3
J ared wanted to blame their midnight shenanigans for his poor night’s sleep, but he knew that wasn’t it. It was his own fault. His own fault for agreeing to drive across country with a woman who made him laugh harder than anyone he’d ever known.
The sun was just lightening the sky when he rolled over and came nose to nose with Lucy. Her head rested on the spare pillow and her tail thumped on the mattress when his gaze met hers. Jared sighed. This was not the female he had pictured waking up with. A cold nose nuzzled his palm as soon as his feet hit the floor, and he glanced at the puppy through sore, sleep-deprived eyes.
“All right, I’ll take you, but you have to be quiet,” he whispered to the brown-eyed pooch.
Pulling on the jeans he’d tossed across his bed the night before, Jared stretched and tried to force the blood back into his limbs. Donning his T-shirt and sneakers with a hole in the toe, he led Lucy through the other half of the room, trying not to glance at the bed.
He failed. Cat was curled up in the fetal position with one hand supporting her chin. She looked cold. Jared pulled the remaining blanket off his bed and draped it on top of her. Her tousled hair splayed across the pillow, and her lashes nestled upon her cheeks. How the motel manager could confuse her gender was beyond Jared. She was one hundred percent Grade A female.
She looked as fragile as a buttercup, and Jared cursed himself for the lecherous part of him that wanted to crawl into bed with her. Thinking the dog wasn’t the only one who needed a leash, Jared swiftly clipped the puppy and led the way into the silent hallway. The door locked behind them, and Jared felt the tightness in his muscles ease as they left the motel in search of coffee.
Jared reentered the room with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a rambunctious puppy in the other. The room was still dark. Cat had uncurled and lay flat on her stomach. Her heart-shaped fanny was outlined by the covers, and it took all of Jared’s resolve not to turn and run.
She shifted as soon as Lucy bounded up onto her bed. Jared placed the paper cup of coffee on the nightstand by her head and tried to escape before her ever-changing eyes found him. He was too late.
“Good morning,” she said as she stretched beneath the covers and ruffled Lucy’s ears. “Did you two have a nice walk?”
Jared glanced away from the curls that flopped over her forehead to the gaping neckline of her top, that offered him a shadowed view of her cleavage. He gulped.
“Yup,” he answered and ducked behind the curtain to his side of the room. “It’s time to get up. We have a lot of driving to do today.”
“I know.” He heard her sigh and shift in the bed. “I’m afraid I’m not a morning person.”
“Really?” Jared asked, thinking of yesterday morning.
“Can I shower first?” she asked, poking her head around the curtain.
“Go ahead, but hurry. We don’t want to fall behind on your schedule,” he warned.
“Are you mocking me?” she asked.
“Me?” Jared blinked with innocence and then grinned.
“Oh...you,” she said. “I’ll be five minutes.”
Jared watched her disappear into the bathroom. The attraction he felt for her was getting stronger with every moment they shared. He didn’t want to know how soft she looked when she slept, or how her eyes snapped fire when she lost her temper, or how her body looked when it was next to naked.
Pulling down the makeshift curtain, he eyed the puppy, gleefully investigating his open duffel bag. “What am I going to do, Lucy?”
Twenty minutes later, Jared and Cat entered the nearby diner freshly showered and starving. The van was packed with Lucy playing guard dog and all that was left to do was eat.
“Do you think she’ll be okay in there all by herself?” Cat fretted her lower lip and glanced at the van worriedly.
“She’ll be fine,” Jared promised.
Jared steered Cat to a well-worn, red vinyl booth beside a large window that allowed them an unobstructed view of the van. A waitress approached them as soon as they opened their menus.
“Morning, Jared.” The brunette smiled invitingly, and Cat could see where her magenta lipstick had smeared across her teeth. “Is this your wife?”
The waitress turned to smile at her, and Cat instantly regretted her unkind observation. Jared was gazing at her in amusement, and Cat felt herself blush at the waitress’s spousal reference.
“We’re not...that is, I’m not...”
“We’re not married,” Jared explained, taking pity on her.
