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have felt so right, this kiss from a man she hardly knew, but it did.
     
    “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he said, resting his forehead against hers. “I promise.” How could she doubt the whispered pledge when she saw the truth of it in his beautiful eyes?
     
    She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You kiss pretty good for a boy scout,” she said, forcing a smile that surely looked as fake as it felt.
     
    His eyes crinkled at the corners and he smiled back. “First badge I earned.”
     
    He pulled her against him once more, letting her bury her fake smile in the comforting warmth and scent of him. She held on tight, knowing in a minute he’d release her and she’d be forced to act like she wasn’t scared out of her wits. She wrapped her arms around the hard muscles layered over his ribs and let her hands slide up his broad back. He radiated heat and she let it seep beneath her skin, wishing she could slip her hands beneath his sweatshirt and touch his skin. She was far too aware of him, far too attracted to him…to his beautiful eyes and that smile that probably broke hearts wherever he went. And then there was all that strong and steady maleness pouring off of him. What female could be immune to that?
     
    She forced her thoughts from the avenue they desperately wanted to travel. One that involved putting this terrifying house out of their minds as they shucked their clothes and lost themselves in one another.
     
    “This place is haunted,” she said.
     
    She waited for him to scoff but he didn’t. How could he? What they’d seen was unfathomable.
     
    “The woman we saw. She was Sissy’s mother, wasn’t she?” Carly asked.
     
    Again, he said nothing. She was glad. She couldn’t have swallowed a lie anymore than she could handle the truth.
     
    Outside the wind howled fiercely, whistling through the gaps at the windows and the shattered glass in the kitchen. It brandished its icy power and sliced through them. A shudder traveled her entire body, but it wasn’t just the cold that caused it. Carly was scared. Really scared.
     
    “We need to start a fire,” JD said. “One that’s going to stay lit.”
     
    He tugged on her hand and led her to the front door without waiting for her answer—not that she would have argued. It was a plan, a purpose. Something beyond waiting for whatever would come next.
     
     
     
    Chapter Nine
     
     
     
    JD opened the front door. In the space of time it had taken to explore upstairs, the world outside had become a blizzard of white. With a sinking feeling, she watched the snow plunge from clouds that looked close enough to touch. The trees sagged beneath the weight of it and the brown, muddied earth lay cleansed by the crystalline flakes. It would have been beautiful if it hadn’t felt so deadly.
     
    She thought of Jillian, out there in this storm. Had she been able to see a way up before darkness fell? Had she made it back to the highway? Flagged down someone to take her to the police? Carly prayed Jillian had found someplace safe and warm to wait out the storm. She couldn’t let herself consider the alternative.
     
    “How far away did your family live from here?” she asked, remembering what he’d said to the woman with the broken face.
     
    “Eight, nine miles. On the other side of the highway.” He shook his head, once again hearing her unspoken question. “It’s up the same damn road and it’s too far to walk tonight. Not in this. Right now we need to find some wood. We’re stuck here, Carly, like it or not.”
     
    The words felt as ominous as the hissing snow. She looked at the blizzard of white, the crushed pick up, the dark and silent house. How would they make it through the night?
     
    Before they went outside, JD insisted on giving her his coat, but Carly refused, just as she had his directive to wait in the house where she’d be warmer. She wasn’t being stubborn on either count. She knew JD’s clothes were dry beneath