Another chunk of stone fascia broke off and he rolled me out of the way, this time, on top of him. His hand cradled my ass as our legs tangled, thanks to my stupid pencil skirt.
I tried to lever myself off him and my knee landed between his legs.
“Fuck!”
“Sorry!”
“Get the hell off me!”
“You’re the one who tackled me like you were trying out for a rugby team.” I tried to get up, but this time, my elbow landed in his side.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
Deliberately, I leaned into him, making sure my knee just grazed his appendage. “You’d know it if I was.”
He rolled away and onto his knees as he sucked in air.
Getting myself up off the ground was a little trickier with my tight skirt. Then I heard my skirt rip. Just great.
He stood up and walked it off, leaving me on the grass.
“Where the hell is my shoe?”
His hands were braced on his waist as he walked toward the water. “I don’t care.”
“Dammit,” I muttered as I realized another of my heels was in two pieces. That made two pairs in two days. It had to be a new record.
Gingerly, I rolled onto my hip and awkwardly got to my feet. I glanced down to the water’s edge where he was pacing, then returned my gaze to the mansion. The entire back half of the porch was now gone, exactly where I’d been standing.
And he’d saved me.
FOUR
Fuck.
I had to believe it was her at this point. There was no reason for all of this bad luck to be following me around. And lo and behold, there she was.
Hellcat.
Crazy on every level and here I was with no porch, aching balls, and that woman back in my life. I stared up at the breathtakingly blue sky. “Why?”
Of course there was no answer. And if there had been, I’d probably have ignored it, anyway.
The silt and stones of the rocky shore sifted under my boots as I stalked back and forth. The anger burned on low even on a good day, but the minute I’d glimpsed her again, it had ratcheted up to fifty, making me reckless.
I should have taken a minute to put up supports before I’d started hitting, but the energy was like a live wire inside of me. I had no outlet, no purpose, no grounding. I’d thought taking it out on the demolition would be safe.
And I’d almost hurt her.
Those huge espresso eyes full of passion, and a fair bit of impetuousness, had been haunting me since last night. The fact that she turned up here seemed like a lot of damn coincidence. Maybe the universe was messing with me, after all.
I didn’t need her brand of crazy, no matter how soft and delicious she smelled. This time, there was no rain to dampen her attractiveness. Not that it had last night, either, which made me even more irate. First my truck, now she was in the vicinity of my house—and the damn thing had crashed around my ears.
Our ears.
Fuck.
Definitely the Universe taking a swing at me—again.
“Hey!”
I laced my fingers behind my head and stared out at the water, ignoring her.
“Don’t ignore me when I’m trying to say thank you.”
I turned to her. “Thank you?”
I couldn’t deny she kept me guessing. I never knew what she’d say next.
Nervously, she twisted her hair and draped it over one shoulder. “Yeah. I mean, it’s your fault I almost got crushed by a ton of masonry and rotted wood, but I won’t hold it against you, since you did push me out of the way.”
I bent at the waist as a laugh jerked out of me, almost without my consent. “You are something else, lady.”
“Dahlia.”
As if I could forget her name. Of course, she’d be named after one of the more intriguing flowers out there. Dark, almost prickly, and the blooms so fragrant their scent stuck in your brain. They also required a whole lot of work—and sunlight.
