She stared at him, then planted a hand in the middle of his chest and shoved, dunking him back into the water.
LIZZY LOVED HER neighborhood. It had gone south in the eighties, been revitalized in the nineties, and had stood still in time since, so the houses were far more affordable than on the other side of town.
The water level hadn’t risen as high here, only a few feet. Most houses they passed hadn’t flooded, thanks to their concrete footings and foundations.
But the devastation still shocked her. Trees down. Cars buried under them. Roofs destroyed. Yards gone.
And it was still raining.
“Are you hanging in okay?” he asked quietly.
She looked at him, then closed her eyes. “Don’t be nice.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’ll confuse me.”
He blinked, then shook his wet head. “Okay, you’re going to have to explain that to me.”
“I really want to stay mad at you. So if you don’t mind, you need to go back to being an ass.”
“And you’ll go back to what?”
“Being Lizzy. A sister. A nurse. It’s what I do, it’s what makes me happy.”
“And a soon-to-be doctor,” he reminded her.
Right. How had she forgotten that? “Yes, but the point is the happy part.”
“Everyone should do what makes them happy.”
“Yes,” she whispered, wondering why then she didn’t feel that way.
They turned the corner to her street, where they were able to abandon the raft and wade the rest of the way in. They passed her neighbor’s house; Mike’s okay, not too badly damaged. Her house was the last on the street. She’d lost a tree in her front yard, which had missed her roof by inches, but at least she still had a roof. She stared at the place in relief. “I half expected it to be gone.”
It was tiny inside, postage-stamp tiny, with the kitchen and living room all together, and two little bedrooms off a small hallway, with one bathroom between them, but it was hers. All hers, cozy and neat, just how she’d left it.
And empty. “She’s not here.”
Jason walked through, his big, wet body making the rooms appear even smaller. He stopped in front of her, running his hands up and down her arms, making her realize she was still shivering. “Which meant she really did get out. That’s a good thing, Lizzy.”
Nodding, she tried to turn away, but he held her. “About us.”
“Jason-”
“You stayed in Santa Rey when you could have left and gotten the life you wanted for yourself. That’s admirable.”
“I stayed because my sister needed me. We’ve been over this. You’d have done the same.”
“Maybe. My family means everything to me, so yeah, probably. But, Lizzy, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that at some point, you have to think of yourself.”
The words, softly spoken and utterly from the heart, further compromised her calm. “I think of myself plenty. Hello, medical school in the fall.”
“Before that. In the here and now. What do you do for yourself that makes you happy?”
“I’m on leave. I plan on doing plenty for myself.”
The look accompanying that sentence singed her nerve endings and had her nipples hardening. “I’m not having this conversation,” she said.
“Just one more thing then.”
“No.”
He slid a hand up her back, gently curving his fingers around the nape of her neck to tilt her head to his. “I like that you were stubborn enough to make your love of medicine work for you, even when becoming a doctor didn’t work out back then. Now make something else work for you, as well. Something
“And I suppose by something, you mean
A ghost of a smile curved his mouth. “Well, I am standing right here.”
“And leaving, soon enough.”
His eyes never left hers. “Yeah. But what if I wasn’t?”
She stared at him, her heart kicking hard. “Then I am. Leaving. Besides, you’re not looking for a relationship.”
“I wasn’t, no. Things change. Life’s too short.”
Her heart skipped an entire beat. “We’d drive each other insane within a few dates, Jason.”
“Chicken.”
Lizzy let out a breath and went into the bathroom. Locking the door, she thunked her head against it. Lord, was she out of her element when it came to him. Pushing away from the door, she turned on the shower. There was no hot water, but even a cold one had to help.
THE BATHROOM LOCK CLICKED loud into the silence, the message clear to Jason.
Do.
Not.
Disturb.
Got it. He collapsed in exhaustion on the couch and leaned his head back, letting his eyes close for a moment as he heard the shower go on in the bathroom.
Without electricity, that was going to be one hell of a cold shower, but hey, if that’s what she wanted to do rather than face him, fine. At least out here he could have some peace and quiet.
Hell.
He didn’t want peace and quiet. He wanted to be in that shower with Lizzy.
Stripping her, soaping her, touching her. Tasting her.
He opened his eyes at the odd sound, an unmistakable click of steel, a sound that reminded him of-
“Don’t move,” a man said softly, moving around to the front of the couch, holding a gun pointed at Jason’s chest. “Don’t move and I’ll let you live.”
15
THE COLD SHOWER didn’t help. Getting out, Lizzy wrapped herself in a towel, and then froze at the sound of voices out in the living room. Her heart surged in her chest and she lunged for the door, because the only person she could think of who’d come here was Cece.
She ran into the living room, tucking her towel between her breasts, dripping water everywhere, and skidded to a shocked halt at the sight that greeted her.
Jason on the couch, his hands up behind his head, wrists in handcuffs, which were locked around the wood beam that the couch backed up to, the one that bisected her small living room.
More shocking-standing in front of him was Mike, her neighbor.
Holding a gun.
“Mike!” she cried in shock. “What are you doing?”
Mike was fiftysomething, tall, reed thin, and an ex-cop. He’d been shot while on duty last year and medically discharged. His head whipped toward Lizzy, his eyes widening at the sight of her standing there in nothing but a towel. “Lizzy.” He gulped, then quickly looked away. “I caught this guy trying to loot you.”
“I wasn’t-” Jason broke off when Mike waved the gun at him.
“You shut up.” Mike was a good guy who’d been through some bad stuff, including coming back after being
