Who’d have thought such a big, work-roughened hand could bring such pleasure? “Jase.”

He simply wriggled his fingers and waited patiently.

So damn patiently.

She had no idea what it was about him that had her feet taking her back to the bed until her knees touched the mattress.

Smiling up into her face, he reached out and wrapped his fingers in the blanket.

And tugged.

With a gasp she fell over him, minus the blanket, which he tossed aside. With an appreciative growl for what he’d unwrapped, he tucked her beneath him and rolled on top of her, pinning her to the bed. “Better,” he murmured, dipping his head to the spot on her throat that always drove her crazy. “You taste good.”

“We-” She broke off as his hand swept up her thigh, over her belly, her ribs, to cup a breast. “Have to-”

His thumb brushed over her nipple.

She licked her lips and closed her eyes, arching up into him. “Go.”

He bent his head and replaced his thumb with his tongue, making her gasp and arch up again. “Just want one more taste…”

When she was wriggling, panting, he kissed his way down her belly, pressed open her legs and kissed an inner thigh.

“Jase-”

The single word ended on a rough exhalation as he took his “one more taste,” and then, holding her thighs open with his warm palms, took another.

And another.

“Jason.”

“Love the way you say my name,” he said against her, and then he sighed, licked her one more time, and came up on his knees, pulling her to hers.

She was shuddering, quivering, and she stared at him as he rolled off the bed. “You-we-I…”

“I know.” He looked at her, his hair wild, his eyes hot. “We’ll finish later.”

Okay. Except that hadn’t been what she’d been about to say. She’d been trying to say how mindboggling it was that he could make her feel so beautiful, so turned-on, so blown away, without even trying.

She’d been about to say how unnerving it was to find herself realizing how much more than just a crush this was.

But some things, she realized, were better left unsaid.

12

JASON CLIMBED up the stairs from the garage level of Cece’s condo, and into the kitchen. Wet to his thighs, he pulled a river raft behind him, with two life vests in it. He had a lot on his mind, and not the least was that he’d just had the hottest night of his life.

He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant except it couldn’t be good news that he was goners over one soft, beautiful, tough-as-nails Lizzy Mann.

She stood there, looking at him, and his heart gave one good, hard knock against his ribs. He’d spent twenty-four hours with her, an intensely concentrated twenty-four hours, during which time he’d seen her run the gamut of emotions, and face things most people never had to face.

She was solid. Loyal. Smart.

Yeah, goners was a good word to describe his current condition. A smarter man might have seen this coming, from the moment he’d caught sight of those slay-me eyes. He should have run hard and fast.

Instead, here he was, wrapped around her pinkie, willing to do anything for her.

Which meant he wasn’t just goners, he was screwed a hundred ways to Sunday.

LIZZY STARED at Jason as he came close, dripping everywhere. Her clothes weren’t quite dry yet and they certainly weren’t as warm and toasty as Jason’s arms and body had been all night, but they’d do. With no hot water and no electricity, the morning routine had been simple. She’d “borrowed” Cece’s extra toothbrush-which Jason had been kind enough to let her use first-and pulled on her slightly damp clothes.

“Found our way out of here,” Jason said.

She looked at the raft, then into Jason’s eyes and let out a breath. “Oh, boy.”

“Don’t worry.” He set down the raft and came closer still, pulling her up to her toes to give her a warm, hard kiss. She couldn’t tell him that it wasn’t their mode of transportation that had worried her.

“Find any food?” Jason asked, setting her down, turning to the cabinets.

“A single-track mind,” she said.

“Nope. It’s a double track.” Over his shoulder, he wriggled an eyebrow in her direction, telling her without words what else he could think about.

Impossibly, her lips twitched. “I found some snacks.”

“Great.” He looked around hopefully. “Where?”

They’d had sex.

That thought kept bumping around in her brain, which meant she was the one with the single-track mind. And it’d felt like a hell of a lot more than just sex. They’d connected more than just the required body parts, far more. Truth was, he’d made love to her, and now she felt all soft and dreamy and mushy, and that couldn’t be good. She didn’t work well with soft and dreamy and mushy.

“It’s actually warmer out there than it was yesterday,” Jason said. “Which doesn’t bode well. Warmer air usually means more rain.”

