Before Addy made it a dozen steps, her t-shirt was completely drenched. She wished that she had something more substantial underneath than her favorite flimsy excuse for a bra.

“Wow,” Remington said, blinking.

It occurred to her that he had probably never experienced a real storm, at least not from such a soggy perspective. There was a light shower the other day, but that was hardly the same.

“Have you ever been out in the rain before?” She had to shout over the rain.

He shook his head and smiled.

“Not like this.”

It suddenly hit Addy that so much water falling from the sky was mysterious and exciting. The world was a fascinating place through Remington’s eyes.

Lightning flashed, reminding her that they were supposed to be in a hurry.

“Come on,” she said. “We’ve got to get to the car.”

But she couldn’t seem to move.

Remington gazed down at her.

The rain dripped from his hair. He looked like that big blond guy who played Thor in all those movies. The thunder sounding around them only added to the illusion.

“We need to get the car,” she repeated without much conviction.

He reached out and brushed a strand of wet hair out of her eyes.

“I like storms,” he told her.

His eyes were so blue that Addy felt she could lose herself in them, like a calm lake that hid something unknowable beneath its surface.

“But you’re getting very wet,” Remington added. “Hold on tight.”

Before she could protest, he had lifted her in his arms and was running with her to the car.

She buried her face in the warm crook of his neck, inhaling his masculine scent shamelessly. The way her body warmed against his through their wet clothes was intoxicating.

When they reached the car and he placed her gently down, the muggy air felt cold compared to the safety of his arms. She blinked up at him for a moment, struggling to remember what to do next.

His eyes were on her mouth, like he wanted to kiss her.

She dragged her gaze away from his handsome face, fished the keys out of her pocket, and unlocked the car.

Remington held the door open and she slid in. Then he let himself in on the other side. They were completely drenched, but Honey’s car wasn’t fancy. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind damp seats.

The interior of the car felt warm and quiet after the shower outside.

Addy turned the key in the ignition and the air conditioning came on full blast. The gust of frigid air chilled her and she turned it off quickly, but not fast enough to stop from shivering.

“Are you okay?” Remington’s voice was husky.

She nodded. “Just cold.” She looked over at him just in time to catch him staring hungrily at her chest.

He looked up at her face as soon as she caught him.

Addy glanced down. Her nipples pressed against the wet fabric of the t-shirt, the pink of her areoles visible through the cotton.

Crap. She looked like some kind of porn star.

“Oh g-geez,” she said, “Wish I had d-dry clothes.”

“I’ll warm you,” Remington offered.

She waited for him to wrap his arms around her, wondering if she had the moral fortitude to resist him.

But he leaned forward and turned the heat on instead.

“Thanks,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Can we stay here a moment?” Remington asked. “Just long enough for you to dry off a bit and for me to ask you something.”

“Sure,” she said, stretching her shirt toward the vent in front of her, wanting it to dry, but mostly just trying not to leave her breasts on full display.

“I have experienced many pleasures on this planet of yours,” Remington told her. “Ice cream, rain storms, dancing, and even knock-knock jokes.”

“Knock-knock jokes are fabulous,” Addy agreed.

“But none have given me the happiness I feel when you are near,” he said. “I wish to choose you for my mate, but I will not unless it pleases you.”

Addy caught her breath.

She turned slowly to look at him.

He was waiting patiently for her answer, but she could see the tension in his jaw.

Dear god, he was so hot with that gigantic, rock-hard body and those intense blue eyes.

And the way the word “mate” rolled off his tongue. It made her think of crawling onto his lap, ripping off his wet clothes, crushing herself against him.

No, Addy. No, no, no, her mind shouted, as if she were an errant pet trying to climb onto the furniture. Bad girl.

It would have been easy to ignore that little voice.

But it wasn’t easy to picture explaining her choice to her mother. Both of her parents had been career nurses. When ten year old Addy developed a keen interest in science and helping people they’d been thrilled. They worked so hard - long aching overnight shifts, even moonlighting stints at nursing homes - all to be able to pay for Addy to go to medical school if she could just get in. She was going to be the first doctor in a family of nurses and caregivers.

“I’m sorry,” she heard herself say. “I can’t think about a serious relationship at this point in my life.”

