Her jubilation at tracking down her quarry was tempered with the fact she could still barely draw in a breath.
“A minute,” she managed to squeak out, and raised a hand with her forefinger up.
He knelt on one knee in front of her. At this angle she could now see his face, and she felt as if she’d been sucker punched all over again. The man, in person, was so much...more... than he was on-screen or in news bulletins.
“I’m okay,” she said eventually, even though her heart continued to race in her chest. Due more to his proximity than to their collision. “Look, I’m sorry. I got in your way. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
He smiled. “I’m fine. I’m more concerned about you. Are you sure you’re all right? That was quite a fall.”
She shifted gingerly. Her butt was tender but there was no way she was admitting that.
“I was more winded than anything, I think,” she said with a smile. “Again, I’m really sorry about all of this. I should have been looking where I was going.”
“You did kinda change direction all of a sudden, but I should have been more careful, too.” He straightened and extended a hand. “May I help you up?”
She hesitated a second, caught by the old-fashioned courtesy in his Texas drawl. She and her mom had lived in Illinois so long now, she’d almost forgotten what that sounded like.
“Thank you.”
Chloe placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her to her feet. His hand was warm and strong, and despite her intentions, she felt a zing of awareness travel up her arm. He let her go the minute she was upright. A gentleman to the core. It would have been so easy to have allowed their contact to linger, but he hadn’t. There was absolutely nothing inappropriate in his touch, although a curl of curiosity in the back of her mind made her wonder if
he’d felt that same electric charge that she had.
“Is that blood on your hand?” he asked, jolting her out of her reverie.
Chloe turned her hand palm up. She was bleeding a little. Must have been from when she put her hand out behind her, to try and stop her fall. Actually, now that she came to think of it, her wrist was a bit sore, too.
“It’ll be okay. It’s nothing serious.”
“May I look?”
Again, that courtesy. She proffered him her hand and caught her breath as he cradled it in his own.
“Is that sore? Me touching you like this?”
“A little,” she admitted.
Actually her wrist was now beginning to hurt a lot, and to swell, too.
“I don’t like the look of this,” Miles Wingate said. He looked up at her with a small frown furrowing between his sharp green eyes. “You need to get this seen to. Let me take you to a medical center.”
“No, seriously, I’ll be fine. A bit of ice, a compression bandage—that’s all I need.”
“Look, I feel responsible for your injury. Let me help you.”
Chloe chewed her lower lip. She knew exactly who he was, but he had no idea of that. What would a regular woman do in this situation? She certainly wouldn’t instantly act as if she trusted him. Would she?
“No, it’s okay,” she forced herself to say, and reluctantly pulled free of his touch. She winced a little and cradled her wrist in her other hand. “My car is parked nearby. I’ll be fine.”
Miles straightened. “Look, I know you don’t know me from Adam, and despite having bowled you clean off your feet, I really mean you no harm. Let me introduce myself properly—Miles Wingate, at your service. And you can trust me. I actually work in security, so I totally get why you don’t want to accept my help. Thing is, I feel bound to offer it to you and to see that you accept it. But not in a creepy way, of course.”
He smiled at her then and looked so earnest she couldn’t help but smile back in return.
“Chloe Fitzgerald,” she murmured. “And thank you for your honesty.”
“Will you let me walk you to your car?”
“That would be lovely. I just need my—” Chloe looked around for her cell phone. She’d had it in her hand when she’d fallen. A few moments later she spied it lying on the path a couple of yards away. The screen was a maze of cracks. “Oh no,” she cried.