“Yeah.” She’d looked out the window. The rain was still coming down. They were past the twenty-four-inch mark and climbing, and no end was in sight. The winds were still a problem, keeping the power lines down and unsafe. But flooding was the biggest concern. The street outside was nothing but a raging river now, which had overtaken the yards and the bottom floors of every building along it.

Cece’s garage had over four feet of water in it and the level was rising. She’d never seen anything like it except for on the news.

But Jason had. He’d lived it, and it’d cost him dearly. “Here’s what I’ve got.” She revealed the Cheez Whiz and crackers in Cece’s pantry and made him laugh. “I know, my sister has the palette of a puppy, or a twelve-year-old boy.”

“Not seeing the problem,” he said, already plowing his way through the crackers.

“I’m assuming you usually eat more healthy than this.”

“I eat in bigger quantities, that’s for sure.” He stuffed a loaded cracker into her mouth, then opened the cupboard behind her.

She took in his long, lean, tough body. “So how do you keep in such good shape?”

He slid her an amused look, then abandoned his search, hooked an arm around her neck and hauled her in. “Well…I did just burn off a good amount of calories.”

“Yes. Yes, you did.” She felt her cheeks heat. “That was, um…”

His eyes were hot. “Fun?”

“Very. And…”

He arched an eyebrow.

“Good.” And amazing. And brain-cell destroying. And off the charts…“Very good.”

His smile was slow and wickedly sweet, and also wickedly naughty as he backed her up until the wall hit her back. Plastering a hand on either side of her face, he dipped down so that they were at the same eye level. “And that wasn’t even my best work.”

She was turned on and turned upside down by him, but it was so much more than that. He made her laugh, which was possibly the most attractive thing of all. “No?”

“Definitely not.” He kissed her jaw and made his way up to her ear, which he gently sucked into his mouth, making her eyes cross. “I’m starving and tired,” he murmured. “But when this is all over and we’ve slept for about two straight days?” He laughed low and sexy in his throat. “I’ll show you what I’ve got.”

The thought made her knees wobble. “When this is over, I’ll be busy at work.”

“Twenty-four seven?”

She pulled back and met his gaze, which was steady and sure. He was always steady and sure, she knew. Always. “Not twenty-four seven, no.”

“So maybe you’ll find a few hours here and there for me.”

“Is that all you need, Jase? A few hours?”

“Hell, Lizzy…” He ran a hand down her body, squeezing her hip, flashing a little smile. “I don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m going, but I’ll take whatever time there is until I figure it out.”

“In bed?”

He laughed again, softly against her skin. “Now you’re just teasing me.”

The idea of staying in his bed until further notice was intriguing and bone melting, but she knew herself. She knew how she felt about him after only one day. After a few weeks, or whatever he had, she’d have given him her body and heart in unison, and it would kill her. “I want to get moving.”

“I take it that’s a no.”

“Jase.” She sighed. “It has to be.”

“So last night didn’t do anything for you then?”

She thought of how many times he’d made her come, and felt her body respond to just the memory. “There’s more than just sex.”

“Are you dumping me, Lizzy?” he asked softly.

Her heart caught. “Well, it is my turn.”

“I never dumped you.”

“Rejected me, then.”

“And I most definitely never rejected you.”

“Ran scared,” she amended.

“Now that…” He leaned in for another kiss. “That’s the honest truth.” He rubbed his lips over hers. “Luckily, I don’t run scared anymore. From anything.”

“No?” She put her hand to his chest to hold him off. And to touch him. God, she was so mixed up. “Well, apparently that’s my thing now.”

His eyes lifted from her mouth and met hers. “So you really are going to run scared.”

His tone suggested the ridiculousness of that, but it didn’t make it not true. She was afraid, afraid of getting hurt. “Maybe I’m running scared of your eating habits.”

Letting her get away with that, he turned back for a deeper foray into the cupboards and she let out a breath. When he came up with a can of ravioli, she shook her head.

“Trust me,” he said. “I’ve eaten a lot worse for breakfast.”

She supposed he had and, looking into his face, which happened to take her breath, she found herself once again marveling at the man he’d become.

“I want to see where this takes us, Lizzy,” he said, finding a can opener and two spoons.

“Hopefully straight to Cece.”