As she hurried toward the last pole, she hit a patch of ice. Her right boot went out from under her. Before she could catch her balance, Nikee fell backward and her body slid down the slight incline causing her left ankle to slam into the pole. With a gasp, she grabbed her injured ankle.
Eyes closed, Nikee lay on the damp ground breathing heavily. The sound of the taxi didn't register in her pain-filled brain at first.
When she realized the taxi was leaving, Nikee called out. "Hey! Wait! Help!"
"Where are you?" A male voice asked.
"Back here, at the end of the greenhouse. I fell and hurt my ankle. I'm not sure I can get up." Craning her neck, Nikee saw the man coming her way. On crutches, he swung forward as he negotiated the driveway.
"Oh! Maybe you shouldn't come back here. Let me call my dad; he'll hurry home, shouldn't take him over twenty minutes to return. You could wait at the house and lean against the wall."
He glanced upward in her direction for a minute. "Don't think so. We need to get you up off the ground. The snow is wet; you'll get damp quick."
"But," she sputtered. "How in the world are you..."
"Call your dad. As soon as I get over there, we'll figure something out." The man turned his attention back to the ground he maneuvered across.
"Okay, but I hit a patch of ice. Someone dumped liquid out of their vehicle and it froze. See where I left a skid mark in the snow? You need to detour around it if you insist on coming out here."
Nikee dug in her pocket for the cell phone hoping it hadn’t been damaged by the fall. She called her father. "Dad, hurry. I fell out by the array and Mr. Dodds is trying to help me, but he's on crutches."
"On the way!" Einar cut off the call.
Nikee pocketed the cell just as Mr. Dodds came up to her.
The stocky man lowered the ice grip on one crutch, switched sides and snapped down the other. As he balanced on the crutches for a moment, he assessed the situation. "Okay, I'll lean on the post and brace up against it. My left side is okay. When I extend the crutch to you, pull yourself up on it as far as you can. I'll pull you up when I can get a grip on you."
"All right, that sounds reasonable." Nikee gripped the middle brace of the crutch and pulled herself up on her knees.
A strong hand reached down and caught the front of her jacket. Hauled upright, Nikee attempted to put weight on her ankle and the resulting twinge of pain almost put her back on the ground.
"Hang in there, Ms. Olson, I presume." The stormy eyes were almost level with hers. The man was only a few inches taller than her 5' 7" and far stronger than she might have imagined.
"Now, let's get our parkas unzipped," he told her. "You’ll need to put both arms around me and hang on until your dad gets here. That way you get the damp coat off you and we can stay warm together. I'll keep us off the wet ground."
He stood against the metal pole, holding them upright with the crutches. The man waited on her to get both parkas unzipped. Her fingers fumbled a little with his coat.
As soon as hers was unfastened, Nikee pushed her shivering body up against his. The man must have an internal furnace, she thought while clasping both arms around his waist.
He took her weight against his body and leaned back on the pole. Nikee sighed as the warmth sank into her. Her head slipped down to his shoulder as she relaxed in his embrace.
"What's your first name?" The question in his deep voice shook her from the lassitude creeping through her body.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I've been out of commission for about sixty days before the accident. Add another six weeks to the total, and the things happening to my body with a beautiful woman plastered against me are way past my ability to control. I'm not going to apologize either."
Heat flushed through her cheeks. Nikee's head went back on his shoulder. "Anika, but it's Nikee. And I am not a beautiful woman; you're just starved, physically."
"I don't know who's been feeding you bullpuckey, but they have. You're like a moonbeam trapped on earth. You resemble one of those old 1920s Art Déco posters. And the color in your cheeks reminds me of a bright red poppy."
"Dear Lord! Mr. Dodds, please. Stop before I drown in a bunch of that bullpuckey you mentioned."
"You think so, do you?" Brett Dodds turned his face and rubbed his cheek against hers. "You're like a fairy queen come to life. Gold is flashy, Nikee. Platinum is lustrous and has the same lush shine I see on you. And it's worth far more than gold."
The truth of what he wanted pushed up against her. An urge to stroke him was difficult to calm. Worse, because of his shorter stature than other men she had dated, Brett Dodds rubbed on her in a place that had Nikee wanting to rise on tiptoe because they would match up so well.
A slight tremor coursed through him and the man shifted position on the crutches. Nikee glanced at his face and saw the tiny beads of sweat on his upper lip. In pain, she doubted he would bother to complain.
"Brett? He should be here soon; I know Dad was on his way."
"We'll be fine until he gets here. When he does, you first, Nikee. Once you're taken care of, it's my turn."
Her father's truck tore into the driveway and bounced hard as it hurried over to the pole they used to stay upright. Einar threw the door wide, hopped out of the vehicle and strode over.
"Nikee? What happened? Let's get you into the truck and then we'll take care of this gentleman."
"I concur, sir," Brett replied.
As he supported Nikee with an arm under her, Einar glanced at the other man. "After I get her in the back, in the crew cab, I'll put the passenger seat all the way back so I can get you up front. We'll just set in the truck a spell and let you get warm. Then you two can get inside and rest up."
Nikee watched her father help Brett hobble over to the truck. The man used the crutches to push up into the seat. Her father helped get Brett's injured leg inside the cab before he shut the door. As the old man made his way around to the driver's side of the crew-cab pickup, Brett's voice came to her over the sound of the heater fan.
"How are you doing, Nikee? Can you feel everything okay? Any numbness in your fingers or toes?"
As she hadn't thought to check, Nikee did so. "Except for my ankle, I'm fine. How about you?"
There was a deep chuckle. "A-Okay here. Although… " What he didn't say dropped into her mind as he knew it would.
Nikee understood what he meant. Her cheeks got hot, and she reached up with both hands to hide the blush from her father.
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