Coming Up Daffy by Sandra Sookoo Page B

he’d have the strength to tread water. “Climb up until you’re out of the current.” With a mighty shove, he pushed her toward the shallow and then scrambled behind her. His muscles protested each movement.
    The water came to his knees and Alice’s waist, but he urged her onward and scrambled behind. Once out of the angry creek, he pulled her up the mud-slick bank until they both reached higher ground. Then he sank to his knees in the soggy ground, his chest heaving, his heart racing. His mouth tasted like grime. Grit covered his tongue and teeth, but he and Alice were safe.
    As he spat out the worst of the muck, he glanced at the woman he’d risked life and limb for, his heart squeezed . I saved her. He’d gotten what he’d wished for. He’d had the opportunity to play the hero.
    Alice sucked in lungfuls of oxygen. She collapsed on the ground next to him. “I’m so sorry, Mark, but I don’t think this is going to work out.”

 
Chapter Eight
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    â€œWhat do you mean?” Mark tucked a soggy lock of hair behind her ear in order to see her face. Tears mingled with the rain and dirt, but there was no mistake. She wasn’t crying from her ordeal. The emotion racking her shoulders came from a much deeper place than a reaction from her dunk in the creek. “Alice, what’s wrong?”
    â€œI’m a complete and utter failure in romance and just plain living like a normal person.” She scrubbed a hand over a cheek, which wiped a streak of mud over her skin. “I’m better off sticking to plants. They either grow or they don’t. They don’t make me feel confused and excited and nervous at the same time.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    â€œNo matter what I do, you won’t make a move.” She threw a hand into the air. “What, do I have cooties?”
    â€œNo, I…” His stomach tightened. With the mood she was in, there was no way she’d understand his reticence or his lack of bedroom experience. Should I tell her about that now? “Isn’t it enough I’ve gotten this far? I’m trying to be polite and take it slow. I thought we’d both agreed on that.” He might not know a lot about how women worked, but he knew enough to recognize a break-up speech when it came around.
    â€œDon’t you see?” She raised her watery blue gaze to his. “ I’m the problem. I’m the relationship killer. I’m the one who can’t do anything right, who has to be drama and conflict all the time. I’m the one who can’t go the distance with a guy without wanting to go too fast.”
    What did she mean by that? Was it another one of her daffy tangents? Not knowing what else to do, he stood and pulled her up with him. “You’re not a problem.” He didn’t understand how to stop her pain or even fix what she thought was wrong because he would if he did.
    â€œOh no? Twice in your company I’ve fallen into a body of water. I’ve been chewed on by a llama. I’ve smeared myself with ketchup and had bird poop in my hair.” She pulled away, her chin trembling. “What kind of woman has all that happen to her?”
    â€œMaybe the kind who has a natural affinity for doing stuff like that. It’s not all bad.” He reached for her hand but she backed away. “It’s kind of endearing.”
    â€œPlease. If you had the choice, you’d hang out with a woman who could actually carry on a conversation in the same topic and at least stay clean and dry.”
    Mark sighed. Why was talking to women — this woman — so hard? “Don’t you get it? I think you’re great no matter what.” During his stint in the creek, he’d lost his hat, so he shoved a hand through his hair. He said the first thing that came to mind. “Come on. Let me take you home. You’ll feel better after a hot