“Thanks for coming to get us,” he called over the roar of the wind and sleeting rain. “We picked up a scrap of metal in the rear passenger tire.”
The driver nodded, then gestured to Roxy, still in the passenger seat. “You get your lady and climb into the back of the truck, I’ll get this all hooked up, and then we can get y’all into town and dried off!”
Travis nodded, then jogged over to Roxy’s door. He opened it and held out his hand to her, assisting her out. They ran through the pelting rain to the tow truck, and after Travis opened the back door of the extended cab, he spanned his hands around the small of her waist and lifted her up into the backseat. She slid over on the bench seat in the back until she sat behind the driver’s seat, and then Travis climbed in after her, closing the door behind him.
Once ensconced in the dim interior of the truck, they watched out the back window as the driver quickly hooked Roxy’s 4Runner up, and within minutes they were on their way down the road.
The truck rumbled down the road, and from his peripheral he saw Roxy shiver from the rain and the AC that was running full blast through the trucks cab to fight the heat of the summer storm. He shifted over on the bench seat, draping his left arm around her shoulders and tugging her against his side. She shivered again as his wet skin and clothes made contact with her, but then she was leaning into him, and he felt her shoulders rise and fall with a sigh.
He rubbed his palm up and down her bare arm, doing his best to warm her. All it did was turn his own blood to boiling, his heart stammering in his chest and his cock hardening behind the fly of his jeans. The rain mixed with the perfume of her skin and the scent of her citrusy shampoo, and he breathed her in, letting his cheek rest on the top of her head for just the briefest of heartbeats.
Lights outside the truck came into view on either side of the street, and then they were pulling into a small, ancient looking car repair shop parking lot.
“I hate to tell ya that Grady’s is closed for the night, but we can leave the car here and they’ll get right at it in the morning,” the driver said to them over his shoulder as he pulled in and parked alongside the faded blue building. “I can get this unhooked, if y’all need anything from it, I suggest you grab it now. I’ll drop ya off at the motel just down the way. Right ‘cross the street is Bertie’s, they got good food. Y’all like to dance? It’s Thursday, so it’ll be full o’ fancy feet.”
“Which suitcase?” Travis asked, leaning close to Roxy so he could ask directly in her ear. She shivered again, her breathhitching in her throat, and he bit back a groan. Fuck this trip was going to be the death of him.
“The smaller one, and our chargers,” she said, looking up at him through the dim interior. The lights from the dash illuminated the left side of her face. She’d long ago stuck the dark tinted sunglasses on the top of her head, and those bruises were on full display now. He ached to run his fingers over them, to erase them from her mind. Kiss each one, gently, so gently she could forget they were there. “Thank you, Travis.”
He squeezed her upper arm where his hand was still rubbing gently. And then, because he was weak and unable to fight it any longer, he dipped his head and pressed a swift, chaste kiss to her lips. Heat zapped him straight to his soul. “I’ll be right back.”
Ducking out of the back seat of the tow truck, he hurried to the back of the 4Runner, grabbing her suitcase and then his duffel bag, along with his sweatshirt and their chargers from the backseat. He was back minutes later, tossing their bags into the front passenger seat, and then he climbed back in with her. The rain had lessened, if only slightly, but he was soaked through again. It helped to cool his body from the heat raging through him. Once settled on the bench seat, he handed her his sweatshirt, and she took it with a grateful smile.
He watched as she pulled it on over her head, adjusting it over herself. She swam in it, it was huge on her, the sleeves at least six inches too long, and he knew when she stood, it would hit low on her thighs. She pulled the collar up around her, burying her nose in the material. His cock groaned in agony against the fly of his jeans.
“Thank you. I was freezing.”
“I know,” he said, angling his body toward hers. He was rapidly losing the fight to stay away from her, against all of his better judgement. All of his self-control was fraying, all of his arguments against why he shouldn’t fading away. If this was allthe time he had left with her, he didn’t want to waste anymore of it pretending there wasn’t something here. Because there was, dammit.
Her face was still half hidden by the collar, the hood falling down her back. Her fingers clutched the material close. When she spoke, her words were muffled. “It smells good.”
He laughed. “I’m glad it doesn’t stink.”
The driver climbed back into the driver’s seat in front of them. “We’re all set. I’ll drop you off down at the motel. Call this number—” he said, twisting his body in the seat to hand Travis a business card with a scrawled number on it, “—in the morning, and they’ll get ya all squared away. Tell ‘em Harry dropped it off.”
Minutes later, they pulled up in front of a neon motel sign that glowed red through the rain still pelting the truck. He pulled them up as close to the front door as he could, and he even helped carry their things inside the small, out of date motel lobby. They thanked him profusely, and then he was off.
Travis stepped forward to the lobby desk, where a young woman waited. Her eyes were wide as they took him in. He knew he could be intimidating looking, so he softened his features, smiling kindly as he approached. Gesturing toward Roxy, he said, “Our car popped a tire, so we’re in need of a room for the night. Harry said you might have something available.”
She nodded silently, then turned to an old, box style computer on the desk in front of her. “Umm. One room?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation, before Roxy could object or ask otherwise. Though he highly doubted Neal would have followed them, or would be able to find them here, he wasn’t taking any chances, either. She would be with him every second.
The girl nodded, finalizing their check in, and then turned to a wall of vintage looking diamond shaped room tags. Plucking one off the peg, she handed it over to him, the orange plastictag dangling from the silver key attached to it. “You’ll be in room 210. Out the doors, turn to your left and it’s about halfway down.”
“Thank you,” he said, taking the key and tucking it into his pocket, then turned to Roxy, grabbing her suitcase from her hand. “Shall we?”
She nodded, and though he could see frustration in those hazel eyes, she knew it was for the best. They exited the front door and took an immediate left. A wide sidewalk was covered by a metal roof that ran the whole length of the motel, which he was thankful for. It shielded them from the brunt of the rain, though the wind did whip drizzles at them as they made their way down to their room.
“I hope you at least got us two beds,” she grumbled, though he could sense there was no real fight in her words. Fuck, he hoped theyhadn’tgotten two beds.
Pausing at the door that had a peeling placard with the numbers 210 on it, he dug the key out of his pocket. They stepped inside and he reached for a light switch along the wall, flicking it, and then he heard her sharp intake of breath.
“Well, Red, looks like we’re sharing a bed.”
Twenty-Nine
Oh god.
