‘Right now, I’ll just be happy if you get us back safely. Tomorrow can take care of itself.’
There was no time to read his features, as another gust hit them, doing its best to blow the car off the road at the same time the beachside palms bent and thrashed under the onslaught.
Izzy saw it happen. Fast motion that seemed to happen in slow motion. A frond torn from on high that was careening downwards, spinning, toppling directly towards their windscreen.
‘Look out!’ she cried, covering her eyes in case it smashed into them.
Theo was already on it. He swerved wildly, pulling the car away from the path of the toppling frond. Instead of the windscreen, it slammed with a sickening thud onto the hood and fender before crashing down onto the road. The car bucked as the back tyre lurched over the thick stem, before jolting back onto the road surface. Izzy let go a breath she’d been holding.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life.’
‘Hey,’ he said, taking her hand in his, wrapping his long fingers around hers and squeezing her hand reassuringly. ‘I’m not going to let anything happen to you.’
Because he was afraid he wouldn’t get his reward money?
But the accusation she might once have immediately launched at Theo refused to emerge from Izzy’s mouth. There was no way she would aggravate him while her hand was encased in his, his hand lending her strength, his strength feeding into hers.
Madness. Theo holding her hand. They didn’t even like each other. But that didn’t mean she was about to shrug his hand off hers. Not while her skin tingled at his touch, and not just her hand itself, because warmth seemed to radiate up her arm, filling her body with a feeling unfamiliar to her. There was warmth there. There was tenderness. But there was also a thirst, as if it didn’t have to end here.
He only let her hand go to change gears as he pulled into the driveway.
Izzy closed her eyes and leaned back into her seat. She’d never experienced near cyclonic conditions before. Everyone had told her that this brush would be mild. But if this was mild… And then there was Theo’s generous gesture, to hold her hand and reassure her that all would be well.
And for the last few minutes of their journey, she’d felt completely safe.
He’d done that. Theo had made her feel safe.
Another deluge of rain unleashed on them.
‘Okay?’ he said.
She took a deep breath. ‘Thank you for getting us back safely.’
He looked over at her then, a frown adding to a look of surprise on his face. A look of surprise that evaporated a moment after she’d witnessed it, so much that she wondered whether she’d imagined it.
‘We got here,’ he said. ‘Are you ready to make a run for it.’
Izzy looked at the rain pounding the car. ‘You don’t have an umbrella?’
‘An umbrella would be next to useless in these conditions. Stay there.’ He pushed open his door and rounded the car to her door. He pulled her door open, threw his jacket over her head and shoulders as she emerged from the car, and with his arm around her, set off to race the few metres through the pelting rain to the door.
Everything happened so quickly. They were racing for the front door, getting battered by the heavy wind and rain, when Izzy’s foot slipped on the wet surface. She stumbled, only for Theo to catch her, tumbling her into his arms to carry her to the sheltered space by the front door.
A moment later, they were inside, the door slammed behind them against the weather, both of them panting hard as Theo leaned with her against the wall. He let go her legs, letting her find her feet, but he kept hold, his free hand going to her waist, as if to make sure she wouldn’t collapse to the floor.
She was still catching her breath after their frantic dash to the door, her arms still wrapped around Theo’s neck, when a bubble of laughter escaped Izzy’s mouth. At the madness of their desperate dash. At relief at being inside and out of the immediate danger of the storm.
‘Wow,’ she said, sounding as breathless as she felt, ‘you are quite the hero. Driving safely through the storm. Getting us both unscathed to the front door. Thank you.’
Her mistake was turning her face up to his. She’d expected to see her laughter mirrored in his eyes. She’d expected their relief at escaping the storm to be shared.
Instead, when she looked into his features and into his dark, dark eyes staring into hers, she saw no humour. Instead, she saw need. She saw—hunger.
And she knew he wasn’t still holding her because he was worried she’d topple to the floor. He was holding her because he didn’t want to let go.
Her heart lurched. Her breath hitched. She licked her lips.
