With You

by Ann King

  “Thanks,” she whispered.

  “For what?”

  “For helping me. For saving my life,” she murmured.

  “I just did what I had to do. I had no idea that you were even in this car when I saw if off the road.”

  She looked down. Her lips tightened. Her large brown eyes surveyed my upper body. “Oh, my God! Aren’t you cold? Get inside.” Her overwhelming concern for me toasted me, caught me off guard. There she was messed up, hurt and yet she was concerned for me. There was a brittle tension there between us. I could feel it in my gut. An unspoken tension, yet her warm inner kindness surfaced on this cold day.

  “It’s thermal. It holds in heat,” I referred to my tight fitting hoodie. “It only looks as if it’s thin. But don’t worry about me. We need to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’ll be fine, Cory.”

  The hairs on my skin prickled. It was the way she whispered my name, breathless at the end of the sentence. It was the first time she’d spoken my name since Peter’s demise. It was the first time she’d acknowledged me during the past six months.

  “Look, we need to get you some help. You obviously had a bit of carbon monoxide from the fumes.”

  “How?”

  “You should have removed the snow from your exhaust pipe before reversing. You probably didn’t realize that snow had covered it after you drove into the snow bank…I meant, when you skidded into the snow bank.”

  She rolled her eyes as if angry with herself and leaned her head back on the headrest, the cool air still blowing inside the car. It was getting too cold for her now, my eyes reflected to her chest unconsciously. Her nipples peaked like hard pebbles through her top.

  Shit!

  Stop looking, Cory.

  I shifted my eyes around the car interior. “It’s okay. Most motorists make that same mistake. They forget to check their exhaust pipe to make sure it’s clear so that the fumes don’t back up inside their vehicle. Where were you heading?”

  “To the city.”

  Alarmed, I shot back in an unintentional loud voice. “Today? By yourself? Are you…?”

  “Crazy?” she finished for me, lifting her head up again. “Probably. But not all of us can afford plane fare these days.”

  “That’s not what I meant, Kate.”

  She looked at me and gave me a blank stare. No, it was more hurt, raw pain. I couldn’t blame her really. The last time we’d spoke, after Peter’s death, I really brushed her off. I was pissed off about a lot of things and I probably took it out on everyone around me then. There was a dark secret I swore not to tell and it ripped my soul to shreds knowing that Kate could not know the truth. The whole truth. Because this had every bit to do with her more than she could ever know.

  God, that was so messed up. Why couldn’t things be different between us? Okay, so I wasn’t ready for her when we initially met because I knew she was a good girl and I was…well, as bad as they came. I didn’t want to scar her. I left her alone. But now I wondered if I had done the right thing. Like a thief in the night, Peter came into the picture and stabbed me in the back, taking the one girl I fell hard for. The girl I had planned to get serious with after my wild days were over. But who knew he’d ask her out first? Still, Kate wouldn’t believe me if I told her that. And she definitely would take his side if she knew the whole truth about him. She’d think I was speaking ill of the dead. Trying to change facts. But nothing could be further from the truth. Now the only thing on my mind was, who the hell was I really protecting by not saying anything about that night?

  As if she could read my mind, she lifted her eyes to mine. A blank expression dressed her face. What the hell was she thinking? Was she still pissed with me about Peter’s death? Did she blame me for what happened that night and for holding back on telling her the truth?

  God, those eyes of hers always mesmerized me. Kate was not like the other girls. She was sweet and innocent, at least until she’d starting seeing Peter.

  Resentment burned into my hot blood from what he did to her—what he led her to believe about him. Fuck Peter. Just looking at her innocent, trusting eyes caused my blood to boil. She was easily taken in.

  “Does your cell have service?” I asked, not looking at her. Not wanting any more reactions in my body from locking eyes with hers.

  “Um…Oh, crap!”

  “What is it?”

  “My cell phone charger. I left it at home. I was trying to find a store open to buy another one. I don’t have much power left.”

