Christmas Construction

Chapter 4: In Love

Audrey

His eyes were gray. That was the first thing Audrey could think of after finding herself in a stranger's arms instead of sprawled on the floor. A split second later, her ankle throbbed painfully. "Ouch," she whimpered before she could help herself.

The man's eyes widened, and he quickly guided her to a wooden bench a few feet away. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" he asked, crouching in front of her. His voice was pleasantly deep and sonorous. She shivered involuntarily.

Seeing his concern increase, Audrey finally snapped out of it. "No you didn't. It's just my ankle. I think I twisted it when I fell." Stupid heel.

The man frowned and looked down. "Oh. Looks like your shoe broke."

"Hence the falling," Audrey said dryly. Now that she was sitting down, she felt the embarrassment set in. "It'll be fine. Thank you for helping me, Mr..." she trailed off, realizing she didn't even know his name.

"Just call me Brian."

"Brian. Right. Well, thank you. Brian. I appreciate your assistance. I'll head out and let you get back to whatever it was you were doing," Audrey said, starting to get up. An effort that was completely wasted as soon as she tried to put weight on her ankle. "Ooooh," she moaned painfully as she collapsed back on the bench.

Brian steadied her, his hands warm and rough on her forearms. "I think you need to get that ankle checked out," he said.

"No, I'll be fine," Audrey responded in a knee-jerk reaction. She was sure it would feel better with some ice. Plus, she didn't want to deal with the hassle of going to the doctor.

He looked doubtful. "May I look?"

"No need," Audrey said, hurriedly shaking her head.

Brian raised his eyebrows. "It looks like you can't walk without assistance. So either you let me take a look, or someone else needs to. I wouldn't feel right leaving you in this state."

Audrey bit her lip, realizing she was being stubborn for no good reason. All she was doing was making herself look foolish. "Alright. If you insist," she finally said.

Feeling her face grow hot with mortification, she watched Brian shift to a half kneeling position and lift her foot onto his thigh. She looked away to avoid making eye contact.

Brian gingerly felt along her foot and ankle, carefully bending it this way and that. "How is the pain?" He asked as he applied gentle pressure.

"It hurts, but it's not terrible," Audrey replied, wincing a little.

"Well, I don't think it's broken," Brian finally said, finishing his evaluation. "Just a light sprain." However, he kept her foot on his thigh, not releasing it. She tried not to think about the heat radiating through his work pants warming her skin. And whether he would be able to see her underwear from this angle. Not that he even tried to look. At least if she had to fall and humiliate herself in front of someone, she was lucky enough for him to be a gentleman instead of a creep.

"Miss?"

"Oh!" Audrey shook her head to clear it. "I apologize. My mind was elsewhere. What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted me to wrap your ankle. I have some bandages in the back."

Audrey gently tested her ankle by moving her foot. Even though it wasn't broken, there was no way she was getting to her car without some extra support. "As long as I'm not putting you out, that would be great. Thank you, Brian."

"Not a problem, miss," Brian said as he dragged a box over to rest her foot on. She felt the chill as soon as it was no longer resting on his leg.

"It's Audrey!" she blurted out as he stood up. "Audrey Peters."

"Nice to meet you, Audrey Peters," Brian said, the corner of his mouth lifting. She found herself pondering the change in his face, wondering what a full smile might look like. He walked a few yards away and pulled a semi-transparent tarp aside with a crinkling sound, revealing a random desk in the corner. While he was busy, she toed off her still intact heel and nudged it under the bench.

"So, are you on the construction crew?" Audrey asked, half to make small talk and half because she was actually curious. The first floor was otherwise deserted since it was after working hours.

"Yeah, something like that," Brian said, sliding a drawer open and pulling out a bandage roll. "Here we are," he continued, returning to her perch on the bench. "This might hurt at first," he warned, lifting her leg by the calf and settling it back on his thigh. "The compression will help, but it doesn't always feel good going on."

"Okay, I'll brace myself," Audrey joked, smiling too widely. Stop it, you silly woman, she scolded herself silently, not understanding why she was being so awkward. Her lame joke became reality only seconds later when he started wrapping her ankle. He was right, it hurt like a b***h.

"All done," Brian said, attaching the end of the bandage securely. Audrey flinched, holding back a giggle as his finger slid over the arch of her foot, tickling her a little. "Do you want to see if you can put weight on it?"

"Sure," she said. He gently set her foot back on the ground, then stood up and extended his hand. She grasped it, feeling the callouses on his palms, and stood up, trying to rely on him for balance as little as possible. "It actually feels decent," she said, carefully shifting her weight. "Thank you so much, Brian. You're really good at doctoring your patients."

"Eh, comes with the territory," Brian said with a shrug.

Was it the dim lighting, or were the tips of his ears turning red? She decided not to dwell on it and get out of there before things became even more awkward. "Well, thank you again—"

"Ms. Peters!" boomed a voice behind Audrey, making her jump right out of her skin. She clutched Brian's hand tightly as she wobbled on her injured ankle.

"Mr. Grant," Audrey said stiffly, turning around. She hated that Jason was seeing her in this state, with her shoes off and an ankle wrapped. She didn't want to be vulnerable in front of the scumbag who was driving the company into the ground, and claiming that he could have her any time he wanted to the board. "I thought you would still be at the party."

Jason clapped his hands together. "How could I when you're not there to celebrate with!? I was about to make the Christmas bonus announcement, but had to wait since I had no idea where you scuttled off to!"

"Well, here I am," Audrey said, trying to regain her composure. "I just had an issue with my footwear that I had to attend to."

Finally seeming to notice that they had company, Jason looked down, then looked over at Brian, his eyes sliding down to where Audrey's hand was still clasped in his. She thought about letting go, but for some reason she only gripped it harder. "Oh know, you've hurt yourself! It's not too bad, I hope?"

"Just a light sprain," Brian said before Audrey could answer. By now her head was spinning, caught between an intense desire to throttle Jason and an increasing need to run away from the situation altogether.

"And here you are, with the lobby's construction foreman," Jason said, rubbing his meaty hands together, relishing the chance to make her uncomfortable, as always. Ugh. "Having a little blue collar rendezvous, are we?"

Audrey bristled at his crass words, and something inside her snapped. Before she knew what she was doing, she yanked Brian closer and put her arm around his waist. "Actually, Brian is my boyfriend," she informed Jason, lying shamelessly. She looked up at Brian, whose expression was frozen in shock and confusion. "And we're very much in love."