Authors: J. Rose Allister
“This shouldn’t be happenin’ like this. Not at your age.” His voice was strained. “If you’re tellin’ the truth, that is.”
“Of course I’m telling the truth,” she snapped. “Do I have to whip out my license to prove I’m twenty-one?”
He leaned his head back against the headrest and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It is, though. I can feel it happenin’ hard and fast. Shit.”
“What’s happening? And what’s wrong with
you
now?”
Despite her rising concern, a stupid grin plastered itself on her face and wouldn’t budge. A swirling vortex opened in her stomach with the same fluttering feeling she used to get riding the tilt-a-whirl when the carnival came to town. A laugh whooped out of her from nowhere.
Connor went rigid, and the hand he didn’t have pressed to his nose clenched down on his thigh. Just above it was a ridge she couldn’t help noticing. Shit was right. He was more than just hot—inside and out. He was apparently as turned on as she was. The man’s bulge was ungodly impressive, if she did say so herself. Not that she was actually
saying
so. But she was damn well thinking it.
God, what she wouldn’t give to strip off her hot, itchy sweater right about now. What would Mister Cowpoke say if she started driving down the road in just a flimsy bra? She couldn’t help the giggle that slid out at that.
“That’s it,” he said after a moment. “I’m drivin’. Trade seats with me.”
“Like hell! This is my new car.”
“And you’re in no shape to drive it.” Without awaiting her answer, Connor flung his door open and set a booted foot out into the rain that had let up somewhat. Her open-door signal dinged incessantly while he strode around to her side and pulled open hers, too. He stood there and waited, but she stayed firmly entrenched behind the wheel.
“I said I’m sorry about that curve back there,” she said. “It’s just been a while since I’ve driven, is all.”
“That’s not
all
. Don’t worry, I won’t take off with your pretty new car.”
That was the last thing she’d been worried about. Her mind was stuck in a loop of how deliciously sinful Connor looked, both above the waist and below. She ventured a glimpse at the latter, which was now near eye level as he leaned on the car door. The bulge in his black jeans was still noticeable, though he quickly shielded it from view when he bent down to meet her naughty gaze.
“If you think this is a ploy to get you out of the car so I can steal it, don’t. I’ll walk with you around to the other side before I get in.”
“It’s not that. I trust you.” She wondered if that was really true as she swiveled around and planted her feet on the ground. If so, why did she? She didn’t even know this man.
When she stood up, she teetered unsteadily and stumbled against him. “Oh, crap. Sorry.”
His strong arms went around her, supporting her against his chest. Damn, how could a man smell so good without even a hint of aftershave on? Despite the cool rain, the fire inside her flared. She felt his hard, obviously muscled body stoking her flames, and her head began a funny whirl.
“What’s wrong with me?” she asked.
She’d never been drunk before, but as she pulled out of his intoxicating embrace, she knew for certain it must feel a lot like this. With a frown, she poked a finger into his chest. “You did this.”
“Me?” The tone sounded convincing, but there was a flash of guilt in his wide eyes.
Her heart began a sensual rumba. “You must have drugged me.”
“How could I have drugged you?”
“I don’t know.” She staggered backward a bit, and her attention dropped to his clenched fists. “It must have been that handshake. You slipped me some kind of skin-absorbing drug through your palm. I knew I felt something strange when you touched me.”
His gaze held no small amount of humor. “I think you’ve seen too many spy movies. That’s not what’s happenin’. Here, let me help you around the other side.”
Connor moved toward her, but she held a hand out and stumbled away. “Oh, no. Keep your supernaturally electrified mitts to yourself.”
“My what?”
“You heard me.” Leaning on the wet car for support, she slid around the back side while he watched. Sure enough, by the time she made it around to the other side, her head had cleared just a little and she wasn’t as wobbly. She turned her face upward and let the sprinkle of rain mist her cheeks and drive some sense back into her head. To her surprise, it actually started to work.
“I do feel better now that I got some distance from you,” she said, shooting him a glare. “Interesting coincidence.”
Remorse clouded his features. “I’m not doin’ anythin’. I swear.”
“Didn’t your mama teach you not to swear?” She laughed, barely cutting it off when she realized how loopy she still sounded. She might feel better with distance, but she obviously wasn’t cured.
The pair stared at one another over the roof of the car, neither of them making a move to climb back inside. The rain stopped, and their heavy silence was interrupted by the rubbery-sounding scrape of wipers dragging across the drying windshield.
Connor leaned in and turned them off. “Are you comin’?”
She wished. The thought provoked another giggle. “I thought you promised not to leave me here.”
“Where’d you say you were headed? At this rate, we won’t never get there.”
“You only asked me to take you as far as nightfall. What’s with that, anyway? What happens at nightfall?”
“Let’s go,” he said, climbing inside. She wavered a moment, torn between the desire for a clearer head and the need to make sure he didn’t drive off and leave her stranded.
