Once they were both inside the cab of the truck, he started the engine and then turned off the air conditioner. Although it was relatively warm outside, cool air blasting at them was only going to make their damp clothes that much more uncomfortable. They were both drenched through and through, but Kylie was shaking. Gage had no idea whether she was cold or if the conversation had set her on edge. Considering she had been willing to walk back to town, which was a good six miles, he would guess the latter.

“If you’ll take me into town, I’ll call a cab,” Kylie finally spoke as she fastened her seatbelt. She went on to explain, “Travis picked me up this morning, so I don’t have my truck.”

“Not sure we’ll get that lucky,” Gage muttered as he spun his tires in the mud, trying to gain purchase so he could back out onto the road. The condensed grove of trees had done remarkably little to keep the soil from taking the brunt of the rain, and the truck was currently battling the elements.

“What does that mean?” Kylie asked, glaring at him as she wrapped her arms around her body, shaking like a leaf.

“There’s a good chance the road is under water.”

“Already?”

“It doesn’t take much down here,” he explained as he managed to get enough dry land under his tires to jerk the truck out of the mud. Turning in his seat, he watched out the back window as he floored it through the open space that led to the main road. Once he hit pavement, he threw the truck in Drive and turned the truck toward their exit.

“What will we do if the road is under water?” she asked, sounding somewhat panicked.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” he told her, not wanting to spook her even more. The problem was…

“I don’t have a signal on my phone,” she said, sounding nearly desperate.

Yep, that was the problem. They were in a veritable dead zone this far out. Not a cell tower for a good ways. They wouldn’t even be able to call the fire department to come and fish them out if necessary.

Kylie was quiet for a few minutes while Gage continued to battle the blinding rain as he drove as fast as he was willing to go in hopes they could beat the rush of water that would likely already have washed out their exit.

The road was lined on both sides by towering ash and elm trees that had reached out their long, skinny arms, joining forces overhead which, coupled with the clouds, only made it darker. Pitch black was more like it.

As they rushed through the darkened tunnel of greenery, Gage was getting his hopes up, thinking they might just have a chance of beating the deluge that would submerge the road. And that’s when he saw taillights in the darkness ahead. And the vehicle they were attached to wasn’t moving forward. Pulling his foot from the gas pedal, Gage allowed the truck to slow until they were coasting closer.

“Oh my God!” Kylie screamed, and that’s when Gage realized – which he had already suspected – the taillights ahead were those of a familiar truck. Unfortunately, said truck was sticking ass up out of a ditch on the side of the road.

“Travis!”

“Don’t move,” he ordered, noticing she was getting more and more hysterical as the seconds passed, her hand already reaching for the door handle.

“Screw you,” she yelled, throwing open the door and dropping to the muddy earth beneath her. When she glared over at him as she prepared to run toward Travis’ truck, he saw the fear and anger swirling in the now dark blue of her eyes. “You’re not going to do anything?”

“Of course I’m going to do something,” he ground out. “But you aren’t. Get your pretty little ass back in the truck and don’t move. I’ll be back in a minute.” Gage’s temper had long since surpassed the pissed off point and Kylie’s quick assumption that he wasn’t going to help Travis nearly sent him over the edge.

As it was, Gage was relying on his training to keep him from getting upset. No matter what they were going through, no matter how many times they butted heads, Gage had already accepted that he was beginning to care about Travis more than he already had. Not only because he was Kaleb’s brother and Gage had spent more time with their family than his own for years, but also because there was an undeniable attraction between them.

Well, if he’d had any hope that Kylie would obey, which he really hadn’t, he learned his lesson right-fast. The passenger door slammed shut, and Kylie took off down the road, running flat out as she closed the distance between where Gage had stopped and where Travis’ disabled truck sat.

Gage sighed. This was not going to be fun. He felt it in his bones.

Battling the deluge of rain and the gale force winds, he managed to get the truck door open, dropping his cowboy hat in the seat before he climbed out. He was down the road and standing beside Kylie in seconds, both of them staring down the shallow embankment they’d have to descend in order to get to him.

