by Jill Shalvis
“Let’s see. We’re driving into a storm that we should be running from because someone might or might not need you.”
“It’s not any someone. It’s my sister.”
“Come on. You’d be doing this for a perfect stranger.”
“And you are,” she pointed out. “You’re doing this for a perfect stranger.”
“I’m doing it for you.”
She looked at him and saw the truth. Much as she wanted to think of him as that laid-back kid he’d once been because it helped her keep her distance, she really couldn’t.
Because the man he’d turned into was amazing.
“More flood warnings,” the deejay announced. “Mandatory evacuations for all of Eastside. Head out toward the west, via Highway 1 or 101. The shelters are at Madison Junior High and the Huntington Library.”
“It’s the fires we had this past summer,” Lizzy said. “They destroyed the natural landscape, and now we’ve got too much rain. We’ll be lucky not to get mudslides, as well.”
They’d had mudslides ten years ago, which had washed out dozens of homes. She’d been nineteen at the time, trying to raise Cece, still grieving her parents, and terrified at the devastating destruction the slides had brought.
“Don’t you think Cece’ll head to one of the designated shelters?” Jason asked.
“Yeah.” But the truth was, Cece didn’t do what she was told. She had a little authority problem. Okay, a big authority problem. They were working on that.
“You just want to make sure.”
“Yeah.”
He slid her a look. “So who checks on you?”
“I don’t need checking on.”
“Come on. Everyone does once in a while.”
“Really?” she asked. “Even you?”
“My mom will be calling me even when I’m old and gray. So why aren’t you a doctor, Lizzy?”
“Things came up.”
“Things…like checking on your sister?”
“You’re a funny guy, Jason.”
“I try.” He took the last exit for Santa Rey. Eastside. The road took a natural dip down and the car hydroplaned. “Shit,” he muttered. “Hold on.”
Lizzy bit her lower lip and gripped the dash as he fought for control and barely found it just as the road curved. The back end of the Jeep fishtailed, then the tires lost their grip.
They went sliding directly toward a grove of trees, one of which had lost several large branches, which were blocking the road.
The brakes didn’t catch.
They spun away from the fallen branches, but Jason swore viciously as the car whipped around toward the trees themselves.
A cold shot of horror skittered down Lizzy’s spine and she heard herself gasp in terror as they flew at the two massive trees, and then—
Jerked to a sudden, neck-snapping stop, with the nose of the Jeep a mere inch from two of the biggest tree trunks she’d ever seen, both of which filled the entire windshield.
5
IN THE SHOCKED SILENCE, with the Jeep still rocking from the sudden stop, Lizzy felt Jason whip toward her, his eyes dark and fiercely protective. “Lizzy.”
“Present,” she whispered, still staring at the big, fat, thick tree trunks. “That was…adrenaline-pumping.”
“Yeah.” He put his hands on her arm and turned her to him.
Oddly enough, her gaze went—inappropriately—to his mouth. She couldn’t help it. “Another inch, and we’d have been kissing those tree trunks.”
He let out a low laugh as his hand traveled up her spine, coaxing her even closer. “We’d have been swallowing them whole.”
She didn’t resist the pressure of his hand, but willingly shifted to him, nearly melting when his fingers swept up and then down again, this time finding their way beneath all the layers she wore.
His fingers were sure and warm, a sweet shock to cover the nasty one of the near accident.
“You okay?” he murmured.
“Yes.” And getting more okay by the second. His face was so close to hers that the roughness of his jaw brushed the skin of her cheek. She closed her eyes to better absorb it, not even trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with her that this languid sensuality could take her over here, now. “Jason?”
“Uh-huh.” His lips barely grazed hers once, and then again, and she leaned helplessly into him, seeking more than just the promise of a kiss, and getting it as his tongue took itself on an erotic foray in her mouth.
