“Fair point,” he agreed, wheeling the bike over. “Come on. I’ll toss this in the back and take you there.”
All right. Fine. I clearly wasn’t winning this argument, and even if he was only doing it because Evelyn had made him, I’d accept the olive branch.
At the end of the day, he knew I wasn’t Camilla.
I was loathe to admit it, but I needed his help.
It meant I’d have to try to get along with him.
“Thank you,” I said, watching as he carefully put the bike in the bed of a muddy black pick-up truck. “So why do you have this miniature lorry?”
He chuckled. “Exmoor.”
“You’re going to have to elaborate.”
He opened the passenger side car door for me. “I’ll explain on the way.”
“Thank you.” I put both my bags in the footwell looked at the truck.
I was five-foot-three.
These wheels were almost bigger than I was.
How on Earth was I meant to get in there? I supposed I was going to have to haul myself up and hope for the best.
I braced my hands on the seat and the door, took a deep breath, and yanked myself up. My hand gave way on the soft fabric of the seat, and my foot slipped on the metal step. My life flashed behind my eyes, and I was about to scream when Hugo grabbed me from behind.
He wrapped one arm around my waist and held me against his body. My heart pounded uncontrollably, and I didn’t know if it was from the fear of my near fall or because I was nestled tightly against him.
He had a very firm body.
It wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever been pressed up against, for what it’s worth.
“Need a leg up?” His lips were far too close to my ear, and his words were said on an exhale that skittered warmly against my cheek.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yes.
The heart pounding was definitely from his closeness.
This was an unwelcome development.
“My hand slipped,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t shake. The last thing I needed was for Hugo to learn that I was affected by his closeness—given the tit for tat we’d already engaged in, it seemed like it was something he would use to his advantage.
“I saw.” Amusement tinged his tone. “I’ll help you up. Come on.” He slowly released his arm from around my body, moving his hands to my sides.
His fingers twitched against my waist, and I swallowed hard, making sure to grip the seat extra hard this time.
With his help, I was able to make it into the front of the truck and sit down. I steadfastly ignored him by looking down at my knees, but that didn’t mean I didn’t catch a glimpse of him smiling out of the corner of my eye.
Camilla. I need you to come home.
I could not stay here any longer than possible. I didn’t need to be attracted to this man.
Lord Hugo was nothing but a ginormous pain in my arse.