Love on the Rocks by Elle James Page A

need to carry out to my car, and I’ll be ready.”
    “Good, because the sun is setting and those clouds looked downright wicked.” Decker pointed to the wall of black clouds roiling in the sky, headed straight for them.
    Roxi led the way up the stairs to her small apartment, grabbed a box and passed Decker. She nodded to another box on the floor. “I’ve got this one, if you can get that one.”
    “Got it.” Decker lifted the box and carried it down the stairs behind Roxi.
    She loaded the boxes into the trunk and hurried back up the stairs without saying a word to him.
    Not that Decker expected anything, but now that they were alone, without Frank’s eagle eye watching over them, he’d expected her to say something about their night together.
    Back in her apartment, Roxi was rolling a suitcase toward the door. “If you can take this one down, I’ll lock up.”
    He took the case from her and set it aside. Then he took her hand in his, pulled her against him and kissed her long and hard.
    When he let go of her, she stepped backward, her eyes wide. She pushed her hair back from her face and slid a tongue across her lips. “What was that for?”
    “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t resist.”
    She glanced down at her dirty shorts and shirt and tried to shove her wild hair behind her ears. “I’m a mess.”
    “The prettiest mess around.” He turned her and swatted her bottom. “Now lock up. I made a promise to Frank that I’d get you out of here on time, and I don’t want to disappoint the man. He looks like he could whoop my ass with one hand tied behind his back.”
    Roxi took one step, spun back around, planted a kiss on his lips and hurried back through the apartment, making one last pass.
    “What was that for?” he called out to her back.
    “Just because,” she said over her shoulder. “Chop, chop. We have to leave before dark. The weatherman said the hurricane will make landfall around midnight, but the storm surge and winds will be pretty bad ahead of it.”
    For a moment, Decker considered following Roxi into her bedroom and taking her there on her floral patterned comforter. But one look out the window reminded him of the limited time they had left before they needed to be off the peninsula. He forced himself to snatch up the suitcase and carry it down to her waiting Toyota Rav 4. She already had several boxes jammed into the back. How she’d get the rest of her things into the limited space was a mystery to Decker. Shifting the contents, he made a hole large enough for the suitcase and shoved it in.
    When he climbed back up the stairs, he found Roxi standing in the middle of the living room, a bulging suitcase standing beside her. “I missed this one, but think I now have everything I can’t live without. The rest will just have to weather the storm. Oh, wait. I almost forgot Mom.” She crossed to a shelf in the corner of the living room and lifted a photograph of a woman with a striking resemblance to Roxi. She had the same blond hair and blue eyes, with a few more crows feet on the corners. She definitely had the same smile.
    “This is your mother?” Decker glanced down at the photograph. “You look just like her.”
    Roxi shook her head. “Mom was much prettier. Inside and out. She carried the load for so many years as a single mother trying to raise a kid. I wish I could have helped her more.” She unzipped the suitcase and packed the photo beneath several layers of soft cotton shirts. Then she zipped the suitcase and straightened. “I’m ready.”
    “Good. It’s getting dark out there.” Decker would have preferred leaving when Frank had, but hadn’t thought a few minutes would make that big of a difference, until he stepped outside. The clouds had thickened and churned, racing across the sky. Lightning flickered and thunder rumbled close behind. “We need to go.”
    “Agreed.” With her hand on the door knob, ready to pull it closed, Roxi glanced around the small room.