Page 146 of Cowboy Daddies

“All that kicking got your foot tangled up in the seat belt. Give me a second and I’ll get you out of the car then we can see what’s what, okay?”

“Okay,” she said bravely but I saw the twinge of pain she’d been unable to disguise.

“I’m going to step back, but let’s see if we can get you a little more comfortable so that your head isn’t hanging down and putting strain on your neck.” A quick assessment showed her arms appeared uninjured. “Okay, I’m going to help you move your arms up. That will lift and straighten out your back. I’ll take it slow, but the moment you even think something’s wrong, you say ‘yellow’ and we can pause and reassess. But if something instantly hurts, you call out ‘red,’ and I’ll immediately stop. Understand?”

“And green if I’m hunky-dory, right?”

That caught me off guard, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on her choice of response. Instead, I grinned. “Well, I’d hardly call you a hunk, but yes, you’ve got it. Ready?”

“Yep, green to go.”

Between us, we soon had her arms crossed to rest on the window frame. This allowed her to lay her head on her folded arms to relieve the stress on her neck and also helped straighten her back. She’d only whimpered a bit but I could see the pain in her eyes.

“Good girl, I know that hurt, but you did great. Color?”

“Green-ish yellow. My ankle is throbbing pretty bad.”

“I know, pixie, but we’re almost there. I’m going to get into the backseat. Stay as still as possible, okay?”

“Okay.”

Turns out stuffing a six-and-a-half foot man into a car the size of a soup can took a bit of contortion. It also proved that Livvy wasn’t above giggling at my expense as I backed out for the third time to try to figure out the logistics. “What on earth had you buying a vehicle not much bigger than a Hot Wheels car?”

“It’s cute,” she declared with a shrug that had my brow arching.

Her eyes widened, her shoulders ever so slowly relaxed as if trying to be as invisible as possible, and her cheeks flushed—and I’d not said a word. Interesting. It appeared that the traffic-light system wasn’t the only thing Livvy hadn’t needed an in-depth discussion to understand.

“Cute, huh?” I grinned to let her know I wasn’t a total ogre. When she smiled again, I rubbed my hands together as if preparing to go into battle. “I can deal with cute.” Turns out only about three quarters of me could fit into the car, but it was enough to take care of the seatbelt. It would have gone a bit quicker if she didn’t giggle and twitch her foot every time my fingers slid over her bare flesh. Without conscious thought, I reached up and popped the seat of her overalls.

She instantly stilled and I immediately silently cursed myself. Understanding—even implied understanding—sure as hell didn’t extend consent. I was about to apologize but she not only beat me to it, but when she said, “Sorry, ticklish,” and not, “What the hell?” I looked over to see her looking at me. Her lips curled into a smile as I tried to figure out what the hell to say.

“I’ll be still,” she offered, letting me off the hook.

“And I’ll try not to tickle you,” I said, then added, “But if you twist your head back one more time, that little pop is going to discover it has lots and lots of friends. Got it?”

Green eyes widened and freckles stood out more against her flushed cheeks but she didn’t tell me where I could go. Instead she said, “Got it.”

“Good girl, here we go.” I made sure not to use my fingertips while slowly curling my entire palm around her foot before using my other hand to slip the belt from its multiple twists around her ankle. Once it was free, I hesitated to let it go, not only because it felt remarkable to hold even a part of her in my bare hands, but because I knew it was going to start swelling the moment it had nothing to constrict it.

“Pixie, it’s not going to be easy, but you really need to keep your leg as still as possible while I try to figure out the best way to get you out of the car.”

A soft whimper was her only response and I made up my mind. Since there was no way in hell there was room for two of us inside this matchbox, my choice was pretty clear. I backed out and moved to crouch down in front of her again as she slowly turned her head to look at me. “I’m proud of you, Livvy. We’re almost there. Can you be brave a bit longer?”

“I’ll try,” she said as a tear lost its hold on her chin to fall to the ground beneath her head.

That single tear tore at me in a way nothing ever had before. Being careful of her chin, I used the pads of my thumbs to brush the tears off her face and bent to kiss the tip of her nose. “Trust me?”

“Always,” she said softly.

It took a few more tears and a bit of audible cursing on my part as I knew that pulling her through the window wasn’t the most fun journey she’d ever taken. With a large rock blocking any chance of opening the door more than an inch or so, it was also the only choice we had. When I finally had her cradled in my arms, I was sure of two things. One, she was going to have one hell of a sprained ankle, and two, I was damn glad this red-headed pixie had finally found her way home.

By the time I’d reached my truck, I’d decided she didn’t need to lie prone in the backseat. Instead, I sat her on the front passenger seat then snagged the extra shirt I kept in the backseat.

“This is going to hurt but it’s also going to help,” I said as I began to use the shirt as a makeshift bandage around her foot and ankle. As I tied the sleeves together in a knot, I wasn’t sure whose heart was beating faster. Her knuckles were white where they’d clutched the edge of the seat, but she’d never once complained. When I looked up, she bent forward to kiss my cheek.

“Thank you for not being a bear.”

Thank you for not being a pig.