Page 39 of Day of the Storm

There was no basement. They had the hallway, and that was it. He had no idea where Dwight was sheltering at the moment. All he focused on was holding Brooke as closely as he could.

They wouldn’t win in a head-to-head fight with the storm. He knew that. Knew better than most just what damage a storm like this was capable of doing.

He heard the shattering of glass in the rooms next to the hallway. His hold tightened. Brooke just clung to him, her smaller body pressed as close to his as he could get her.

If the building came down on top of them, he just hoped the hallway would withstand the collapse.

The storm had to be right over the station now. He didn’t even try to talk to the woman in his arms. There was no point. He didn’t worry about dead air, or the people listening now as the storm struck the building above them.

He just focused on holding Brooke tight as the storm rolled overhead.

CHAPTER 5

And then it was over.Houston pulled in a deep breath. The building was still standing above them. He could still hear the wind. The rain. The harsh sounds of the two of them breathing. “We’re safe.”

“The lights…” her voice was so tight. She was still shaking. “When will the lights come back?”

“As long as our generator system wasn’t hit, we’ll be good in about two minutes.” He rolled to his side, getting off of her. “I didn’t crush you, did I, sweetheart?”

He wasn’t really thinking about what he was doing. Houston just did what felt right. He scooped her close in the dark. He honestly expected her to push him away. But she didn’t.

He made the decision then. They weren’t moving until the lights were on and he could see the woman’s face. He sat up, leaned against the wall. “Come here, honey. We’re good. It didn’t get us, I promise.”

He pulled her close, arranging her between his legs, her shoulder leaning into his chest. She was soft in all the places a man like him appreciated. His finger tangled in her hair.

One small, feminine hand wrapped around his forearm. “I’m sorry. I’m…being an idiot. It’s just…the dark brings back memories I’d far rather forget. The storm, too. It…was storming that night, too. Sometimes, I just can’t forget…”

Then, as if she’d realized what she said, she stiffened. “I’m sorry. How long do you think we’ll be stuck here?”

Her tone had changed into that confident, ‘I’m in charge’ Brooke Jacobs tone that drove him insane.

In that moment, Houston figured her out: it was all an act. Brooke hid therealher behind a mask. To protect herself.

“Until the lights come back on.” He made sure to keep his hands in safe territory—just like he’d want some man to do if he was trapped in the storm with Houston’s own sister—as he pulled her a little closer. “We’ll be ok. Now…it might be a good idea to tell me what’s going on with you and Hoby.”

She stiffened immediately. A shudder ran through her again. In an instant.

“Tell me why he scares you.”

CHAPTER 6

Maybe it wasthe darkness that did it, had her opening up to someone other than her father for the first time since she’d been seventeen. “Dwight Hoby…my father fired him at his last station. It was a reasonable firing. He showed up drunk, and almost barged in when the host was on air. Cursing and ranting. My dad happened to be there, checking the place. And so was I. He…blamed my father for losing his job, instead of himself. He wants revenge against my dad. My dad pressed charges against him for destruction of the equipment, but the arresting officers made a few mistakes, so Dwight got off. And he…found out…about something bad that happened to me when I was a teenager. He’s been using that to taunt me for a while. As revenge against my father.”

Houston’s hands tightened on her. Big, strong, capable—she’d noticed his hands before. But…she couldn’t help remembering how those hands had looked on the tiny orange kitten they had found in the parking lot two months ago. He had been so…gentle…with that tiny kitten.

She hadn’t been afraid of Houston since.

It had stuck with her—because of the way he always grumbled, she had been sosureuntil that point that he was someone to be avoided.

He had taken that kitten home with him and named her Mosquito. She hadn’t forgotten that. Nor had she forgotten that her first thought seeing him cradling that kitten was that a man that gentle with a baby animal would probably be that gentle with a woman, too.

It had been alongtime since she’d thought about a man that way.

At least…a man like him.

She’d limited herself to dating men no taller than her own five-three since she’d been nineteen anddeterminedto have as healthy alifeas women who hadn’t experienced what she had could.

That had meant dating. And eventually, sleeping with a man of her choice.