Page 60 of Defender
“Michael? Michael, is that you?” She pounded back three times. She could barely hear through the walls of the trailer.
“Dani?”
“Yes. It’s me!”
“Hang on! I’ll get you out of there.”
Well, she certainly wasn’t going anywhere. But over the next few minutes, she could’ve sworn the air grew even more frigid. Thinner.
Finally, a clinking sound around the latch roused her again. A few seconds later, the doors at the back of the trailer swung open, and there stood Michael Martinelli like some kind of superhero. Before she could stand, he scooped her into his arms and stepped down from the trailer.
“You’re freezing.” He set her on the shop floor and pulled his own sweatshirt off. As it slipped over her head, it wrapped her up in amber scents and masculine warmth. For a moment, they held each other, and she listened to his heartbeat.
“Thank God you’re okay. I’ve been worried sick about you.” Michael’s whispered words were a little shaky but one hundred percent sincere.
“How did you—” Dani couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering. “How did you know I was here?”
“Josh said you never came home. He called me, and I started trying to track you down. I was about to leave. Actually, I did leave, but I dropped my mom’s medal when I was crawling under the door, and when I came back to look for it, I heard the noise in the back of the truck.”
“You were here in the shop and left?”
He nodded. “I don’t like thinking about what could’ve happened if I hadn’t come back, Dani. You could’ve died in there.”
Dani pulled away. “But I didn’t. Thanks to you.” She kissed him on the cheek, the prickly day’s growth of his five-o’clock shadow tickling her lips. His face was warm, so warm that her cold fingers sought solace by tracing his jaw, wrapping themselves around his neck.
He stared at her, sucked in a breath, and stilled.
“Dani?” He whispered her name, but it sounded like a roaring ocean wave beckoning her.
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
She didn’t want any more scolding, she didn’t want to be pushed aside or ignored anymore. She just wanted him.
So she tugged him closer, and this time her lips met his. She hovered there, waiting to see what he would do.
Only for a second did he hesitate before meeting her question with the answer she’d hoped for. He kissed her back, and like everything Michael Martinelli did, he kissed her well and good. Perfect tenderness and passion. Heat soaked into her frozen bones, bringing back warmth and life.
This was better than any of her adolescent daydreams.
This was real. Maybe she was caught up in the moment but…what a moment. She would ride this as long as she could.
The wave of passion and heat crested, slowly softened. Michael pulled back enough to look her in the eyes.
“Wow,” he whispered. He looked a little dazed, but it was the sense of awe and wonder that brought a pang to her chest. No one had ever looked at her like that before.
“That was…”
Her breath caught, waiting to hear his next words.
Too much. Too impulsive
But Michael’s lips tilted into a soft smile as he finished with “amazing.”
It wasn’t what she’d thought he’d say, but it settled deep into her. “You’re not so bad yourself, Michael Martinelli.”
It wasn’t what she wanted to say either, but her confidence was nowhere to be found at the moment, and it was all she could come up with.
He helped her stand, holding on to her lightly. “I should get you home. A lot of people are worried about you.”