He kissed different than anyone else she’d ever kissed. He kissed as if it wasn’t the way to a prize, but the prize itself, and she could have kissed him forever. His lips were slow and searching, hard and then not, causing a rising heat within her that unbelievably, given where they were and what they had yet to do, had a languid pleasure unfurling from deep within her. She became extremely aware of the fact that she was trying to crawl into his lap just as he lifted her with astonishing ease, bringing her over him, his mouth never leaving hers, delving deeper, longer, while she did her best to swallow him whole.
In the back of her mind, she knew this was simply pent-up fear and adrenaline, but she didn’t care. She wanted his tongue, she wanted his body. Hell, she wanted to throw the seat back and feel him sink into her aching flesh. She wanted it all. It was as if something had been cut loose, and even knowing she had the storm, the craziness of the day to blame for it, deep down she also knew it was something more.
It was Jason.
For a woman who prided herself on her ready and able control, had to have that ready and able to control, she was losing it big-time here, but what was turning her on more than anything else was that she wasn’t alone.
Jason, who also lived off his famed control, was fighting for self-restraint every bit as much as she, and losing the battle. His breath was coming in short, ragged pants, his hands gripping her tight as his mouth made its hungry way along her throat. Beneath her, he was hard as a rock, and she wanted him so much, wanted this more than she’d imagined she could, and for that very reason she had to stop.
“Jason.” Her voice came out a rough whisper and she had to clear her throat and try again. “Jason.”
He went still, then slowly lifted his head, his eyes dark and slumberous as if waking from a dream. The sight of the tree trunks in the windshield sobered him up pretty quick, and she crawled off him and back to her seat.
Still eyeing the tree trunks, he caught her wrist and brought her palm to his lips. “That really was uncomfortably close.”
Yeah, it was. “Thanks for being such a good driver.”
His eyes met hers, the amusement peeking through the heat. “How do you know that I wasn’t referring to the fact that we nearly—”
“Oh. Um. Yeah, that, too.”
He let out a low laugh. “You’ve got nerves of steel, Lizzy. Are you sure you’re all right?”
Let’s see. If she discounted the fact that her body was howling, howling, for him to finish her off, then maybe, maybe she was all right. “Yes. I’m sure.”
“The roads are getting tricky.”
“Can we make it?”
“I hope so.” He craned his neck right and left, looking around them. “Going to have to move those branches blocking the road first. Wait here.”
“You’ll need help.” She hopped out into the wild storm with him, the rain and wind pummeling them as her feet sank into nearly six inches of water.
“Go back,” Jason yelled.
She eyed the grove of trees lining the road on the left where the Jeep was. On the right was nothing but a rushing river of runoff, which was rising high and fast. It wouldn’t be much longer before that rushing water overtook the road entirely. Knowing it, she ran after Jason, to where he was dragging two of the branches to the side. She reached for another and tugged.
And didn’t budge it.
She reset her feet, squinted into the rain stinging her eyes and tried again.
Nothing.
She closed her
eyes and strained, putting everything into it, and suddenly the branch lifted with ease. Shocked, she opened her eyes and met Jason’s from the other side, who took the thing from her and tossed it aside as if it weighed nothing.
Then he grabbed her hand and they ran back to the Jeep. Inside, he leaned back, breathing hard. “I’m going to need more Cheez Whiz.”
“Really?” She swiped rain from her eyes. “Because that looked pretty effortless.”
He slid her a look. He had water running down his face, his eyes deep and dark as they met hers.
“I couldn’t even budge that thing,” she pointed out.
“Are you going to say thank-you again?” he asked. “Because I’d rather receive my thanks in the form of food. Or…” Without moving a muscle on his face, he somehow managed to change his expression from exhausted to wickedly naughty.
She actually laughed. “I’m not thanking you with sex.”
“Well, damn.”
She pulled out an energy bar from her bag and handed it to him. “A peace offering.”
He stuffed half the bar into his mouth, handing her the other half. “You’ve grown up, Lizzy, and toughened up. That’s going to be a good thing today.”
