Page 8 of Fallen Ink

“Fine.” Rain slid down her neck and in between her breasts, her coat doing nothing against the October chill or the precipitation. She knew she’d sounded petulant, but she was so tired of her damn car and its issues. She needed a new one, badly, but she’d used most of her savings for her house and the shop. Sure, she had some left, but she knew she needed to keep a bit for a rainy day—pun unintended. Mace shut her door behind her before turning to open his passenger side door for her. She sighed, hugged him quickly because she felt like a brat, then climbed up into his truck.

When he ran around to the driver’s side and hopped in, she rested her head back on the headrest and let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry I’m grumpy. Thank you for driving me home and helping me deal with my car. I know it’s raining and yucky and you’re being amazing. I’m just growly.”

Mace reached over and squeezed her hand before turning the ignition and pulling out of the spot. “You’re not grumpy or growly. Not really,” he added when she snorted. “Your car wouldn’t start, and you didn’t kick the tire or anything, so that’s progress.”

She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face as she looked over at him. “I kicked my tire once, and that was because I was annoyed with Joe.”

“Your ex was a douche, so you should have kicked his tire instead of yours, but then that would have been a misdemeanor.”

Mace wasn’t wrong that Joe was a douche, but she hadn’t even seen the other man in over a year. She blinked, her mouth going dry.

Over. A. Year.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. If she hadn’t seen the man in over year, that meant she hadn’t had sex in over a year. Over three hundred and sixty-five days of only having an orgasm because she knew how to rub her clit and had a very nice bag full of toys.

Oh. Dear. God.

Mace turned to her sharply before looking back at the road. “What is it? Shit, I thought I was going to hit something.”

She winced. “Sorry. At least you didn’t swerve.”

“What’s wrong? You’re pale and look like you’re going to be sick. Do I need to pull over?” He started looking to the side, and she reached out and patted his arm.

“I’m fine. Really. I uh…just thought about something alarming and, well, it surprised me, that’s all.”

He kept his eyes on the road as the rain started coming down harder, but she saw the confusion on his face. She usually told him what she was thinking, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to tell him this.

Ever.

They sat in awkward silence as Mace made his way to her house, and she tried to figure out how she’d let her dating and sex lives lapse as they had. She’d been busy working on setting up the new shop and working double-time at her old place to save up before she quit, so that was an easy excuse.

Still, though, she wasn’t quite sure how it had happened.

Mace pulled into her driveway, and the rain around them came down in sheets, the wind slamming into his truck hard enough to rock it on its wheels.

“You can’t drive in this,” she said over the roaring wind. “It should die down soon, but at least come inside for a bit while you wait. You know how this area floods. Your parents have Daisy, right?”

Mace turned off the engine and nodded. “Yeah, they’re at my house since we don’t have our system down yet.”

“Then come on in for a bit and wait for the wind to at least die down.”

The truck rocked again.

“Sounds like a plan,” he said as he met her gaze. Then, they were both running through the wind and rain, laughing as she tried to get her key into the lock. They tumbled into her house together, his hands on her upper arms, keeping her steady as they slid across the hardwood floor and slammed the door behind them.

“That was crazy!” she laughed, shaking her head, watching the water drops fall from her hair as if she’d just gotten out of the shower.

He squeezed her arms, letting her go, and a chill slid over her. She assumed it had to be from the wet rain that was slowly turning to ice outside.

“Came out of nowhere. Hopefully, Ryan’s okay at the shop.”

“He should be fine. I mean, these storms never last for long. Not without snow anyway. Want a towel?”

He nodded and followed her back to the master bath. She handed him a fluffy bath sheet then took one for herself. “So, you going to tell me what you were thinking about?”

She froze. “Uh…”

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