“Oh, sorry.” The waitress cast Cat a sympathetic glance and quickly turned away, muttering something about bringing them coffee.
Cat cleared her throat and said, “I suppose it was a natural mistake.”
“Yeah,” Jared agreed, hiding his amusement behind his menu.
That the waitress’s assumption had rattled Cat so badly, that her kaleidoscope eyes were gray with guilty embarrassment, made Jared wonder if perhaps his attraction was returned in equal measure. The thought made the already warm morning grow hot. Shoot, it’d be hard enough to spend the next week resisting his own temptation, it’d be impossible for him to fend off hers.
The unhappy path of his thoughts made Jared grow silent and not a little surly. He all but growled his order to the waitress, while mentally cursing his longtime friend for getting him into this.
“Jared, is something wrong?” Cat asked, breaking the strained silence that had fallen between them.
“No,” he answered, unconsciously making his face blank.
“If you don’t want to tell me, just say so.” She glared at him. “But at least do me the courtesy of not lying to me.”
“What are you talking about?” He blinked.
“You aren’t even aware that you do that, are you?” she asked thoughtfully.
“Do what?” he asked in exasperation.
“You shut down.” Cat gestured, waving her hands in front of her face. “It’s like an impenetrable wall.”
“Have you been talking to my sister Jessica?” he asked. “She’s forever nagging me to tell her what’s going on inside me. I tell her nothing, but she never believes me.”
“So you have a sister?” Cat smiled in triumph at the first bit of personal information he’d let slip.
“Yes, I have a sister,” he acknowledged, trying not to laugh at the victorious glint in her eyes.
“Well, she’s right. You should learn to share your feelings with people. It’s not healthy to keep things bottled up.”
“So, Freud, did you study psychology in college?” he teased.
“No, I didn’t.” She shook her head at him. “It’s just common sense.”
“All right, but what if the thoughts or feelings I’m having are private?” he asked. Unable to resist teasing her, he lowered his voice to a seductive murmur, “I mean, what if I’m having an incredibly hot, sweaty, erotic fantasy about a particular woman?”
Cat choked on her coffee, and Jared reached across the table to thump her on the back. Slugging down some water, her gaze met his over the rim of the glass. His eyes were pure blue devil, and she longed to swat him. If he was sixty pounds lighter, she might have tried it. Still, she refused to be intimidated by the turn of the conversation.
“Trying to fluster me won’t do you any good,” she lectured him as sternly as she would any of her rebellious students. “You need to open up, Mr. McLean. You’ll never have a completely fulfilling existence until you do.”
“I like my privacy,” he said in a case closed tone of voice.
When the waitress returned with their blueberry pancakes, he tucked into his food, not allowing Cat to keep up the thread of the conversation. The pancakes distracted her for a while. As she licked the last of the syrup off her fork with a hum of appreciation, she caught Jared watching her.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he growled, resting his chin on his fist.
Cat mimicked his pose with a grin. She’d never been one to back down from a dare. “People tell me I’m a mighty good listener.”
Scooping the check from the table before she had the chance, he rose from his seat and said, “Those people were probably badgered to death by you.” He chuckled when her mouth popped open with indignation. “I don’t badger so easily, lady.”
Cat trailed him out of the diner with a muttered, “We’ll see.”
They agreed to drive in shifts. Cat went first while Jared dozed in the passenger’s seat.
The winding hills of Pennsylvania were intimidating, but Cat forged on, trying not to panic when the hills became steep and the oversized van had trouble chugging to the top.
Jared slept with his head slumped sideways against the windowpane. The sound of his deep breathing was comforting, and Cat noticed a small smile cured his lips. Cat wondered what he was dreaming about. She knew better than to ask, because he’d never tell her.
How could she break through that wall of silence of his? And what made her think she should be the one who tried? Because he’s interesting—and hot—but mostly interesting. She heard the voice in her head as loud as a scream.
