Cup of Sugar (2 page)

“Need anything from your bag before I stow it out of reach?”

She would’ve suggested he put it in the back seat—until she saw that seat was taken. “You’re bringing the dog along?”

“Yeah. He’s been alone all day while I was at work and I’ll be gone for at least fourteen hours now. Plus, it’s New Year’s. Nobody wants to be alone on New Year’s Eve, right?” Conn didn’t wait for an answer. He opened the passenger door and waved her inside. Or maybe it was a dare, she couldn’t be sure, given the grin on his face. “You do like dogs, don’t you, Nia?”

“Of course.” She just wasn’t accustomed to being around one so
big
. “I love dogs.” She climbed up into the truck. Apparently, this meant she was fair game, because Conn’s dog promptly shoved its massive head between the front headrests and pressed its squishy, somewhat-moist jowls against her cheek. “Oh god.”

“Zeus,” Conn’s deep voice dropped a couple more octaves as he slid onto the driver’s seat, “get in the back.” He spread one palm over the dog’s face and gave the beast a gentle shove.

Not that the gesture was needed. The dog adored its master, and vice versa. Nia had seen evidence of that every day for the last eight months. Conn walked Zeus in bucketing rain and blowing snowstorms. When Conn was outside, so was his faithful dog. In all the time she’d lived beside him, she’d never heard Conn raise his voice to his canine companion. They had the “man’s best friend” thing nailed. And yes, being an awesome doggy daddy added to Conn’s hotness factor.

He started the truck and tapped the dashboard near a built-in display screen. “Go ahead and input your parents’ address in the GPS. We don’t have to follow the route it gives us, but it’ll give me a starting point.”

The reality of the moment hit her then, like a hard flick to the middle of the forehead. He truly intended to drive her all the way to her childhood hometown. In a storm. On New Year’s Eve.

“I can’t let you do this, Conn. I was only kidding when I suggested you take me to my parents’ place. I didn’t think—or expect—you to say yes.”

“Glad I could surprise you.”

Oh, he’d definitely done that. “You really don’t want to do this.”

“And why’s that?” Teasing her again. Baiting her into another embarrassing slip of the tongue.

“Numerous reasons.” She turned in her seat, forcing herself to look at him directly. A dangerous thing to do while trying to form coherent, rational sentences. “First of all, I’m sure you had plans tonight. Second, you don’t even know me, not really. And third, only a crazy person would go to Barry’s Bay voluntarily.”

Their houses’ exterior lights provided enough illumination for her to see his smile. He smiled a lot. He had a variety of smiles—that she’d seen, anyway—and all of them were natural, easy and way too appealing. Accepting his offer of transportation had been a major mistake.

His hand shot over to cover hers when she unbuckled her seatbelt. “One—I had no plans tonight, aside from lying on the couch with a bowl of potato chips and the remote. Two—I’d like to get to know you, and this road trip is a good time to start. Three—
you’re
going to Barry’s Bay voluntarily, and you’re not crazy.”

A laugh bubbled up from her nervous stomach. “You want to get to know me? Then let me set you straight on that one right now. I’m definitely crazy. As in, a couple hours from now, you’ll be wishing you hadn’t knocked on my car window tonight. I’m pretty much the poster child for crazy chicks.” Okay, so that was quite the disclaimer to slap herself with, but coherent and rational had gone up in smoke with their skin-to-skin contact. “So, how about I say goodnight, go in my house and we just go back to the way things were?”

He found the end of her seatbelt and clicked it into place. “Going back never works out.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m more of a ‘run far, far away’ person.”

“Look at that—not even out of the driveway and I’m already getting to know you.” He tapped the GPS console again, then put the truck in reverse. “And now I’ll tell you something about me. I only do things I want to do, sweetheart.”

The statement could have been a threat. Or a promise. Regardless of his intent, the way he spoke the words, so serious and sexy-like, sent a ripple of awareness all the way to her toes. Of course, the effect of that ripple was strongest at the midpoint. Between her thighs, which she clamped tightly together.

