Wicked Sexy(21)
pulled his T-shirt on at some point during the night. The neck was too large, sliding down her shoulder and exposing the pale lines from her bikini straps. She looked imminently delectable.
Focus, soldier.
“There’s room for one more.” She swept back the duvet with an impish grin, making space for him,
and his T-shirt rode up around her waist, giving him a flash of creamy thigh. He wasn’t sure she was
wearing panties.
Hell.
She looked at him hopefully and he had to stop this.
“We’ve got water,” he said, and her expression froze. He should have led up to the reality check. He
couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or mad or something else altogether.
“Right,” she said and crawled to the edge of the bed. His T-shirt fell around her, giving him a clear view of her chest. He wanted to reach over and cup her full breasts, thumb the nipples until she was moaning against his mouth. And from this angle he could clearly see that she wasn’t wearing panties. He bit back a groan.
“So we have to get going,” he said desperately.
She nodded thoughtfully, collapsing back on the bed. “Because otherwise we’re going to float away on
an inch of water.”
She wasn’t taking this seriously. He didn’t know whether to laugh or argue, because he liked this new,
playful Dani, but the water was still there.
“How many steps on the porch?”
“Three.” She didn’t open her eyes.
“And how much clearance between each one?”
“Six inches or so. I get it. There’s at least two feet of water out there, all of it itching to come join us inside the cabin.”
He opened her dresser and pulled out shorts and a T-shirt. Maybe he should let her do it, but he was in a rush and he liked choosing for her—so he sorted through the lacy bits and then added panties and a bra to the pile. Her underwear drawer was all pretty thongs and cute boy shorts, but nothing practical for what might end up being a swim back to town. Hell, Dani herself wasn’t as practical as she liked to pretend.
She liked surprises.
He grinned at the sensual memories of last night. Yeah, and he’d enjoyed surprising her.
“Get dressed.” He dumped the clothes on the bed and she groaned, pulling the duvet over her head.
“I can’t tempt you back into bed?” The covers hid her voice, but the sensual invitation was clear.
“We need to go.” He heard his own voice and wanted to wince. No fun, that was him. Sure, part of him
wanted to crawl back into bed. The rest of him was just plain confused. Town was the smart plan. Town
was what they should do.
“Right.” She appeared from under the duvet and grabbed her clothes. “Are you up for driving today, or
am I doing the honors?”
He tested his knee. Sore, but he’d do.
“I’ll drive.”
“Okay.” The covers rustled as she pulled on her panties and shorts beneath his tent of a shirt. He turned away. He wasn’t looking. Much. Still, when she whipped off the shirt, dropping it on the pillows, he could see marks he’d put on her breasts. He ran a hand over his jaw. Rough stubble. Yeah. Definitely his fault, like so many other things.
“You want me to carry you into the bathroom? To save your feet getting wet?”
“I won’t melt,” she said.
She disappeared into the bathroom and he settled for getting dressed and loading up the Jeep. He’d sort out his feelings and what had happened between them in that bed later, he promised himself. Keeping Dani safe was his number-one priority, and he wasn’t losing anyone else. This hasty evac was simply a retreat from the rising water—and, just possibly, from the unexpected emotions she stirred in him.
No. This was tactical, practical, strategic.
He told himself that again as he secured their things in the vehicle, and then once more as he drove Dani down the road.
Problem was, he didn’t even believe it himself.
DANI COULD DO the math. Daeg’s rush back to town represented the second time Daeg Ross had
kissed her—and run. They’d both agreed last night that their getting together was a little summertime fun and nothing more. She’d meant it then and she meant it now, so his cold feet made no sense.
Unfortunately, she’d have to sort Daeg out later, since Deep Dive was clearly already the island’s
command center. Four all-terrain Jeeps were parked in front of the shop, along with two police cruisers, lights flashing, and an ambulance. The doors opened and closed, people coming and going with purpose,
navigating around the supplies stacked on the porch. The ocean beyond was still gray and agitated, but
some boats were already back in the water. Men in orange slickers moved around, getting ready to ride to the rescue, while down at the end of the dock another boat brought in a bedraggled group of survivors. If Daeg hadn’t come for her yesterday, they could have been looking for what was left of her today.
“Thanks. I really mean it,” she said awkwardly when he turned off the motor and faced her. Some
things needed to be said, even if they were ignoring what had happened last night.
He raised a brow and smiled at her. “I’ll give you a ride anytime.”
She smiled back. Her hero wasn’t comfortable with thanks. “Thanks for coming. For making sure I got
out of my car okay and back to Sweet Moon.”
She wasn’t going to thank him for the sex. She had her limits.
“No problem.” He flashed another smile.
“I’m going to head on over to the shelter.” She pulled a plastic bag of pills from her purse. “Reunite Mr.
Ramsey with his Friday. Better late than never.”
“You want me to walk you over there?”
She stared at him for a split second. What kind of an offer was that? Did he want to spend more time
with her, spin this thing out, or was he merely being polite? “Two blocks.” She pointed down the street.
“I’ll be fine on my own.”
“If you’re sure.” His gaze swiveled to the busy dive shop. “Cal and Tag need me on deck.”
“Heck of an introduction for Deep Dive’s search-and-rescue services.” While she was mentally
rehashing last night, other people were waking up to devastation. For the first time, she took a really good look around the sea frontage. While the dive shop had weathered the storm just fine, some of the other
local businesses hadn’t fared as well. She spotted multiple broken windows, two roofs half blown off, and the vice mayor’s boat was now parked inside the flower shop. Debris littered the beach, too. Mounds and mounds of broken, battered objects and vegetation.
She hopped out of the Jeep. Last night’s storm surge had left the sidewalk covered in sand and she sank in ankle deep.
He came around the vehicle, all long-legged grace. “Let me know if you have any trouble with your car
insurance company, okay?”
Right.
Her car.
That had disappeared somewhere into the Pacific Ocean. She eyed the beach, but her sedan wasn’t
sitting there washed up on the shore. She laughed at herself—as if anything about this storm was going to be that easy. No, she’d have to call up the insurance agent and explain that the whole blasted car had
washed away while she’d stood there and watched.
“Daeg—” What came next wasn’t clear. He braced a hand on the Jeep’s hood, bending his head toward
her.
“We’ll be doing recon for a week or more.” His knowing gaze swept the beach. Storm damage had
always been an after the fact for her—numbers on a piece of paper. What had happened here, though, was
plenty real—affecting real people, people she knew and had grown up with. The storm’s effect could have been worse, but it was still hard to imagine the total consequences of what had occurred. Although the
buildings were still standing and the people still breathing, there was also a whole lot of starting over to do.
Never mind that she was starting to think she might want to do some of that starting over, too—but Daeg seemed remote, entirely concentrated on completing his original mission and getting her back to town.
Mission accomplished, as he liked to say. A stream of folks passed by; a few waved at her.
“Hey.” Tag came out onto the porch. His flight suit was unzipped to reveal a V of white cotton, but his feet were dressed for business in a pair of steel-toe boots. “We want to put the bird up and do an aerial survey. We’ve also got locals trapped in the northwest quadrant of the island. We’re debating ferrying them into town or dropping supplies. You want to weigh in?”
Daeg hesitated. “Be there in two,” he called.
Tag flashed Daeg a thumbs-up and disappeared into the shop. Dani caught the crackle of a radio and a
roomful of whiteboards, posters with pins and enough computer hardware for a small country. She could
practically smell the urgency.
Daeg didn’t run, however. Instead, to her surprise, he looked at her. “I’ll take you to the storm shelter first.”
Apparently, her first refusal didn’t count, that or being a gentleman trumped everything else.
That was nice, but she understood priorities. And his offer still sounded lukewarm. She ignored the stab of disappointment. Mr. Ramsey was waiting for his pills and, from the sounds of things, Daeg had a date with Tag’s chopper.