Ignoring his partner’s comments because they were too damned close to the truth to comment upon, Stone turned and then suddenly bolted across the room. Jessie was struggling to her feet. He should have known she wouldn’t do a damned thing he said.
A few minutes later, Jack leaned in the car window, sympathetically eyeing Jessica’s pale face as Stone fastened her seat belt. He knew Stone had been right in wanting to help her. This storm had messed up a lot of lives. He supposed it was fortunate they’d happened along.
“Miss Hanson, I’ll bring your car to your home when I pick up Stone, but I need to talk to a couple of people here at the lodge first,” he said.
Jessica’s lips trembled as she handed him the keys to her car. “Thank you. I appreciate your help.”
Stryker walked back toward the lodge as Stone pulled out of the parking lot. He gave Jessie a sideways glance.
“How come you appreciate Jack’s help and mine annoys you?”
Jessica stared out the window. Maybe because I don’t dream about going to bed with your partner. She took a deep breath and fought back new tears.
“Detective Richardson, I appreciate your help.”
He tried to laugh off the hurt he kept feeling as she continued to shut him out. “Dang, you sweet-talking woman. You’re just liable to sweep me off my feet.”
She refused to comment.
Stone tried another subject. “I see you cut your hair.”
She burst into tears.
Startled by her reaction, Stone swerved the car to the side of the road and jammed it into Park. Worried, he slid his hand up the back of her neck.
“Are you sick? Do you want me to—”
His touch, his consideration and those damned gray bedroom eyes were going to be her downfall. Desperate to put some distance between herself and the man who could be her Waterloo, she turned on him without warning.
“Stone Richardson, if you don’t put this car into gear and take me home, I will never forgive you.”
Torn between anger and dismay, he moved back to his side of the car.
“Lord love a duck, Jessie Leigh, you’d make a preacher lose his religion.”
Then he grabbed the steering wheel with both hands. The car took off from a parked position like a turpentined cat, leaving black rubber and smoke to mark its passing. A short while later, he turned the corner leading down her street and slid to a stop at the side of her driveway, leaving just enough room for Jack to park.
Jessica breathed a quiet sigh of relief and reached for her seat belt, anxious to make a getaway before she embarrassed herself even more than she already had.
“Thank you for bringing me home.”
This time his laugh was little more than a gruff bark. “You don’t get rid of me this easy.”
Before she could argue, he was out of the car and helping her up the walk. When they reached the door, he stopped and turned.
Pinned beneath his watchful gaze, she realized he was waiting for her to open the door.
“Just a minute,” she said, fumbling through her purse for the keys. “I know they’re in here.” And then she remembered she’d given them to Stryker. She looked at Stone. “Oh, no, I gave them to your partner.”
“Allow me,” he drawled, and before she could think to argue, he had pulled the lock pick from his pocket and, once more, picked the lock to her front door.
She started to comment, but changed her mind when he stepped aside and pointed forcefully.
“You! Inside!”
“But I—”
He took her by the hand and pulled her after him, shutting the door behind them.
“Damn it, honey, you are trying my patience to—”
It was once too many times to ignore. Without thinking, she drew back and let fly, thumping his arm with the bulk of her purse.
“Stop calling me ‘honey’! You gave up that right when you walked out of my life!”
Stunned by the fact that not only had she hit him with her purse, but she was yelling at him, Stone yelled back.
“I’m not the one who walked out, you are.”
In spite of the ominous swing to the purse she still clutched in her hand, Stone held his ground and wished he hadn’t given up the right to hold her. Right now he would give a whole lot to have her in his bed and his arms. The blue in her eyes had turned dark and angry. Staccato bursts of her breath brushed his face. Stone remembered thinking that she was close—but not nearly close enough to suit him.
The next thing he knew, he’d yanked her into his arms and was kissing those sweet, pouting lips. Tasting her shock and the echoes of her words, and knowing it was never going to be enough.
Jessica went from stunned to surrender in just under three seconds, unprepared for the jolt of emotion that tore through her. The only thing she remembered thinking was that she’d wasted the last two years. She hadn’t gotten over a thing.
Stone took a deep breath and turned her loose, and in those moments before he moved away, something precious passed between them that they couldn’t take back. Unspoken, but obvious, just the same.
“Stone, I—”
His voice was gruff, but his hands were shaking. “Get in bed.”
She took a sudden step backward. Where had all the tenderness gone?
He groaned. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said softly, and took a deep breath while trying to calm his racing pulse. He reached out, lifting the fringe of her bangs to look at the white bandage beneath. “You have to be careful. I still think you should call the doctor. Head injuries are tricky.”
Her fingers brushed the surface of her mouth. “Not nearly as tricky as you.”
He flushed but held his ground. “I will not apologize for what just happened.”
She lifted her chin and walked back to the door, then opened it and stood aside, waiting for him to leave. As he stepped out, she slammed the door behind him. When she was certain there was at least three inches of solid wood between him and her, she shouted, “I don’t recall asking for an apology.”
Stone froze in midstep and then pivoted. His hand was on the doorknob just as a familiar click sounded. His eyebrows arched in disbelief. The little witch! She’d locked him out.
“What about your car keys?”
“Drop them through the mail slot, and thank you for the ride.”
“You call the doctor or I’ll do it for you!” he shouted.
