Leo pushed open his door. “Stay here, I’m gonna check out the car.”
The bitter wind assaulted him, freezing snow pelting his face. The snow was too deep to maneuver through, but a quick glance at the front and back ends of the car confirmed the vehicle survived in one piece.
A rumbling sound approached, and he shielded his eyes against the storm. After a semi-truck passed, his shoulders sagged in relief upon finding they were at least safely on the shoulder. He hopped back inside the car, fighting against a gust of wind to yank the door closed.
“We’re safe. Car’s fine.” He rubbed his hands together and breathed into them before grabbing the steering wheel and glancing over his shoulder at the road. He couldn’t even see a single set of headlights in either direction.
Isabella grabbed his arm. “Please tell me you’re not seriously considering getting back onto the road?”
“You got a better idea?”
“Are you interested in a hotel yet?”
“And how do you suppose we’re gonna get to a hotel without driving to it?” He released the steering wheel and rubbed his sweaty palms down his thighs.
“If one is close enough, maybe we could make it.” She tapped on her phone. “We have cell service. Let me check if there’s a hotel close by.”
“I know there’s not much between here and home, and I think it’s safe to say there’s no hotel in the direction we just came. Unless you want to backtrack several miles to Denver?”
“No. Definitely not.”
She spent a few more minutes with her attention fixated on her phone screen, but, like he said, he already knew what she’d find. Nothing. There were a lot of picturesque views on this stretch of the freeway, but that was it. He’d traveled this road many times for work, not to mention all of the conventions he’d attended in Denver. But Isabella was obviously still stubborn as hell, so he let her do what she needed just so he could prove he was right. Isabella finally glanced at him, her eyes heavy and sullen. Those full lips drooped at the corners. “The closest hotel is ninety-eight miles ahead. And if we backtracked, the closest one is thirty-six miles.”
Leo held up his hands. “Not going to say, ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so. We’re stuck.”
“I’m sorry,” Isabella said, not fully owning her words.
Because why would she? What was she apologizing for? Maybe because she knew she was the last person Leo wanted to be stuck in a car with during the biggest snowstorm of the season. Or stuck anywhere with, for any amount of time. He decided he should maybe let her off the hook. At least a little anyway.
“What are you sorry for? I’m the one who was driving. I suppose I should’ve listened to you and stopped at a hotel earlier.”
“It’s not like you knew. I mean, you said it yourself, you’ve been driving through snow and ice for forever.”
He tried to ignore the slight edge to her tone. “Yeah,” he exhaled a mirthless laugh. “I’m such a pro.”
Isabella smiled, and he felt a grin break on his own face. It was one of very few he’d allowed since the two of them reunited at the airport earlier that day.
“It kinda serves you right,” Isabella hedged. “All that bragging you did about knowing how to drive in the snow. Like you’re some kind of an expert. And now look at us.”
“Okay, okay, you made your point.” He pushed his seat back, giving his six-foot-four-inches frame more legroom to stretch out. “Guess we better get comfortable. I’m gonna have to turn the car off so we don’t kill the battery.”
“Wait.” She turned to face him. “So not only are we stuck together, but we’re going to freeze to death. Together.” She breathed out a laugh. “How’s that for irony?”
“We’re not gonna freeze to death. We can’t even stand each other. Do you think we’d let ourselves die together? You know we’re both too stubborn to allow that to happen.”
He wanted to be angry, but any bitterness evaporated when he looked at Isabella. She bit her lip and fidgeted with the necklace dangling from the sleek column of her throat. With the dim overhead light illuminating her, he couldn’t help but stare.
His heart kicked against the cage of his breastbone in a way it hadn’t in a long time.
Stupid, stupid heart.
She met his gaze. “What? I’m not going to complain, if that’s what you’re waiting for.”
He just shook his head and leaned back in his seat. What kind of karma was this? Causing him to not only run into Isabella today, but also trapping him in a car with her, their bodies mere inches apart.
He sighed, trying not to think about bodies. Not his, not hers, and definitely not theirs.
Damn. This was going to be a long night.