It was true. From the moment she’d first seen him, at Cam’s wedding five years ago, she’d been drawn to him. He had a gentleness about him that belied his size and strength. He was undeniably handsome, but there was a masculine energy about him that took her breath away. He was the kind of man who would love only once and that love would last forever.
Now that’s just pure fantasy, Levery, she chastised herself. She’d proven to be a lousy judge of character in the man department. And convincing herself that Jared was less likely to hurt her than the big dumb jerk was just asking for trouble. She should just stick to things she was good at judging, like melons in the produce department for example. Now cantaloupes, she could handle.
She felt his probing glance upon her face before he spoke. “Do you want to take a break? You’ve been driving all morning, and it looks like stormy weather up ahead.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine.” She shrugged. “It’s not like I haven’t driven in rain before.”
As if to mock her, a huge clap of thunder boomed from above and the sky opened up with a deluge of rain as blinding as it was sudden. Cat gripped the wheel with white knuckles, determined to prove herself capable.
“Why don’t you pull over?” Jared yelled over another clap of thunder. They were cruising down a steep hill that had no lane for emergency stops.
“Where?” Cat snapped, trying to see through the opaque sheets of gray water, streaming down the window, impervious to the wiper blades that beat a frantic rhythm across the glass.
They neared a sharp curve, and Cat clamped her lip between her teeth and gripped the wheel harder. She glanced at Jared. His troubles were just beginning as Lucy, awakened by the storm, began to shiver uncontrollably with each clap of thunder. It was all Jared could do to keep the wiggling puppy from clambering over the seat onto Cat’s lap for comfort. Adding to the confusion, a weather alert sounded on both of their cell phones just as they began to round the bend.
“Flash flood warning at mile marker ninety-seven,” Jared read the message. “The construction site is flooded and one vehicle has already skidded off the road.”
Cat shot a wild-eyed look at Jared. “That’s got to be up ahead. What do I do?”
“There’s no place to pull over or turn around, you’re going to have to drive through it,” Jared spoke softly, as if trying to soothe her anxiety. “Just take a deep breath and concentrate on the road.”
Flashing yellow warning lights began to blink at them from both sides of the road. The space between the concrete barriers didn’t look large enough for a bicycle to pass through. The vehicle that hadn’t made it through was lying on its side in the deep ravine to the right. Cat felt beads of sweat break out on her forehead. Every muscle in her body was clenched as tight as a fist.
“You’re doing fine,” Jared coached her.
Cat slowed the van to a crawl. Unable to see through the blinding rain, she inched her way through the construction site while the water that filled the barriers slowly crept up the side of the van.
“The water must be covering the wheels.” Cat let out a hiss. This was a trucker’s route. If they stalled, they were goners, sitting ducks as the enormous trucks that rumbled along this road ran right over them.
Although it seemed like hours, in seconds it was over, and Cat steered the van onto an embankment at the end of the construction zone. Several other vehicles were parked there to wait out the remainder of the storm.
Cat put the van into park and stepped on the emergency brake. She was shaking from the inside out. Her skin was clammy, and she felt nauseous. Jared took one look at her, unsnapped her seat belt, and pulled Cat into his arms while unclipping a quivering Lucy from her seat harness at the same time. The puppy immediately hopped onto Cat’s lap and she cuddled the puppy as sweetly as Jared held her.
“That was some fancy driving there, Teach,” Jared whispered against her hair. He rubbed her arms as if trying to warm her up. “I think I saw some people down by that car. Are you going to be okay if I run down and check on them?”
“I’ll go with you,” she volunteered between chattering teeth.
“No, stay here. I’ll be right back,” he ordered and placed a swift, comforting kiss on her forehead.
Cat watched him dart out into the rain and tried to pull herself together. They’d made it through the flooded road and everyone was fine. Concentrating on taking deep breaths, she felt her heart rate return to normal.
Although Jared had only been gone a few moments, it seemed like an eternity. The fogged-up windows made it impossible to see, and Cat felt panic begin to whisper along her already taut nerves. As a teacher, she’d made it her business to learn the basics of first aid. If people were hurt, they might need her.
