“Jake! What do you think you’re doing?”
“I like when you call me by my name,” he told her.
She shook her head. “Jake, put me down.”
“Nope. I’m not letting you put weight on that ankle.”
“You can’t carry me.”
“Uh, hate to tell you but I already am.”
“I’m too heavy. You’ll hurt yourself.”
He paused glaring down at her. “I don’t know which part of that statement to address first. The insult to you. Or to me.”
“I didn’t insult you.”
“You did by implying I can’t handle you.”
“Oh, so sorry to insult your manly ego. Didn’t realize it was so fragile.”
He hadn’t seen her like this before, grouchy and short-tempered, and it made him realize she was probably in more pain than she was letting on. And maybe a little embarrassed. This wasn’t the first comment she’d made about her body. Did she have issues about her size? How ridiculous. She was so hot he could scarcely keep his dick contained.
“Baby, I could carry you for hours and not tire,” he told her.
Her eyes widened, probably due to the endearment that slipped out, but by that time he’d reached his car.
“I’m going to ease you down so I can get the car door open,” he told her. “Keep your weight off your bad foot and lean against me, all right?”
“All right,” she said a little weakly.
He studied her for a moment. “You okay, Molly?”
“Fine. It’s just that was my first officer and a gentleman moment, ya know?”
Um, no, he didn’t know.
“It’s the first time a guy has ever carried me in his arms,” she explained. “And it was a man in uniform. Should have had that on the list.”
“List?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m sure you must have better things to do than take me to the doc—”
“I don’t,” he interrupted her, opening the passenger door then reaching for her. He settled her into the seat and pulled the seat belt over her, buckling her in. He felt a surge of satisfaction at taking care of her, even in such a small way.
He made his way around his squad car and climbed in the driver’s side.
“What if you get an emergency call?” she asked.
“I’m off-duty, I just stopped on my way home to look for a couple of kids who’ve been skateboarding along the footpaths and crashing into people.”
“Oh, right. I promise I won’t skateboard on any footpaths.”
“You won’t be skateboarding at all,” he told her.
“I don’t know, I was doing pretty well there for a moment.”
“Molly, you’ve got scrapes on your elbows and hurt your ankle again. You know you had no business on that skateboard.”