“How’d you find me?”

“I saw the back of your head when I pulled up. I lost you for a second when I got to the sidewalk and headed your way. By the time I got to you, you were hailing a cab.”

She sniffed. “I fell.”

He stopped abruptly and grabbed her shoulders. “Are you hurt?”

She nodded. “It’s not bad, though.”

“Where?”

“My hands and knees.”

He lifted her in his arms and started walking briskly toward his vehicle.

“I can walk,” she told him.

“No.”

She tucked her chin down. “People are staring at us.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” he said with a growl.

She gasped and then grinned. “Everybody heard you curse.”

“Yeah, I curse sometimes. You’ll get used to it.”

“It doesn’t bother me. We just got a few offended looks from people.”

He deposited her in the passenger seat of his vehicle and grabbed her hands. He wiped the dirt and grime from her palms with a napkin from his glove compartment.

He pulled one pant leg up the best he could since they were tight at the bottom. “Goddammit,” he barked, making her jump.

She leaned forward to see the damage and winced. “It’s still bleeding,” she informed him, although he could see that for himself.

He gently tugged her pant leg down, put on her seatbelt, and went around to the driver’s side. Then he grabbed a Kleenex from his side door and turned to her. He cupped her face and wiped the tears and dirt from her face, and then the color from her lip.

“I don’t like seeing you in makeup.”

She scowled at him. “I thought I looked pretty.”

“You do, little one. But I love your natural beauty, not the paint women put on their faces.”

She nodded and stayed silent. She was actually happy about that. She’d never been able to put on makeup the right way.

He pulled out into traffic abruptly, making a few cars behind him honk.

She watched him as she bit her lip. She worried more as the minutes passed and he didn’t say anything.

“Are you mad at me? If you are,” she continued without letting him answer, “you can take me home.”

At a stoplight, he turned his head to her and narrowed his eyes.

“There is no way I’m taking you to your place. We’ve got so much to talk about. I’m not pissed at you. I’m pissed at myself. I made so many mistakes.”

“You did? Like what?”

“Like not getting your number or talking to you directly when I called earlier. That’s just the start.”

“I don’t want you to be mad at yourself. It all worked out.”

“Not yet, it hasn’t, but I guarantee before I’m done, it will be.”

Aleena settled back. She felt calm. She knew he would take care of everything, so she didn’t have to worry about it, and she felt a peace she never had before.