“I’m going to go see if Jared needs help,” she explained to Lucy as she clipped her back into her harness. “You be a good girl.”
Cat stepped into the warm rain and hurried to the side of the road. She reached the concrete barriers just as a trailer truck was passing through. He barely even slowed. As the water arched up and away from his tires, Cat felt a chill run through her. Had the van gotten stuck, they could have been killed. So easily, they could have been killed.
Pushing the wet hair out of her eyes, Cat tried to control the trembling that racked her body. Jared. She had to find him. She scanned the road. The sheets of rain made it almost impossible to see. A figure moved at the end of the pass and Cat recognized his walk. Jared. A faint set of headlights glowed up the hill as another truck came toward the flooded area.
Cat felt her heart hammer. Jared was carrying something on his shoulder. A spare tire? It was clear he didn’t see the truck headed straight for him. Cat shouted but the rain drowned out her voice. She waved her arms but he didn’t look up. The truck was roaring down the hill. Without stopping to reconsider her actions, she climbed onto the top of the cement barrier and started to run, praying she didn’t slip. She only had seconds to get to Jared.
The spare tire was heavy on his shoulder but Jared was almost out of the flooded roadway when a motion to his left caught his eye. Cat was running along the top of the cement barrier towards him.
“Catherine!” he shouted, but she couldn’t hear him over the pounding rain. What the hell was she thinking?
He’d almost cleared the cement barrier when she launched herself at him, pushing him out of the flooded roadway to the side of the road where he landed on his ass while she crashed on top of him with a knee tohis chest that knocked the breath from his lungs. The spare tire rolled out of his arms and down the hill. But he had no time to reach for it as the hair on the back of his neck rose just as a rumbling truck tore passed them, sending an arc of water over them.
Attempting to get up, Cat pushed off Jared but the sodden ground beneath her feet gave way. Jared grabbed her arm, trying to catch her but the ground was too slippery and she plummeted down the side of the muddy hill, taking him with her.
The hand holding her never loosened its grip, and as a result Cat landed at the bottom with an indelicate thump as Jared slid to a stop on top of her, pressing her into the mud. Pushing the rain soaked hair out of her eyes, she noted his dead weight across her and wondered if he’d cracked his head on the way down.
“Jared!” She pushed at his shoulders, trying to rouse him.
He was non-responsive and she felt panic start to thrum inside of her. What if he was dead? What if she’d killed him with that flying tackle?
“Damn you, Jared McLean, you wake up right now.” Her voice cracked, but she continued to yell at him. “Do you hear me? Wake up!”
“I’m awake.” He lifted his head and his blue eyes snapped open and pinned her with a glare. Fury crackled in his gaze, but Cat was too relieved to care.
She lifted her hands from his shoulders. “Well, you could have said something.”
“I was trying to control my temper,” he said.
“ Your temper?” she repeated, irritated. “Of all the idiotic stunts to pull. What were you thinking? You could have been killed.”
She shoved him off and staggered to her feet, fighting to keep her balance in the mud. Annoyed, she turned on her heel and began to trudge back up the slope. She only got three feet away when a hand clamped around her ankle and jerked her foot out from under her. She landed with an undignified splat.
All of her fear and panic twisted into fury, and she struck out with her other foot only to have Jared pounce on her, trapping her body beneath his as he straddled her in the mud.
“Let me up,” she snarled.
“No.” His jaw was set and the muscles in his cheeks were clenched into knots. He was breathing through his nose. Each breath widened his nostrils, and he reminded Cat of a bull about to charge. She gulped.
“Please let me up?” she asked in a softer tone of voice.
“No. We’re going to get one thing straight between us.”
“What’s that?”
“If you ever pull such a careless, boneheaded, stupid stunt again, I’ll ship you back to Massachusetts on the first bus, train, or plane I can find. I swear I will.” He lowered his head as he spoke, and Cat leaned away from him and deeper into the mud. It was cold and wet and did nothing to soothe her temper.
