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Chapter 22 - Let It Rain

CHAPTER 22

CARLY

I stared out of the window at the dark gray clouds overhead, arms crossed over my chest. It wasn't raining yet, but it was about to... and it was going to be a big one.

"We're gonna get caught in the storm," I told John, turning around to face him.

He was just coming out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. Since he'd spent most nights at the main house over the last week and a half, I decided to give him some room in my closet for a couple of his shirts so that he wouldn't have to go back and forth all the time just to change.

"Do you doubt my drivin' capabilities?" John asked with a smirk.

"Your drivin' is fine, it's other people I'm worried about... and freak weather," I laughed, crawling onto my bed and sitting in the middle, Indian style. I watched as the towel around his hips fell to the floor.

Despite the fact that we'd made love in my bed at least a dozen times now, I couldn't help but find way too much amusement in the fact that there was a hot, completely naked man walking around in my bedroom.

My parents would've killed me.

"Dallas is just forty minutes away, we'll be fine... and my truck's a beast, so no worries," John shrugged, pulling on a fresh pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt.

"If you say so," I shrugged. "I'm puttin' my life in your hands, be nice to it."

He put one knee on the bed and leaned towards me. I met him halfway and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him on top of me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him long and hard, a new sort of confidence soaring through me, shining brighter the more I got to know John's body and what he liked.

"We'll definitely get caught in the storm if you keep kissin' me like that," John pointed out huskily, running his fingers through my hair, which were scattered in loose waves over the pillows.

"Then we should go," I said, but made no move to stop kissing him.

He had an appointment tomorrow afternoon at the Dallas VA Medical Center, just a follow up to make sure his injuries were healing up fine. We decided to get a hotel room and head up there the night before: grab some dinner, maybe watch a movie or just take a long walk down the Trinity River.

It would likely be the former now, since walking around Dallas while it was pouring wasn't nearly as appealing.

As luck would have it, the moment we got into the truck and started driving it started to pour, and when I say pour I mean really, really pour. We drove on the I-45, the rain pounding against the windshield reducing our speed to 35 miles per hour.

"I told you so," I told him with a giggle, watching as he let out a series of colorful words, squinting to try and see where the hell he was heading.

He didn't speak and I didn't pester him anymore, not wanting to distract him. We drove for just over five miles when his truck made a loud noise and then, just like that, everything stopped. He had just enough of a head's up to steer the truck onto the side of the road.

"Oh for fuck's sake," he grumbled, hitting the steering wheel with his balled fist.

We were out in the middle of nowhere, barely able to see five feet in front of us. I was pretty sure we weren't too far from Palmer, but in this weather we might as well have been five hours away.