You’re freezing.” He fumbled for the door handle and got it open then hoisted me up inside. When he tried to pull away, my hand was fisted in his shirt and I was shaking so hard I didn’t know if I’d be able to let go.
“I need to get in the other side, miss.”
I shook my head, afraid of letting go of his warmth.
“We need to shut the doors. I’ll get in the other side and try to warm you up a bit before we start driving.” He didn’t wait for a response, but pried my hand away and shut my door.
He climbed in the driver’s side and turned up the heater before putting the truck into drive. Disappointment filled me. I’d been hoping he’d use his body heat to warm me up, since that was the quickest way.
“I’m just going to pull to the side,” he explained as he steered to the shoulder, and I did a little mental cheer. “Not many people out this late at night, but you never know.” He threw it back into park then scooted across the bench seat before leaning down to unlace his giant work boots. “What possessed you to come out in a snowstorm without a coat or good shoes?” he muttered as he pulled his boots off. He reached down and removed my shoes, placing his boots on my feet. The difference in temperature made my toes sting. It was one of those hurts-so-good moments.
“I promise I’m not trying to get too friendly,” he said as he pulled my legs across his lap. “But I’m fairly certain you’re dangerously close to hypothermia, so you’re going to have to utilize my warmth.”
If my muscles hadn’t all been locked into place, I would have thrown myself at his warmth.
He stiffened at the touch of my freezing skin as he carefully pulled me against his chest and made a little cocoon out of his coat, which was still wrapped around me. My head fell forward onto his shoulder and I burrowed into his neck. Maybe he’d think I was the one being too friendly, but I was way too cold to care.
One of his arms pulled away, and I felt him moving but didn’t know what he was doing until he let out a frustrated growl before saying, “No signal.”
Relief coursed through me and I was grateful that I had stuck to back roads. I didn’t want him calling anyone, couldn’t afford to answer questions, especially when my brain was mush.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to get you warm enough this way, cause it’s quite a distance to the next town. Once you’re ready, you’ll have to tell me how it is you ended up in the middle of nowhere.”
Fine by me. I’d be happy to tell him about driving my car into a ditch. There was nothing personal or traceable about that fact. I might even tell him more than that. He was, after all, saving my life. I nodded, acknowledging his words.
“Good, good.” He rested his cheek on top of my head. He kept his arms around me, though I could feel him stiffening. No doubt I was making his temperature drop. He reached around me and turned up the heater.
I don’t know how long we sat in that pickup truck, two strangers wrapped around each other. One desperate for help, the other willing to give it without a thought for himself. But it was long enough that my shaking stopped, and my breathing slowed, and I started to feel very, very tired.
“You falling asleep on me?” he asked.
“Maybe,” I whispered.
“So you can talk.”
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, realizing for the first time how good he smelled. “Yeah. I can talk.”
“You got a name?”
Hmm. I hadn’t decided on a new name yet. Now was as good a time as any. “Celeste.” It came out sounding like a question.
“You sure?”
I let out a little chuckle. “No, I’m not sure. What do you think my name should be?” I was feeling a little bit floaty, safe, like everything was suddenly fine.
He grunted. “Angel seems appropriate.”
My brow furrowed in confusion. I wasn’t an angel. I might not have been sure of much right then, but I did know that. “Why?” I asked as I was finally able to unlock my arms and wrap them around him.
“That’s what you looked like, standing in the middle of the road. Your hair looked like it was glowing. Though that might have been frost.”