Storm Watch

“You did.” He laughed when she growled at him. “And I mean you were good different. Amazing different.”

“Oh, come on. You only talked to me because I did your work for you.”

“Do you have any idea how cool I thought that was, that you were willing to help me and not want anything from me at all? You didn’t care what anyone else thought. You didn’t add up your worth by who you were sleeping with-”

“I didn’t sleep with anyone. Not in high school, which I suppose you also knew.”

Not completely stupid, he kept his mouth shut.

“Oh, my God. You said I kissed fine!”

“Actually, I said you kissed like heaven.” He still remembered that day; the hot bleachers, the oak tree…the sun shining down on her hair, her eyes wide on his as he’d lowered his mouth to hers. He remembered thinking, Damn Paul was an idiot, don’t you be, don’t screw it up for her. And then their lips had touched and he’d been unable to think at all.

After a glorious few tongue-tangling moments under that hot sun, she’d stepped back, licked her lips and politely thanked him.

Then asked him to show her the rest.

“What?” he’d asked stupidly.

“The rest,” she’d repeated in a low whisper. “Show me the rest, more of…this.”

More? When it’d already been so much deeper than anything he’d experienced? He wasn’t equipped for it, and for the first time in his life, he’d walked away from a girl. Just run off. So dumb, and so unintentionally cruel. He’d hated himself for not trying to explain it to her, for letting her think he didn’t want her. Later he’d tried, but she’d refused to talk about it, telling him that if he brought it up again, she’d kung fu him in the family jewels. He’d believed her. “I can’t tell you how many times I wished I hadn’t walked away that day-”

“You didn’t walk, you ran. But I understood. You had girls vying to give you the best blow job, and there I was, Virgin Lizzy.”

He choked out a laugh. “Vying to give me a blow job?”

“Yeah, they used to brag about it in P.E. class.”

“Lizzy, no one in high school ever gave me a blow job.”

She just looked at him.

“I never got past second base in high school. Well, one time I got my hands down Cindy Potter’s pants, but she wouldn’t put her hands down mine.”

“Everyone said you were the best kisser in the entire senior class.”

“I should have been, it’s all I ever got to do. Look,” he said, smile fading. “About that day-”

“Seriously. What did I tell you about that? I am not going to discuss it. I’ll still kung fu your ass.”

“About that day,” he said firmly, even while shifting clear just in case. “I could have had you, we both know that, but you were too good for me, and I knew that, too.”

She looked at him for a long beat. “Do you really expect me to believe that a teenage guy turned down sex because I was too good for him?”

As he had then, he felt raw and exposed in a way he rarely allowed himself. “I wanted you, Lizzy. I wanted you as badly as you wanted me. I was just afraid.”

“Uh-huh. You were afraid of the mouse.”

“You weren’t a mouse. I was afraid of what you made me feel, even back then.”

She clearly didn’t believe him, and why should she? He looked out the windshield; the storm continued to batter the car with wind and rain and debris. Inside, he felt just as battered. He’d naively thought he’d sleep the day away, maybe see his brother, eat, watch a few games, anything except think about the pain beneath his breastbone, the one that had Matt’s name all over it. Anything except feel.

Ironic, when all he’d done since Lizzy had shown up was feel. “Lizzy.”

“Please drive.” She put on her seat belt, looking pointedly ahead.

She wanted to ignore everything between them. Fine. Far be it for him to bash his head against the wall of her stubborn-ass determination and, telling himself that, he put the Jeep into gear.

6

LIZZY WAS GLAD for Jason’s silence. But a mile down the road, he slowed to nearly a stop. In front of them, a fire engine blocked the road.

Lizzy knew most of the fire personnel in town from working at the hospital, and she was happy to see it was Sam and Eddie manning the roadblock. They stood in rain gear, looking as wet and miserable as she and Jason were.

Sam and Eddie were from Firehouse Number 34, her favorite because the crew that worked it were like family to her. She attended a monthly card game there with Eddie, and often won. As for Sam, she’d actually gone out with him twice. He was cute, sexy and funny, but she’d learned that he made a far better friend than a potential lover, a decision that had turned out to be the right one since he’d recently hooked up once more with his high school sweetheart, Sara.

The guys were both happy to see Jason, and the three of them spent a minute catching up. She heard the name Matt for the second time and wondered who that was.

“Where are you trying to get to?” Sam finally asked Lizzy.

“Third and Cove.”

“Ah.” He shook his head. “You can’t get there from here. And, hey, you weren’t at the game the other night.”

“I picked up an extra shift. And we have to get to Third.”

Sam cut his gaze to Jason and shook his head. “Glad you’re back, man. Good to see you safe. But to stay that way, you have to stay off Third.”

“It might be an emergency,” Lizzy said.

“There’s twenty-four inches of water running through downtown,” Sam said. “We’ve got backup units coming from all over the state, but what we really need is for the storm to pass. I’m sorry, Lizzy, but Dustin would kill me if I let you risk your neck.”

“Dustin isn’t here.”

Hearing her desperation, he reached for her hand, eyes warm on hers. “What’s the matter? Tell me what’s going on.”

“Cece’s renting one of the Third Avenue condos. I think she might still be there.”

He hunkered over to get his face level to hers. “Are you sure? They were told to clear out.”

“You know how stubborn she is, and she’s pregnant. Nine months’ pregnant.”

Sam let out a low whistle through his teeth. “She’s not answering her cell?”

“It’s off. I’m thinking she’s out of battery.”

“Or she’s evacuated and out of range,” Eddie said. “The river’s taken over Third Avenue.”

“I know, but I have to get in there to make sure.” She turned to Sam, the softer of the two. “Please.”

He grimaced, torn. “Lizzy-”

“Look, I’ll come right back out again, I promise. But if you don’t let me in, I’ll just go in on foot.”

Not doubting her for a minute, Sam nodded reluctantly, but he held her gaze as he leaned in and pressed a warm, careless kiss on her lips. “You have my cell.”

“Yes.”

“Use it. If you find her or if you can’t-either way I want to hear from you. Ten-four?”

“Ten-four.”

They pulled away, Jason handling the road with much more confidence than she could have even faked. “You and Sam,” he said. “A thing?”

She was surprised at the question, but she knew she’d given him the right to ask when she’d crawled into his