Though it was only a scrape, the wound covered almost half her palm-a nasty patch of raw skin.

Emily Blair didn't even notice the cut on her knee until she climbed into the car. A thin line of blood trickled down from her knee, slipping all the way to her ankle.

She hadn't even finished patching herself up when Tristan Davis came rushing over.

When Tristan arrived, his expression was still relatively composed. But the moment he caught sight of Emily's knee, his face clouded over. "Emily, what happened to you this time?"

He looked about ready to lose it. Why did Emily always manage to get herself into such a mess the moment his back was turned?

This was the second time already.

Emily brushed her hair back, a little sheepish. "I just tripped, okay? Don't look at me like that."

Tristan crouched down in front of her, frowning as he examined her knee. "Where did you fall to mess yourself up like this?"

Emily made up something on the spot. "It was dark outside. I didn't see where I was going and took a tumble. It's nothing, really-just some surface scratches. They'll heal in no time."

There was no way she was going to tell Tristan the truth.

If she actually admitted she'd gotten hurt trying to save someone from an oncoming car, Tristan would probably lose his mind-and then ship both of them off to some remote corner of the world.

Tristan glared at her, clearly unconvinced. “You're a grown woman—can you please watch where you're going? Did you check for any other injuries? Anywhere else hurt?"

Emily shook her head. "Nope. I checked. It's just my knee."

Only then did Tristan let out a sigh of relief. He reached out and flicked her

forehead. “If this ever happens again, I'm coming with you every time you go out at night."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that's necessary. Aren't you leaving town again soon, Mr. Busy?"

Tristan looked genuinely surprised. "How'd you know?"

She gave him a knowing look. "You keep checking your phone and texting nonstop. It's obvious you've got work piling up again."

He stared at her, and suddenly, a smile tugged at his lips like he couldn't help it.

“Emily Blair, you sure pay a lot of attention to me."

She kept a straight face. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm just worried that the guy who promised to work for me all month is about to bail."

Tristan clicked his tongue. “Emily Blair, would it kill you to be nice to me for once?"

Emily asked, "Remind me who's the patient here?"

Tristan couldn't hold back his laughter. "Fine, fine. You're the patient, you win, okay? Happy now?"

Knock, knock, knock-

A knock sounded at the door. Both Emily and Tristan turned toward the sound.

The nurse who'd dressed Emily's wound earlier stepped in, carrying a metal tray and trying not to laugh. "You two are adorable, you know that? I've been standing here ages and you didn't even notice.”

Tristan grinned smugly and threw his arm around Emily's shoulders. "Well, that's us."

Emily arched a brow and promptly smacked his arm away.

Tristan clutched his arm in mock pain, hissing, "Emily Blair, you're so heartless."

She shot him a look. "What are you going to do about it?"

The nurse chuckled. "Alright, once I finish bandaging you up, you're free to go home."

Tristan offered a polite, "Thank you, Nurse Emily."

As the nurse moved over to tend to Emily, she whispered, "Your boyfriend is really handsome."

Tristan nearly preened at the comment, his eyebrows practically launching off his forehead.

Emily just smiled faintly and said nothing. Then she casually brought her foot down on Tristan's shoe.

He yelped in pain.

A couple days later, Emily gave Lucas Cox his two days' grace. On the third day,

she brought Elizabeth Wilson and Samuel Walker with her to visit Lucas's branch office.