“How am I hot?” I ask in protest.
His eyes are going dark again, just like last night. He walks around me again... I like it, but it’s disturbing as hell.
“You are not helping by asking. Anyway, you, here… It. Can. Not. Happen.”
“Look, Mister,” I say, “besides the storm screwing up any immediate travel plans, I just spent my last money driving here from LA.”
“Then I will have someone fly you home from here when the weather clears.”
“You have a plane and an airport?”
“Of course I do. Do I look like a peasant?”
I shake my head in wonder. “Anyway, I don’t live there now, and in fact, I don’t have a home now. Why? Because this job noted I’d be staying here.”
“Look,” he says, reaching my front again and trying to calm down. “I’m truly sorry, really.”
“The hell you are!” I say, losing it and near tears.
We are now silent, and I wipe an eye. I keep dripping, and we both look down.
“Why is it that every time we meet, you’re wet?”
He is ultra close now, and it’s like he is smelling me, taking me in.
Suddenly, an old clock chimes, and I look around at art on the walls. Also suits of armor, deer antlers, and shields.
“Look, you won’t even know I’m here.”
“I doubt it.”
“Then, forget me!”
“It’s not that easy,” he says huskily.
“Why, did you enjoy it?” I ask, all pouty and stupid. The grump says nothing, but he does growl. “You know, you have a temper,” I say, raising a brow.
“The fuck I do,” he says, as cold as ice.
“Would I have to worry you’d want to spank me?”
It was a stupid thing to ask, but in my defense, I’m getting turned on. I am also trying another angle. Normal is not working.
“No, and you need to leave,” he says coldly.
I huff, spin, and walk out fast. “Fine. Screw this and screw you!” I slam the front door and walk back through the rain.
6
HARRISON
Remembering the danger of the three old bridges, insurance, and lawsuits, I shake my head and run outside after her.
Lightning flashes as she yanks on the sedan’s door. The door handle is playing up, and the rain is coming down hard and fast. It is a messed-up time to be debating accommodation, but it has to be done to mitigate risk.
“Look, stay in the barn, and we’ll get you home soon.”
“The barn? How ’bout screw you!”
