Page 37 of Protective Heroes

“Relax. And you need to know I don’t apologize for much, Ice Princess. This is another case where you won’t be getting one from me. I have a job to do and I intend on doing it.”

“I’m just a job, huh? Makes sense. It’s all I’ve ever been to anyone. A job.”

His scowl slipped.

“Wow, so you do have another expression in your arsenal. Is that pity or irritation I see this time?” I twirled in the seat, brought my leg up, and his eyes flashed to my thighs for half a second.

I grabbed his jacket and slipped it over my shoulders. “Forget it. Don’t answer. I don’t really care. The second you deposit me on my father’s doorstep I'll just leave again. He won’t be there anyway. He never is.”

We quickly reached the main road but visibility wasn’t any better. The roads were largely deserted and he kept driving while I filled him in on what I thought of him, my father, plus Marine brutes in general.

He finally spoke when I paused for breath.

“I’ve got a gag, Ice Princess, and I’m not afraid to use it. It’s going to be a long ride back to New York.”

As if the cuffs weren’t bad enough he thought he was going to gag me?

“In your dreams, gopher,” I snapped.

Just then we passed a flashing road sign that read “Blizzard Warning. Total whiteout. Seek shelter immediately.”

“Fuck,” we said at the same time.

“Take me back to the hotel. I’ll be fine there. Just tell my father you couldn’t find me. You can even wait out the storm in my room with me.”

“That’s not happening,” Gabriel bit out. “We would never make it and I’m not going to let you freeze to death in my truck because ice sent us into a ditch. There’s a small town ahead I know pretty well, Ice Princess.”

“Stop calling me that.”

He smiled that smug grin again. “Why? It suits you.”

I ignored his taunting and went with another question he was more likely to answer. “Small town, huh? It’s Christmas Eve and my dad wants me home tonight. What are you going to do? Sprout wings and fly us home?” My tone was snotty but I didn’t care.

He took a second to look at me, brow arched. “What the sign says. Take shelter. I don’t think we’ll make it to the town after all. Either way, you need to trust me. I won’t let anything happen to the Ice Princess,” he rumbled in that low voice that dripped natural confidence other people pay thousands for in therapy.

My mouth snapped open. “Trust? After what you did?” I slapped his shoulder but it didn’t seem to faze him.

Brute. “I’m not staying with you!”

“Right, because you were so safe with the attempted rape crew back there at the hotel, right?”

“You sound just like my father. They were just going to dunk me in the pool or some stupid game like that.”

“You’re wrong on both accounts. I know how boys think—they had no intentions of that kind of playing.” Gabriel’s scowl deepened as we passed motel after motel with “no vacancy” signs.

“He babies me just like you’re doing, and I think you’re a little out of touch with people my age.”

Instead of answering me, he jerked his chin toward a sign on the roadside. “Look, Christmas, Michigan. Fifteen miles ahead. There’s hope.”

Snow fell faster and the light faded. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ll make it another three.”

“I’ll take some back roads.” We cut off the main road leading down the mountain and turned on to a double lane a little less covered in snow due to the overhanging pine limbs.

Wind rocked against the truck pushing us out of our lane.

“I think we need to pull over.” I gripped the doorhandle and held my breath when a branch came down smashing into the side of the truck with a crunch.

“Hold on.”

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