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CHAPTER 20

She thought he was doing just fine. And what he was doing with the hand he had beneath her hair, resting there, cupping her neck…he was caressing her skin. Absently.

Without thought.

And her whole body was attuned to his. She wanted to press closer.

She wanted to press closer. Because…she trusted this man more than she ever had any other since she had been seventeen years old.

And that mattered to her. More than she could ever put into words. She moistened her lips, sudden nerves making her mouth dry.

His eyes darkened, and he watched her lips. He looked…hungry.

An answering heat hit her, making her forget where they were and what they had seen tonight. “Houston…are you trying to ask me out or something?”

Honesty. Communication. They were more important to her now than anything had ever been in her life.

His fingers cupped her cheek. His thumb traced her bottom lip. “That is exactly what I am trying to do.”

“Then I am going to say yes…After…I find my father. I have to make sure he’s ok. And…after we figure out what the storm may bring for the station…and Dwight is dealt with…and nothing is hanging over our heads to distract us…I think I would like that. Very, very much.”

Brooke took probably the scariest, boldest, step of her life. She leaned forward, arched up on her toes, and brushed the lightest of kisses on his mouth. Then she pulled back. “Thank you, by the way. For tonight. For standing between me and…the storm.”

“I always will.”

He shot her an absolutely wicked look. Then he hooked his uninjured hand around her waist. “It’s my turn now. May I kiss you, Miss Brooke Jacobs? Please? I have never wanted anything more in my life.”

“I think… I would like that very, very much.”

He pressed his lips to hers. Right there in the middle of the hospital corridor, he kissed her. And he didn’t stop until someone said his name.

Chidingly.

He pulled back, a sheepish expression on his face. Brooke’s cheeks flamed as she looked at the woman watching him—expectantly.

“Hi, Mom.” He wrapped his good hand around Brooke’s. “This is Brooke. Once we get a chance, she’s going to let me show her that I am the perfect man for her.”

Brooke thought that sounded like the perfect idea, too.

THANK YOU FOR READING STORM THREAT.