On the street, he switched gears. But he didn’t drive away. Not immediately. He kept his foot on the brake while idling beneath the streetlamp. One hand casually holding the top of the steering wheel, he looked over at her. Another of his smiles slid into place on his handsome face. A very knowing smile.

This was going to be the longest road trip of her life.

Chapter Two

Conn merged onto Highway 115 at half the speed he’d normally use. The weather had gotten worse with every kilometer they’d traveled and conditions on the 401 were shit. Thank god for four-wheel drive, or he would’ve had to turn back an hour ago. The last thing he wanted to do with this opportunity was disappoint Nia. So, onward and upward. Carefully.

“We’re almost halfway.” Her soft voice broke the silence that’d fallen over the vehicle while he negotiated the slippery onramp.

He glanced at the clock. They’d been on the road over three hours. And they were
almost
halfway. Good thing the company was excellent.

“Thank you for this. Even if my car’s whatever-you-call-it hadn’t died, it wouldn’t have made it on these roads.”

“You’re welcome, it’s my pleasure.” He allowed himself a few seconds’ look at his pretty passenger. Despite the dim lighting, he could see her chewing on her bottom lip, as if she had more to say. So he returned his visual attention to road and waited.

“And it’s a horrible drive to make alone. I appreciate the company. Your company.”

He’d call those last two words a victory. “I’m enjoying your company too. Even if you made me wait almost a year for it.”

She groaned. “Sorry. I know I haven’t been the friendliest neighbor. It’s not you, it’s me.”

Another clue. Be it intentionally or accidentally, she’d been dropping them throughout their conversation. And from some of her other comments—about him—it was safe to say she’d done as much spying across the property line as he had. Then there was the steady hum of attraction between them. No way was he mistaking that.

Time to take a risk. He reached across the center console and caught her hand. He’d meant to give it a squeeze, then let go. But the second he touched her, something almost electric shot up his arm. He couldn’t have let go if he’d wanted to.

Especially when a breathy sound escaped Nia’s lips. Part surprised gasp, for sure. But the other part—that was excitement. Arousal. The air in the truck was thick with it, from both of them.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only thing hanging in the air. Fucking dog had some seriously bad timing. Still, he couldn’t resist the opportunity Zeus’ gas presented.

“Whoa, Nia. If you need me to find a restroom, just say the word.”

“What? That’s not me, it’s
him
.” She yanked her hand free so she could use it to point at Zeus.

A hearty grumble rose from the back seat.

Nia turned and looked between the front seats, confronting the disgruntled dog. “Oh, please. It was totally you.”

A woman willing to have a conversation with his dog. Well, damn.

“The blaming-the-dog trick? I thought only old men did that.”

She made the cutest
hmph
he’d ever heard. But rather than protest again—as he expected—she leaned closer, poked him in the arm and said, “He who smelt it, dealt it.”

A laugh ripped loose from deep in his gut. This woman had surprised the hell out of him tonight.

“Touché,” he said, still laughing. Beside him, Nia was laughing too. He couldn’t resist looking, to see if the view was as incredible as the sound. And hell yeah, it most definitely was. “Hey, do you mind if I find a spot to pull off for Zeus to—”

“Conn, the road!”

His head whipped around. Brake lights in both lanes. Sideways car across the center line. “Holy shit…”

By some miracle, the defensive driving he’d learned as a teenager kicked in to play. They didn’t land in a ditch or wind up tangled with another vehicle. The truck fishtailed several times, then skidded to a stop on the snow-covered shoulder. But it wasn’t over. Headlights filled the rearview mirror. And they were getting closer.

He gripped the steering wheel tight with both hands and looked over at Nia. “Sit back and hang on.”

She didn’t. Instead, she leaned into the space between them, her arm slung behind his seat as she blocked the gap. “Zeus.” One word was all she got out before the truck jolted forward from rear impact. She exhaled with a loud
whoosh
. Her head jerked sharply but she held fast.

Jesus, he had to get them out of here, before somebody did more than tap the rear bumper. He spotted an opening among the stopped vehicles and went for it. Emergency vehicles with flashers engaged waited on the other side of the mess. Police cruisers, a tow truck and an ambulance. A cop waving those handheld flare sticks directed them to one side, where they came to a safe stop.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded while sliding back to her seat.

