Stretching, Gayle groaned as her muscles sighed with pleasure. They’d logged over fifteen hours in the SUV yesterday before they’d called it a day. Unfortunately, the rest of the afternoon had been a bust. She either focused on the wrong storm, or got there too late and missed the action. At least Mac was getting a realistic view of what storm chasing was—long hours in a car, bad food, and endless waiting.
Someone suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her to the front of the SUV. She squealed. Yanking her arm free, she whirled around. Rick. And he was furious. He’d been a grumpy butt since they’d left this morning. “What in the hell is your problem?” she demanded.
“I’ve been trying to get you alone all damn day,” he muttered harshly, glancing off in the direction Mac had headed. “But he’s always around. Hovering.”
“He went to the bathroom. You can speak freely, Grasshopper.”
Rick’s lips pinched together. Oh. Good Lord. He was in a right foul mood.
“I’m not staying another night in a room with that man, do you understand? I do the driving. I need sleep.”
Not expecting that, Gayle frowned. “What happened?”
“He fucking moaned and tossed and turned and kept calling out for an Ally all goddamn night. Gayle, I didn’t sleep at all.”
Damn it. “Okay. I’ll figure something out.”
“You better. Caffeine is only going to get me so far.”
“I hear you. I’ll take care of it.”
Rick gave a terse nod, then slammed himself behind the driver’s wheel, chugging his super caffeinated beverage, furious eyes locked on her. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, as she squinted off into the distance. Her heart went out to Mac, but Rick was right, the driver needed to be well-rested.
They’d stopped at a motel last night, and she and Rick got separate rooms, as always. Without anyone saying anything, Mac had automatically assigned himself to Rick. She’d thought briefly about trying to get him to stay with her, but the man had looked beaten down.
Though they hadn’t encountered any more tornadoes yesterday, they had been through some nasty storms. Each one had taken its toll on him. She’d watched the mental battle he fought. She didn’t know what memories went through his head during these storms, but he couldn’t hide the clenched eyes and locked jaw…or the haunted look when his eyes popped back open. He was reliving a lot. Despite that, he had kept to his side of the bargain. He never let the anger take control. Though she would probably have to fix the seats from his strong fingers digging into them.
Because he didn’t go to his outlet, she’d hoped he was so emotionally exhausted he’d just pass out. Apparently, all that had happened was his demons had come out to play while his body had been at rest.
How in the hell would she convince him to stay in her room tonight?
At least she still had a few hours to figure it out. It was only two o’clock. Storms were just starting to fire. She’d think of something while they were on the road.
As she turned, Mac came out of the convenience store. He’d taken her advice and brought only comfortable clothes to wear, which for him was his workout attire. Too bad he hadn’t brought along his tight workout tops she loved to ogle, but opted for cotton T-shirts instead. Massive bummer, but the T still strained against his muscles and was more of a tease to what lay beneath than an all-out show like his other shirts.
Just watching the man walk toward the car was hot. Maybe it was the relaxed swagger of his stride. In fact, he’d been pretty relaxed all morning, but that could be because they’d been traveling and hadn’t encountered anything. Not that they usually did until the afternoon. He suddenly looked her way and smiled, and her breath caught.
The guy was simply yummy. And having once had a taste of him, it was very difficult to stay in the friends zone now that he’d put her there. From what she could tell, she was strictly there now. She hadn’t received one hint of attraction from him since she’d returned home three days ago. She couldn’t really blame him, though. The man was going through a traumatic readjustment four years in the making. How could lust compete with all that?
Still, that didn’t keep her from wanting to touch him. And badly. She ached to at times. Somehow, she kept her hands to herself and kept a friendly smile plastered on her face.
He sidled up beside her and leaned against the SUV. “Where is the next chase target?”
“Very good, handsome. Getting down with the lingo.” She grinned. “About an hour away. You ready to head into Texas?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he drawled and pretended to tip a hat at her.
Chuckling, she said, “Get in the car, cowboy.”
As Rick drove, Gayle worried over her data. Though they had only encountered one tornado yesterday, the main reason was because of her decision to stay away from the chaser convergence—for Mac’s sake. If she’d gone with the pack she most likely would’ve seen a whole lot more, since yesterday thirty-one tornadoes had touched down throughout western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle.