Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I wondered what it looked like when he had his shirt off…
“Winnie.”
The hard, even tone of Steel’s voice had me blinking. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Are you okay?”
I nodded once, my fingertips itching to run along his chest.
“Are you sure?”
I swallowed, then nodded. “When I was nineteen, I had a close call. That guy reminded me of it is all.”
“A close call.”
I nodded.
“What kind of close call?”
“The kind where someone followed me and Conleigh home, but he didn’t actually get anything accomplished before I ducked into the laundry room of our apartment complex. The next day, the same thing happened to another girl, only she wasn’t as lucky as me.”
His eyes studied my face.
“What was his name?”
My stomach started to churn despite having Steel right there.
Every time I thought about what could’ve happened to me—to Conleigh because he hadn’t just stopped at women—my belly started to protest.
“Anderson Munnick,” I answered. “He was a…”
“A serial rapist that they could only pin one rape on,” Griffin answered. “You remember that case that rolled through Texas a few years back? Those ones that we called every single chief of police in the state of Alabama to warn?”
Steel’s hand tightened on my wrist.
“You testified.”
I nodded. “I did.”
His eyes warmed. “Good girl.”
A moment passed in between us where we stared at each other. His praise made me feel light and airy, and I wanted to bury my face in between his two perfect pecs.
“What is this?” Griffin suddenly asked.
I looked over at him studying the contents of the cup.
“Jambalaya,” I answered. “The man up there had his wife cook the contents of their freezer since their power was out and the meat was going to spoil. She cooked jambalaya, stew, and about ten different kinds of meat.”
Griffin grunted. “Smells fucking divine.”
“You can have it,” I offered, then turned to the man still holding my hands to his chest. “I brought you one, Steel.”
“Thanks,” he said, finally realizing that he was still holding me and letting go. “Are you sure you don’t want it?”
I nodded. “My appetite is gone.”
Steel studied me for a few more seconds before he nodded.
“They’re likely about to move this to higher ground,” Steel suddenly said. “The levees that are holding back the lake in town are about to break. That means when it does, this parking lot is going to be underwater. Are you ready?”
Wide-eyed, I nodded.
“But what about everyone else in the tent?”
I looked over my shoulder at the tent and noticed that there weren’t nearly as many people around as there had been when I’d first left for the bathroom.
“They’re shipping out. The new central evac point will be about a mile and a half up the road. Higher ground,” Griffin muttered, taking a cautious bite of his food.
Then he moaned.
“Oh my God. This shit is the bomb.”
He brought the cup of food up to his lips and started to drink it like one would when they chugged a beer.
I started to laugh, then shook my head and turned my gaze back to the man that was still studying me.
“I’m ready when you are.”
He nodded once. “Right.”
Then we spent the rest of the night and way into the early hours of the morning helping.
An hour after six in the morning, we finally hit Steel’s truck.
“I’m dying,” I moaned, shucking my wet boots and setting them carefully into the floorboard of the backseat.
Steel grunted. “Fucking rain. If I never see another goddamn drop of it again it’ll be too soon.”
Another raindrop hit the windshield then, causing me to laugh.
“You were saying?”
He sighed.
“These pants are fucking wet as fuck.”
He’d taken his waders off before he’d gotten into the truck, but at some point during the night, Steel had sunk into the water past his waders as he tried to rescue an elderly woman from her car.
He’d spent the rest of the night wet, but he hadn’t once complained.
Until now.
“Take them off,” I suggested. “I’ll close my delicate eyes.”
He scoffed as he reached for the waistband of his jeans. “They’re coming off whether I had your permission or not.”
My heart rate skyrocketed as I slapped my hands over my eyes.
I heard the clink of his buckle and the slide of his zipper before he cursed while he shoved the wet pants down his legs.
“Shit,” he cursed. “Can you reach my bag?”
Could I reach his bag?
“Where is it?” I questioned, still keeping my hands over my eyes even though I wanted to do nothing but open my eyes and stare at him.
He had to be naked at this point. Had to.
“It’s behind the back seat. You’ll have to crawl back there and reach behind the seat for it.
I carefully started to crawl back there without opening my eyes.
“You so owe me,” I informed him.
He started to chuckle.
“Duly noted.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how I got my first good look at the man who was, indeed, sitting in his seat buck naked.