Snow slid down the back of his neck, leaving a trail of icy prickles. “I’m fine, but my King Ranch isn’t.” He threw out a hand. “It isn’t even two years old!”
She flinched and leaned away from him. “Um, double sorry? You have insurance, right?”
“Insurance isn’t going to get me home,” he snarled.
The space between her brows puckered. “We’ll exchange contact information, and you can give mine to your insurance company.” She spoke slowly, as if he might be an idiot. “I’ll tell them it wasn’t your fault.” This statement ended in a question.
He leveled her with a glower. “And how exactly will that help me get my truck out of the ditch?”
“Can’t you just, you know, put it in four-wheel low and get it out?” She seemed truly mystified.
He let out a mirthless laugh. “Lady, even if I could ‘get it out’ myself, I have two blown tires and only one spare.”
She chewed her lower lip. “There’s no cell reception up here, but I can call a towing service when I get to the bottom of the pass and send someone for you,” she offeredunhelpfully.
He gaped at her. “Seriously? And what am I supposed to do while you drive down the mountain andfind someoneto tow me out? That’sifyou can find someone, which is doubtful in thisstorm. There aren’t that many wreckers around here, and the ones that are operating right now will be working around the clock with the state patrol getting wrecks out of the way sotheydon’t cause more wrecks. I could be stuck here for days. The way I see it, you’re my quickest—and only—way out of here.”
She didn’t answer, and he ran on. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
The dog whimpered and strained against her hold on him. “I have to get this dog out of the cold.” She turned to leave.
“Where’s your car?”
She stopped and pivoted. “Why?” She dragged the word out, lending it more than the one syllable.
“Because your passenger also needs to get out of the cold.” He flicked a hand toward the road and tightened his collar around his neck. “Lead on.”
Panic flickered in her light eyes. “But … what if someone tries to steal your truck?”
“You’re kidding, right? It’s off the road, in a ditch, where no one can see it. Besides, no tires, remember?” he gritted out. “I’m riding down the hill with you.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line, and he braced himself for her protest. Just as it dawned on Noah she might be afraid of him, the dog slipped his makeshift collar and bolted for the road. She let out a little cry, and without thinking, Noah took off after the dog, now just a shadow plunging through the white curtain of snow. He let out a string of blistering curses as he went.
I’m as big a dumbass as she is for trying to catch a dog that obviously doesn’t want to be caught.
He reached the opposite shoulder and scrambled down another ditch, nearly stumbling over the dog, who lay prone on the ground beneath a wide pine limb.Oh shit!Was it dead? No, its chest moved rapidly.
Thank fuck!
Noah approached cautiously. The dog didn’t fight him when he lifted it against his body.The thing was lighter than it looked, made up of fur and bony limbs.
The woman appeared out of the storm. “Is he okay?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see any blood.”
Together they hurried across the still empty highway, and she directed him toward an old white Toyota 4Runner barely visible through the veil of snow. She opened the hatchback, frantically shoving items out of the way, straightening a blanket over the cargo area. Noah laid the dog inside.
He got his first whiff of the animal. “Whoa! This thing stinks.”
“Most wet dogs do.” She leaned in and slipped the belt around the animal’s neck before closing the hatchback carefully.
Noah blew on his icy hands. “What’s with the belt?”
“He didn’t have a collar. It was the only thing I had to corral him with.”
On their own, Noah’s eyes drifted down to the waistband of her jeans, visible through her partly open puffy coat. A thin sweater covering a flat abdomen disappeared beneath said waistband. Sure enough, no belt.
She motioned toward the other side of the SUV and grumbled, “Get in.”
