before jerking to a spine-rattling stop. Colin’s palm slammed against the dash as he bellowed awake, a particularly choice swearword hanging in the cold air between them for what felt like an hour.
“What the hell?”
“S-something darted out in front of the c-car,” Emily finally got out, over the sudden—and horrifying—realization of exactly how close she was to losing it.
“You okay?”
How a gruff voice could be so gentle, Emily had no idea. How she was going to keep it together in the face of that gentleness, she had even less of one. But she would. If it killed her.
Her neck hurt a little when she nodded. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine.”
On a half-assed laugh, she leaned her head back. Or would have if the headrest had let her. “I almost took out Bambi. What do you think?” She dared to cut her eyes to his, only to realize she couldn’t see them anyway. Thank goodness. “Sorry about the sudden stop. Is everything... Are you...?”
“I’m good. Or will be when my heart climbs back down out of my throat.” Which he now cleared. “Good save, by the way.”
“How would you know?” she said, even as pleasure flushed her cheeks. “Since you slept through it.”
“We’re still upright. And alive. So I count that as a win.”
“Funny, you don’t strike me as a look-on-the-bright-side type.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“I already am. Well.” And her heart could stop break-dancing anytime now, she thought as she gripped the wheel. “I guess we should get going—”
“You’re shaking.”
“Only a little... What are you doing?”
This asked as he got out of the car and walked around to her side, motioning for her to open the door. “Taking over the driving, what does it look like?”
“You don’t have to—”
“Actually, I think I do.”
Emily felt her face go grumpy. “I thought you said that was a good save.”
“It was. And I mean that. But I’m awake now—”
“Sorry about that.”
“—and I’m probably a little better at recovering from stress than you are.”
“Heh. You ever driven on the DC beltway?”
“Many times. Although trust me, it doesn’t even begin to compare with Mumbai. Besides, once we hit town, do you have any idea where we’re going?”
There was that. Because, again, she hadn’t driven when she’d been out before. Of course her plan had been to either rely on the car’s GPS or—probably better—on Dee or Josh. Which she could still do. But by now she realized she was beginning to slip across that fine line between independent and mule-headed. And she was whacked, too.
“Emily?”
Again with the gentleness. Jerk.
“Fine,” she said, climbing down from behind the wheel and marching around to the passenger side, huddling deeper into her sweater coat before strapping herself in. Rocks crunched and rattled as Colin pulled back onto the highway, and Emily felt her jangled nerves relax. A little.
Because for some reason this guy seemed a lot bigger awake than he had asleep. And she wasn’t exactly tiny. A fact that had apparently induced no small amount of angst in her petite mother—
“So where are we, exactly?” Colin asked.
“Just past Taos.”
He nodded. “You mind if I turn down the...music?”
“Turn it off, if you want. I don’t care.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Except the silence that followed made her brain hurt. Strange how she didn’t mind the quiet when she was actually by herself. But when there was actually someone else in the space—
“So how come you didn’t tell anyone you were coming?”
He hesitated, then said, “Because I didn’t want to.”
“None of my business, in other words.”
His gaze veered to hers, then away.
“And you don’t think they might find it weird when we show up together?”
A single-note chuckle pushed through his nose. “Dog with a bone, aren’t cha?”
Her mouth pulled flat, Emily shoved her hair behind her ear. But after years of being the peacemaker, the One Most Likely to Back Down... “Guess I don’t have a whole lot of patience these days for secrets.”
“Even though this has nothing to do with you.”
“Me, no. My cousin, yes. And her husband. And his family. So...”
“And you’re nothing if not loyal.”
She waited out the stab to her heart before saying, “Out of fashion though that might be.”
That got a look. Probably accompanied by a frown, though she wasn’t about to check.
Another couple miles passed before he said, “And I’m guessing I’ve been the topic of conversation recently.”
“Your name does come up a lot,” she said quietly, then glanced over. “Since, you know, you’re the brother who’s not there. And hasn’t been there for years.”
Seconds passed. “I’ve been...on assignment.”
Exactly what Josh had said, after his and Dee’s wedding, his that’s-life shrug at complete odds with the disappointment in his eyes. And between the leftover shakiness from nearly taking out that deer back there and feeling like hornets had set up shop inside her brain, whatever filters Emily might have once had were blown to hell.
“From everything I can tell, Colin, your family’s great. In fact, most people would be grateful...” Tears biting at her eyes, she gave her head a sharp shake, rattling the hornets. “So what exactly did they do to tick you off so much?”
* * *
And to think, Colin mused, if he hadn’t agreed to this crazy woman’s suggestion to share the car, the worst that might’ve happened would have been his ending up in a ditch somewhere.
Of course, he didn’t owe her, or anyone, an explanation. Although she seemed like a nice enough kid—if pushy—and surprisingly playing the total bastard