She dropped back inside the car and yanked the door shut. “By all means. Let’s hurry up and get back on our trip to nowhere.”
He pulled the car onto the road, expertly navigating the winding turns. Nevertheless, sitting passively in the side seat sent her blood pressure straight through the ceiling. She clenched her teeth hard enough to make her jaw sore, and on the next turn they approached, she gasped and squeezed her eyes shut. She grabbed hold of her seat with both hands and hung on.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, but she just shook her head. “Terra?”
“Just watch the road, will you?”
“I am.” He paused. “Are you afraid of the car?”
“Of course not,” she shot back. Then she softened her tone. “This road might be giving me some hesitation.”
He muttered a soft curse. “Why didn’t you say so? I’ll slow down.”
His foot let up on the gas, and she exhaled a sharp breath. Her eyes opened to find his flicking back and forth between her and the road.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Want to talk about it?”
Her hand went to her throat again, pulling on the knot of her scarf. “It’s getting hot in here again.”
“Yeah.” He flipped on the air.
“Talk about something else. Take my mind off harrowing mountain terrain.” And the weird dizzy feeling that was slowly overriding her panic. She hardly minded getting rid of the panic, but not by stirring up something that felt even more dangerous.
He glanced at her. “It’s not me,” he said. “It’s you.”
“Isn’t that line supposed to work the other way around?”
“What I mean is, your special chemistry is kickin’ in.”
She made a face. “My ‘special’ chemistry? Seriously?” She eyed him, trying to guess Connor’s age. He couldn’t be that much older than she was. He was what, twenty-eight at the most? “I
did
get the womanhood talk when I was in middle school, you know.”
“Not this talk, I’d wager. You’re a unique kind of woman. But this should have happened to you when you were eighteen.”
Terra shrugged. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t eighteen for very long.” She folded her arms tight across her chest. “Besides, I don’t think this is the sort of conversation I want to have with a man I met five seconds ago.” Or any man, for that matter. It was too weird.
“It’ll get worse before it gets better.”
“Thanks, Dr. Phil. And here I thought hot flashes were something I wouldn’t have to deal with until menopause.”
The corner of his mouth quirked upward. “Just tryin’ to offer an explanation.”
“I don’t care about an explanation just so long as this gets better, and soon.”
“Oh, yeah. It gets way better.”
She didn’t need to be facing him to feel the heat in his sideways glance. It seared her to the marrow. A quick fantasy flashed, involving him using that exact throaty tone of voice while they were entangled in the backseat.
She cleared her throat and straightened in her seat. “So, you’re out of work?”
The subject shift seemed to immediately cap his enthusiasm for puberty chat. “Yeah.”
“There are a number of ranches around here, aren’t there? Can’t you find a job with another one?”
“They ain’t hirin’.” He paused. “Not me, anyway.”
She studied his profile. “Why not? What’s wrong with you?”
He let out a laugh that skittered happily down her spine. “There’s a loaded question I’m not sure I wanna discuss with someone I met five seconds ago.” He shot her a mischievous look. “A man’s gotta keep some of his mystery.”
“I’d rather have strange men in my car be decidedly unmysterious. Boring, even.” Unless they were in the backseat with her. Shit! Why couldn’t she shake loose from this slutty, dizzy frame of mind?
“So you think there should be no secrets?” he asked.
“Zilch.”
“We all have secrets. Look at you, for instance.”
Her eyes widened. “Me? I don’t have secrets.”
“Sure you do. I find you incredibly mysterious.”
They slowed down for another curve, and although her jaw tensed, with her gaze focused on Connor, she was able to ride out the turn without clutching her seat for dear life. “Don’t you mean incredibly weird?”
“Nope. For instance, there’s the way you like to answer a lot of my questions with another question. Mysterious people with secrets often do that.”
She studied him. “You seem to know a lot about mysterious people.”
“I’ve known a few in my day.” He flicked another glance her way, and despite the cloud cover, waning daylight somehow sparked highlights along the gold flecks in his eyes. “How ’bout you, Terra? Any mystery men wonderin’ where you scurried off to in your new car?”
A fishing expedition into her love life? She was part flattered, part freaked out. Still, she offered a sly smile. “I’ve known a few in my day.”
“Have you?” The question had a sharp edge that sounded more like a challenge.
She bit back a spike of annoyance. “Why, don’t I look good enough to have landed a guy or two in my
twenty-one
years?”
He gave a quick grunt. “There she goes again, answerin’ a question with another question.”
That stopped her for a moment. “Well, you’re the one hitting all the touchy personal topics.”
“And ‘how come you can’t hold a job’ ain’t personal?”
“I didn’t say it like that. Or
mean
it like that, before you ask.”
“Then how did you mean it?”
“I was just trying to be helpful. At least I didn’t ask if you’ve got a girlfriend wondering why you’re trying to hitch a ride out of town.” Not that she didn’t secretly hope mentioning it would get her an answer.