Storm Warning (7 page)

“Oh, y
ou are going to pay for this!” s
he warned whoever would listen. “I swear to God!”

Gabe unlocked her door and strolled in, kicking the door shut behind him.

“I mean it, Gabe! Put me down, right now!”

He
plopped
her
down
unceremoniously on the bed. She scrambled to her knees
,
but Gabe shoved her back down on the bed.

“Who t
he hell do you think you are?” s
he demanded, her chest heaving in pure fury.

“You know who I am, Tory.” He tossed her key on a dresser. “And if you think for one minute
that you’
re sleeping in the truck, just remember this. I can and I will haul your stubborn ass back up here
again and again
. Hell, maybe you’
ll just stay in my room
and save me the trouble
.” He made another grab for her
,
but she threw herself out of his reach.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Fine. You stay in here or
I’ll lock you
in my room. Your choice.”

With that, he strolled out of the room.

He nodded at all
of
the smiling faces
,
keeping his own expression placid
as he
unlocked the
door
to his own room. Once inside, Gabe sank down on his California-King bed and laughed. He had never been so barbaric as to carry a
screeching
woman to where he wanted her
,
but he had to admit
that
with this particular woman, he enjoyed it immensely.

He couldn’t sleep that night. The clock on his nightstand told him it was nearly one o’clock in the morning
.

Restless, Gabe opened
his laptop and transferred all his
files from his camera to the hard drive.
Pictures of the
rolling
plains
of Nebraska and Kansas flashed on the screen as one by one they were saved
one by one
into various
folders
. He was amazed by the shots he had taken so far. Nothing special, he mused. Unless you were there to feel the wind whooshing and hear the birds singing. Then, there were
the
stories behind those photographs.

On film,
the
planes looked like flat fields. Sure
they were
beautiful, but nothing beat
being there, watching the wheat dance and shine
. Tory’s photo came up and Gabe
pressed
pause, freezing it on the screen.
He had snapped a picture of her after
laying
her down in her hotel room
the previous night
.

It was an unprofessional picture with terrible lighting
,
but she looked absolutely stunning. Her glorious hair was spread out on the pillow. There were no lines between her
brows
to show her stubborn defiance or anger.

Her face was smooth and angelic in sleep. There was something about that face that took his breath away. And when she slept, she was gorgeous. Her lips were full and generous. In her sleep, they were pale and slightly parted.

An
d he knew what they tasted like—wanted to taste them again and again.

Gabe shook his head to clear it,
clicked continue
,
and her photo vanished from the screen. It left the room
feeling
oddly empty
.

“Get a hold on yourself, man.” He
picked
his coffee cup
up to drain it, groaning when he found it empty. He checked t
he pot
, it
was empty as well.

“Damn.” He grabbed his jacket. Since it was too late for room service,
he figured he c
ould purchase decent coffee at the gas station down the road. Besi
des, he thought bleakly, a nice long walk might help to ease his sexual frustration.

He walked out the main e
ntrance and turned toward
the gas station
. A low, sexy and
familiar voice h
ad him stopping in his tracks.
Lounging on the deck of the hotel was Tory.
Her hair was down and curled at the ends as it hung over the patio chair she sat in. Her feet were propped up on the table in front of her and she was still fully dressed.

She was talking on her cell phone.

Gabe debated on whether he should leave her alone and go about his business
, but the distress in
her voice
convinced
him
to step back in the shadows.

“If you would just listen to me,” she pleaded into the phone. “No, no. Well, what did you expect me to do? You hit me first.
We had this conversation already. I’m finished.”

She muttered something unintelligible, dropping her feet to the ground in frustration.

“
No, Adam doesn’t even know I’m talking to you. Vance, please
don’t be like this. You were never serious about us, anyway
.”

Gabe clenched his fist and shoved them down in his pockets. How could she be so stupid as to be talking with Vance? She was just asking for trouble.
Didn’t
the woman
have any brains?

“Fine,” she bit out. “No, I won’t be around. This is it for us.” She slammed the phone down
on the tabl
e and with a muttered curse,
placed her head in her hands.

Satisfied that it was
ove
r between them, Gabe
turn
ed
back to
ward
the gas station.

“Were you listening to that?”

Since cursing was pointless, h
e
slowly turned.
She stood
at the edge of the patio
,
her arms wrapped around herself. Her hair moved with the wind and her eyes were
glistening
with unshed tears.
With the street light behind her casting pale light over her slim body, she looked like a fallen angel.

“I caught some of it, yeah.” He made his way up the
three
steps
and stopped in front of her
. “But I was just on my way to get some coffee.”

She stared at him for a minute
,
then shrugged. “I have some in my room if you want it.”

