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. John? The glide of his chair wheels on thehardwood floor barely made a sound,but she could feel his warmth as he drewcloser.He leaned down and cupped herface to whisper in her ear. Stay righthere, no matter what, so I know whereyou are. She nodded firmly.Her eyes strainedin the darkness as he rolled away.Thefire had died down to coals.She should have stoked it by now.Then she d havelight.Time dragged unmercifully as she sathunched on the floor.The wind from thestorm howled outside, and she thoughtshe heard it get louder at one point, as ifsomebody had opened a door.A swirl ofcold air swept across the floor, and sheshuddered, praying that John wasn tgoing to try to go outside.She countedher heartbeats as she waited for him toreturn.A crash in the garage set her heartracing, but she forced herself to staystill.The lights flashed back on, blindingher.Nothing moved in the house, but shestayed crouched where she was.John had told her to stay right here, so shewould.Shannon clamped her jaw to keepfrom calling out.She didn t want toendanger him if he responded.When herounded the corner from the kitchen,though, she couldn t keep in a smallgasp.She bolted across the room andstopped just short of slamming into him.She reached one hand out to touch him. I was worried. *****John froze for a moment, stunned that shewould even care.He folded her handinto his own and tugged, and shewrapped her arms around his neck. Slipping one arm under her knees, heswung her into his lap.She curled intohim as if she belonged there.He fought to maintain some kind ofemotional distance.There was a bad guyout there messing with her, and heneeded to keep his cool.The problemwas, he d never meant anything toanybody.He d been a buddy and friendto the guys, but he d never been involvedwith a woman the same way.As she tightened her arms around hisneck, emotion clutched at his throat. I thought you were in trouble.Iheard the door open and I thoughtsomebody had come in. John cleared his throat and stroked ahand over her loose curls. No, no, I just checked the power box in the garage.It sfine.Must have been a tree branchfalling on the power line or something tomake it black out. She pulled back enough to look up athim. I didn t want you to get hurt. Those big hazel eyes looked at himas if he were the most important thing inher world.John leaned forward andcovered her lips with his own, desperateto maintain that connection.After so long without, he shouldhave been rusty at kissing, but everythingwas so natural with Shannon, it was noeffort at all to just let himself drown inher.She tasted so good.Freshness, andmint, and something more abstract too. She tasted of hope, and fear, and desire.John didn t dare look for anythingother than what she offered right thatsecond.As much as he enjoyed hercompany, he didn t think he was built forrelationships.He didn t want to hurt herwhen she wanted more than he couldgive.That sober thought made him pullaway in regret.He wished he could goback five years and tell Hanity to driveon past that vehicle.Hell, he wished hecould just go back and talk to Hanity,who d stayed in the vehicle.The kidhadn t deserved to die over there.John cringed at the confused look onShannon s face.She d been enjoying akiss, and he d been replaying traumas in his head. Sorry, Shannon.I just don tknow that right now is the best time todo this. It was like he d kicked a puppy.Thearoused, slumberous look faded away tobe replaced with reserve, and she slidoff his lap. Yes, of course.Okay.I m going tobed.Do you need anything? He shook his head and she turnedand padded down the hallway.Hewatched her hips sway for a minutebefore he dragged his gaze away.Stupid asshole.She was right thereon your lap, kissing you better thanyou ve ever been kissed, and you shuther down. The erection strained his zipper, buthe tried to ignore the distraction.Somebody was after Shannon, and heneeded to figure out whom. Chapter SixAfter a restless sleep that night, Shannonrose and dressed in the bathroom, thenheaded to the kitchen.John was alreadyup and in his chair, and she had towonder yet again if he had even gone tobed.The blankets were folded the sameway she d left them, although his clotheswere different.His short hair wasslicked down and glossy, so he musthave managed a shower. Good morning. She wasdetermined to play it cool. Morning, he rumbled.Shannon fought not to react to hisrusty voice, even though it sent chills racing down her spine and made hernipples tighten.The man was too sexyfor her peace of mind.She threw something together forbreakfast, then escaped to finish gettingready.When she glanced out thebedroom window, she had secondthoughts.The snow had reallyaccumulated last night.The boughs of thepines dragged the ground, and shecouldn t see anything moving on thestreet. Hey, John, she called. Yeah. Have you looked outside? Yeah.Don t think we re goinganywhere today. That was what she thought too, butshe just wanted to hear him confirm it.She pulled a favorite sweatshirt over topof the long-sleeved t-shirt she alreadyhad on and slipped her feet into herslippers to pad down the hallway.Johnwas on his cell phone, obviously talkingto Duncan.Shannon picked up thereceiver of the house phone.Dead.She wasn t surprised.Colorado wasnotorious for bad weather, and if aperson got upset by minor things likedead phone lines and car batteries, itwasn t the place for them
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