Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,20

shirt. “I almost forgot. I have to get my dress back on.”

She started to unbutton, but Jake bent and picked up her dress off the floor. “You’re not putting this back on.”

“Jake, give me my dress.” This was no time to tease.

He shook his head. “It’s soaked.” He tipped the cracked plastic bottle on top of the bench to look at the label. “Pesticide. No way are you putting this back on.”

The bottle of chemicals had spilled on the top of the workbench but had run down behind it and onto the floor underneath. She fingered the material. It was wet and smelled awful. At least the dress had soaked up the spill before it could get to where they’d been sitting together.

“I have more clothes in my car. I’ll put this on until I can get to it.” Though that definitely sounded unappealing.

“If your car’s still out there. And doesn’t have a tree lying across it or something,” Jake said. “You can’t put this stuff on your skin. No way. Keep my shirt on.”

Dammit. That dress was brand-new, too.

What she was wearing should be the least of her concerns at the moment. There was her car, various trees lying where they shouldn’t be, and potentially a whole host of much bigger problems waiting right outside.

Jake snagged the blanket they’d used to cover up. It was splattered with paint, and the edge that had been near the back wall was also soaked in pesticide.

He tossed it to the side and stalked to the shelving unit where the box of socks was stored. He shone the light over the boxes, then grabbed one, pulling it out and dropping it on the floor. He squatted to rummage inside, and a moment later held up a pair of royal-blue sweatpants with WILDCATS in white block letters running up one leg.

“These will work,” he decided.

He started to stand.

“Those are huge,” she said with a laugh. “What size do you think I am?”

He looked her up and down with clear appreciation and said, “You’re size hot. That’s all I know.”

She did feel hot with his eyes on her like that. She resisted the urge to fan her face. “Are there small ones in there?” She wasn’t built like a teenage girl anymore, but they were sweatpants. There had to be a little stretch to them.

Jake squatted and rummaged through the box again. Triumphantly he held up another, smaller pair of sweats. “Yes?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

He tossed them to her, and she did slip her shoes off again to get the pants up her legs. Then she stepped back into her heels.

“Let’s go see what we’ve got.” He took her hand and turned the flashlight on the path in front of them.

They stepped around and over cans, bottles, and tools. A little farther and they came to a bucket on its side, nails and screws strewn across the floor. Avery had to slow down and concentrate on where she was walking. She stepped down on one large screw that rolled under her heel, throwing her off balance.

Jake grabbed her arm to keep her upright.

“You got this or not?”

“Sure, great, no problem at all.”

He tucked her up against his side instead of holding on to her, hand in hand, as they continued toward the large garage doors on the northwest side of the building.

They stepped through the doorway that separated the storage area and workshop from the room with the bigger machinery.

There was definite daylight coming in, but a door hadn’t blown off.

A tree had fallen into the metal building and crumpled the wall, separating it from the ceiling and making a hole. A hole that was about eight feet wide, but six feet from the floor and partially filled with a tree.

Avery and Jake both stopped and stared for a moment.

It was clear what they were both thinking—if that tree had crushed the other wall, the one to the room where they’d been huddled under the workbench, they would have been trapped underneath it. Or possibly squished like bugs under a shoe.

“Damn,” Jake said.

Avery couldn’t say even that much. Her throat was too tight. What if there were other walls like this around town? What if there were people trapped or . . . worse?

Jake let go of her to examine the wall more closely.

“We can get through, but we’ll have to really watch it. There’s a lot of jagged metal here, and we’ll have to climb over the tree.”

Fine, whatever. She felt her adrenaline pumping. She