In Love and Diplomacy

Chapter Twenty-One: Simon Says

"He's a cold-hearted snake,
Look into his eyes, uh-oh
He's been telling lies,
He's a lover boy at play
He don't play by rules, uh-oh
Girl don't play the fool, no"

- Paula Abdul, "Cold Hearted"

Chapter Twenty-One

As soon as I agreed, Reed was by my side to support me. It was slow going; my knee was stiffly bandaged and my hips screamed when I walked. I'd hit the pavement hard and rolled, knocking every joint and inch of skull on the ground.

When we exited the clinic, the stranger from before eagerly popped up. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"Are you okay? Again, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to, I swear—"

"It was my fault," I interrupted, "but thank you for staying. I'm okay."

I smiled as reassuringly as I could. The stranger blew out a deep breath, his relief evident. Reed only remained silent and stony as he held me up.

"I'm Joey." He held out a hand for me to shake and stepped closer.

Feeling Reed's hand tighten on my waist, I lightly pushed the sullen bodyguard off and leaned forward to shake hands. "Nice to meet you, Joey. I'm Avery. I'm really sorry about all this. I wasn't thinking—"

"—isn't that the truth," I heard Reed mutter behind me. I threw a glare over my shoulder and shifted my weight to my good leg, ignoring the throbbing.

Wait, was I not supposed to use my real name? Crap. Not that it matters, the damage is already done. I really screwed everything up.

"—but I'm glad I was able to get to Rolo in time," I finished. "He hasn't seen many rabbits before."

Joey cracked a hesitant grin. "Rolo was cute."

"You mean when he wasn't growling at you?" I grinned back. Joey chuckled and agreed.

"You don't have to worry about whatever he said," I said, gesturing to the brooding man behind me. "There's no need to get anyone else involved. It was an accident, and everyone is okay."

A deep sound of disapproval could be heard from Reed as he stepped a little closer, brushing against my back. His breath fanned my ear.

"You call this okay?"

His hand came up to gently grasp my arm, purposefully avoiding the long scrapes and angry red skin. It didn't matter; his fingers seemed to burn into my skin anyway. With silent anger, Reed tried to bring my wounds to my attention, but I was focused on something entirely different.

I was breathless again for what felt like the hundredth time that day. I held what air I could as I felt my skin prickle from his touch, momentarily forgetting there was someone in front of me.

"I'll give you my information, just in case," Joey said, digging in his pockets and breaking me out of my open-mouthed trance.

"Hm? Oh. Okay. Sure, that's fine."

Soft chuckles bubbled up from behind me as I felt Reed's hands drop away. Heat flamed my cheeks.

Is he messing with me? Maybe he does this with every case he works. He knows what he's doing.

Joey grabbed a pen from his car before messily jotting down his name and number. As he held it out, the paper was plucked from his hand before I could lift my arm.

"Got it," Reed said shortly as he tucked it away.

I looked over my shoulder. "Can you get the car? It might be easier if you drive it over here. It's probably better than having to help me walk."