“Oh, I’m sure they are,” Elayna’s teeth chattered. “Did you see where they went?”
“That way.” She pointed farther down the beach, toward where they’d started. Elayna’s heart picked up. Maybe they were heading back to her car.
“Thank you so much,” she said, feeling stiff as she tried to run. Her legs were getting numb, and her toes were just a memory. The boardwalk shops trailed behind her, and in a few hundred feet, the pathway would end. It was an untouched portion of coastline, with dog tracks scrambling through it. But there were also reeds and dune grass sticking up in dangerously sharp patches.
A clap of thunder exploded above her, and Elayna threw her hands over her head. It seemed to be a starting line gunshot, signaling to the clouds… And they responded by unleashing every drop of rain. It pounded down on the asphalt pathway, and Elayna slowed to a walk, defeated. She continued to the very edge where the sand met the path and stopped, conscious of her bare feet and the jagged wild grasses.
It would be crazy to try to cross, she knew it. But from where she was, if she backtracked a little, she could make it to the car in a few minutes and at least get her sandals. With a sigh, she walked back, too wet to bother trying to stay out of the rain anymore. She just trudged through the puddles below and sheets of rain above. Water streamed down her hair, leaving it soaked and plastered to her shoulders and back.
Her toes began to revive, and a tingling fire slowly burned her from the ground up. It sizzled along the arches of her feet and around her ankles. She felt foolish for chasing after the dogs, but mostly she was devastated that she’d lost them. Her one hope was that they were smart and well behaved, so they might show up, eventually. She just had to keep searching.
But first, the sandals.
She walked the last stretch of sidewalk to where she’d started. Her little car still sat with the door wide open, but when she looked inside, there sat two soaked dogs, both chewing happily on some treat they must have found. They looked back at her and wagged their long tails.
Elayna sighed, still standing in the rain but feeling one hundred percent better. She stepped around the door and saw the remnants of two hot dogs with condiments, buns and all.
“So that was the temptation?” she asked, shivering violently now that she’d stopped moving.
The dogs continued chewing, and Shade lowered to his belly as much as he could in the small car, stretching out and looking like he was ready for a nap.
“Hmph,” Elayna grumbled, closing the door and getting in the driver’s side. But when she turned the ignition it thumped and struggled, sending her into a panic before finally starting up with a groan. “Oh, thank goodness,” she sighed. “I’m dropping you naughty boys off at home and getting into a hot shower as soon as possible.”
Titan shook, spraying her car with water.
Elayna cringed. “Yeah…thanks.”
The drive back was torture; even with the heater pumping full blast, she continued to shiver. And the dogs panted like they were bent on killing her with their dog breath. It steamed up the windows and permeated every inch of air, forcing her to crack her window for a bit of relief. But in exchange, her shivering increased.
She pulled up to the house and jumped out, sucking in the cold, fresh air. The dogs leaped out behind her and bounded up the front steps. She trailed along, feeling increasingly irritated. At least I found them…or they found me.
Really, she could have just waited in the car, and they’d have returned without her soaking herself to the bone. She hurried to the front door, but the handle didn’t budge.
“What?”
She tried again, but it was locked tight. Dashing around the house, she tried the back door and the garage door, but they were all locked. The dogs waited next to her, looking up expectantly.
“It was open when we left,” she told them, wishing one of them would tell her she wasn’t crazy. But then again, that would probably not be helpful.
She wandered back to the front door, trying it again.
Locked.
She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her torso as she shivered and debating on just leaving the dogs. They’d probably stay close to the house and out of the rain, and she could go get warm. She chewed her lip, debating. The dogs had laid down at her feet, content to wait for her to open the door.
Suddenly, both their heads lifted, and they jumped to their feet. The sound of a car approaching reached her seconds later, and she fidgeted with herself, trying to smooth out her soaked shirt and wet hair. But when Kayson’s car came into view, all she felt was humiliated.
Just go.
She rushed forward and jumped into the driver’s seat just as he rolled past, waiting on the garage door to open. She kept her eyes on the steering wheel and turned the key, but there was only silence. Her cheeks warmed, and she turned the key again, this time getting a lazy response from the engine. But it wasn’t enough, and the sound died away.
After a minute, there was a light knock on her window, and embarrassment churned in her stomach.
She opened the door and stepped out, attempting a slight smile. “Hello.” Her lips felt nearly frozen.
“What happened?” he asked, with alarm showing in his eyes. He shrugged off his coat quickly and wrapped it around her. “Your lips are turning purple!”
The heavy warmth of his coat brought such intense relief that she couldn’t refuse it, and instead, she gripped it in both hands. It smelled good, too, like some kind of dark spice, but she tried to ignore that.
The rain was still drizzling, and he held his arm out, ushering her forward with him. “C’mon, you can tell me in the house. I hope it wasn’t my dogs, although from the looks of your car…”
He glanced behind them, and Elayna was sure the windows told enough of the story. But she was a little mortified to tell the rest. “No, it’s okay. I just need a jump, and I can head home. Really.”
He turned to her with a dramatically lifted eyebrow. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” He punched a passcode into the security pad and held the door open for her. “You should’ve just called me—I would’ve unlocked the door remotely from my phone. I’m not sure why it locked again. Here, I can get your car started while you warm up a bit.”
She eyed him curiously as she walked past, feeling like he’d suddenly gone from an industry giant to a regular guy. After all, a billionaire would have called someone to deal with the car, right? And would probably not apologize for locking his house…and perhaps suggest she change out of her wet clothes and into something more comfortable.
The thought had her steeling her nerves and keeping up her guard, just in case.
Kayson filled two mugs with steaming water and emptied packets of cocoa into each one.
It had her feeling like a little kid at Christmas, shivering and wrapped in his coat, drinking cocoa. The first sip was heaven. She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the hot liquid trail down her throat.
“So, tell me what happened,” he said, perching on a barstool and watching her expectantly.
Elayna was sure his coat had already been ruined by the rain streaming from her hair, not to mention his couch. The material was velvety-soft. But her shivers were still too intense, so she held it close. “Well, I took Titan and Shade to the dog beach because they were just so well behaved, I thought they’d be fine—and they were!” She nodded back at him. “It was when we started heading back, I assumed the thunder had scared them, but I guess they smelled something—”