Storm Watch(39)

JASON CLIMBED up the stairs from the garage level of Cece’s condo, and into the kitchen. Wet to his thighs, he pulled a river raft behind him, with two life vests in it. He had a lot on his mind, and not the least was that he’d just had the hottest night of his life.

He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant except it couldn’t be good news that he was goners over one soft, beautiful, tough-as-nails Lizzy Mann.

She stood there, looking at him, and his heart gave one good, hard knock against his ribs. He’d spent twenty-four hours with her, an intensely concentrated twenty-four hours, during which time he’d seen her run the gamut of emotions, and face things most people never had to face.

She was solid. Loyal. Smart.

Yeah, goners was a good word to describe his current condition. A smarter man might have seen this coming, from the moment he’d caught sight of those slay-me eyes. He should have run hard and fast.

Instead, here he was, wrapped around her pinkie, willing to do anything for her.

Which meant he wasn’t just goners, he was screwed a hundred ways to Sunday.



LIZZY STARED at Jason as he came close, dripping everywhere. Her clothes weren’t quite dry yet and they certainly weren’t as warm and toasty as Jason’s arms and body had been all night, but they’d do. With no hot water and no electricity, the morning routine had been simple. She’d “borrowed” Cece’s extra toothbrush—which Jason had been kind enough to let her use first—and pulled on her slightly damp clothes.

“Found our way out of here,” Jason said.

She looked at the raft, then into Jason’s eyes and let out a breath. “Oh, boy.”

“Don’t worry.” He set down the raft and came closer still, pulling her up to her toes to give her a warm, hard kiss. She couldn’t tell him that it wasn’t their mode of transportation that had worried her.

“Find any food?” Jason asked, setting her down, turning to the cabinets.

“A single-track mind,” she said.

“Nope. It’s a double track.” Over his shoulder, he wriggled an eyebrow in her direction, telling her without words what else he could think about.

Impossibly, her lips twitched. “I found some snacks.”

“Great.” He looked around hopefully. “Where?”

They’d had sex.

That thought kept bumping around in her brain, which meant she was the one with the single-track mind. And it’d felt like a hell of a lot more than just sex. They’d connected more than just the required body parts, far more. Truth was, he’d made love to her, and now she felt all soft and dreamy and mushy, and that couldn’t be good. She didn’t work well with soft and dreamy and mushy.

“It’s actually warmer out there than it was yesterday,” Jason said. “Which doesn’t bode well. Warmer air usually means more rain.”

“Yeah.” She’d looked out the window. The rain was still coming down. They were past the twenty-four-inch mark and climbing, and no end was in sight. The winds were still a problem, keeping the power lines down and unsafe. But flooding was the biggest concern. The street outside was nothing but a raging river now, which had overtaken the yards and the bottom floors of every building along it.

Cece’s garage had over four feet of water in it and the level was rising. She’d never seen anything like it except for on the news.

But Jason had. He’d lived it, and it’d cost him dearly. “Here’s what I’ve got.” She revealed the Cheez Whiz and crackers in Cece’s pantry and made him laugh. “I know, my sister has the palette of a puppy, or a twelve-year-old boy.”

“Not seeing the problem,” he said, already plowing his way through the crackers.

“I’m assuming you usually eat more healthy than this.”

“I eat in bigger quantities, that’s for sure.” He stuffed a loaded cracker into her mouth, then opened the cupboard behind her.

She took in his long, lean, tough body. “So how do you keep in such good shape?”

He slid her an amused look, then abandoned his search, hooked an arm around her neck and hauled her in. “Well…I did just burn off a good amount of calories.”

“Yes. Yes, you did.” She felt her cheeks heat. “That was, um…”

His eyes were hot. “Fun?”

“Very. And…”

He arched an eyebrow.

“Good.” And amazing. And brain-cell destroying. And off the charts…“Very good.”

His smile was slow and wickedly sweet, and also wickedly naughty as he backed her up until the wall hit her back. Plastering a hand on either side of her face, he dipped down so that they were at the same eye level. “And that wasn’t even my best work.”