She felt something warm slide down her shin, so she pulled up her pants legs as far as they would go and looked down. She cringed. Both knees were badly scraped and bleeding.
Now what? She didn’t have a Band-Aid or even a tissue. Should she go back into the building? But if she did that, she might miss her bus.
Aleena used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat and tears from her face. She looked down the street to the bus stop she’d been heading to, and with a sinking heart, she watched the bus she needed drive away.
She inhaled a shaky breath that she hoped would calm herself down before she had a panic attack. Reminding herself that she wasn’t lost, she knew she could walk home if she had to, even though it would hurt. It was only seventeen blocks.
Aleena relaxed a bit. She had money in her purse, so she could grab a cab. They’d take to right to her door so she wouldn’t have to walk on her sore legs. She took the few steps to the edge of the street and held her arm up like she’d seen other people do.
The traffic was so congested, much like the sidewalks, and she was so small a cab couldn’t see her.
She almost screamed when an arm came around her middle. She jerked her head around to see an angry Kaleb staring down at her.
“Hi,” she said lamely.
“Hi, where are you going?”
She shivered at the gravelly tone of his voice. “H … home.”
“I thought we had a date?’ he asked.
“We did, but you didn’t show up.”
If anything, his scowl got darker. “You were supposed to wait in the lobby. I told your receptionist I’d be there at six, and it’s actually a few minutes before.”
“I didn’t get a message.”
Kaleb wiped his free hand down his face. “Dammit. I’m sorry, baby.” He tightened his arm and started leading her back to his large SUV that was parked illegally in front of her building.
“How’d you find me?”
“I saw the back of your head when I pulled up. I lost you for a second when I got to the sidewalk and headed your way. By the time I got to you, you were hailing a cab.”
She sniffed. “I fell.”
He stopped abruptly and grabbed her shoulders. “Are you hurt?”
She nodded. “It’s not bad, though.”
“Where?”
“My hands and knees.”
He lifted her in his arms and started walking briskly toward his vehicle.
“I can walk,” she told him.
“No.”
She tucked her chin down. “People are staring at us.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” he said with a growl.
She gasped and then grinned. “Everybody heard you curse.”
“Yeah, I curse sometimes. You’ll get used to it.”
“It doesn’t bother me. We just got a few offended looks from people.”
He deposited her in the passenger seat of his vehicle and grabbed her hands. He wiped the dirt and grime from her palms with a napkin from his glove compartment.
He pulled one pant leg up the best he could since they were tight at the bottom. “Goddammit,” he barked, making her jump.
She leaned forward to see the damage and winced. “It’s still bleeding,” she informed him, although he could see that for himself.
He gently tugged her pant leg down, put on her seatbelt, and went around to the driver’s side. Then he grabbed a Kleenex from his side door and turned to her. He cupped her face and wiped the tears and dirt from her face, and then the color from her lip.
“I don’t like seeing you in makeup.”
She scowled at him. “I thought I looked pretty.”
“You do, little one. But I love your natural beauty, not the paint women put on their faces.”
She nodded and stayed silent. She was actually happy about that. She’d never been able to put on makeup the right way.
He pulled out into traffic abruptly, making a few cars behind him honk.
She watched him as she bit her lip. She worried more as the minutes passed and he didn’t say anything.
“Are you mad at me? If you are,” she continued without letting him answer, “you can take me home.”
At a stoplight, he turned his head to her and narrowed his eyes.
“There is no way I’m taking you to your place. We’ve got so much to talk about. I’m not pissed at you. I’m pissed at myself. I made so many mistakes.”
“You did? Like what?”
“Like not getting your number or talking to you directly when I called earlier. That’s just the start.”
“I don’t want you to be mad at yourself. It all worked out.”
“Not yet, it hasn’t, but I guarantee before I’m done, it will be.”
Aleena settled back. She felt calm. She knew he would take care of everything, so she didn’t have to worry about it, and she felt a peace she never had before.
Chapter Four
He couldn’t get the sight of the blood that had been on her legs and hands out of his mind. He cursed again under his breath. This woman would never know pain again if he had anything to do about it.
He glanced at her a few times, worried when she was so quiet. “I’ll get you taken care of, baby.”
Aleena turned her head toward him and smiled. “I know. I’m just resting.”
Kaleb’s chest tightened, and a ball of emotion clogged his throat. The fact she trusted him to take care of her was more than he’d expected so soon. His friends had told him about how they felt when they met their littles. He just hadn’t understood how powerful the emotion would be until that moment.
He pulled into underground parking and into his own space.
