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“Oh.” Holly extended her hands. The blanket slipped off her shoulders and fell to her waist, leaving her upper half clad in nothing but her bra.
His glance brushed her skin with almost palpable heat as his big, warm hands closed around her. Thankfully, he didn’t ogle her before bending his head.
Ice’s shaggy hair fell forward to hide his expression as he carefully examined her hands, which looked sunburned. His touch was gentle, in contrast to his rough tone and scowls.
“Got any numb patches?” he demanded.
He swept his broad thumb across her palms, down each finger, and over the backs of her hands. The sensation triggered a deep shiver that raced down her spine and settled in the pit of her belly, where it sparked an unexpected throb of arousal.
She shook her head and tried to ignore her body’s embarrassing reaction. The awful pins-and-needles sensation torturing her was slowly weakening.
“You got lucky,” he announced, releasing his hold on her. “Frost-nipped but not bitten.”
His smoldering gaze returned to her breasts. She grabbed for the blanket and pulled it back up over her shoulders. He grimaced and looked away.
“You’ll be fine. Now, show me your leg,” he ordered.
Holly shrank back. “It’s fine,” she lied. “Just bruised.”
“Uh-huh.” He didn’t try to hide his skepticism. “Did you try putting any weight on it?”
She sighed and confessed, “Yeah. It didn’t go so well.”
“Thought so,” he said, an edge of smugness bleeding into his brisk tone. “You were damned lucky you wore those boots. Things could’ve been a lot worse.”
She shuddered at the reminder. “I know.”
“Your leg,” he repeated. When she still hesitated, he added, “C’mon. I don’t have all day.”
She stared at him, incredulous. “Are you a doctor?”
His heavy brows shot up. “Nope. I’m a line cook at a restaurant. But I’ve had plenty of first aid training. My boss convinced me to join the volunteer fire department last summer.” He didn’t sound happy about it. “Now, I’m gonna check that leg. Don’t make me take the blanket from you.”
His low, growly voice sent more of those oddly pleasant shivers through her.
“Jeez, you’re bossy,” she complained, but obediently lifted the blanket to expose her injured leg.
He pushed her laptop aside and sat on the coffee table, then lifted her leg into his lap. Then he lightly pinched each of her toes in turn, asking her, “Feel that?”
She realized he was testing for frostbite nerve damage. “Yes.”
Then he cradled her heel in his palm. “Push against my hand,” he ordered.
She obeyed, and couldn’t stop a whimper of pain from escaping.
He grunted. “Thought so.”
Then he carefully lowered her foot to rest on his hard, jeans-clad thigh. His fingers skimmed lightly over the taut, swollen ring of bruised flesh around her calf. “Yeah, it’s definitely fractured.”
Holly let her head drop to the back of the sofa. “Great,” she said to a water stain on the ceiling. “That’s the last thing I need right now.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t lose your foot,” Ice pointed out gruffly. “Or end up with a compound fracture. Those are pretty nasty.”
She couldn’t argue with that.
“Lucky for you,” he continued, “I got a couple of those removable leg casts around here somewhere. We get a lot of injured hikers out here, so my boss made them part of the fire department’s standard first aid kit. Lemme see if there’s a size small.”
He rose and began rummaging in the large plastic storage tubs stacked against the wall behind the sofa. He returned with a dark gray plastic-and-Velcro contraption she recognized as an orthopedic walking boot.
