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Alex agreed. He preferred summer. “Benny must be freezing.”
“Yeah. I’m trying to focus on that.” Deborah stumbled over a downed tree limb. Alex reached for her, then pulled back. He didn’t want to spook her. She pulled herself upright without looking at him and forged ahead. Lightening rippled across the sky, the only light in a day that had turned dark as night.
Thunder shook the ground under Alex’s feet. He pulled his windbreaker tighter. “I don’t like this.”
“I thought you were the outdoor type.” Deborah grinned and pulled on a pair of black gloves.
“Who told you that? I prefer air conditioned adventures.”
Deborah laughed. “Figures.”
Was she making fun of him? “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know. You aren’t what you seem. I can’t figure you out.”
“At least that’s something we have in common.”
Alex stopped talking. He needed all his concentration to struggle through terrain that had turned slick with mud and wet weeds. Huge rain drops pelted them in a sudden torrent. Water ran through the ravines that had been dry a few minutes earlier. Visibility shrank to a few feet. Another crack of lightning, this time overhead, lit up the sky and thunder, a long, low ominous rumble, rolled over them.
“We need to find shelter,” Alex yelled over the sound of rain that fell in sheets. “Wait this out.”
He couldn’t hear her response but her arm waved in the direction of a dilapidated stone barn. Even on a sunny day it would have looked abandoned. In the pouring rain, it looked in danger of collapse. Alex pushed ahead, searching for a door, hoping it wouldn’t be locked.
Lightening so close he had to shut his eyes against the glare struck a tree a few yards away. The crack of sheering branches reverberated around him. “Get in, get in!” He grabbed Deborah’s arm and pulled her toward the barn. Together they managed to slide open a long, heavy door that screeched with lack of use.
Darkness and a dank, moldy smell greeted them inside the old building. At least was semi-dry. And away from the lightening.
His flashlight revealed a wheel barrel, rusting and covered with cobwebs, shovels, rakes, and other tools that were a mystery to him. Alex peered at the corners and then circled back to Deborah.
“Don’t shine that thing in my eyes. Put it out.” She shoved wet hair from her face. “It’s not that dark in here, just give your eyes a chance to adjust.”
“Sorry.” Alex killed the light and leaned against one wall for a second, listening to the sound of her breathing. It came light and fast. He could almost hear her shiver. “You want my windbreaker?”
“And what would you wear, Mr. Macho Man?” Deborah wrapped her arms around her chest. “My coat is lined. Yours isn’t.”
“Body heat would help.” He voiced the words without thinking about how they would sound.
Nervous tittering filled the dusky gloom around him. “Excuse me?”
A rush of heat swarmed his face. “I only meant, if you’d come over here next to me, I’d put my arm around you and our body heat would warm us up.”
She was silent for so long, he didn’t think she’d answer. “I don’t think so. Sorry.”
He stared at his feet. The heat on his neck and face burned. “Don’t be. I’ll do some jumping jacks or run in place or something.”
That got a giggle. Good. She wasn’t afraid of him. Not too much, anyway.
The giggle ended closer to him that it started. He looked up. She’d moved so she was standing next to him.
“I admit it, I’m freezing.” She slid down so she was sitting on the floor, back against the barn wall. “And you look like an icicle. Come on.”
Barely allowing himself to breathe, he slid down next to her. She leaned in and pulled his arm up so she could get underneath it. “Relax. I don’t bite.”
“I think that’s supposed to be my line.” He tried to relax, but between the cold and her nearness he couldn’t move.
“Alex, I know you don’t bite. Don’t take it so personally. It’s a knee jerk reaction. It’s not like I can control it.” He felt a shiver run through her. “Man, what I wouldn’t give for a cigarette right now.”
“It hurts to think you’re afraid of me.” Alex cringed inwardly. He’d just told her she had the power to hurt him. They hadn’t even had a date. Smooth operator, that was him. He dug into his pocket, found a peppermint, and handed it to her.