  “It’s okay.” No, it wasn’t okay but I didn’t want her to feel bad or to know how freaking dangerous it was for both of us right now. We would freeze to death before help got here.

  “Look. Why don’t you come into my jeep,” I said, having noticed that her gas tank was practically empty. “It’s just a few steps away. My car is more visible for emergency crews.”

  She looked hesitant at first. She bit down on her full red lower lip. Christ, my cock jumped. Her luscious lips always turned me on. I loved women with full, pouty lips. She had on this rouge glossy lipstick on those lips and my senses drove wild. I wondered what they would taste like on my…

  I fought within myself. I had to keep my feelings under control. Yeah, tell that to my body. This was not the time, nor the place. We had to get back to safety, like now.

  The blizzard became more forceful. The heavy winds and blowing snow surrounded us. We had low visibility around us. The gusts of wind must have been hitting forty miles an hour or something. It was just so crazy.

  Just then I heard the sound of the large tree by her car breaking.

  Shit!

  The tree was coming down and going to strike us. I looked at the phone line above near the branches. Was this how we would meet our fate? The tree began to lean and fall. The heaviness alone would crush us along with the car.

  “Kate!” I shouted. I reached over and grabbed her, pulling her from the car. She was pulling back from me until she looked up at the falling tree. Her eyes widened in shock and she squeezed me and let out a hellish scream.

  “It’s okay! Just move!”

  The crash was loud and the ground around us shook. It looked as if everything was over for us.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Kate Samuels

  Oh, God! I thought we were dead. We were both thrown backwards by the force of the impact. Lying on our backs, slightly buried in the snow, the tall tree narrowly missed our limbs. I looked over to see Cory. Horror gripped me.

  Was Cory dead?

  “Cory?” I called out, a puff of visible air departed my lips into the frosty atmosphere. The brittle cold prickled my skin. I shivered uncontrollably. I couldn’t help myself.

  God, how had Cory managed to stand so still moments ago in this frigid temperature wearing his thin, thermal…whatever he called it, hoodie?

  Cory lay on his back deep in the snow, his eyes closed.

  Jesus!

  That all familiar look drove a wild shiver down my spine which had nothing to do with the coldness of the air.

  He looked just like Peter did when he lay in his coffin.

  No. Stop that, Kate!

  Terror closed the airway in my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, drew in a deep breath and exhaled before opening them again. Though my heart pounded hard and fierce, smashing against my ribcage I fought hard to control myself. My closed lips imprisoned a sob that may otherwise have left my lips.

  No. Cory was not dead. He could not be.

  No. Please God. No.

  I reached over his firm, hard muscled chest which was outlined nicely under his thin thermal top. God, he looked so fit. Cory was beautiful for a guy. Just breathtaking to look at.

  The stabbing pain in my heart would not go away. God, he looked just like Peter.

  Cory was hot, even on an icy day like today. He had the sexiest dark eyes I’d ever seen on a guy with the longest, thick black lashes ever. His deep rich voice always caused a reaction in my body.
A very pleasant reaction. When he’d called out to me after the accident, I thought I was dreaming.

  “Cory?” I called out again, my voice weak against the gusty snow blowing. My hair blew into my face and I tucked the loose tendrils behind my burning earlobe. I knew I could get frostbitten but I didn’t think it would happen so soon. I could barely feel my ears, or my fingers. I shook his body.

  My eyes travelled from his face to his dark, cropped hair. I then traced the outline of his beautiful high cheek bones, his perfectly defined lips and the sexy stubble on his chin. Cory was gorgeous. He was also known to be emotionally unavailable. I had liked him first, before I met his friend Peter. But Cory never paid me the time of day and Peter had asked me out.

  The wind blew the scent of his cologne, my nose captured his aroma. He smelled of Old Spice. Real sexy and hot. That scent always drove me crazy.

  The snow was blowing so hard into my face, I missed seeing him open his eyes.

  “Oh, Cory! I’m glad you’re okay,” I called out, trying to make my voice rise above the noisy wind.

