Free Stranded and Straddled by Em Petrova Page A

she didn’t have a chance against his strength.
    After ripping open his truck door, he tightened his grip in case she made a break for it. As expected, she struggled even more.
    “Stay,” he barked.
    “Am I your dog now?” Too bad her incensed tone wasn’t snatched by the wind.
    He shot her a look from the corner of his eye. “Hershey listens better than you most of the time.”
    Hooeee, that was the wrong thing to say. She tried to wrench her arm free, and he tightened his grip again, battling a smile. Damn, he loved to see that spark in her eyes.
    “Oh, c’mon, Lacey. You know I’m teasing.”
    She glared through ice-coated eyelashes. “How would you like it if I compared you to my dog?”
    He probed her gaze for a long second. “Woof.”
    She rolled her eyes. “If you think I’m going to pet you—”
    Before she completed the sentence, he tugged her against his chest. The wind threatened to rip his hat off, and he nudged it down a bit more. Was it his imagination or did Lacey’s pupils dilate?
    A gust of wind sprayed snow over them. Cold flakes filled his collar, and Lacey shivered.
    “Let’s get you out of the wind,” he said.
    Still, the waves of her fury were stronger than the blasts of ice and snow. “Let me go back to my car.”
    He bit his lip to keep from smiling, and reached inside his truck. He switched off the ignition. Then he shut the door and tugged on her wrist. She followed him to the travel trailer, if being dragged like a calf on a rope counted as following.
    He shoved her into his trailer without even drawling a “welcome home.” As he followed her inside, he was given a perfect view of her shapely ass. He reached back to shut the door, and she whirled on him, murder in her eyes.
    A laugh rumbled in his chest.
    The fire in her eyes grew hotter. “What is so funny?”
    “You.” He drew off his gloves and dropped them to the small counter where he had little room for more than a coffee maker. Before she could guess his intentions, he cupped her cold face in his palms and thumbed the snow and ice from her brows. “You look like an abominable snow-woman.”
    “Always the charmer. First I’m a dog, now I’m a mythical beast.” Still, she didn’t move from his touch, just locked her gaze on his lips until his balls throbbed.
    Her sweet scent lingered in his nostrils, filling him with too many memories. Countless weeks spent together on this once-lonely tour, her silky body trapped under his as he kissed the blush into her cheeks.
    She released a shaky breath. “You’re not doing this to me again, Trace.”
    He let her go, unbuttoned his coat, and removed it. “You’re not leaving, so you might as well get comfy.”
    “My dad wouldn’t like it. Not after what happened between us.”
    Trace resisted the urge to run his hands down her spine. “Your father’s not here, is he? I thought he headed out before you did.”
    “No, he isn’t stuck here in this icy hell. He managed to beat the storm. So Trace, I don’t need—”
    Lowering his head a notch, he stared at her. “You need. Now take off that wet jean jacket, and I’ll fire up the heater.” Thank goodness he’d had the foresight to fill his propane tank before leaving Oklahoma City. The heater had kept him from being cramped inside the truck stop, which boasted a gift shop, greasy-spoon diner, and gas station. Hundreds of people were crowded in there, eating up everything in sight.
    “Where you been staying, Lacey?” She twisted away to peel off her jacket. He eyed her stiff spine as she shed the wet denim.
    “In my car.”
    He nodded. “Stubborn as always.”
    “Have you even been inside that truck stop? People like sheep, sitting on top of each other, pigging out on Snickers bars like they’ve survived the apocalypse.”
    He laughed at her words. She always could make him laugh, which was a feat to a stressed-out cowboy on a losing streak.
    “Go ahead and laugh. You don’t have to go inside other than to