“Me?” she cried. “I’m careless? Boneheaded? Stupid? You’re the one who almost GOT RUN OVER!” She was incensed. Who did he think he was? She’d stopped taking orders from anyone but herself the minute she’d crossed the Massachusetts state line. And she’d be damned if this freeloading hitchhiker was going to start doling them out now.
“You could have been killed!” he shouted.
“Nope, that was you,” she argued. “I saved your life. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“I didn’t need you to save me.” His right eye started to twitch.
“Really?” She reared up from the mud. “How do you think you were going to survive being run over by a truck?”
“I told you to stay in the van.” He leaned down until his face was just inches from hers. “I expect you to do what I tell you.”
“Well, you’re in for a mighty big disappointment,” she snarled, refusing to back down. “I don’t need your permission for anything. I do what I want when I want. Ha!”
“Really?” he roared. “So do I.”
Before she could take a breath, Jared gripped the back of her head with a muddy fist and captured her lips with his. At the hot, wet taste of his mouth, her anger sparked into something else entirely. Her fingers clutched at the front of his T-shirt trying to pull him in closer, but Jared released Cat as abruptly as he’d grabbed her.
His breath darted in and out of his lungs in quick gasps while he seemingly fought for control. Cat had no interest in control. Rising to her knees before him, she clasped his face between her hands. Their gazes collided, she knew hers was filled with heat while his held warning. She didn’t care a fig for his warning.
She let her lips hover just inches from his, slowly drawing him in, not allowing him to refuse participation in a dance that required two. Then she leaned in and teased his lips with sweetly tender, testing kisses. No heavier than the brush of a feather, she planned to wreak havoc with his senses, giving him no choice but to respond.
It worked. Jared encircled her waist with his hands, splaying his fingers across her back and pulling her tightly against him. Cat gasped.
He wasn’t playing. He held her still under the onslaught of his mouth. He probed, teased and nipped her swollen lips.
A keening moan sounded in the back of her throat. She felt his body respond immediately and she shifted against him, causing him to clutch her closer. Jared deepened their kiss as his hands roamed restlessly toward her breasts. She leaned in and he almost crossed the line, but a loud yell broke through their passionate haze.
“You folks all right down there?” An older couple stared down at them.
Jared and Cat broke apart like teenagers caught making out on the front porch. Still kneeling in the mud, they were covered in the dark brown muck from their hair to their shoes. Glancing at Jared through her lashes, Cat wasn’t sure if she was more embarrassed, relieved or frustrated.
As if sensing her confusion, Jared grinned at her. Tilting her chin up with a finger, he placed a swift, searing kiss on her mouth. “We’ll discuss this later.”
Pulling Cat to her feet, he led the way up the embankment toward the waiting spectators. Cat noticed that the deluge had dialed back to a strong mist, making their climb up the muddy hill a bit easier.
“We’re fine,” Jared answered the couple. “Just muddy.”
The man was tall and gaunt and sported a blue fishing cap festooned with a colorful barrage of lures. The woman was short and round, wearing a shiny purple raincoat and matching rain hat. Both were trimmed with silver rhinestones. If the sun came out, she’d be as blinding as a disco ball.
The woman elbowed the man in his ribs.
“I told you so,” she said. “They’re young and in love, probably on their honeymoon. The last thing they need is a couple of old fogies like us pestering them.”
“There you go again. Nag, nag, nag,” the man said. “It’s amazing I don’t drown myself while fishing just to get away from you...honeybunch.”
“You’d never be that thoughtful, pumpkin,” the woman retorted.
“My name is Fly,” the man said. “And this here is my ball and chain, Mabel.”
“Humph,” Mabel sniffed at her husband and turned to Cat and Jared. “How do.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jared shook Fly’s hand. “I’m Jared and this is Cat.”
“Hi,” Cat said, trying to mask her embarrassment by brushing the excess mud off her clothing.
“Girl, you’re a mess,” Mabel said. “You can use the john in our RV if you want to clean up.”
“That’s awfully kind, but we don’t want to impose,” Cat declined.
“It’s not imposing,” Fly insisted. “It’s the least we can do to help out our fellow travelers.”