“I see,” he said, sounding like he didn’t see at all.

“Summers are fun for me,” she explained. “But during the year I have to spend a lot of time studying.”

He nodded thoughtfully.

“Anyway, I guess we’d better go get the others,” she babbled on, trying to ignore his expression and the broken feeling in her chest.

She pulled the car up to the front door of the diner, where the other four were standing under the roof overhang.

“What took you so long?” Honey jumped into the backseat and Kitt slid in after her. “You didn’t have trouble getting it started, did you?”

“No, no,” Addy said. “It was fine.”

Nikki and Indiana squished into the backseat next to Kitt and when Addy heard all the seat belts click she headed out of the lot.

The rain was coming down hard enough that the windshield wipers could barely keep up. She drove slowly and carefully, even though she was worried about the bridge flooding over before they made it back. Her mom had spent years working in ER and she knew way too much about car accidents to risk one. It would be better to be stranded than injured, or worse.

They followed the curve of the road, past the endless pines, toward Maxwell’s.

“You’re an excellent driver,” Remington said.

“Thank you.” She smiled, but didn’t take her eyes off the road. “My dad taught me.”

“That’s lovely,” Remington said. “Do you see him often?”

“Um, well.” She wondered if she should lie to keep things light, but opted for the truth instead. “He died when I was seventeen.”

“I’m so sorry,” Remington said quietly.

“Are you close with your parents?” Addy asked.

Addy tried to change the subject whenever her father’s death came up. No one ever knew what to say to her about it. And what could they say? Nothing that could bring him back, nothing that could fill the hollow ache he’d left behind in her heart and her mother’s.

“I, uh, well…” he struggled.

“We don’t have parents,” Indiana chimed in from the backseat.

“What do you mean?” Addy asked.

“On Aerie, we are born into the atmosphere and float freely,” Indiana explained. “We don’t have a family relationship with those who formed us. Or, in another way of looking at it, our whole civilization is our family. At any rate, it’s not like here, where a young one’s direct creators nourish and shelter them.”

Addy stole a sideways glance at Remington, suddenly feeling deeply sorry for him. Even if she had lost her dad, at least she had known him, loved him. And she still had her mom. He had no one.

“Now that we are human we feel loneliness,” Remington explained as if he had heard her thought. “But we were at peace before.”

She nodded.

Though it was odd to think of emotions being so tied to a physical form, she understood it viscerally. Her own strong body dragged at her emotions when she wasn’t able to swim and lifted her spirits when it was worked and fed.

The road twisted again and Addy let the conversation in the car fade from her consciousness as she focused on the road. The rain was coming down in sheets. If it got any worse, she would try to find a place to pull over.

At last they reached the one-lane bridge that crossed the creek to Maxwell’s.

The creek was muddy and swollen deep. It hadn’t risen far enough yet to flood the bridge, but little waves lapped the sides of the curb and sluiced over onto the pavement.

“Quiet, please,” she said.

Everyone stopped talking immediately.

Addy took a deep breath and then drove very slowly across the wet bridge.

When they reached the other side, Nikki and Honey cheered from the backseat.

“Don’t celebrate yet,” she said. But of course the going was easier from that point.

When they pulled into the gravel of the staff parking lot, she breathed a sigh of relief.

They all scrambled out into the puddly gravel.

Remington moved to her, touched her shoulder.

“Thank you for experiencing a rain storm with me,” he told her.

“Anytime,” she smiled and blinked up at him through the fat drops that still fell.

“Addy, let’s go,” Nikki grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the cabins. “See you later,” she yelled over her shoulder to Indiana.

Addy waved goodbye and they dashed off after Honey, who was already ahead of them.

The deluge enhanced the lush emerald of the lawn in front of the big stone resort house. And the dark surface of the lake beyond appeared to be boiling under the torrent of rain.

They ran past the pavilion, the pool, the dance studio where Honey spent her days, and the larger staff cabins.

A fine mist rose off the muddy path to the senior women’s staff cabin, but the trees took the brunt of the rain here in the woods. Addy could see the triangular roofline of the little cabin just ahead. It would be so cozy to curl up in the screened living room and look out at the rain with her two best friends.

Maybe they could distract her from thoughts of what she had wanted to do to Remington back in the car.