“Got it,” she said and wondered if she did. Visibility lessened with each passing minute, until there was nothing but the driving rain and the shadows.
She hadn’t trusted him, she realized, when she’d pushed him away on the beach earlier. It didn’t make sense to do so then. He’d walked—run—away from her before. Now, though, Daeg Ross was dependable...worthy. She didn’t like being out of control, but she didn’t need to spend five years working as an actuary to know precisely how dangerous her current situation was. She’d miscalculated how much time it would take to make the round trip from the cabin and, once there, she shouldn’t have left. Mistakes came with consequences and she already knew that Daeg Ross was extremely costly to her peace of mind.
* * *
HE GAVE HER the 411 as she drove along what had once been the seafront road but was now a washed-out channel.
“Lucky for us this road’s a couple feet higher and hasn’t been entirely flooded yet.”
She didn’t believe in luck. She opened her mouth to tell him so when unexpectedly the Jeep’s front end shuddered. The engine whined as she fed it more gas.
He released a string of expletives.
“Driveway,” she bit out and, sure enough, they’d reached their exit.
Somehow, with his suggestions and commands, she got the wheels on the gravel incline. The motor was working overtime to pull the Jeep out of water and protested.
“Punch it,” he told her. “Hard left.”
The tires spun on the wet gravel as the Jeep started up the slight hill. A tree struck the back bumper, shifting them sideways.
“Again,” he barked. Looking at Daeg, it was clear he itched to be doing, not talking. He’d never be the kind of man who was comfortable riding in the passenger seat. She’d bet it had just about killed him to admit his knee wasn’t up to the job of driving. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity but what had, in fact, been—she checked the dashboard clock—forty minutes, Sweet Moon rose up before them, a welcome sight.
“Your cabin or mine?” he asked. The Jeep’s headlights illuminated the group of buildings in a slice of rain-filled light.
“Mine.” She gestured toward a cabin set back from the others—the honeymoon suite came with extra privacy.
Somehow she couldn’t imagine Rick there. She should have seen the warning signs sooner, but she’d been too comfortable with their relationship. She’d been used to him. She’d known exactly how the days—and the sex, if she was being honest—would unfold. And there was nothing noisy or wild about either. She frowned.
On the other hand, there was nothing comfortable about Daeg Ross. He was the exact opposite...and to top it off, the man left a string of broken hearts in his wake.
He just didn’t know it.
7
DANI STARED AT her porch, the cabin barely visible through the driving rain. Daeg was right. Tonight was no night to split up and stay alone. If the situation got worse, they needed to be close. While she thought that over, she parked his Jeep, tapping the brakes to work out some of the water.
“Stay put. I’ll bring the gear in and come back for you.”
She shrugged. Like the possibilities of that didn’t have warmth creeping up her cheeks.
She killed the engine and considered her next move.
“Wait here.” He reached behind the seat to collect his gear. “It’ll only take me a moment to open the door, drop the stuff inside and then I’ll be right here.”
Right here. She sucked in a breath to avoid telling him to never leave her. It had to be the exhaustion making her think so irrationally. Sure, he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen, standing there, issuing orders and pressing her to let him keep her safe, but she’d been on her own for years now.
“I’ll come back with the tarp. You won’t get as wet.”
With that sweet knockout punch, he held out his hand for her key. Silently, she passed it to him. Daeg Ross had certainly swept back into her life every bit as dramatically as the water. He knew his stuff. She didn’t want to take a backseat in her own life any longer.
So...she’d take control.
One step at a time, making the most of each and every opportunity that came her way. Tonight, for instance, was one chance to turn her fantasies into reality. She eyed Daeg’s ass as he climbed the front steps of her porch.
That’s right, fantasize a little.