“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he yelled as he jumped out into the pouring rain. “You’re walking in the middle of the fucking road!”
“I can’t walk in the mud,” she yelled back.
Yanking her by the arm, he dragged her to the truck, opening the door and then lifting her inside roughly before angrily slamming the door behind her.
He waited until he was once again driving before starting to yell at her again. “Why didn’t you call a cab?”
“Where would I have gone? I don’t know anyone or have any place to go.”
Jericho looked at her through the dim light. There were no tears in her eyes; she was just stating a fact. What he did notice, though, was her shivering. She was freezing.
“Pull off that wet coat.” Flipping his heater switch, he watched for his turnoff before carefully maneuvering the truck onto the waterlogged road. It took well over an hour to reach his cabin on the dangerous road.
Even with the unwanted woman next to him, Jericho was glad to be home. The only thing that had kept him sane while sharing the cramped hotel room with his crew was the thought of being able to come home as soon as the job was done. It was why he had pushed his men so hard. Plus, the bonus money would enable him to stay home longer between jobs. It gave him the freedom of the mountains, no timetables to keep, and mainly, the ability of just being able to breathe the fresh air.
The hardest thing about the memories of his prison time was the smell. The smell of unwashed bodies, urine, and fear could never be forgotten.
“Get out.”
Cara didn’t wait for a polite invitation; she knew it wouldn’t be coming.
They ran to the cabin as lightning overhead provided light to the dark porch. It only took Jericho a few seconds before he was unlocking the door and ushering her inside.
When he turned the lights on, Cara was surprised. The only furniture in the room was a plain couch and a chair placed in front of the stone fireplace.
“This way.” He led her down a hallway to a darkened room.
Entering, he again turned on the lights, showing a small room with a bed covered in a brown quilt and a dresser as its only contents.
Cara frowned. There was something missing from his home, though she couldn’t place her finger on what was wrong.
“Here, put these on while I pack the groceries in and fix us something to eat.” Thrusting a bundle of clothes in her hands that he had pulled out of the dresser, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Cara quickly pulled off her drenched clothes, pulling on soft, black pants that were too long and kept sliding off her hips and a black sweatshirt that fell to her knees and swallowed her arms. Regardless, warmth finally returned to her body.
She didn’t know what to do with her wet clothes, so she took them with her as she left to find Jericho. She wandered until she found him in the kitchen.
He looked up from what he was doing. “I’m making us some sandwiches.” Seeing she was holding her clothes, Jericho picked up a plate and handed it to her. “Sit down and eat.”
Taking her clothes, he left the room for several minutes before returning and taking the other plate. He then sat down next to her at the small table.
They ate quietly. Cara didn’t know what to say, so nervously, she watched him eat.
She wasn’t an expert on looks of mortal men, but even compared to the gods, Cara knew he was outstanding. Her stomach clenched at his fierce good looks.
She frowned at her choice of words, but it was the truth.
His features were almost patrician with cold grey eyes that were emotionless. He wasn’t overly tall for a man. Cara guessed he was six-feet, but he was built, all muscle. The gods loved to show off their physiques at every opportunity, but even with a shirt covering Jericho, his muscles were very evident. He was also lean hipped, and with a butt that looked firm beneath his faded pants, Cara would bet that, if Aphrodite or Venus got a hold of him, he wouldn’t be seen for decades. The goddesses’ love of good-looking men was well known, but Cara had a feeling this was one mortal who could take care of himself. He could probably even give them a lesson or two.
Cara had quit eating and realized he was staring back at her, having finished his food. She turned red and, looking away, finished her food.
The scraping of the chair told Cara that he had left the table.
Jericho put his empty plate in the sink to be washed later. He knew she had been staring at his body, but despite the woman’s beauty, there was no way he was going to lay a hand on that trouble. If he had been like the men he worked with, she would have already been underneath his pumping hips. He had no doubt all his men, who had been separated from their women for the last six months, were now making up for lost time. Nine months from now, the company would be bitching at the rise in insurance rates due to all the babies being born.
If the rain hadn’t stopped him, he would now have been in town showing Tammy just how many times he could get his dick up in one night. It wasn’t because of Tammy that he wasn’t taking the fruitcake at his table to bed, though. It was because there was no way he was getting involved in her mess. She was trouble, and he had learned a long time ago to stay away from other people’s messes. It was safer for his sanity.
Going back to the table, he took her empty plate. “Go to bed. In the morning, I’ll drive you into town.”