Dani watched him calmly. She looked like a drowned rat. A really, really cute drowned rat. He debated pulling her closer and tucking her inside his jacket, but settled instead for pulling it off and draping it around her shoulders.
Come on, soldier.
A second car floated by them and she sucked in a breath.
“You know that one?” he asked.
She nodded, her damp hair brushing against his jaw. “From up at the cabins.”
“Owner still there?” If there were passengers trapped in the upside-down wreck...he’d do what he could to help them.
“No,” she answered. “They went into town earlier.”
The cabins it was, he decided. He couldn’t see them from his current spot, which meant he’d be aiming blind and visibility was dropping fast. The sun would be setting somewhere above the storm clouds soon. Dani shivered and those protective instincts of his kicked in again.
“What do we do? How much longer can this storm last?” Her hand lunged for his forearm as a large tree branch slammed into the side of the Jeep.
“I have you,” he reassured her. “And I’m not letting go.”
But that didn’t answer her question.
Long enough to do a lifetime’s worth of damage.
The last weather report he’d heard had the eye of the storm still eight hours out. It was going to get a lot worse before it got better. Coming to a decision, he said, “I’ll drive us up to the cabins.”
She looked out the window again, as if she was hoping things had improved. “That’s a lot of water.”
“The Jeep can handle it.” Just. “How far were you from the cabins when you pulled over?”
She thought for a moment. “I’d been driving maybe ten minutes. No more than a mile.” Dani was good with details and he could hear her gaining confidence as she crunched the numbers. Numbers were familiar territory for her—as driving through floodwaters was for him. He could get them one mile. Two would be a problem, but he’d figure it out if her estimate was off.
“You’re not okay,” she observed. Her eyes dropped to his thigh and he fought the urge to cover up the injury. It was too late for misdirection. She knew.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Uh-huh.” The tone of her voice said she’d heard that line before from some other man in her life—and recognized the lie for what it was.
“So I’ve got a bad leg.” He eyed her, daring her to suggest he take it easy or back down. Because that wasn’t happening. Number one on his to-do list was getting her to safety.
“Okay.” Her voice was cool. No emotion. “So we go now, or what?”
He flexed his leg again and the pain returned twofold. “You know how to drive a stick?”
“You want me to drive?”
“Yeah.” He hesitated, but the truth was the truth.
She nodded—but she didn’t budge from her seat. “I’ve never driven in this kind of weather.”
He didn’t expect that she had. “I’ll talk you through things,” he said patiently. “Tell you what to do, okay?”
Giving up control wasn’t what he wanted to do, but his knee wouldn’t take the added strain of doing the shifting. He needed her help.
Which didn’t mean he had to like it or even acknowledge it, he concluded. They’d switch seats and he’d give her directions.
He needed to convince her that she could do this, and fast. The rain was picking up again; they didn’t have time to waste. He studied her expression. She didn’t look too sure about taking over. She was rolling that sweet lower lip of hers beneath her teeth and worrying the skin.
“You like taking orders, Dani?” He deliberately made the question a sensual one.
“Move,” she snapped. Yeah. His comment had gotten to her. And now there was a spark of curiosity in her eyes.
Trading places in the confined space was awkward. After a couple of false starts that had them bumping arms and legs, he put his hands around her waist and lifted. His fingers registered the soft curves—she felt so good—and then he held her over him, sliding out of the way to claim the passenger seat.
He shouldn’t find Dani’s reserve so damn sexy. But he did, and her piercing gaze said she’d done some noticing of her own. She made him feel eager, like she was a Christmas present he couldn’t wait to unwrap and find out what was inside. Because she had layers. Lots and lots of layers. There was more to his stable, put-together actuary than met the eye and he wanted to get to know her a lot better. And it sure looked like she was stuck with him now, didn’t it?