She looked at him, really looked, knowing he’d grown up, too. Entirely.
“Ready?” he asked quietly.
Even more disconcerting than the fact that he’d grown up and moved on? The realization that she hadn’t. Nope. She still wanted the same thing her teenage self had wanted—him. Preferably naked and on a platter.
“Lizzy?”
“Yeah. I’m ready.” For far more than she cared to admit.
JASON THRUST THE Jeep into gear and hit the gas, getting his head into the game. Or trying to. It shouldn’t have been an issue, but hearing Lizzy say his name with such easy familiarity tended to make him think of things he shouldn’t have been thinking.
But then the tires spun uselessly, bringing him back.
“Try Reverse,” she said.
He did. More of the same.
“Oh, boy.” She looked out into the storm. “You don’t by any chance have any kitty litter in the back, which we could use as traction beneath the tires?”
“Good idea, but no.” He craned his neck and looked out the window, knowing there was only one thing to do. “Come here.”
“What?”
“Scoot over here.”
“You want me to drive? Sure,” she said, game. “But I might not be able to get us out any more than you could.”
He let out a low laugh. He loved her strength, her attitude. “No, I’m going to go out and push, and you’re going to—”
“Pop the Jeep out of Neutral and into Reverse, then hit the gas and keep it moving,” she guessed. Accurately. “Bad idea, though. The Jeep might slip and hit you.”
“Yeah, if you could not do that, that’d be great.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Just get the Jeep moving, I’ll handle the rest.”
“Okay, but once I do get it going, I won’t be able to stop or we’ll get stuck again.” She met his gaze. “Run fast.”
“Will do.” He hopped out and into driving rain. Making his way through the mud to the front of the Jeep, he braced himself, then looked through the windshield and met Lizzy’s calm gaze, very glad that if he had to do this, he was with someone who could hold their own. “On three,” he said. “One. Two. Three—” He shoved, and she got it into Reverse and hit the gas, steering out of the ditch. He ran after her, slogging through the water to hop into the passenger seat. “Nice.”
“This is probably a good time to tell you, I haven’t driven a stick in ten years.”
Laughing, he swiped the water from his face. “Then extra nice.”
The water was rushing down the road with them, almost faster than the Jeep. He knew they didn’t have much longer before any car on the road wouldn’t be drivable, this vehicle included. In fact, he’d consider them damn lucky if they made it to Cece’s. “We might have to stay at the condo and ride this out.”
“Yeah.” Her attention was on the road. “If she’s not in labor that won’t be a problem.”
And if she was, and they had to evacuate quickly…“We’ll handle it,” he promised, just as he saw another huge tree, this one down across the road ahead. Lizzy saw it, too, and hit the brakes and the clutch together.
“Not so hard,” he said quickly. “Let up a little.”
Too late. The tires didn’t grab, and they went into their second slide.
“Ohmigod,” she gasped. “I’m sorry, hold on…”
“Steer into the slide, Lizzy. Steer into it—”
“I’m trying!” They spun in a full three-hundred-and-sixty circle and missed their second tree by inches.
In the ensuing silence, Lizzy blew out a breath, unhooked her seat belt and crawled over the console toward him.
His mind went absolutely blank, but his body knew what to do. It reached for her, hauling her into his arms and holding her tight. “You okay?”
“Peachy fine. Just trying to reassure you in case you’re scared.” One of her knees was dangerously close to unmanning him but when he went to shift her, she couldn’t be budged.
“Are you?” she whispered. “Scared?”
“Terrified,” he murmured, and she burrowed right in, curling into him, pressing her face to his throat as her arms snaked around his neck so tight he could scarcely breathe, and he didn’t care. He ran his hands up and down her back until she lifted her face enough to bump noses with him.
