Read Online One Night in the Ice Storm by Noelle Adams - Free Book Online

will be fine.”
    She
felt him watching her as she stretched and blinked, and it made her decidedly
nervous.
    What
the hell was he thinking? What the hell was she thinking? How could she
have done this to herself again?
    She
wasn’t seventeen anymore, but she was evidently just as stupid with her heart.
    “I
guess we should get up,” she said at last, since someone needed to say
something. “If it’s warmed up the way they were forecasting, then the roads
might be clear and Mom and Brad will be coming out.”
    She
almost choked at the thought of her mother and brother finding her and David
like this, knowing what she’d done last night.
    That
gave her enough incentive to stand up. She wobbled a bit, since her ankle was
sorer than she’d expected.
    David
got up immediately, but she was already stable again when he put a supporting
arm around her.
    “I’m
fine.” She tried not to jerk away from his touch in an automatic defensive
instinct. “Just took a minute to get my ankle to work.”
    “You
should try to stay off it as much as you can for the next few days.”
    For
a brief moment, she had a crystal-clear glimpse of a future with David. She
could see herself surrounded by his understated kindness, his dry laughter, his
absolute commitment to taking care of her. Even his obnoxious bossiness.
    And
she wanted it. She wanted it desperately.
    Exactly
as she’d wanted it when she was seventeen.
    She
sucked in a shaky breath and slipped out of the protection of his arm. “I’m
going to take a shower. You’re welcome to use the shower in Brad’s old room if
you want.”
    She
limped out to the hallway, hiding her face behind her hair as much as she could
so he wouldn’t get a clear glimpse of her expression.
    A
few years ago, her grandfather had installed a new tankless water heater for
the house, so the water was almost immediately warm when she turned on the shower.
    She
didn’t start to cry until she stepped under the spray.
    As
she scrubbed David off her body, she sobbed as quietly as she could. It was
exactly like it had been before. A night full of passion, intimacy, even
laughter, followed by David’s being as quiet and considerate as he’d been just
now.
    The
day after her first time with him she’d been ecstatic. She hadn’t been able to
stop giggling and hugging herself. She’d dreamed a lot of silly dreams about a
wedding, a family, a life with David.
    She
hadn’t suspected for even a second that he would never call her again. That when
she went over to his house, nervous and bewildered after two days of no contact
despite several attempts to call and email him, he wouldn’t answer the door.
That when she ran into him at her grandfather’s dealership a few days later as
he’d been dropping off Brad, David would act like he hadn’t even seen her.
    Her
heart wasn’t going to be able to survive it again.
    At
least she didn’t still live in this town. She wouldn’t have to see him everywhere
she went, hear his name mentioned every day.
    She
could escape back to her little apartment and an anonymous city that didn’t
know her, that wouldn’t break her heart.
    She
gotten herself under control by the time she’d dried her hair and dressed in
jeans and a soft sweater. All she had to do was get through an hour or so until
David left, and then she’d be all right.
    She
went downstairs and saw he was outside, backing his truck out of the ditch.
He’d probably sprinkled ice melt behind the tires so they wouldn’t spin on the
remaining ice as he backed out.
    She
watched through the bay window as he walked back to the house, leaving his
truck at the end of the driveway.
    He
must have taken a shower before he put on the clothes he’d worn the day before.
He looked strong, rumpled, and handsome—still in need of a shave. His eyes were
on the roof of the house, and she assumed he was checking its condition.
    She
heard him enter through the side door and rustle in the mudroom, probably
taking off his