“Then we accept,” Jared answered for them. Cat frowned.
“Follow me,” Mabel said and began to walk away.
“Go ahead,” Jared gave Cat a little nudge. “I’m going back down to grab that tire for the family that’s stranded. Cat wanted to protest but she didn’t want to bicker again, especially in front of an audience.
Cat stopped by the van to check on Lucy and grab a change of clothes. She followed Mabel into the RV, while Jared and Fly walked back to the car in the ravine. Thankfully the tow truck that had just arrived. Thankfully, no one had been injured.
Cleaned up and in dry clothes, Cat examined the interior of the RV. It looked like something off of the showroom floor. There were no personal effects or homey knickknacks to be seen. Assuming Mabel and Fly must be fastidious housekeepers, Cat was careful not to track dirt anywhere. Sinking onto the soft sofa, she accepted a steaming cup of coffee from Mabel.
“Are you and your husband on vacation?” she asked, watching wide-eyed as the older woman lit a cigar off the stove burner. The pungent aroma of the tobacco filled the RV.
“Vacation? Sure, if you consider fishing in every watering hole in the United States a vacation. I hate fish.” Mabel frowned at the glowing end of her cigar.
“Oh.” Cat slurped her coffee as an awkward silence fell between them. Cat glanced at the door. Surely, Jared would be here soon.
As if answering her call, the door banged open and in strode Fly and Jared. “Right in there, son.” Fly gestured to the snug restroom Cat had just used.
Jared ducked into the bathroom and Cat gulped her coffee, hoping for a quick escape.
“So you kids are headed to Arizona?” Fly asked.
“How did you know?” Cat asked.
“The ‘AZ or Bust’ sign on the back of your van,” he said.
Cat gave a nervous laugh. “Oh, yeah.”
“Whereabouts in Arizona are you headed?” Mabel asked.
“Just outside Phoenix,” Cat answered. “I’m going to teach there. I’m doing a work exchange. What about you two? Where are you going?”
“Arizona.”
“Florida.”
Fly and Mabel spoke at the same time. Mabel cast Fly a peeved expression and said, “Florida. We’re going to Florida.”
“No, we’re not, sweetie,” Fly disagreed.
“Yes, we are, honey pie.”
“We’ve already discussed this,” Fly said through gritted teeth. “We have to stick as close to our investments as possible, darling.”
“But we don’t want the whole world to know our plans, snookums,” Mabel replied through an equally clenched jaw.
The tension between the couple was thicker than the mud Cat had scrubbed off. She could hear Jared in the bathroom and willed him to come out and save her from what appeared to be a full on argument between the couple.
“Since the investment was my idea, I think I’m the one who should make the decisions,” Fly said.
“If your decision was a smart one, I’d let you,” Mabel snapped.
The door to the bathroom opened and Jared stepped out. Cat jumped up from her seat and set her coffee mug down in the small sink.
“Well, we’d better be on our way,” she said. “Thanks for the use of your rest room.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Jared echoed as Cat pushed him out the door of the RV.
They trudged back to their van in silence until Cat cracked and said, “Interesting couple.”
“That’s one word for it,” Jared said. “My grandfather used to refer to couples like that as the Bickersons.”
Cat laughed. “That suits them.”
Jared let Lucy out of the van so that she could run around and do her business. He took Cat’s elbow to keep her from slipping in the mud. “I’m sorry about what happened before.”
“You’re sorry?” Cat repeated. “For yelling at me or kissing me?”
“Kissing you,” he admitted, looking flustered. “I...we...that shouldn’t have happened.”
“Why not?” she asked, feeling contrary. Maybe they shouldn’t have kissed, but hearing him say so made her feel compelled to argue.
“I’m your brother’s friend.” Jared waved an arm as if the answer were obvious. “It’s part of the code.”
“What code?”
“The best friends’ code. Guys don’t hit on their friend’s sister.”
“That’s in the code?” Cat asked.
“Yeah, right next to the one that states you never date a friend’s ex,” Jared said.
