“Yeah. I know.” He nodded and tried to pull away, but she grabbed his face and put hers right in his. “Jase.”

He nodded again, then shook his head and closed his eyes. “I thought-When I couldn’t see you, for a minute I thought you-”

“I didn’t.” She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him in so tight she couldn’t breathe. But that was okay, he wasn’t breathing, either. He was holding his breath, gripping her hard, and she ran her hands up and down his back, trying to soothe, to bring him out of it. “I remembered something back there. I forgot to feed my goldfish yesterday.”

He lifted his head, his eyes clearer now, possibly even shining with humor. “You’re something, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.”

His eyes never left hers. “I meant it as a compliment.”

Her entire heart softened. “Jase-”

“Yeah, I know. We have to go.” He held the raft steady for her to get in.

She looked at it. That hadn’t been what she’d been about to say, but because she wasn’t exactly sure what she’d intended to come out of her mouth, and because Cece was still out there, she did the only thing she could-she got into the raft.

JASON KEPT CAREFUL control of their progress, not interested in another Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Hell, no, not when his heart was threatening to burst right out of his chest. He was concentrating on speed and direction and the fact that Lizzy was shivering wildly, when his cell phone rang, startling the hell out of him.

“I thought it wasn’t working,” Lizzy said through her chattering teeth.

“Me, too. Hello?”

“Did you just go floating down Third?” Dustin asked incredulously.

“Yeah.” Jason whipped around, left then right, searching for his brother. “Where the hell are you?”

“Pull over.”

Jason worked the raft to the side. Lizzy helped, grabbing on to a stop sign to hold them just as another boat turned the corner.

It was search and rescue, used on the lakes in the hills by the sheriffs who patrolled the rural areas. In it were a handful of rescue personnel, including Dustin.

Who immediately hopped into the raft and, right there in front of everyone, hauled Jason in for a tight, hard hug. Jason closed his eyes and hugged him back.

“Damn,” Dustin said, voice thick, pulling free only far enough to look into Jason’s face. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“You just saw me a month ago.”

“Eight. Eight months ago. Asshole.” Dustin looked him over as if he was a piece of fruit on an inspection table.

“What are you looking for?”

“New scars. Hey, Lizzy,” he said, without taking his eyes off his brother. “He treating you right?”

When she didn’t immediately answer, Jason turned his head and met her gaze, which was surprisingly bright.

“Yes,” she whispered, sounding like her throat was tight. “He’s treating me right.”

For some stupid reason, Jason’s throat tightened, too, and he couldn’t speak.

“Where’s Cece?” Dustin asked.

“We don’t know yet.” God. God, look at her. She had an entire world in her eyes. And he knew right then it was complete bullshit that she didn’t want to see where this thing could go.

Dustin finally turned to look at Lizzy, then took a second look before pulling Jason close. “Already? You’ve been home one day and you already slept with her?”

“You did not read that off me.”

Dustin shook his head in disgust, then moved closer to Lizzy to hug her, as well, whispering something in her ear that made her smile.

Dustin said something else, and she gave herself away by giving a quick glance in Jason’s direction, one that had him rolling his eyes at Dustin’s back.

Lizzy burrowed into Dustin as if they were long-lost lovers, and ridiculously, Jason felt the green-eyed monster bite him on the ass. When Dustin turned and met Jason’s narrowed gaze, arching a superior brow as he held his woman in his arms, Jason showed Dustin his middle finger.

Dustin merely grinned.

Oblivious, Lizzy squeezed Dustin’s hand. “You’re sweet.”

Sweet? His brother was sweet? What about him? He was the one who’d gotten out of bed and leaped into the storm to help her, the one who hadn’t left her side for over twenty-four hours. Dammit, he was the sweet one!

Dustin gave Lizzy one last hug, and then a damn kiss on the cheek that was only a fraction from meeting her lips, sending Jason another look over his shoulder before getting back into his own boat. “Are you sure?” he said directly to Lizzy.

“Sure what?” Jason asked.

“I’m sure,” Lizzy said, and blew Dustin a kiss.

“Sure what?”

Dustin looked at Jason, his expression softening. “Yeah, definitely a sight for sore eyes.”

And then he was gone.

Jason turned to Lizzy, who avoided his gaze as they pushed off and once again began making their way toward her neighborhood.

The silence grew until Jason couldn’t take it. Even knowing he sounded like an ass didn’t keep the words in. “He’s taken, you know. And I’ve only met her once, but I can tell you this much. Cristina doesn’t share.”

Lizzy looked over at him, her eyes going so glacial as to nearly freeze his balls off. “Are you insinuating that I’m interested in your brother? Sexually?”

He opened his mouth but she held up a finger. “No, seriously,” she said. “Is that what you’re suggesting? That I would be sexual with you, while also being sexual with him?”

Well, shit. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes, I believe you did.”

“Okay, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“How about pissing me off? Did you mean to do that? Because that you succeeded at.” She snatched the single oar out of his hand and whirled away from him, using her obvious pent-up temper to steer.

He grimaced. “You need to keep the oar-”

She sent him a death glare and he raised his hands, letting her continue. Incorrectly. He tried not to wince when they spun in a circle, then nearly hit the top of a parking meter. “I didn’t think you were doing my brother,” he said to her stiff spine. “It was instinctive. You were plastered up all over him, and-” He broke it off when once again she whirled on him, watching warily how she gripped the oar as if just by being in her hands it was tempting her to clobber him. “Yeah, about that oar,” he said. “You-”

She slammed it back into the water, and unfortunately right into a pole. Before he could react, she went flying in the water. He spared one blink of an eye to sigh and think “shit!” before he dove in after her.

