Page 54 of Just One Night

I grind my teeth, my heart crashing with anguish and guilt from putting her in this situation. I gave my dad my spare last week and forgot to replaceit.

Her face softens when she peeks over at me. “Shit, sorry,” she whispers over the pelting rain hitting the windshield. “That was too dramatic for this situation. I tend to do that attimes.”

“You’re fine. I’ll take dramatics over you wanting to kill me.” I turn around in my seat and snatch a jacket from the backseat. “I’m going to see if I can manage to get service in the field overthere.”

She points out the window. “It’s pouring. There are no streetlights. We should wait until the storm calms before goingout.”

I put the jacket on. “What if it storms allnight?”

She starts to unbuckle her seat belt. “Then, I’m coming withyou.”

I stop her and snap it back in place. “The fuck you are. Stay here, and I’ll be back in aflash.”

I jump out of the truck despite her protests and hold my phone in the air while sprinting toward the field. The rain comes at me sideways while I wait for the service bars to light up on myphone.

Come on! Comeon!

I jump, nearly losing my phone, when a crack of lightning bites through the dark sky. I can barely make out the truck in the downpour and am still messing with my phone when I notice the bright shine of headlights gettingcloser.

My attention snaps away from the car to the truck at the sound of a door slamming. I scream her name and race toward her when she starts running to the side of the road, waving her hands in the air. The car flies by, splashing her with water, and her shoulders slump infailure.

Fear and anger splinter through me like thestorm.

“Have you lost your mind?” I scream, snatching her by the waist from behind and swinging her into my arms. I hover my body over hers to protect her from getting more soaked and tighten my hold on her shivering body while walking us from the street back to my truck. “They could’ve run youover!”

My breathing halts, dying in my throat, and a chill colder than the rain zips down my spine when she rotates herself in my arms. My hands stay on her wrists as she glares at me before jerking out of my hold with ahuff.

“I was flagging them down forhelp!”

“You running out in the street, waving down some stranger, does not fucking help me. You keeping your ass in the heated seat in the safety of my truckis what helpsme.”

“It was worth atry!”

The way her voice cracks makes me feel like shit. We lock eyes. She’s staring at me like she’s searching my soul, assessing the situation in my eyes, unsure of what my next step willbe.

I suck in each breath she expels, inhaling her sweet scent, nearly panting at the sight of her dripping wet in front of me, neglecting the shitty situation we’re in. Her shirt is soaked to her skin, her hard nipples peeking through the thin tee, and I lick my lips, mentally tastingher.

My next step should be getting her inside the truck, out of this chilly ambush of rain, but goddamn it, I can’t break away. I run a hand through her hair and smooth it down before lowering my fingers to her cheek. She shuts her eyes and relaxes into mytouch.

I inch forward, my chest brushing against hers, and she lets out a soft moan. The sweet sound runs straight to mydick.

“Dallas,” she whispers, eyes still closed, “what are wedoing?”

I can’t stop myself from chuckling. “We’re standing in therain.”

“No,” she croaks out. “What arewedoing?”

Chapter Twenty-One

Dallas

Willow’s questionshakes me back into reality, and I drop my hand from herface.

She wants to have this conversationnow.

In the pouringrain.

Ichuckle.

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