for the rest of the day, understand?”
She raised her eyebrows at his bossy tone. Oh, he was definitely a man who was used to getting his own way.
Grabbing her whiteboard and pen, she wrote a message and showed it to him.
“Do I expect you to fly?” he repeated. “Are you sassing me?”
She tilted her head to one side. Was she? She’d never thought of herself as sassy.
She shrugged.
He eyed her for a moment, then let out a noise that was a cross between irritation and impatience. She hid a smile. It was fun poking the bear.
Best not poke too hard, Juliet. You don’t know him. You don’t know when he’ll bite back.
Right. That somber reminder had her straightening. She knew that Reuben would have done an extensive background check on this man. Even with a short timeframe, he wouldn’t hire someone who wasn’t good at their job. However, there was a lot that could slip through a background check. It didn’t mean he hadn’t done bad things, only that he hadn’t been caught.
And while her gut said she could trust him, she had nothing to base that on. She’d learned the hard way that her gut could be wrong. And that when she listened to it, she could end up hurt.
“Hey, you okay?” He reached for her chin and she flinched back.
He froze. She had to resist the urge to lean into him, to press against him and breathe him in.
“Would you prefer that Elias come and help you?” he asked in a voice that had grown cooler.
There was something in the way he held himself. Something that said he fully expected to be rejected. She wasn’t sure who would ever reject this man.
Well, other than her. But she was an idiot. Flawed.
“I’ll go get him to look at that burn.” He took a step away and she shook her head, covering up the burn. He narrowed his gaze at her. “You need something on it. If the blister bursts, then it could easily get infected.
She shook her head again. He wasn’t the boss of her. She wrote another message.
I’m fine. You probably need to settle in.
He crossed his arm over his chest. “It’s not okay. It needs checking. And I’ll settle in once you’re okay.”