her a question. Was she okay? A question that brought her firmly back to the present. And the present was looking tricky. No Dustin meant no SUV, and no SUV meant she’d have to go it alone, and that wasn’t going to be easy. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about Cece. It’s probably nothing but I just want to go check on her.”
“Cece,” he said. “Your sister? Troublemaker Cece?”
He remembered. Damn. He was hot and sharp, which just didn’t seem like a fair distribution of gifts. “She called me last night at work. She said she was fine, no contractions or anything, but now I can’t get a hold of her, and—”
His eyes widened. “She’s pregnant?”
“Yes. And her cell phone is off. I’m thinking she evacuated, that it’s okay, I just need to get a damn life,” she said with a self-conscious laugh. “She’s growing up and moving on, and I need to do the same, but I just can’t go to higher ground and relax until I’m sure.” Because a very small part of her couldn’t trust her sister to do it, even though she should be able to.
It was asinine. “I can’t get to Eastside in my car. I was hoping to borrow Dustin’s SUV.”
“Okay.” Jason shoved his fingers through his hair and let out a breath, the movement of his arms stretching and flexing all sorts of muscles that pretty much made her mouth dry up. “Where’s her husband?”
“There is no husband. The father of her baby ran so fast her head is still spinning. I’d really hoped to find Dustin here.”
“I’ll have to do.”
In truth, he looked a lot like his much kinder, gentler brother. He had dark hair, cut military short. Like Dustin, he had light gray steely eyes that she knew could be warm and playful, or cut like steel.
But unlike Dustin, Jason had an edge, which had only sharpened over time, from his intense gaze to his physique, honed by the military.
“I have a Jeep,” he said. “I’ll take you to her.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He considered her a moment, bemused as he ran a hand down his stubbled jaw. “Because you need a ride?” At her obvious surprise he shook his head. “Jesus, was I that big of an ass?”
She didn’t want to go there. No way. “All I need is to borrow your Jeep.”
“Ah. So you don’t need me. Duly noted. But the Jeep and I are a package deal. Take it or leave it.” His smile was tight, and went tighter when her cell phone rang and she pounced on it rather than respond to him.
“Hey,” Cristina said. “How goes it?”
“I’m going to go check on Cece.”
“Not in this. We were all called in on emergency shifts it’s so bad out there.”
“I just want to make sure she got out.”
“Not by yourself.”
“Not exactly.” Lizzy glanced at Jason, who was standing where she’d left him, still gloriously half-naked, watching her. “I’ve got Jason.”
He smiled grimly, and nodded his approval of her choice.
“Dustin’s Jason?” Cristina asked, letting out a low whistle. “Nice. The guy’s a virtual search and rescue team all on his own. But…”
“But what?”
“He’s…had a rough few months.”
“He looks okay.”
He arched a brow in her direction.
More than okay…
“Honey, he looks hot,” Cristina corrected with characteristic bluntness and a laugh.
Feeling her face heat, Lizzy turned away from Jason’s probing eyes. “I don’t see how that’s pertinent.”
“Then you must have failed Chem 101. It’s too bad you have that whole penis embargo going. You going to be able to resist?”
Lizzy risked a look over her shoulder. Jason had leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. Calm and steady.
Look at him, so absolutely at ease in his own skin. She grounded her back teeth together. “Not a problem.”
Cristina laughed softly. “Yeah, good luck with that. Call me.”
“I will.” She slipped her phone into her pocket.
Jason remained silent, his feelings carefully shielded. She had no doubt that he’d be an incredible asset to her out there in the storm, but unfortunately, he was far too dangerous to her mental health. “I want to thank you for offering to help. I appreciate it, but I can do this alone.”
He shook his head, annoyance crossing his features. “You always were stubborn as a—”
“Hey.”
“—mule,” he finished sweetly. As if he was sweet!
“You just got in town,” she said, lifting her chin. “I don’t want to take up your time.” Or hers, staring at his half-naked bod…
He pushed away from the wall. “All I was doing was sleeping. You’re going to need help, Lizzy.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Really? So you know how to drive in weather like this, or how to cross a flooded street? How to get into a flooded building? How to get a pregnant woman out of a flooded building?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“I’m going with you.”
This was such a bad idea. “Jason—”
“The words are thank you.”
“Fine. Thank you.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard.” In the old days, he might have added a suggestive smile, a few teasing words, anything to make her blush or stammer or act like an idiot—which she’d done more times than she cared to remember.
But there was none of that now. No mockery. No triumph.
Nothing.
“You asked me if I was okay,” she said slowly. “But I feel like I should ask you. Are you—”
“Terrific.” He turned away as the house shuddered under the cruel weight of the wind. “Listen, if we’re going to do this, we should get moving.”
“You think it’s going to get worse?”
“Yeah, I do. They’re calling for two feet of rain.”
