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CHAPTER 3

At 6:29 on July 29th, the biggest tornado in Finley Creek history struck one quarter of the city. And lingered. Brooke stayed at Houston’s side as he studied charts on two different laptops and she fielded the phones from the national weather service.

Then he came at her.

“It’s almost here!” He had his fingers wrapped around her wrist and he was yanking her out of the booth and to the hall before she could even think to take a step back. He pulled her down the hall and toward the stairs.

“Keep going. Don’t go near any windows or glass!”

Then he was in front of her and they were in the hall between the break room and the restroom. Power flickered off, plunging them into the darkness.

“Brooke! Come here!”

She screamed as he took them both to the floor while the roaring sounded overhead. Panic hit.

Not because of the storm.

But because there was an overly large, extremely muscled man crushing her into the floor and the power was flickering in and out above them.

Brooke was trapped beneath a big man she didn’t know very well, in a place she couldn’t escape.

That was a literal nightmare she had fought for years. She just stayed there beneath him, afraid to say anything. Afraid to move.

Afraid more of him than she would ever be of the storm.

The station had its own self-contained backup generator system. It would kick in after a few minutes. Dwight would have to get the station back online. But…

“Stay down, sweetheart! We’ll be ok in just a moment. I promise,” Houston practically yelled in her ear. “It’ll blow overhead soon.”

They were on the northern edge of the county, on the college campus. The storm had struck Boethe Street on the south side first. But it was coming toward them now. Brooke just clung. His hand was behind her head now, and he was tucking her head beneath his chin. He was wrapping himself around her and holding her tightly. His large, hot hand stroked up her spine.

Almost like he was trying to comfort her.

It took her a moment to realize that was exactly what Houston was trying to do.

Houston—the big, mean, scary guy everyone else at the station feared a little.

Instead of scaring her now, it made her feel…safe. She hadn’t felt truly safe in a long, long time. She definitely felt that way with Houston. She just wasn’t going to be stupid and read more into it than what was there.

They were just two people riding out the storm. That’s all they were. Holding together to face the threat.

But her arms snuck around his neck and she held him tight.