“It?”

“You’ve been over there stewing about something.” He flipped on the wipers to counter the growing accumulation of fat snowflakes on the windshield. “After the onslaught of my loony sisters, I wanted to give you some time, but the silent treatment is making me nuts.”

Making him nuts? Fine, he wanted to talk about it? She’d talk about it. Natalie turned off the radio and folded her arms to glare at him. “Was that whole scene with your family familiar?”

Laughing, Jett cocked one brow. “In some ways, yeah. Real familiar. My sisters have always been lovable pains in my ass.” He grinned at her. “In other ways, hell no. That was about as atypical as it could get.”

She didn’t understand him. “How was it unfamiliar?”

“I’ve never seen my sisters so agog. It was downright hilarious. You probably don’t realize it, but they were trying hard to rein themselves in—without much success.” He reached over to brush the backs of his fingers across her cheek. “It was funny to see them tripping over themselves trying to make you feel welcome.”

So he didn’t always get those gibes when introducing a woman? Natalie didn’t want him to misunderstand. “They were very nice.”

“I’ll interpret that as your polite way of calling them overwhelming. But yeah, they are nice, honey.” In the distance, thickening snowfall turned the sky white. The dropping temps fogged the windshield, so Jett turned up the defroster. “I know they liked you.”

With that odd yearning still ablaze inside her, Natalie bit her lip. “They told you that?”

“I know my sisters. If they hadn’t liked you, I’d have heard all about it.” They passed a car that had slid off the road, with a police cruiser already on the scene. Jett scowled in concern.

A second later his car phone rang. He pushed a button on the bottom of the rearview mirror and Heidi said, “Hey, Jett.”

First thing, Jett said, “You’re on speakerphone, sis.”

Natalie narrowed her eyes at him. What did he think his sister would say? Something about her?

Heidi laughed at him. “Thanks for the warning. But no worries. I wasn’t going to embarrass you. I just wanted to check on you. The weather reports are showing some unexpected heavy snow. Not just Ohio, but Kentucky and Tennessee, too.”

“We’re seeing signs of it now.” He peered through the windshield. “Starting to look nasty.”

“Bummer. It’ll be terrible if you two ended up stranded, all alone together, in a cozy little cabin in the woods. Whatever will you do to pass the time?”

Laughing, Jett said, “I’m sure we’ll think of something.” Then he tacked on, “Brat.”

Heidi snickered. “I’m sure you can handle snowy road conditions, Jett. I have complete confidence in you. But why don’t you check in every so often anyway, just to keep us from worrying?”

“You’re going to worry no matter what, but sure, I’ll let you know when we get settled.”

“Thanks. You know I love you bunches.”

As Jett said, “Back atcha,” his gentle, easy smile tugged at Natalie’s heart.

“Give Natalie a smooch from me.”

“Goodbye, Heidi.” Grinning, Jett disconnected the call on her enthusiastic farewell.

His love for his sisters couldn’t be more apparent, and obviously they felt the same. But it boggled Natalie’s mind that they’d fret over him. Jett was six-plus feet of solid, capable and in many ways lethal male.

Other than Molly, no one had ever really worried about her. And now she couldn’t reach Molly.

Jett reached for her hand. “C’mon, Natalie. Don’t look like that. You’ll get used to my sisters being mother hens. It’s just their way.”

Would she be with him long enough to get used to it? She snuffed that thought real fast. “I don’t mind. I think it’s sort of…endearing, how close you all are.”

That seemed to bother him. “Speaking of sisters…” He glanced at her. “Did you ever get hold of yours?”

Natalie shook her head. “She’s still not answering her phone, so I emailed her this morning. Hopefully by the time we get to the cabin she’ll have replied.”

His hand squeezed hers. “You’re a little scared for her, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know.” Logic told her that Molly was just involved with her fast-growing career. “She has a movie deal in the works, and deadlines and research, so I know she’s busy.”

“But not too busy for her sister.”

She frowned, because Jett had just pinpointed her problem: she was hurt. “It’s not like her to stay out of touch like this.” Then she half laughed at herself. “I sound ridiculous, don’t I? My stepmother said so, and she didn’t even want to bother my dad with it. But I can’t help thinking that something might be wrong.”

“Not ridiculous at all. You’re her sister, and sisters have a way of sensing these things. Did you want me to check into it?”

Natalie’s brows shot up in a mix of indignation and curiosity. “Are you offering to investigate my sister?”

Jett shrugged. “I could probably figure out where she went, where she’s been—”

“No.” Molly wouldn’t appreciate anyone snooping through her personal life. But then, because her worry felt real, Natalie added, “At least, not yet. I’ll give her a few more days and hopefully it’ll become a moot point.”

“Fair enough.” Jett kissed her knuckles and released her hand. “But I don’t want to see you worry. So when you’re ready, let me know and I’ll find out what I can.”

Not only did Jett understand her concern, he was willing to help. And with that, he stole another little piece of her heart.

“Look at that sky,” Jett told her. “The snow’s turning to frozen slush.” Everyone now drove well below the speed limit, and still cars were slipping left and right.

Ice stuck to the wipers, interfering with visibility. Just then, they passed a mild wreck involving two cars that had collided with each other. It didn’t amount to much more than a fender bender. But less than half a mile from there they saw a car flipped into the gully, with three other cars stopped nearby to help.

Jett said, “Shit,” and leaned a little closer to the steering wheel.