Gabe forced a smile, feeling
his stomach drop to the floor
.
He was still a little raw, but how could he pass up a peace offering? His palms itched as he remembered the feel of her shapely legs as he’d carried her over his shoulder.
Again, he tucked his hands in his pockets.
“Beats hiking half a mile to the gas station
, I suppose
.”

She didn’t return the smile but walked past him back into the hotel. He followed her in silence and waited while she unlocked her door.
When he stepped in, she waited at the door. He turned to look at her and was amazed at what he saw.

Tory stood
,
holding on to the door and she had her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Not only was it the first nervous gesture he had seen
from
her
,
but she was almost smiling.

“It’s on the counter.” She
pointed
to the small kitchen area of the suite. “I just brewed it before Vance called so it’s fresh.”

Intrigued, he realized he wasn’t quite ready to go back to his lonely room yet.
“Mind if I have it in here or are you turning in?”

She hesitated, which also spoke of nerves. Fascinating.
“You can have it in here.” She clicked the door shut behind her.

She poured two cups and passed one to him. Gabe took a seat in one of the chairs at the table and Tory settled on the edge of her bed.

“Why were you brewing coffee at one in the morning?” he asked her on
c
e she was settled.

“Why were you walking half a mile to go buy some?” Her tone was as dry as the Sahara, but amusement twinkled in her eyes.

“
Touche
,” he saluted her with his mug. “
So I take it you are Vance are—”

“Over,” she clarified. “He was fine
with it
when we talked earlier
,
then he just called me out of the blue to bitch. And I ended it
again
. I’m actually fine wit
h it. I didn’t think I would be,
b
ut I am.”

“He’s an asshole.”

She smirked at that. “Anyone in his profession is. I just wish we could
have gotten
along
better
. We had a great run, I suppose.”

“What profession is he in?”

Tory stole a glance at him under her lashes. “Modeling.”

She smiled when he choked back a laugh.

“You don’t sleep either?” Tory asked him
as she
sipped her coffee.

“Not like I should,” h
e said composed
,
but
he couldn’
t wipe the grin off his face.
He pictured Vance posing for a picture with the black eye and fat lip Adam had given him.

“Why not?”

Gabe leaned forward, sobering. He could tell she was uncomfortable carrying on a conversation with him and was touched that she would do it anyway.
She might be a wildcat, but
she also had a compassionate nature. It touched him that she was trying to prevent him from spending more time alone.
“Don’t really know. That’s how it’s always been for me. Why don’t you sleep well?”

She shrugged and focused her gaze in her cup
, changing the subject smoothly
. “Storms moving in pretty quick. We’re going to set up tomorrow morning and get some readings. You’ll probably get some good pictures
with this one
.”

“That’s good.”

“Adam is really excited you’re here. I don’t know if you know
,
but he’s really
into
photography. Maybe you could give him a few pointers. He really looks up to you.”

“He’s into photography?” Gabe asked both amused
and moved by her simple request
made on her brother’s behalf.
Compassionate, he thought again. There was a whole different side to Tory he didn’t mind learning about.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “He’s pretty good at it.”

“I’ll have to see some of his work.”

“That’s really nice of you.”

He debated
with
himself
on
how to handle this situation. For one, Tory was beginning to see him as a person.
And
two, he was growing more and more attracted to her by the second.
There was chemistry. She couldn’t deny the heat between them—and if she did, he’d only have to prove it by kissing her again.
She shifted uncomfortably and he realized he’d been staring at her.

“You’ll find I can be a very nice person if I want to be.”

She cleared her throat and glanced up at him, then away. “We’re going to head out the day after tomorrow instead of waiting. The storm gained intensity and speed since this morning, so
it’ll be long gone by then. The hotel’s going to refund the other four days.”

“All right.”

She stared down at her cup again. “I know I acted stupid earlier today. I really do appreciat
e the room and everything.
”

“Will you tell me what your aversion is to me?”

To his surprise, she nodded and rose
to pace.

“Storm chasing season begins in May for us. It ends in August
at the earliest
. During the rest of the year, I work really hard and save every penny I can to put into the next chase. Last year,” she paused and sucked in a deep breath. “Last year, we barely made it. One of our radars malfunctioned. It took everything I had in the business account and my personal account to get it fixed.”

She looked at him and smiled. “I don’t mind working for this. I really don’t. Adam helps too
,
but there’s a lot that goes into a chase.”

Gabe nodded. He was clearly beginning to see. She had personally carried the team for eight years and now he was succeeding where sh
e imagined she
’d
failed. He didn’
t
see it that way, but he understood why she did
. Understanding would be more important to Tory than agreeing.