Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 9

Jo sighed before she realized what she was doing, causing Ryker to chuckle.

"It's okay, I can carry you."

A laugh escaped her. "Oh? I think not." She waved her hands at him, motioning for him to step back. "I'll crawl."

"Really?" He huffed and then rolled his eyes. "You know, it's not a bad thing to accept help sometimes."

"I have no problems accepting help," Jo said. She shifted and looked at the hill again, judging the distance. She wasn't being stubborn, she was just being, er, independent. And there was no way she was just going to let him haul her up there like he was some knight in a shining armor. "I'm not a damsel in distress."

She thought she had muttered it under her breath, but apparently he has excellent hearing. "No one called you a damsel. I certainly won't. But I am going to call you something if you try to drag yourself up that hill, and I don't think you'll like it."

Jo cut her eyes at him, and he met her gaze without hesitation. Heat surged beneath her skin, surely casting a pink glow on her light brown cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the hill one last time and then swallowed her pride.

"Fine."

"Fine...?"

"Fine, I'll let you carry me."

"But you won't like it," Ryker said drily. When she glowered at him, he shrugged. "I felt like you wanted to add that."

Jo lifted her chin, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging he was right, even though he could probably clearly see he was. He stepped closer to her and more carefully than she was expecting, he picked her up in his arms, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. She quickly looped her arms around his neck, expecting to feel an embarrassed heat rush through her.

Instead, she was...content? No, that wasn't it. But she didn't feel as awkward as she thought she would, and instead a curl of security ran around her. She felt--protected. Like Ryker wouldn't let anything happen to her, no matter what.

Which was an absolutely ludicrous feeling to have. She shoved it down but couldn't quite manage to feel entirely upset that he was holding her. Well. That was probably because he was unfairly attractive.

She glanced up as he started walking up the hill like it was nothing. Okay, mountain man... Jo held on tight. Even though she felt weirdly comfortable in his arms, she still couldn't believe she was having to be carried up a hill by him, of all people. And that she had twisted her ankle just when he had been coming up the path--

"Were you following me?"

Ryker looked up the hill, not slowing down for a second. "Not everything's about you."

Jo felt her face get warm. "It's just odd, you know, that you just happened to be nearby while I was out walking."

Rkyer shrugged, a movement that pushed her a little closer to his chest. She would never admit it out loud, but she couldn't really say she minded. It was such a....hard chest. Jo blinked when he spoke, trying to bring her focus back to the conversation.

"Maybe. I'm on the trails a lot though."

"Hiking," Jo pointed out, trying to control the urge to smirk at him. She thought she was making a very good point.

"Which I seem to be a little more successful at than you," Ryker said, not hiding his grin at all. Jo sucked in a breath at his smile, then immediately frowned. Stupid ankle. But it was hard to stay mad, seeing that outright smile on his face. She wasn't sure she'd seen him smile like that before. Not that she'd known Ryker long, but he just didn't seem like a very smiley person. Probably a good thing, because it made him a little too attractive for anyone's good.

"You're impossible," Jo muttered without much conviction, looking away.

He made a sound suspiciously like a snort of laughter, but when Jo whipped her head back to look at him, his face was perfectly straight, tranquil even. "I think you might be talking about yourself," Ryker quipped back.

Jo growled and shoved at his chest. He looked down at her, and Jo was surprised to see the stormy cast to his hazel eyes--maybe caused by the way his pupils had dilated? Why did his eyes fascinate her so much? Damn, she really needed them to get back to her house so she could get out of his arms and think clearly again. "Ass," she said.

A corner of his lip lifted in amusement. She clearly had failed at insulting him. "What will your parents think," Ryker said, changing topics. "You get to a new town and in the first few weeks you're already getting yourself into trouble."

"Twisting an ankle isn't trouble," Jo said, rolling her eyes. "I've broken my arm, sprained the other ankle, broke one of my toes..." she trailed off at the alarmed look on Ryker's face.

"What?" she demanded. "It's a perfectly normal amount of injuries."

He shook his head and groaned. "You're a trouble magnet, aren't you?"

"Well excuse me, it's not like I'm asking you to rescue me every time I trip," Jo said. Whether or not he was right, the few injuries she'd listed certainly hadn't warranted that assessment! If she could cross her arms she would have. If she could walk on her own, she also certainly would have. "In fact, if you want to put me down..."

Ryker's arms tightened around her, and this time it was his turn to growl. Only...goodness, she could practically feel the vibrations of it in his chest. It was deep and primitive, and it immediately had her thinking things that caused a blush to flare across her cheeks. Oh my. She definitely needed to get home. And take a nice cold shower--those were supposed to work, right?

"We're almost at your place," Ryker said tightly. "I'll put you down in the car, how's that?"

"In the car?" she echoed, frowning. "You can just put me down on the porch." She hadn't even realized that they had already made it all of the way up the hill. His strides must've eaten the path a lot faster than hers did. Of course, she didn't have giraffe legs like he did. Honestly, did he have to be so tall? Not that there was anything wrong with being tall in general.

"Are you always this stubborn?"

"I could ask the exact same thing about you," she shot back.

Ryker scowled. "You need someone to check out your ankle."

"I just need to put ice on it."

"Do you have a medical degree?"

"Do you?"

Ryker stopped in the middle of the trail and looked at the trees overhead like he was asking for patience. "Will you please just do this."

Huh, so he actually knew the word 'please.' Jo considered saying no. She was fairly certain that her ankle really would heal on its own, and she didn't really want to dip into her funds to pay for a doctor to tell her that exact same thing. Seemed like a waste of money. But he had said please, and it was stinging rather fiercely.

"Fine," Jo said, "But for the record, I think it's silly."

"Noted," Ryker said. He continued walking, moving at an even faster pace this time, as if he was afraid to give her any time to change her mind.