“Wake up, baby.”

The sound of Joe’s deep voice startled me out of a dream I didn’t want to let go. I’d been cold on the outside… hot on the inside… Joe’s voice in my ear and his hands on my body...

“We’re here,“ he said, as I blinked my eyes, readjusting them to the light. For a minute, I didn’t know what he meant.

I sat up just as we passed the sign by the road. “Pawtauk?” I asked, starting to get my bearings. “How long did I sleep?”

He chuckled as warmth flooded my face. I remembered… and it showed.

“Long enough to be even more beautiful,” he said. “But I hated to wake you.” He smiled a smile that made me thoroughly ashamed and equally pleased. “I like being your pillow.”

I sat up and brushed the hair back from my neck, blushing again. “Joe… I…”

The two-way radio on the dash interrupted us with a rush of static. Then Dean’s voice came over.

“You two alright back there?” The static hit again. “You guys were hanging back there for a while. We were starting to wonder if you were at each other again.”

Joe and I exchanged a look that held a whole riot of thoughts and feelings behind it. “We’re good, Dean,” I answered. “Stop being a big brother and lead the other vehicles over to Baker Street. It’s the biggest location, and we’ll unpack and regroup there.” I looked at my watch. “We’re early. The events aren’t scheduled to start for another three hours.” The radio squawked in reply.

“The storms are building,” Joe said, peering under the visor at the darkening sky. “Weather service says no funnels have been spotted yet… but I don’t know… There’s something I can’t put my finger on…”

I looked out and shifted a little closer to him. “I know.” I shivered in spite of the heat. “Like the air’s too calm… for all those thunderheads.”

He put an arm around me and pulled me beside him. It felt so natural. I curved my body to fit against his lean side. The worn denim of his jeans was pulled tight over his thick muscles. “The way you touched me, Joe… Did you mean it? What you said when I was… when I was coming…”

He looked at me, his dark curls rough and his eyes a brilliant blue. He smiled, and I felt it all the way to my toes. “Yes, I meant it, Maggie. I keep all my promises, sooner or later. This one, most of all. I’m going to have you, sweetheart. Every luscious inch…”

He pulled the truck into the parking lot behind the others, and then kissed me hungrily, desperately, until there wasn’t a single doubt left in my mind.

I was flushed, but no longer completely disheveled, by the time the others were beginning to pile out. Jackie headed into the church to announce our arrival, and Ryan came over with Henry to get their instructions.

The next few hours were hot and busy. Dean and Joe worked side by side, with the comfortable familiarity of lifelong friendship. But Joe took on the heaviest labor himself, quickly, efficiently, giving my brother a much-needed break and allowing me to give out the last of the instructions. Even as he worked, Joe would pause to capture photographs. His steadiness and easy humor had a calming effect on everyone, and what could have been a frantic scramble became orderly and fluid.

Dean and Jackie were almost ready to head for the high school to teach their class. Ryan and Henry were staying on to head up the event at the church, while Margie and Ron were taking the remaining volunteers with them to a park on the north end of town. I was taking the truck with all our own supplies to the old farmhouse on the south side. The town had offered it as a place for us to stay for the next few days. Joe and I would unload there, and then head back to the church.

In all, we’d be covering ten square miles and serving more than three hundred people’s needs over the next few days, handing out shelf-stable foods and first aid supplies, emergency kits and information packets. Half an hour before the doors were scheduled to open, we were ready. I was watching my dream come true. And Joe was in the center of it all. He had been the quiet in the storm.

“You’re amazing,” he said. He tucked his lips closer to my ear and my neck. His breath touched my skin. “I was watching you the whole time, baby.”

“Hey guys…” I jerked away as Dean came up behind us. “You two… Be back as soon as you can, okay?” He gave me a strange look, and then turned his eyes to Joe with a frown. “We’re gonna be short-handed until you get back.”

I saw a look pass between the two men, a look I didn’t understand. For a minute, neither moved.

“We’ll be back, Dean,” I said, reaching up to give him a quick hug. “With the look of that sky, we don’t want to get stuck out on the road.”

Dean stuck his hand out and Joe took it, pulling him close as the two men exchanged claps on the shoulder.

“She’s my kid sister,” Dean said pointedly. “Make sure she’s safe…”

“I’m trusting you…”