  Cory held the back of his head with one hand and propped himself up quickly.

  “You okay?” he asked me.

  “Yeah. Are you?”

  “Let’s get out of here. Now.” He sprung to his feet as if nothing had happened to him.

  I silently thanked the universe for sparing me this horrible tragedy again of losing someone close to me. Well, sort of close to me. Cory was somebody I knew, not someone who was my soul mate or anything. Heck, he saved my life but if it weren’t for that, I’d still be peeved with him. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to block out the negative self-talk going on in my mind. I was still torn and tormented over Peter’s death. Nothing was going to let that pain subside. At least not yet.

  He held my arm. “Come on, let’s go over to my jeep.” “My things!” I shouted getting ready to turn around to my car.

  “Oh, no.” He took hold of my arm once more. “No way we’re going near your car again. It’s too dangerous.”

  “But Cory. I need my things.”

  Anger flashed across his handsome face. Was he annoyed with me? Was he sorry he came out to rescue me out here? Was he hurt?

  He heaved a sigh. His delicious lips pressed into a thin line. “Kate, forget it!”

  “But…” I gaped over to my car and saw that the tree had smashed in the trunk of the car also. It was no use. Even if we got close enough, we’d never be able to pry it open. And that tree must weigh a thousand tons or something.

  I breathed out and saw my puff of breath leave my lips, reminding me of how frigid it was out here. It was no use arguing out here. We’d freeze to death.

  “Okay,” I whispered as I turned around, defeated. My clothes, my emergency supply kit and everything else was in my trunk. Oh, God! How could I have been so foolish? I should have placed them on the seat behind me. But then again, how was I supposed to know my car would get smashed up in this storm by a fallen tree.

  I shivered as I moved alongside Cory, our boots crunching in the hard snow below our feet. Cory caught me off guard as he lifted me up and practically carried me over a small snow hill then placed me back down and continued to hold my arm leading me to where his SUV was parked on the roadside.

  Thank God he saw me when he did or else I would have been buried under that fallen tree, crushed inside my vehicle.

  The shock of it all—what could have happened to me hadn’t quite registered in my mind as yet. I was shivering uncontrollably as I huddled towards Cory’s ride, trying to survive. Cory seemed as if he was unaffected by the cold. What was with him? Didn’t he feel anything?

  I chalked it down to his muscled body keeping all that heat inside him. I thought fat was supposed to keep a person warm, but muscles were probably more sufficient. I knew I had tons of fat on my hips to keep me going for now. At least in theory, anyway.

  He led me over to the passenger side of his vehicle.

  From behind he had a compelling presence. His firm broad shoulders were accentuated by what he was wearing and his firm butt and narrow hips caused a tingle between my thighs.

  Shame on me for having those thoughts about him at a time like this.

  But who could help it? He was deliciously handsome and was blessed with amazing proportions of everything. The gene pool had been good to him.

  Cory saved my life.

  I could not come to grips with it, yet. It all happened so fast.

  Cory came to my rescue.

  It all seemed like a crazy twist of fate, didn’t it? I’m with a guy I had despised, yet secretly a part of me wanted us to reconcile. I was so hot for Cory when we had first met in grade nine. He was such a charmer, the first guy or student that actually spoke to me. I wasn’t exactly outgoing then. I hadn’t felt like I fitted in, what with my braces which were now removed, my glasses, now replaced by contacts and my frumpy dress style back then.

  Girls would snicker at me in the hallway outside their lockers but I would ignore them. It wasn’t like I could have afforded better back then. But then Cory, the popular captain of the football team came up to me one day and introduced himself at the locker.

  He had seen one of the girl’s pulling faces at me behind my back. What I liked about him back then was that he never really cared much for popularity even though he was well liked. He wasn’t afraid to support the underdog. I thought that was pretty cool. Some of the other kids thought he was pulling some sort of stunt or play to get inside my panties, but it wasn’t like that at all.

  Even though he didn’t ask me out or anything, I had met up with him during afterschool practice and he was with Peter then. Peter totally took a liking to me and asked me out the next day.