Natalie twisted to look out the window, stunned that the weather had changed so drastically. “Looks like your sister had good reason to call. It’s really coming down out there.”

“The last weather report I heard said a storm, but I wasn’t expecting this.” He concentrated on the road. The accumulated snow had been pushed aside by the traffic and narrowed the lanes. “We’re not sliding, but it looks like a lot of other cars are.”

“Maybe I should turn on the radio to check the updated weather reports?”

“Yeah. I’d like to know if we’re driving into or out of the worst of it.”

Natalie switched around the stations until she found the news. It wasn’t good. The storm was proving worse than weathermen had predicted and since ice had joined the snow, many smaller roads were already shut down and the interstates were fast becoming congested. Unfortunately, it would be both behind them and ahead of them.

They listened to the weatherman intone the news with ominous warnings.

“Over three inches have already accumulated throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee with up to nine inches now expected. Slick road conditions are being blamed for numerous reports of car wrecks. All along Interstate 75 and 71, cars and trucks are off the road with a few serious accidents that have required air support. The mixture of ice and snow should be considered hazardous. Many areas are under a level-three snow emergency. If you don’t have to be on the road, stay home.”

Natalie frowned at the admonition. She turned to look out the rear window but couldn’t see far with the snowfall so thick. “I guess there’s no point in turning around?”

Jett glanced at the odometer and shook his head. “We should be about halfway there.” He turned the defroster up even more. “At this point going back wouldn’t be any easier than going on.”

Guilt assailed her. It was because of her plans that they were now out on the road in a possibly hazardous situation. She stared at Jett’s frowning profile. “I didn’t hear anything about a snowstorm.”

He met her gaze for only an instant and then said with feeling, “As I recall, weather reports held little interest for us last night.”

If the heat in his words wasn’t enough to scorch her, the memory of what they’d done certainly was. Natalie stared at him, remembering everything.

Voice low, Jett said, “Babe, when you look at me like that, I feel like I’m already inside you.”

Oh Lord. And now she felt it too. She tightened her thighs. “Whether we heard the news or not probably wouldn’t have mattered. They’re saying it wasn’t expected to be this bad.”

Jett shifted, cleared his throat and allowed her the change of topic. “It’s a little snow—no big deal. Don’t worry about it.”

“Hopefully as we get farther south, it’ll lighten up.”

“Maybe.” He stretched out his left leg, shifting again. “If things start to get too dicey, we might have to stop at a different hotel along the way. You okay with that?”

“Jett, I’m fine with whatever we need to do. Really. But it might be difficult finding a hotel that accepts pets.”

“We’ll see.”

She reached over to touch his biceps. “Your leg is hurting.”

His brows came down and again he glanced at her. “I’m fine.”

The cross way he said it let her know that he was touchy on the subject. “Why don’t you let me drive for a while?”

“Not necessary.” He eyed an exit, but it was buried in snow, nearly invisible.

As he passed it, Natalie scowled. “You don’t trust me to drive?”

“I trust you plenty.” His hands flexed on the wheel. “But I’m driving.”

Exasperated, Natalie let out a breath. “Your leg is bothering you, I can tell. You don’t have to be so macho about it.”

“Macho?” He snorted. “It’s not my leg bothering me, honey. It’s a boner.”

“Oh.” Natalie looked at his lap, saw the truth of his words, and elation rolled over her. Even now, in these less-than-ideal circumstances, Jett wanted her. She was so pleased by that, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “I see.” She started to ask him what she could do to help, but Jett cut her off.

“A change of topic is in order.” He shifted again. “Did my sisters grill you? I sort of got caught up in caring for Buddy and didn’t really think about leaving you alone with them in the outer room.”

Given that his leg wasn’t the reason for his restlessness, Natalie decided to let him off the hook about having her drive. After all, they really had nowhere to pull over to make a switch anyway. “We talked, but they weren’t intrusive.” She wouldn’t tell him how the women had complimented her. “In fact, they were very kind.”

“I want you for more than convenience, and they know it. Of course they were kind.”

Natalie bit her lip at that. Was that how Jett saw most women, as “convenient”? Normally she’d be up in arms on behalf of her sex, but this time, more pressing thoughts took precedence.

How could Jett possibly expect to keep things casual if he involved his entire family this way? Being too direct left Natalie’s stomach jumpy, but she had to know, so she mentally braced herself, then asked, “How much more?”

His expression sharpened, turned a little grim. Keeping his gaze focused on the slick road ahead, he said, “Now there’s the million-dollar question, huh? Especially considering that I had to twist your arm to get anything more at all.”

Talk about evasive answers. Well, Natalie refused to put him on the spot. “I have a suggestion.”

He speared her with a glare then cursed as the car in front of them fishtailed before regaining control. He held the wheel a little tighter. “I’d love to hear it. Shoot.”

“I say we don’t get too serious. We both want to have fun, for now…for as long as it lasts.”

JETT SQUEEZED THE WHEEL HARD. For as long as it lasts. Those carefree words pounded through his brain. Her sentiments mirrored his, because he really didn’t know where their relationship was headed, or even where he wanted it to head.

But he did know that once he’d introduced her to his family, things would be trickier. He couldn’t even claim that he’d been surprised by his siblings’ attendance at the vet clinic. He’d known that Natalie would have them all there. It was a wonder his mom and dad hadn’t shown up too.

For years, his family had been on him about settling down. It was payback for all the times he’d played big brother, running off guys he considered not good enough.