Glancing over at her, he bit his tongue to keep from telling her to stay put. She wasn’t going to listen, and if he didn’t kick it into high gear, she was about to leave him behind.

“Stay behind me,” he told her as he started down the hill, his boots slipping in the mud and muck. When he felt Kylie’s fingers latch on to his belt loop, he felt marginally better. He’d be able to get to Travis faster if she had stayed in the damn truck, but he was learning just how tenacious the woman truly was.

Much to his relief, Travis was sitting up, staring out the front windshield when they approached a minute or two later.

“Travis!” Kylie yelled, trying to be heard over the rain and thunder.

Travis’ head snapped toward them at the sound of her voice. He didn’t move to get out though, which concerned him. Gage rapped his knuckles on the glass, but as no surprise, Travis lowered the window rather than opened the door.

“I don’t need help,” Travis growled. “And she shouldn’t be out here.”

Of course he didn’t need help. The man could take care of himself, he’d proven that. And as for Kylie, well, there was no telling that woman what to do, but Gage figured if Travis knew her as well as he suspected, he didn’t need to be reminded of how hard headed she was.

“Get your ass out of the truck,” Gage yelled over the wind that swallowed his words and carried them off as soon as they were out of his mouth.

Travis didn’t say a word, but those stormy blue eyes met his, and for a second, Gage didn’t think Travis was going to respond. Something transpired between the two of them in that moment, and it had the same impact as a hurricane battling against his resolve. This man was going to be Gage’s biggest test, and for some reason, he felt as though he had set himself up for failure long ago.

“Goddammit, Travis. Get your fucking ass out of the truck!” Gage wasn’t playing games anymore, and he wasn’t interested in being a target for the next electrical current that fell from the sky.

With a little hesitation, Travis rolled the window back up, but then opened the door and slid to the ground in front of him. Thankfully, he didn’t have a scratch on him from what Gage could see, but that didn’t stop Kylie from searching him over, her fingers poking and prodding even as the rain continued to pour down on them.

“We’re not going to get over the bridge,” Travis said, staring back at him.

“No shit, Sherlock.” Gage turned and then waited for Kylie to get in front of him. He’d have a better chance of catching her if she fell that way. Once she was satisfied with looking Travis over and certainly not before then, did she start heading back up the embankment.

They walked up the muddy hill, boots slipping and sliding in the muck as they went along, hands landing in the mud as they tried to brace themselves. Gage didn’t look to see whether Travis was following them or not, his focus was more on getting Kylie safely back on solid ground. Travis was a smart man after all, he would realize they didn’t have much of a choice at the moment.

By the time they reached the truck, the water was beginning to creep farther up on the road, and if Gage didn’t get his truck out soon, they’d be floating down the river in no time. He didn’t have the luxury of four wheel drive, so he didn’t have as many options as Travis. Not that the four-wheel drive mattered much at this point.

All three of them were crammed in the front seats, although there was more than enough room in the back seats for one, if not two, of them to sit. Gage hadn’t figured Travis would’ve climbed in the back, but the way Kylie was squirming between them, obviously attempting not to touch either one of them, he expected her to fly over the seat at any moment.

“Are you really ok?” Kylie asked Travis when she settled.

“Fine,” he mumbled, staring out the side window. Gage was pretty sure Travis was more than fine physically. As for his ego, well, he suspected there was some significant bruising.

“What are we supposed to do now?” This time Kylie directed her question to no one in particular as she fidgeted with her hands, staring down into her lap.

“Wait.” Gage and Travis both answered at the same time, neither of them looking at her.

Taking a deep breath, Gage tried to calm his rioting nerves. He wasn’t about to let Travis know that his heart practically skipped a beat the moment he realized he was headlong in a ditch. It had scared the living hell out of him.

And as though the stars had aligned in their favor, Gage found himself enclosed in a small space with Kylie and Travis.

Nothing to do but wait. And more than a little sexual tension thickening the already humid air.