“That one I know, but the sibling one? No, I’ve never heard of that,” she said.
“It’s a guy thing,” he said. “Trust me. It exists.”
“So?” She plunked her hands on her hips, trying to level him with a hard glare.
“So? I can’t break the code. As your brother’s friend, I should keep my damn hands off you.” He walked past her and opened the sliding door of the van for Lucy to leap in. He clipped the puppy in and motioned for Cat to get in the passenger’s seat up front. She didn’t budge.
“Why?” She crossed her arms. “How does that have anything to do with us?”
“It’s a safe bet that Cam wouldn’t like me putting the moves on you.” He tried to propel her into her seat with a gentle nudge. She ignored him.
“Why? Did Cam say something?” Cat asked, feeling her temper burn. If Cameron had warned Jared away from her, she was going to wring his thick neck. She was a grown woman and she could take care of herself.
“He didn’t have to,” Jared snorted. “Now get in the van.”
“Oh, I see, you’re afraid of Cameron,” she said, ignoring Jared’s hand as he tried to bend her knee and get her to step into the seat.
“I am not afraid of him.” He snapped to an upright position.
“Sounds like it to me.” She shook her head in mock pity.
“I could whup your brother with one hand tied behind my back.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, right, sure.” She nodded at him, her expression full of doubt like she was placating him as she stepped into the van. “Let’s get going. We’re behind schedule.” Then she slammed the door in his face.
Schedule? Her and that stupid schedule. Jared stomped around the van to climb into the driver’s seat. He watched in consternation as she dug her index cards out of her bag and promptly began adjusting their time frame as she cross checked the current route on her cell phone. The urge to jerk the cards out of her hands and toss them out the window was almost too strong to resist. He gripped the wheel tighter as he merged back into traffic.
Afraid of Cameron? Ha! By the time this little adventure was over, his good buddy was going to be afraid of him. He cast a fulminating glance at the caramel-haired woman beside him. She flipped through the cards, completely oblivious to him and his ire.
Jared felt his teeth clench. He wanted nothing but to pull over to the side of the road and kiss her until she was the same woman that had come apart for him while buried up to her neck in mud. He tightened his jaw and fought the impulse as if it were an addiction – second by second.
Cat was his best friend’s sister. That made her practically a sister to him. Guys weren’t supposed to have these sorts of thoughts about their sisters. How had this happened? He’d tried to be a good friend. He’d agreed to go on this damned hike across the country. But he hadn’t expected to be in forced proximity with the first woman he’d found attractive in just about forever. When this was over he was seriously going to beat his friend’s ass.
They rolled into Ohio late in the afternoon. Cat leaned out the window and took a picture of the sign welcoming them to the state. The afternoon drizzle had dried up, and the day had become oppressively humid. Lucy spent the better part of the ride leaning out the window, her usual goofy grin plastered to her face.
Cat envied the puppy’s simple pleasure. The silence between her and Jared was heavier than the heat. The paperback she’d dug out of her purse provided no distraction, as Jared’s brooding presence proved too potent to ignore.
“We’ll be nearing Akron soon.” She fidgeted with her book, waiting for him to respond.
Jared said nothing.
“Jared, I’m sorry about before. I don’t think you’re afraid of Cam.”
“No need to be sorry,” he said abruptly.
“Yes, there is,” she persisted. “You were right. What happened shouldn’t have. You’re my brother’s friend and I respect that.”
“Fine. Let’s just forget about it.”
Cat agreed, but doubted it was likely. She’d never be able to erase the impact of his kiss. In all the years she’d been with Matthew, she’d never felt like that when he kissed her. Forgetting Jared’s kiss would be like asking the Earth to forget its orbit – impossible.
Cat’s gaze lingered on the pulse point she could see in his throat just above the collar of his T-shirt. She wondered if their kiss had agitated him as much as it had her. If it had, it would be a shame to let their chemistry go out of loyalty to her brother. Oh, who was she kidding? Their kiss was probably just a reaction to the life and death adrenaline fueled heat of the moment. Nothing more. Wasn’t it?