The White Cowboy - Complete BWWM Romance Box Set by Susan Westwood Page B

off.
    She cringed. "Ouch."
    He looked up at her. He'd put his hat on the table so she could see his whole face. That line of concern down the middle of his forehead deepened.
    "Sorry, but if you've really injured yourself, we have to get the boot off before your foot swells up."
    She took a deep breath. "Okay. I guess just do it all at once."
    He shook his head. "That may cause more damage."
    She sighed, then lay back on the couch. "Go ahead."
    He shimmed the boot off as she clenched her fists. Next came her sock. He let out a low whistle.
    She sat up. "That bad?"
    "It's red and hot already. Let me get some ice."
    "I could just stick it in the snow," she said, trying to lighten the mood.
    "Then you'd get frostbite."
    "Oh, right."
    ***
    Brandon poured some snow into a plastic bag. He didn't have much use for ice in the winter, so he'd turned off the icemaker in his refrigerator.
    "What's going on?" Clint yelled from the barn.
    "I think Gemma sprained her ankle. Can you finish the milking?"
    "No, problem."
    Brandon wrapped a dishtowel around the snow-packed bag and brought it back to Gemma. She sat, frowning, her foot on his coffee table.
    With as much gentleness as he could muster, he put the bag on her ankle. "We should probably take you to the urgent care."
    "No emergency room?"
    He shook his head, sitting on the coffee table. "Closest hospital is in the same town at that Ford dealer."
    "Oh. Yes, maybe we should."
    "I'm going to put your sock back on before we leave. Otherwise your toes will freeze out there. But first let me get the truck warmed up."
    Happy to leave her presence, Brandon went outside, then started the truck and pulled it right to his front door. She looked like a wounded doe and he didn't have any room in his heart for a wounded animal.
    He'd always had a soft spot for them, and that's how Jessica had taught his attention. But she hadn't been wounded. She'd been playing him.
    He was sure that Gemma wasn't like that, but he had to steel his heart against any invasion, on purpose or not.
    "What about the goats? Shouldn't you feed them first?" she asked when he poked his head in to check on her.
    She was right. How had he forgotten them? He could give Clint some instructions. "Let me give them some hay and then I'll be back. Don't move."
    With the goats fed, he returned to Gemma, who had her sock in her hand and a grimace on her face. "You tried to put your sock on?"
    "Yes, but it hurt too much."
    He put the bag of snow on the table, then eased her sock over her now swollen ankle. The sock, thankfully, was not too tight. "I'm going to get a bandage and wrap this bag so it stays in place."
    "Okay."
    He completed that task, then carried her to the waiting truck.
    ***
    The cab was thankfully warm when he put Gemma on the passenger's seat. When he slid into the other side, Brandon said, "I'll try to make this ride as smooth as possible, but no guarantees."
    Spraining her ankle had not been part of her plans. At least she'd have time for it to heal before she needed to drive again. Not that she couldn't. It was her left ankle that was injured, and she had an automatic car so she could still drive.
    She probably wouldn't be able to drive as far each day as she liked, but she still had time. Time to get to Hollywood.
    She shifted in her seat to look at him, wincing as she jarred her ankle. "I'm sorry, Brandon."
    He glanced her way for a moment, then put his gaze back on the road. His jaw was tight. He clearly wasn't happy about the circumstances. "For what?"
    She rolled her eyes. "For being a klutz. I'm sure you have better things to do than take me to urgent care."
    He grimaced. She figured he wasn't going to say anything mean to her. She didn’t know him that well, but she knew that much. "Shit happens."
    Gemma settled into the bumpy ride as best she could.  She gritted her teeth, not wanting to be whiny. If she could have driven herself to the place, she would have.
    Brandon's hand rested on the steering wheel as