Page 16 of Burn Point

My leg? What leg? All my attention centered on where our hands met.

“I’m fine. A couple of stitches aren’t a big deal. And you didn’t wake me. I was up, pretending not to notice my neighbor.”

He studied me in the soft light, obviously pondering something. Abruptly, he let go of my hand, as if he’d just realized he was still holding it and leaned back against the door.

He opened his mouth to say something. Closed it, cleared his throat, and tried again.

“Why aren’t you at a hotel or something?”

I slipped my hands between my legs and hunched my shoulders. “So, it turns out, you need some form of ID and a way to communicate with people. I have neither of those two things.”

He tilted his head. “Help me out and explain that a little further.”

I dropped my shoulders and released my hands. “I lost my phone and my purse in the storm. I’m sort of stuck here until I can get back over there and search my house. Then, maybe I can get with the disaster organization to find some temporary lodging.”

Nate was shaking his head. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Why not?”

“I heard today that there are no rooms available anywhere in town. Some folks had to travel two or three towns away to find a room.”

I turned to look out the front window, worrying my lip with the fingers that still had his scent on them. This was a big new monkey wrench in the grand scheme I’d cooked up while sitting on my cot. What was I going to do?

He cleared his throat again. “So, I have a spare bedroom. If you need a place to stay…”

I gave him a thorough side-eye. What would he expect for payment if I took him up on his offer?

“I don’t do seggs-ual favors, mister.” Good grief, could I sound more awkward? No doubt this conversation would replay in my head later when I was trying to sleep. But for now, I needed to keep this in perspective and put some boundaries around this situation. I was not sleeping with him just for a place to lay my head.

His eyes went wide and round. “Oh, no way, I don’t expect anything,” he backpedaled. “I’m just, you know, offering you a room to stay. Temporarily. Totally as a friend. You know, sort of roommates. Or something.”

The way he tripped over his words set me more at ease. He didn’t give off a serial-killer vibe. But that was a stupid thought because what serial killer actually acted like a serial killer?

No, Nate gave off a good-guy vibe. The nice-boy-next-door vibe. The hunky hero, drag you out of a collapsing house, and carry you to safety, then save you from a wanking scary-dude vibe.

“Didn’t they get you some shoes?” His voice interrupted my internal debate over what kind of vibe he was giving me.

I cleared my throat, wishing I could sink down into the seat and disappear. “The shelter didn’t have any. I got this pair of socks off a volunteer that felt sorry for me.” I fell silent, and then a different dread filled me. “Nate, are you single?”

Because of course hunky, beautiful hero Nate could not be single. No way he would be.

The question seemed to stop him in his tracks, but he didn’t answer. He just sat there, looking all sexy. And heroic. And I had too many troubles to be catching a crush.

Swallowing my pride, and any ounce of cool I ever had, I tried a different approach. “Nate, I don’t want to cause trouble. I do need a place to stay, but I don’t want it to be an issue,” I said quietly but firmly. I’d had enough of cheating from Gerry, and I would absolutely not become that person. Not in any way, shape, or fashion. I knew the cold, hard, hurtful truth of infidelity.

Nate looked at me quietly.

I wiggled my toes in the borrowed socks I wore, relishing the warmth of the heat blowing from the dashboard. If he turned me away and took me back inside, at least I would be warm going back in.

“How many people do you know in this town, Jordan? I figure it’s not many since you’re at a shelter, instead of staying somewhere safe and warm.”

Heat bloomed over my face. This whole situation was humiliating.

He shook his head. “I just can’t leave you here. I can’t do it. I cannot, will not, send a half-clothed woman, alone, into a room full of horny, strange men. It’s too dangerous. But it’s up to you. If you aren’t comfortable with it, I’ll walk you back inside right now.”

Tension thick enough to cut filled the cab as I debated my choice.

On the one hand, he was a really attractive temptation. Not that I was ready for any semblance of a relationship, or even a one-night stand, for that matter. But he’d come for me, twice now, and that made my heart swoon.

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