stepped out from the passenger’s side.
“Hey,” he said smiling.
“Hey, yourself.” Sarah ran her hand across her chin to make sure her mouth wasn’t hanging open.
Walking around to where Jason stood, he put his hand out in greeting, “I’m Shad, these two trolls are my sisters, Ashley and Heather. We’d be happy to give you a lift somewhere.”
Sarah held her breath as she looked into his deep green eyes. He might be too old for her, but she wasn’t certain she cared.
Eyes focused on Ashley, Jason said, “Sure. We could use a lift. Thanks.”
Ashley grinned and pointed at the stranded siblings. “You two ride up here with me, these two idiots can hop in the back.”
“It’s okay, we’ll sit back there. We just appreciate you saving us a five mile hike.” Jason said.
Shad winked at Sarah. “How about us two youngsters ride in the back, and you old folks sit up front?”
Sarah’s mouth pulled to the side as she attempted to stifle a grin.
Jason glanced at her. “You mind?”
She shrugged and tried to keep a nonchalant look on her face.
Shad hopped into the bed of the truck and stuck out his hand. She grabbed it, stepped on the wheel, and climbed over the side.
“Wait,” he said as she sat on the wheel well.
“What?”
“That’s not safe. If we hit a bump--and we will--you’ll go flying. Better off to cop a squat by me.” He smiled and patted the spot beside him.
Sarah lowered herself to the bed and leaned against the back wall of the truck. Red faced, she gazed out over the tailgate as they began moving.
Wind whipped around the open bed as they picked up speed. Shad moved his head close to her ear to speak to her. Sarah felt the redness in her cheeks swell and move down her neck. Even with so much air moving around, she could smell the faint scent of his cologne and a deeper warm, musky scent. As she struggled to maintain control, her heart picked up speed, beating so fast and loud, she was afraid he could hear it.
T he heat of his breath warmed her cheeks, as he asked, “So you lived around here long?”
“No , not really.”
“What?”
Sarah turned to position her mouth closer to his ear. Her lips brushed against his cheek and heat scorched through her. “Not long. Just a month or two.”
Cheek to cheek, the warmth of his body combined with the cool air whipping around caused her to tingle. She wanted nothing more at that moment than for him to wrap his well-muscled arms around her.
The racing truck hit a bump and for a few seconds went airborne. As it landed with a loud thunk, it threw them into the back wall. Holding banged heads, and looking rather embarrassed, the two slid farther apart and watched the trees fly by.
Chapter Eleven
“You are being ridiculous!” Sarah exclaimed. The conversation had taken a drastic turn at some point and now she was completely infuriated. Where did Thomas get off anyhow? She’d spent her whole life without a father and now all of a sudden he thought he could just walk in and take over. That was not going to happen. She was already putting up with Jason and his over-protective personality, she didn’t need it from Thomas too.
“I am not being ridiculous. This makes perfect sense if you’d calm down and just listen to me.”
“So big deal, they are half Native American. That doesn’t mean they’re hunters out to get us. Their last name isn’t even White Horn, its Garcia. They aren’t even full-blooded Indians, their mom is Mexican.”
“So they say.” Thomas’ eyes moved to a quiet Jason. “Help me out here.”
“He doesn’t have anything to say. Why would he?” Then turning to glare at her brother, she asked, “Are you going to quit talking to Ashley just because her dad was an Indian?”
He looked down and shuffled his feet. “No, but I need to keep the lines of communication open to see if I can find out anything.
C. J. Cherryh
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