Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
SIERRA
I’m not sure whether to be delighted or furious at the sound of someone pounding on the bathroom door.
I drag my lips away from Cole, pant as I look up at him, lick my lips, and poke a finger in his chest. “Go. So I can go.”
He takes my face in his hands and kisses me again. Deep. Wet, and damned hot.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A furious voice outside bellows at us. “Are you going to stay in there all night?”
This time when I push back, Cole lets me go. He tips his chin toward the toilet. “Do what you need to do.”
I gape at him. “I will not—”
He chuckles, then winks. “Alright. I’ll leave you to take care of matters.”
When he opens the door and steps out, I’m still breathless from that toe-tingling kiss. As I shut the door behind him, I catch his muttered words. “Got a problem, find another bathroom.”
If I didn’t have to go again thanks to too much water on the plane, I’d press my ear to the door to hear the rest of that conversation.
When I’m finished and my hands are washed, I open the door to find him standing sentry with his arms crossed. Gotta say I love his broad shoulders. Only right now I’m more interested in how good his butt looks in his jeans.
Damn. If I didn’t feel shy about him, I’d pinch him.
Course he turns around to find me ogling him.
His grin returns as he steps out of the way. “Caught you.”
“Whatever. Let’s go Mister Twister.”
“What?” He makes a face and chuckles.
“I don’t know. My brain is funny right now. It rhymes.”
He grabs my hand and walks at a reasonable pace to the exit.
The night air is cold and dry. Laced with jet fuel and vehicle exhaust. A twinge of familiarity hits me. “Have I been to Salt Lake City before?”
“Yep.” He guides me across two lanes of airport traffic, careful that I have plenty of time to cross without having to hurry. “We need to turn right, I’m in short-term parking. Black F-250 in the second row.”
“Ah, makes sense. I figured you were a truck guy.”
As he clicks the fob, he asks, “Why would you say that?”
“You have on boots.”
Ever the gentleman, he helps me into the passenger side and closes the door. The butter-soft black leather is a thousand times better than the airplane seat.
The scent lingering in the cab of his truck is familiar. Woodsy. Clean. Real. All him.
I feel warm and safe, cocooned in space with him, as we exit the airport and begin the next leg of our journey.
Utah. The moonlit sky casts a beautiful glow over the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City.
Feels like I’ve seen the view before. Has Cole driven me home from the airport before?
God, everything is so weird. I twist my hands in my lap as I look around. “I have a million questions.”
“Just pretend you’re on vacation and you’ve never been to any of these places before.”
I chew my lip as I contemplate the idea. “On vacation with a guy I don’t know.”
He grins and it makes his angular jaw even sexier. “Blind date vacation. There’s probably a reality show about that.”
That gets a laugh out of me. “If not, there should be.”
His smile grows. “Maybe we should sell that idea to a studio.”
“I think you’re right. It could be lucrative. Have any Hollywood contacts?”
As he merges onto the highway, he guns it and the truck roars beneath us. “I know a famous musician.”
Curious, I lean onto the console that divides the driver side from the passenger side. “Which one?”
“My sister-in-law works for Gage, lead singer of Soul Carnage. Know the name?”
I tap my chin as it feels like clouds are breaking apart in my head. “You know, I think I do. Have you met him?”
“Yep, met him at my brother’s wedding. His band played a set. It was pretty fun watching the elders in the family see a heavy metal show for the first time. ”
I can’t help myself. I giggle.
His eyes cut to me. I’m pinned, helpless in his curious laser beam gaze.
Uh. Yep. Definitely hot for him.
If only I could understand what the layers under those looks really mean.
Tightening his jaw, he turns back to the road. He drives too fast on the highway heading north. His ginormous pick-up truck is quiet and smooth even though he’s flying.
I’m surprised that it’s so thrilling to me. Maybe it’s the speed, maybe it’s the alpha man next to me.
“Do you always drive like this?”
“Mostly,” he replies as he weaves in and out of traffic, breaking one traffic law after another.
Alright then. Someone else likes speed. Cole is fully in control, but driving like a man possessed. Something about the commanding charge in him is magnetic.
And makes my body sing.
He probably does everything with ferocity.
Gulp.
I almost moan at the flood of heat that rushes into my core.
It spreads like molten lava through my whole body as if it’s remembering that intensity with him in bed, even though I can’t recall.
The interior of the truck heats up like a campfire’s burning in the back seat… or my panties.
I need air, fast!
After two attempts to hit the right button, I roll down the window. Somehow, I manage to control my urge to stick my head outside to escape his pheromones. But it’s too cold to leave it down long, so I’m forced to inhale his teasing scent.
An hour later, I’ve got my ovary mutiny under control by the time he exits the highway and races up a long canyon road between sheer rock cliffs. The truck is mere inches from the jagged sides.
“This road is insane. Wherever we’re going must really be remote.”
“It’s not as isolated as it seems. There’s a small town in the valley. But it’s nicely outside the fray.”
Main roads turn into side roads. They turn into gravel, and finally, dirt. The trees grow thicker.
There are remnants of snow on the ground from a previous storm. Patches of white dot the land here and there.
Chill seeps through the closed window glass next to me. “Do you know the temperature outside?”
Cole hits a button on the dash. “Right now, it’s thirty degrees. Snow’s coming tonight or tomorrow morning early. From the look of the sky, I say it’s coming soon.”
The moon’s now ducking in and out from behind fast-moving clouds. “Now I see why you told me to pack warmly.”
“Don’t worry, I have extra things if you need them. Of course, they’ll be big on you. Once we’re settled, I’ll borrow some things or buy you some things that will fit better.”
His clothes would swallow me.
I trace my eyes over his fascinating body. He’s like a gigantic animal. Big as an ox. I bet he’s as strong as one, too. All hard and sharp and tough. Stacked with row upon row of muscle over big, man-sized bones.
And those hands…
Cole’s got hard working hands. The kind that abrades your skin just enough to remind you he’s a man who knows how to do things.
Work things. Hot pleasurable things.
Pressing my face against the window, I try to find any safe line of thought.
Cold. Winter. Snowstorms. Clothing...
I fail. Nothing is safe with him involved.
Suddenly, the thought of snuggling up in a borrowed flannel shirt of his makes a flood of longing rush through me. This man does something so visceral to me it defies logic.
“Cole… how long have we been engaged?”
The change in his demeanor is so fast it sucks all the oxygen out of the truck.