  I was hesitant to go out with him at first but then I realized that it was genuine. It wasn’t anything Cory had lied about, like saying I was easy or something. We’d hit it off and started seeing each other a lot and of course, Cory had distanced himself from me even more.

  I could not understand why Cory brushed me off whenever I saw him after that. It wasn’t as if he wanted me for himself. Who cared if his good friend or team mate wanted to date me? I guessed he did. It probably bothered him more than I had realized. The question was, why hadn’t he done anything about it?

  I’d overheard Cory telling Peter to drop me, like yesterday. It totally ruptured my trust in him then. Things were never the same between us.

  I guess it was true, you’d better be good to people no matter what. You never know whose help you’ll need later on. Life could turn some quick tricks if you’re not careful. You just never knew.

  Would Cory stop his car, even if he knew it was me?

  Of course he would, I told myself. It wasn’t as if we were enemies and I’m sure Cory was noble and would do the right thing. I knew I would. Anyone could be vulnerable at any time and Karma’s such a bitch to those who diss the helpless.

  “Thanks,” I murmured as he helped me into the passenger seat. The jeep was spacious. I had noticed the distinguished wreath and crest emblem bold on the front grille of the vehicle.

  Cory drove a Cadillac Escalade?

  The next question burning inside me was how on earth could he afford one?

  I’d heard that he’d done well for himself with his own business but I hadn’t realized how successful he was. It wasn’t as if he’d ever flaunted it.

  “Nice,” I commented.

  “It gets me around,” he murmured, nonchalantly.

  God this tension between us was killing me. Cory was closing up on me again. He wasn’t saying much which was saying a lot.

  Cory turned on the ignition and put the heat up on high. “We need to defrost.”

  “Yeah, I know.” I looked around the interior, I was gobsmacked. Impressed. What a change from my old banged up ride. I leaned my head back into the soft leather head rest and my head sunk into the luxurious fabric. Was this what it felt like to have money?

  “You’re doing pretty
good for yourself, Cory.”

  “Why? Because of my ride?” He cocked a brow. Okay he was amused now. At least he wasn’t pissed off with me.

  “Yeah, Cory,” I teased him, rolling my eyes. “Because of your ride.”

  He gave me a look of amusement. His deep, rich brown eyes lit up again.

  “Don’t do anything stupid like that again,” he muttered.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Coming out here alone on a day like today. What were you thinking?” His voice was deep and silky but I could tell he was restraining his anger. Was it because he had to rescue me? Or because he actually gave a damn about me?

  “What were you doing out here?” I shot back.

  “I was about to fill up on gas before the storm hit. Didn’t want the gas lines to freeze up.”

  “Right. Good thinking,” I said, glancing at his fuel level. “You’re almost on empty.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.”

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured. “You probably would have reached the gas station by now if you…”

  “Don’t say it, Kate. Don’t worry about it, okay?” He seemed offended now. I could feel it. I hard lump stuck in my throat making it hard for me to swallow.

  “You warmed up? I see you stopped shivering.”

  Embarrassed, I murmured, “Thanks for noticing. Yeah, I’m okay.”

  “Good.” Cory glanced at the screen of his cell phone and swore under his breath. “Still no service.”

  How long would we be stranded here? Would we die here alone in the blizzard? There wasn’t anyone around for miles probably and power seemed to be knocked out in the entire area. The overcast grey sky didn’t help.

  Mixed emotions surged within me. Part of me was scared shitless about being stuck here in the blizzard, yet another part was relieved that I’d be with strong, take-charge-Cory. Heat rushed through my body at the thought of us being here, alone. Just us against the elements.

  Butterflies began to explode inside my belly which caught me by surprise. Why was I reacting to Cory this way? Was it because he saved my life? And, oh yeah, he may be a jerk at times but he was one sexy, hot dude. There were no two ways about it. I had to shift my focus on something else. Anything. Yeah, he was swoon-worthy, especially now.