With that assurance, his temperature shot up by double digits. “Jesus, Nia. You could’ve broken your arm doing that. Or a hell of a lot worse.” An officer tapped on his window, but Conn ignored him. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking of Zeus. And you. How much you’d hate me if he got hurt because you had to make this stupid drive.”

Shit. He exhaled until his lungs were empty, drew a deep breath and shook his head. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

It wasn’t. But he’d make it up to her.

The cop rapped on the glass again. Frigid air filled the truck as Conn lowered the window. In his peripheral vision, he saw Nia hug herself against the cold. He wanted to do that. That and a lot more.

“You folks all right in here?” the officer asked. “You were lucky to get through that pileup in one piece.”

Pileup? Conn turned to look at the road behind them. Holy shit. At least half a dozen vehicles jammed tightly together in varying skewed positions. Forget
lucky
, they’d been given a damn miracle.

The image of Nia’s head pitching forward replayed in his mind. “We got bumped back there. Nothing that’d do much damage to the truck, but it gave Nia quite a jolt.”

The cop nodded. “Pull ahead to a safe distance and I’ll have an EMT come over.”

“No, I’m fine.” Nia met Conn’s eyes when he turned to stare her down. “I swear, I’m fine. I just want to get out of here.”

“You sure, ma’am? If your husband says the impact jarred you that badly, you should let a medic take a look at you.”

The truck got noticeably warmer then, despite the frosty air that’d filled the cabin. Of course the cop assumed they were married. Why else would a man, a woman and a dog be traveling in shit weather, late on New Year’s Eve?

Conn allowed the grin to settle into place as he looked at his pretty
wife
. “You tell me, sweetheart. You want a paramedic to check you out, or do you think a hot shower and a nice massage later will do the trick?”

“I don’t need a paramedic.” Nia’s soft voice wove its way through him. She hadn’t answered the second half of his question.

Yet.

“Okay.” He turned to the officer at the window. “I guess we’re good to keep going.”

“Wherever you’re headed, you’ll have to find an alternate route. Two more accidents ahead on the 115, so we’ve closed it down. You have GPS in here, right?”

“You bet.”

The cop nodded again. “Then slowly make your way to the next exit and have a safe night.”

“Thanks, officer. We’ll do that.”

* * * * *

Subzero air rushed in when Conn opened both doors on the driver’s side of the truck. Nia shivered as he and Zeus resumed their respective spots. It had to be ten degrees colder than when they’d set out from home. She glanced at the screen in the truck’s dashboard—the “command center,” as Conn referred to it. Quite affectionately, in fact.

She was right about the temperature. But that was the least of their concerns. “Conn…something weird just happened to the navigation system.”

He looked up from clicking his seatbelt into place. “What the hell?”

In front of them, the display flashed random red lines. Then the map went dark.

“Has that ever happened before?”

“No. Never.” He smacked the dash with his palm, a man solution that yielded no results. “Shit.”

“Try restarting the truck, maybe that’ll reboot the system or something.”

“Good idea.”

“I have them from time to time. Don’t let the blonde hair fool you.”

He chuckled while turning the key. Amazing that after only four hours together Conn already got her sense of humor. She and her last ex were together for almost a year, yet Jason had rarely understood when she was bantering and when she wasn’t. She’d spent the majority of their time together trying to be as literal as possible, to please him. Then the bastard had broken up with her, ditched her for another woman. And he’d had the nerve to blame their demise on Nia—claiming
she
was too serious.

Men. Oh, sure, some of them claimed to want a relationship. But then they always brought the excuses. Did any of them really know what they wanted?

The player types did. Guys who wanted a good time, not a long time, and made no pretense about such. At least they were honest. You knew what you were getting if you hooked up with that type of guy. With a man like Conn.

Hence her decision to avoid him, which she’d done to the best of her ability—until tonight. Honest was great. Casual, not so much. Not for her, anyway.

Conn epitomized tall, dark and handsome. His chiseled features, steel-blue eyes and short, brown hair topped a lean, muscular body. The handful of times she’d been near him, he towered over her—a trait that totally flipped her switch. She was such a cliché.