He slid his hands into her hair to hold it back so that he could see into her face, but she wasn’t freaking out as he’d thought. She was staring at him with an awareness that stirred his own, straddling him, her legs on the outside of his so that the core of her was pressed up against the part of him suddenly very happy with the arrangement.
“Jase,” she whispered, and then swallowed, staring at his mouth, her breasts mashed into his chest, her fingers in his hair. “I want to…”
He stroked a loose strand of hair from her temple and dropped his gaze to her lips, which she licked. “Want to…what?” Drive him crazy? Done. Make him hard? Also done. Make him want things he had no business wanting? Done and done.
“Trade positions back,” she said.
“Okay.” He was hard as a rock, and he knew she felt it because her hips made the slightest motion, as if she couldn’t help it.
“Jase?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re…”
“Yeah. It happens when you—God,” he expelled when she shifted her hips again. “That. When you do that.”
“I never used to turn you on in the old days.”
“I was a teenager, the wind turned me on.”
A snicker escaped her, revealing surprise and delight, which didn’t help his situation any. She really hadn’t known she could excite him, and God, the look on her face, as if she’d just discovered she’d held all the power…which of course, she did. He wanted her, God he did, but then what? It’d be amazing, and he’d want more. He’d want all the spare time they could manage until either he left, or she did, and then…then he’d hurt her. Because he was not long-term material, not in his current condition. “Lizzy—”
She did that thing with her hips again and he let out a helpless, low groan, gripping her still. “Okay, enough of that,” he said a little thickly.
“Sorry.”
But she didn’t look it. He was strong, he reminded himself. Physically and mentally. He’d had to be. He was certainly strong enough to set her away and get them back on track, before either of them took this too far.
And yet when she rocked her hips one more time, her eyes filled with marvel, he let her. Let her slide over the part of him now fully erect and straining for attention.
Yeah, because as it turned out, he wasn’t strong enough to push her away after all. No way in hell.
“Mmm,” she whispered in his ear, just a soft murmu
r when he hugged her in, and he nearly melted. Her hood had fallen back, leaving her hair a little wild, and her poncho gaped enough that when she leaned forward he could see down the sweatshirt she wore beneath.
She had on a pink bra with a little red heart nestled between her breasts. A pink bra with a little heart that stole his. Ah, man. “Lizzy.”
She bent her head, and the tip of her nose grazed his jaw. She inhaled deeply, as if she loved the scent of him, as if she couldn’t get enough, and his hands tightened on her. Everything tightened.
“You smell good,” she whispered so softly he could barely hear her. “How is it you smell so good?”
“I don’t know, but we—” Another arch of those hips, and God. He turned his face into her, burying it in her hair, closing his eyes, his hands running up and down her slim spine. Then they slid lower, feeling the curve of her ass through the rain gear and the sweats, and he forgot that they weren’t doing this—instead he wished like hell that they were back at his place, in his bed.
She pressed her lips to his throat, dragged them slowly upward, heading toward his ear, and his eyes actually rolled in the back of his head. “Okay, that’s—”
She nibbled on his earlobe and he sucked in a hard breath. Going to turn me on and upside down and inside out. He dropped his head to her shoulder and gulped for air like a man going under, and while he was at it, he gave in to the temptation and squeezed her sweet ass. “I can’t remember what I was going to say. Hell, I can hardly remember my name.”
She laughed. “I have a confession.”
Oh, Christ, no. Not a confession.
“In high school…” She cleared her husky throat. “You didn’t know this, but I had a big-time crush on you.”
He lifted his head and met her gaze, and realized she expected a response. “Yeah.”
“Yeah?” she repeated. “You knew?”
“A little.”
“Oh.” Her smile froze, faltered. Her hips stopped their deliciously slow assault on his senses.
“Lizzy—”
She climbed over him to get back to her seat. “We should go.”
“Did you want me to lie?”
“No.” She closed her eyes. “No. Look, it was a long time ago. I had a helpless, hopeless crush on you and hid it by being rude.”