She saved herself so that by the time he got to her, she didn’t need him. But he still kept his hands on her, helping her into the boat.

“Thanks.”

She said it so begrudgingly he had to let out a short laugh as he hoisted himself up to the edge of the raft and looked at her. “And you should know, I kiss better than Dustin.”

She stared at him, then planted a hand in the middle of his chest and shoved, dunking him back into the water.

LIZZY LOVED HER neighborhood. It had gone south in the eighties, been revitalized in the nineties, and had stood still in time since, so the houses were far more affordable than on the other side of town.

The water level hadn’t risen as high here, only a few feet. Most houses they passed hadn’t flooded, thanks to their concrete footings and foundations.

But the devastation still shocked her. Trees down. Cars buried under them. Roofs destroyed. Yards gone.

And it was still raining.

“Are you hanging in okay?” he asked quietly.

She looked at him, then closed her eyes. “Don’t be nice.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’ll confuse me.”

He blinked, then shook his wet head. “Okay, you’re going to have to explain that to me.”

“I really want to stay mad at you. So if you don’t mind, you need to go back to being an ass.”

“And you’ll go back to what?”

“Being Lizzy. A sister. A nurse. It’s what I do, it’s what makes me happy.”

“And a soon-to-be doctor,” he reminded her.

Right. How had she forgotten that? “Yes, but the point is the happy part.”

“Everyone should do what makes them happy.”

“Yes,” she whispered, wondering why then she didn’t feel that way.

They turned the corner to her street, where they were able to abandon the raft and wade the rest of the way in. They passed her neighbor’s house; Mike’s okay, not too badly damaged. Her house was the last on the street. She’d lost a tree in her front yard, which had missed her roof by inches, but at least she still had a roof. She stared at the place in relief. “I half expected it to be gone.”

It was tiny inside, postage-stamp tiny, with the kitchen and living room all together, and two little bedrooms off a small hallway, with one bathroom between them, but it was hers. All hers, cozy and neat, just how she’d left it.

And empty. “She’s not here.”

Jason walked through, his big, wet body making the rooms appear even smaller. He stopped in front of her, running his hands up and down her arms, making her realize she was still shivering. “Which meant she really did get out. That’s a good thing, Lizzy.”

Nodding, she tried to turn away, but he held her. “About us.”

“Jason-”

“You stayed in Santa Rey when you could have left and gotten the life you wanted for yourself. That’s admirable.”

“I stayed because my sister needed me. We’ve been over this. You’d have done the same.”

“Maybe. My family means everything to me, so yeah, probably. But, Lizzy, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that at some point, you have to think of yourself.”

The words, softly spoken and utterly from the heart, further compromised her calm. “I think of myself plenty. Hello, medical school in the fall.”

“Before that. In the here and now. What do you do for yourself that makes you happy?”

Kissing you… “Okay, so I’ve been busy. Look, you’re one to talk. You don’t do anything for yourself, either.”

“I’m on leave. I plan on doing plenty for myself.”

The look accompanying that sentence singed her nerve endings and had her nipples hardening. “I’m not having this conversation,” she said.

“Just one more thing then.”

“No.”

He slid a hand up her back, gently curving his fingers around the nape of her neck to tilt her head to his. “I like that you were stubborn enough to make your love of medicine work for you, even when becoming a doctor didn’t work out back then. Now make something else work for you, as well. Something besides work.”

“And I suppose by something, you mean you.”

A ghost of a smile curved his mouth. “Well, I am standing right here.”

“And leaving, soon enough.”

His eyes never left hers. “Yeah. But what if I wasn’t?”

She stared at him, her heart kicking hard. “Then I am. Leaving. Besides, you’re not looking for a relationship.”

“I wasn’t, no. Things change. Life’s too short.”

Her heart skipped an entire beat. “We’d drive each other insane within a few dates, Jason.”

“Chicken.”

Lizzy let out a breath and went into the bathroom. Locking the door, she thunked her head against it. Lord, was she out of her element when it came to him. Pushing away from the door, she turned on the shower. There was no hot water, but even a cold one had to help.

THE BATHROOM LOCK CLICKED loud into the silence, the message clear to Jason.

Do.

Not.

Disturb.

Got it. He collapsed in exhaustion on the couch and leaned his head back, letting his eyes close for a moment as he heard the shower go on in the bathroom.

Without electricity, that was going to be one hell of a cold shower, but hey, if that’s what she wanted to do rather than face him, fine. At least out here he could have some peace and quiet.

Hell.

He didn’t want peace and quiet. He wanted to be in that shower with Lizzy.

Stripping her, soaping her, touching her. Tasting her.

He opened his eyes at the odd sound, an unmistakable click of steel, a sound that reminded him of-

“Don’t move,” a man said softly, moving around to the front of the couch, holding a gun pointed at Jason’s chest. “Don’t move and I’ll let you live.”

15

THE COLD SHOWER didn’t help. Getting out, Lizzy wrapped herself in a towel, and then froze at the sound of voices out in the living room. Her heart surged in her chest and she lunged for the door, because the only person she could think of who’d come here was Cece.

Please, God, let it be Cece.

She ran into the living room, tucking her towel between her breasts, dripping water everywhere, and skidded to a shocked halt at the sight that greeted her.