We sat in comfortable silence for a while after that, watching rain batter the windows with unrelenting force. The sound was almost meditative, a constant rhythm that made the rest of the world feel very far away. No other cars passed. We could have been the only two people left on earth.
Twenty minutes in, I realized I was freezing.
The heat had died with the engine and cold air was creeping into the car through invisible cracks, turning my fingers numbdespite being tucked under my jacket. My teeth wanted to chatter, but I was trying very hard not to let them.
“You’re cold,” Archie said, noticing immediately.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re a terrible liar.” He was already moving, shrugging out of his sweater. “Here.”
“I’m wearing a jacket.”
“Then wear mine too. Layer up.” He draped his sweater over my shoulders before I could protest. “Better?”
“Archie, now you’re going to freeze.”
“I’m fine. I run warm.” But I could see goosebumps rising on his arms through his thin shirt. “Just let me help, okay?”
There was something about the way he said it. Not demanding or insistent, just genuine. Like helping me was important to him in ways that had nothing to do with obligation.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“Stop thanking me for basic human decency. You’re setting the bar too low.”
An hour passed, then another. The rain somehow got heavier, visibility dropping to absolute zero. No cars drove by and the cold continued its invasion despite the layers Archie had piled on me. My teeth finally gave up the fight and started chattering audibly.
Archie noticed immediately. Again.
“Gianna.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re shaking.” He looked at me for a long moment, something considering in his expression. “Come here.”
“What?”
“Come here.” He opened his arms in quiet invitation. “You’re freezing and I’m an excellent source of body heat. Stop being stubborn.”
I hesitated. Moving closer felt significant somehow—like crossing a line we’d been carefully dancing around. But my fingers had lost feeling and my teeth were chattering and Archie was looking at me with patient understanding that said he’d wait however long I needed.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and moved across the console into his space.
His arms came around me immediately, pulling me against his chest with gentle certainty. His warmth was overwhelming, immediate, sinking into my bones and chasing away the cold that had settled there. I pressed closer without meaning to, my face finding the curve of his neck where his pulse beat steady and sure.
“Better?” His voice rumbled through his chest.
“Much better.”
His hand started moving in slow circles on my back, the rhythm soothing and hypnotic. I let myself relax into him, into the solid warmth of his body and the surprising comfort of being held. This close, I could smell him properly—something clean and masculine and woodsy that I was starting to associate with safety.
We sat like that in silence, my breathing gradually steadying to match his. The rain continued its assault on the car but inside felt separate from all of that, like we’d created our own small world that existed outside normal rules.
“I’m sorry,” Archie said after a while, his voice quiet against my hair.
I pulled back enough to look at him. “For what?”
“For ruining your day. You needed those interviews and now you’re stuck on a highway freezing in a broken car.” His expression was genuinely distressed. “This is completely my fault.”
