“Are you ready?”
James squirmed. “I thought … .”
“You thought I wanted to stay here when I didn’t have to?”
“I don’t know,” James hedged.
Mandy slipped out of her chair and sidled up to him, pressing her lips to the ridge of his ear. “Did I tell you why I picked this dress?”
James ran his hand up and down her hip, fighting the urge to see if he could slip it beneath the slit without anyone seeing. “No.”
“Because it’s designed in such a way that it makes it impossible to wear underwear.”
James’ mouth went dry. “Are you telling me you’re going … commando under there?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
James gripped her hand. “We’re leaving. Right now.”
Mandy giggled as he pulled her through the room and out the front door. Once they were safely outside, away from prying eyes, James yanked her to him. He captured her mouth with his, pulling her hips flush against his pelvis so he could grind himself against her. He risked a feel inside the slit, gasping when he realized she wasn’t lying about the underwear situation.
“Let’s go,” Mandy whispered, breaking the kiss.
“Tell me one thing,” James said.
“What?”
“What is your bra situation?”
Mandy cocked an eyebrow suggestively. “You’re going to have to find that out on your own.”
James practically raced her to the parking lot, pulling up short when he realized they had two vehicles to consider instead of one. Mandy pulled her keys from her clutch and moved toward her Ford Focus. “I’ll meet you at home?”
She was only twenty feet from him, but the distance was already too much for James to bear. “Why don’t we ride together?”
“Because then we’ll have to come and pick up the car tomorrow,” Mandy said. “That seems like a real waste when we could have a naked Saturday.”
She had a point. Still … .
“What if I just bring you to work on Monday,” James offered. “Then we wouldn’t be wasting anything.”
Mandy was at the driver’s side door of the car, her key in the lock. She stilled. “Are you sure?”
“Honestly? I want to figure out the bra situation before we get home,” James said. “We can’t do that in separate cars.”
Mandy smiled, taking a step away from the car. “Okay. I don’t want to hear any complaints Monday morning.”
“You won’t hear a peep from me,” James promised.
Mandy started moving in James’ direction, the smile on her face small and warm. James decided he was going to solve the bra conundrum before he loaded her into his Explorer. A bright flash of light and a thunderous explosion interrupted his reverie.
As he was flying backwards, James only had a brief moment to register what was happening: Her car had exploded!
Three
James hit the ground. Hard. His ears were ringing, the ambient sounds of the night muffled from the noise of the explosion. He shook his head, trying to force the dark edges threatening to creep into his mind away. He could not lose consciousness. Not now.
James tried to stand, but his legs were wobbly. After trying – and failing – a second time, he resigned himself to crawling. The wreckage of Mandy’s car was scattered, leaving the two vehicles parked on either side mangled.
James scanned the ground, looking for any sign of his beloved blonde. His gaze finally fell on a shiny piece of a fabric. He recognized it as her purse, and nudged himself in that direction. The purse was charred on one end; meaning fire had actually touched it.
James fought the urge to panic. She had to be here somewhere.
That’s when he saw her. Well, he saw a mass of blonde hair, to be exact. James ignored the broken glass and hot metal in his path as he crawled the five feet that separated them.
She was lying prone on the ground, blood soaking into the blonde locks he loved so much. Her eyes were closed, and there was a dark gash on her cheek. James moved around her, pausing before he tried to touch her. If she was dead, he would never get over it. If he lost her … .
James pulled himself together and pressed his fingers to the pulse point on her neck. He cried out in relief when he detected the faint beat of her heart. He reached underneath her, pulling her to him so he could cradle her in his lap.
It didn’t take long for emergency personnel to arrive. James was still in a weird limbo, so he slapped away the first set of hands that reached for her. That’s when another figure knelt down next to him. It was Sophie.
“James.”
He didn’t answer.
“James!”