Free Relatively Risky by Pauline Baird Jones Page A

“Sibling shock, big brother.” Her grin was wicked, then turned wry. “I’m all too familiar with the condition.”
    His jaw clenched. A couple of deep breaths that expanded his chest quite nicely—Nell thoroughly enjoyed the sight from her vantage point—and then he gritted out. “Thank you, Laura. I’ll return the favor. Soon.” On this clear threat, he turned to Nell. “Can you stand? Walk?”
    Nell blinked, wondering why he’d think she couldn’t. She wasn’t on a stretcher. And she’d been certified fine by a professional, well, mostly fine. She stood, instead of answering, then dipped her chin to hide the wince as stiffened muscles protested. Okay, walking was more challenging than she’d anticipated. Might involve some zombie-type limping. Alex’s hand lightly gripped her arm above the scuffed elbow. The warm grip eased the muscle gripe a little. Might be a good time to do the helpless female routine. Pity she didn’t know how. She’d made her best pitch for the kiss, so the ball was in his court. It was just that guys didn’t always seem to recognize when the ball was in their court. One might conclude their balls—ouch. Had not meant her thoughts to go that direction.
    Didn’t want to look or sound desperate, so she proffered a friendly smile. This had the added benefit of requiring her to look at him. It was rather nice looking up into those blue eyes, being in the range of his musky scent. Could make a girl dizzy and not cuz she’d got her bell rung yet again.
    Alex’s mouth opened. Closed. There was a pause. His hand dropped away, leaving her elbow both sad and chilled. “We need to talk.”
    â€œWe could go inside,” she offered. It was cooler and there might be bread or something left over from their last gig. Her stomach—now that it was back in place after dropping to her feet and then jumping up into her throat—had joined the grumble parade with the rest of her muscles.
    He didn’t touch her again—a change from when they’d headed to his truck on their way to not get pie. Then his hand had rested against the small of her back. It had stayed there even when she turned, it had given her the courage to ask the Question. Maybe he was relieved that he didn’t have to answer? Guys were deep into avoidance. The most interesting ones had sure managed to avoid her for a great portion of her life. Her knowledge of them was mostly culled from books, movies, TV, and girl chats with her friends. Some field observation. Amazing what couples got up to in a library.
    It was a sad fact that she and Alex would never have met if she hadn’t ridden her bike into his car jacking. He’d had to notice her. It had felt like he’d considered the Question before she asked it, but it was also possible her imagination had run away with her. It had been running a lot today.
    The running of her imagination led her thoughts to the hot Russian. There’d been, like a second, she’d thought he’d been flirting with her. Yeah, the imagination had been on a roll today. Her practical side, the librarian, agreed that the imagination had been out of control, though that librarian also wanted the kiss. The artist, well, duh, she wanted the kiss, too. She was the one who’d asked the Question.
    Her thoughts got her to the front door, helped her sort of ignore the feeling of being heavily watched by the mass of police and sundry others who had collected to observe, assess, report, and block traffic. She got the door unlocked, and Alex pushed it open, angling so she could pass him. With a last look back, Nell noted that the chaos seemed to have gotten worse during the short walk. Saw a TV news crew in the mix now.
    â€œSlow news day,” Alex said, nodding for her to go inside.
    â€œSlow would be nice.” Nell clumped across the wood floor, her ungainly factor increasing