Page 23 of Hearts Colliding
Ryan rolled the sheep a few feet further on, taking it out of range of the water which was lapping onto the moor. He stood up and wiped his hands on his thighs.
“We’d better get moving. This might not be the first flood we come across. Or dead sheep. Come on.”
Alex almost had to run to keep up with Ryan’s long legged stride. The bastard wasn’t even out of breath.
Ryan started the engine up, moving forward almost before Alex had climbed in. Ryan made his way through the flood, revving the engine hard to get them through to the other side. As the road began to rise, he puffed out a deep breath, his cheeks golf balling in relief.
The rest of the journey was made in silence, except for the incessant beat of rain on the roof and the buffeting wind. Ryan switched the radio on, but was met with only static, and he flipped it off again.
Despite being wet through, the warmth of the car, the rumble of the engine and the tiredness that never seemed to leave him combined to pull Alex into sleep. A hard jolt yanked him out of a dream where a face, shadowed and obscured by a large, floppy hood, angled itself as it moved in for a kiss.
“What is it? Are we back?” Alex swung his sleep addled head from side to side. Flashing blue lights made him shield his eyes. “Is it an accident?”
Ryan nodded to the red metal signs set up in the road. “No. They’re closing the road. Flooding, it has to be.” Ryan jumped out of the car and ran over to a couple of policemen who were busy setting up diversion signs.
“Diversions are in place.” Ryan climbed back behind the wheel, reversed, and turned into a narrow lane. “The road running between the Harbour and the New House is closed because a large tree’s been brought down, and they’re waiting for a crew to come out and shift it. I can get you home this way, but then I’ve got a long detour taking me around the village so I can get in from the other side. What a fucking nightmare.”
Alex jumped as Ryan smacked the steering wheel with the heel of his hand, frustration and anger not only in the gesture but in the tense set of his shoulders. A spasm of guilt shuddered through Alex. In the dashboard’s low light, Ryan looked exhausted. Alex hesitated. As much as he hated it, he was indebted to Ryan.
“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused.”
Ryan shrugged. “Not your fault. This was the route I’d have had to come in any case.”
“But stopping took time. If you hadn’t have done so, you might have got home before the road was closed.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Ryan yawned and rubbed his eyes.
No more flooded sections of road, or dead sheep, hindered their progress and the New House soon came into view, the only time since he’d been back that Alex was relieved to see the place. Ryan pulled up on the gravel drive, at the foot of the steps leading up to the door.
“Thank you.” Alex unbuckled but didn’t get out. “Your family, they’ll be wondering—”
Ryan’s brow crinkled. “They’ll be worried, with the weather. I’d phone them, if I had any power left on my mobile.” Ryan’s lips twisted in an awkward, embarrassed smile.
“In that case,” Alex said, finally making a move, “you’d better come in. You can phone them from the house.”
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
“Did you get through okay? The signal here’s not great.”
Ryan looked up as he cut the call. Alex appeared in the hall, rubbing his hair with a towel. He’d showered, and changed into a pair of old looking, loose jeans and an equally ancient sweatshirt.
“The signal’s not the best anywhere around here, but yeah, I did get through. Thank you.” He handed back the mobile.
Alex answered with a nod and a ghost of a smile, and the tension that had been holding Ryan tight since the moment he’d seen the stranded sports car eased a little.
“That’s good. At least they know you’re safe.”
Ryan wasn’t so suresafeandAlexwere words he’d put together. His gaze slipped to Alex’s lips, red and pouty, slightly sulky… Lips he’d kissed, and god help him, he ached to kiss again when kissing Alex Love should absolutely, definitely be off limits. He dragged his gaze away.
“I’d better stop dripping all over your floor, and go.” Ryan’s feet didn’t obey the command, as he looked down at the lake forming all around him.
“But the road’s closed, so how—”
“I’m going to walk. I’ll stick to the footpaths.” Ryan’s stomach tightened. A little more than an hour’s walk in good weather, and in the daytime, at night and in the torrential rain it would take him at least twice as long if not more. The thought of heading back into the storm was a heavy stone in his guts, but he had no other choice. “I’ll have to leave my car here, and pick it up tomorrow. Roads should be open then.”Or not.
Alex was shaking his head. “Going up into the hills in this weather? That’s incredibly dangerous. You’re best off waiting here.”
“Worried about me?”Oh fuck…He didn’t know what he’d meant to say, but he was sure it wasn’t that.
