“You don’t run a horse ranch or fight fires,” she said.
“And you aren’t a soccer star, unless you haven’t given me the whole story.”
She gave a throaty laugh. “No. That dream died when my legs got too long for me to control them.”
He eyed her. “Seems as if you figured it out.”
Why did his tone and the glimmer in his eyes make her want to wiggle in her seat? No, more than wiggle—strip off her clothes and invite him under her blanket with her.
She shivered.
“Maybe you should climb in the back seat and sleep.”
“You’re just as tired as I am.” Now visions of both of them tangled up, her thighs around his hips and his mouth moving over hers, blasted her mind like the wintry wind.
He gazed at his hands for a minute, fisted on his lap. Her stomach plummeted—could he be thinking the same things she was?
Impossible. Though she didn’t consider herself bad looking, she wouldn’t win any prizes for beauty. Besides, Ross didn’t see her that way.
“If I cut the engine, the cab will stay warm about an hour.” He spoke in slow syllables as though measuring their meaning.
She held her breath.
Another minute passed.
He turned his head and pierced her in his stare. “I’ll climb in the back and you follow, Pippa.”
Her stomach fluttered uncontrollably. He set his hat on the center console and then opened the door. Wind rushed in, and she gasped at the icy blast before he slammed the door. A moment passed. Several, in fact. What was taking him so long? Had he slipped and fallen on the roadside?
She was about to get out and check, when he opened the back door and settled inside.
Twisting in her seat, she met his stare. Snow lay on his shoulders and created sparkles on his white hat.
A heavy beat hung between them.
Then she did what she really wanted to and climbed over the console, dragging her blanket with her.
Ross grabbed her hips and eased her to the seat next to him. She had to curl her legs to keep her boots off the water and other supplies. For a moment, her innate awkwardness took control, and she sat stiff on the seat.
Until he shifted around to stretch his legs and propped his boots on the case of water.
“Here, you’ll fit in this space next to me.” He patted the seat.
She’d be wedged between the leather and his big, hot, muscled, good-smelling body.
Right where she wanted to be.
Drawing a deep breath, she squeezed in beside him. Her back rested against his chest—he took up too much room to give her much.
“How are you so warm?”
He chuckled and reached for the blanket, tucking it around her. “I’m hot-blooded.”
His statement made her own blood run ten degrees warmer and warmth slipped low between her thighs.
A long minute passed with nothing but the thud of her own heart.
Chapter Five
Don’t get out of the seat, he’d told himself.
Sitting at that wheel became a battle complete with the clash of steel will against steely need.
If he climbed in the back of the truck with Pippa, he didn’t know if it’d be possible to hold back.
He had to hold back. He’d sit here till dawn, till the storm broke, till hell froze over, but he wouldn’t get out of the truck.
In the end, he got out.
Then he stood in the howling fucking gale force wind with snow and ice pelting him, dragging in deep breaths and fighting the strongest urges of his life.
Now she pressed against his side, warm and soft with her curves giving him balls so blue they might as well have frostbite.
Worst goddamn idea of his life. But at least Pippa was warm.
She also smelled like blueberries and honey and apple blossoms.
Getting her scent out of his nose proved impossible with her snuggled up like a sweet kitten. Her shivering stopped and her muscles relaxed, sinking bit by bit into him.
“Ross?”
“Hmm?”
Christ, her voice drove him crazy. He wanted to heal the rasp, but it threaded through him and left him aching.
“Do you think we’re being followed?” The question came out with a quiver, like a child voicing her fears in the dark after she heard a noise.
He slid his arm around her and drew her closer to him. “No.” The word rumbled past her ear he wanted to suck and nibble until she gasped. “And if they were, let’s hope they’re more unprepared than we are.”
When she nodded, her head rubbed on his shoulder.
“When was the last time you saw your family?” He aimed his question to take her mind off their immediate troubles of being stopped by the storm, huddled together in the back seat, and now the more disturbing fact that his cock was starting to swell.
“Thanksgiving.”
“Nearly a year.”
“My mom reminds me of that often enough.”
“It can’t be easy, living clear across the country without family.”
“I do miss them a lot. I actually heard about your company at Thanksgiving.”
He pictured the Hamlins sitting down to dinner together, the table set for four including her sister Holly, and the topic of his business venture coming up.
“That’s how you knew to call me.” Everything made sense now.
She lapsed into silence for several minutes. He knew she wasn’t sleeping by the energy that seemed to flow through her body. He swore he could hear her brain whirring. He definitely heard the snow falling, shrouding the truck.
“I have to admit you surprised me with your martial arts skills. My jaw still hurts. I think you bruised it.”
She twisted in his hold to peer at him as if she could see through the darkness. He studied her eyes a moment before she dropped them to his jaw. “I can’t see anything with your five o’clock shadow.”
Her voice sounded throatier than before, and he ground his teeth against a dark clutch of desire.
He only needed a second to have her stretched out on top of him and his mouth on hers. But there would be no turning back from such an act. No more innocent, easygoing banter at family barbecues. No more fly fishing without a hell of a lot of tension underscoring every interaction.
Hands off, Wynton.
Did that mean lips off too? How about his cock?
Pippa’s off-limits.
“Ross?” Her voice sent another shock of need to his groin.
“Yeah?”
“You scared the fuck outta me at that truck stop.”
A smile spread slowly over his face, until he felt his eyes crease with it. God, she could drive a man crazy. Her drawl a perfect imitation of his.
His chuckle pulled a soft giggle from her too. The closeness he felt in that minute… It rocked him.
He started to reach toward her face—to cup it and pull her lips to his.
Something vibrated against his thigh, jolting him back to his senses just in time.
“It’s your phone,” she said.
Shifting to remove the device from his pocket without her seeing his bulging erection proved to be a challenge. He brought his phone to his ear on the third buzz.
“Ross.”
“Hey. The storm looks bad on the radar. Where ya at?”
“We had to pull off. We weren’t making any progress. It’s a whiteout.”