The wind cracked, and with it came an ear splitting thunk that shook the house and removed her from her lustful reverie, causing her to jump nearly right out of her skin.
“Just the trees along the side of the house,” he murmured, turning his head to look out the window. “Which should have been trimmed.” He turned on another light, and…and her brain stuttered to a halt as her eyes ate him up. It was like an opened bag of chips, she couldn’t stop herself.
“It’s getting bad out there,” he said, shifting back to her, his gaze searching her face. “Are you okay?” he repeated.
Oh, man. Man, oh, man. He’d changed, too. He was far quieter, far more intense.
And the most devastating—kind. When had that happened?
She came up to his shoulder. Which meant that her face was right at pec level, and now there was so much light…Don’t look, she ordered herself. Don’t—
She looked. And when her gaze dropped, so did her IQ. She couldn’t help it, he was just so perfectly made.
He put a finger under her chin and lifted it up. Right. He’d asked her a question. Was she okay? A question that brought her firmly back to the present. And the present was looking tricky. No Dustin meant no SUV, and no SUV meant she’d have to go it alone, and that wasn’t going to be easy. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about Cece. It’s probably nothing but I just want to go check on her.”
“Cece,” he said. “Your sister? Troublemaker Cece?”
He remembered. Damn. He was hot and sharp, which just didn’t seem like a fair distribution of gifts. “She called me last night at work. She said she was fine, no contractions or anything, but now I can’t get a hold of her, and—”
His eyes widened. “She’s pregnant?”
“Yes. And her cell phone is off. I’m thinking she evacuated, that it’s okay, I just need to get a damn life,” she said with a self-conscious laugh. “She’s growing up and moving on, and I need to do the same, but I just can’t go to higher ground and relax until I’m sure.” Because a very small part of her couldn’t trust her sister to do it, even though she should be able to.
It was asinine. “I can’t get to Eastside in my car. I was hoping to borrow Dustin’s SUV.”
“Okay.” Jason shoved his fingers through his hair and let out a breath, the movement of his arms stretching and flexing all sorts of muscles that pretty much made her mouth dry up. “Where’s her husband?”
“There is no husband. The father of her baby ran so fast her head is still spinning. I’d really hoped to find Dustin here.”
“I’ll have to do.”
In truth, he looked a lot like his much kinder, gentler brother. He had dark hair, cut military short. Like Dustin, he had light gray steely eyes that she knew could be warm and playful, or cut like steel.
But unlike Dustin, Jason had an edge, which had only sharpened over time, from his intense gaze to his physique, honed by the military.
“I have a Jeep,” he said. “I’ll take you to her.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He considered her a moment, bemused as he ran a hand down his stubbled jaw. “Because you need a ride?” At her obvious surprise he shook his head. “Jesus, was I that big of an ass?”
She didn’t want to go there. No way. “All I need is to borrow your Jeep.”
“Ah. So you don’t need me. Duly noted. But the Jeep and I are a package deal. Take it or leave it.” His smile was tight, and went tighter when her cell phone rang and she pounced on it rather than respond to him.
“Hey,” Cristina said. “How goes it?”
“I’m going to go check on Cece.”
“Not in this. We were all called in on emergency shifts it’s so bad out there.”
“I just want to make sure she got out.”
“Not by yourself.”
“Not exactly.” Lizzy glanced at Jason, who was standing where she’d left him, still gloriously half-naked, watching her. “I’ve got Jason.”
He smiled grimly, and nodded his approval of her choice.
“Dustin’s Jason?” Cristina asked, letting out a low whistle. “Nice. The guy’s a virtual search and rescue team all on his own. But…”
“But what?”
“He’s…had a rough few months.”
“He looks okay.”
He arched a brow in her direction.
More than okay…
“Honey, he looks hot,” Cristina corrected with characteristic bluntness and a laugh.
Feeling her face heat, Lizzy turned away from Jason’s probing eyes. “I don’t see how that’s pertinent.”