Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(17)

“Jesus, Krista, are you all right?” Sean held her for a brief second, cradling her body within his, before gently easing her to the wall so she could settle in a soft landing.

All she could think to say, as her brain started to buzz with the delicious proximity, was “Please don’t say the Lord’s name in vain around me right now. He might throw a thunderbolt.”

A confused smile blossomed on Sean’s face. “Did you not see the wall coming?”

“You’d feel pretty stupid right now if I was a clumsy girl and often used my face as a doorstop.”

“I might, yes. But it’d still be funny.”

“Probably.”

“You’re not a clumsy girl, then?” Sean was leaning close, suffocating her pleasantly with that special elixir of his. His body was so warm, and large. He was wearing a dress shirt today, which was snug around his chest and biceps. He was filled out in all the right places.

If she didn’t put some distance between them, she was liable to do something crazy, like grab his crotch. “Please step away, you are using all my air.”

Sean chuckled, putting a hand to the wall by her face and easing himself backward. “Seriously, though, all joking aside, are you okay? Your cheek bone is turning red.”

“Does it still look like the other one?”

Sean’s eyes went back and forth across her face, comparing. Only twice did they dip to her lips, probably checking for a fat lip. “It is red with scuff marks, so no. But it is still shaped like the other one, so not broken.”

“Well, then, when people ask how I got bruised, I’ll say you hit me.” A shock of terror stopped her heart. A memory flash of a large fist toward her face blotted out her vision.

It wasn’t funny yet. It probably wouldn’t ever be funny again.

She lost her humor and changed gears quickly. “Anyway, I need coffee. I had a weekend.”

~*~*~*~

Sean watched as Krista’s face shut down. Sarcastic comicality dissolved into fear, then resignation. It had been something she said…

As he replayed the scene, it dawned on him. Cold fingers clutched his gut.

“I’d never hit a woman, Krista,” he said quietly.

Her step hitched and her body bowed a little. She glanced at him, mouse-like.

“It’s not all about you, McAdams. Get a grip,” she said in a wispy voice playing at being strong. She took a deep breath, trying to claw her way back from whatever dark place that comment had taken her. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. She’d been hit. By a man. A father, maybe. Or an ex-boyfriend.

Without warning, something deep and forgotten raised its ugly head. Anger boiled, rising to the surface. Seeing her hurting, afraid…he could barely breathe for wanting to ease that pain. He wanted to meet that guy, whoever it was, and put some manners into him. Make him pay for what he’d done to her; make sure that guy didn’t ever to it to another woman again.

“Does no one in this company know how to make coffee?” she was saying, reaching for an open bag.

Sean pulled himself together, took his own deep breath. Stilled his overwhelming emotions and tucked them back inside.

“So, you had a weekend?” he asked, willing humor to cover the uncomfortable place he found himself.

“Eh! I went speed dating, of all things.” Krista put her head in her hand. “Kate’s idea.”

“And Kate is…your friend?”

Krista turned and gave him a flat stare, her eyes on fire. “Bloody good show, Captain Obvious, you’ve solved the riddle.”

The dark cloud over their moods dissolved instantly. Sean barked out laughter, unused to seeing this side of the nerdy research girl. He wondered if anyone in the company had. He bet not. He would’ve heard about it. They liked to gossip about her as much as him.

“And how’d it go?”

“Well, I met fifty wankers…” She ripped the bag open. “No, that’s not true. I met about forty-five wankers, and five decent fellows. One I quite liked. The others were door stops.”

She scooped the coffee into the machine and hit the “Start” button. She took her full cup and crossed to the creamer station. Sean took up her position, but instead of using the last dredges in the pot, something he usually would have done to move his morning along, he poured it down the sink and waited for the next batch in order to hang around longer.

“So you met five keepers, then. That’s not bad,” Sean said as he lounged against the wall.

Creamer in hand, Krista lounged as well. “Not keepers, no. Five guys that weren’t awful. One keeper. Just one. And he--”

“Oh, Sean!”

Sean and Krista both looked toward the entrance of the break room where the worst possible gossip was hurrying forward.

“Good morning, Cindy,” Sean muttered, hating the interruption.

She smiled at him and batted her eyelashes, late on noticing Krista. When she did, she looked at the other woman, then back to him, suggestion taking over her features. “Oh, am I interrupting something?”

“Well that depends. Are you planning to steal all the creamer?” Krista asked with a voice that sounded like honey poured over razor blades.

Cindy made a sound like, “Wwu..?”

Krista continued to stare at her like she’d asked a logical question.