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long since Garrett had played with fire, she’d forgotten the risks of getting burned. They were halfway home when it came to her exactly what kind of trouble she’d gotten herself into by permitting the lingering, provocative dinner. The wind was howling. The snow was falling in billowing, blinding whirls, coating the road with windblown drifts. It might have been beautiful, if it hadn’t been so dangerous. Tension immediately replaced her mellow mood.
    “Have you ever driven in snow like this before?” she asked, noticing that Joshua’s knuckles were white as his hands gripped the steering wheel.
    “No.”
    “Then let me drive the rest of the way.”
    For an instant she thought he’d say no just to prove how macho he was, but he glanced over at her and nodded. “You’re probably right. You know more about handling a truck in this stuff than I do.”
    He pulled to the side of the road and traded places with her.
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “For what?”
    “For not being a jerk about this.”
    “I’m not interested in getting the two of us killed just to prove some ridiculous point.”
    Just then the truck skidded wildly. Garrett fought against every instinct and turned into the skid. Once the truck was under control again she risked a glance at Joshua. He looked perfectly calm.
    “No sarcastic comments?” she asked disbelievingly.
    “We’re still on the road, aren’t we? I’d have had us in the ditch.”
    “Don’t give me too much blind trust. We’re still twenty-five miles from home and this storm is getting worse by the minute.”
    Joshua peered out the fogged-over windshield. “I don’t see how you can tell where the hell we are. It all looks the same to me.”
    “That’s because you’re used to watching for street signs instead of landmarks.” She pointed toward a faint shadow on the left. “That’s Bear Claw over there. Just up ahead you’ll be able to see a stand of cottonwoods. They’re right alongside Horse Creek.”
    “All I see is white.”
    To be perfectly honest that was nearly all Garrett could see, as well, but she figured there was no sense in both of them panicking. If she could make it another three miles or so, they’d be within hiking distance of an old line cottage on the edge of Tom Rutgers’s ranch. If they had to, they could stay there for the night. It wouldn’t be fancy, but it would be stocked with provisions and wood for a fire. They’d survive. With the snow this bad, no one at home would be expecting them anyway. If she hadn’t been so muddleheaded with wine and other distractions, she would never have left Cheyenne in this weather.
    Just then, she noticed the headlights bearing down on them, coming far too fast for a road this slick. She pressed lightly on the brake as she steered toward the shoulder of the road, trying to give the idiot room enough to pass. For an instant she thought they’d be just fine.
    Then, suddenly, the truck lost traction. They hit a rut and skidded straight toward a ditch.
    “Hang on,” she warned tightly. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
    She heard Joshua’s low chuckle. “Seems to me Bette Davis once said that.”
    “Yes, but she wasn’t about to crash into a ditch.”
    Garrett struggled with the steering wheel, but it was apparent that the truck wasn’t going to stay on the road. She eased up on the brakes, figuring the best she could hope for now was to lessen the jolt when they skidded to a stop. Fortunately they were in no real danger of smashing into anything. Nor was the ditch so deep that they were likely to flip.
    With one last jarring bounce, they rocked to a stop. Her arms tense and aching from trying to maintain control of the truck, she leaned forward and rested her head against the steering wheel.
    She felt Joshua’s fingers against her cheek, the touch gentle and comforting. “Are you okay?”
    “Just embarrassed.”
    She risked a glance in his direction and discovered he was grinning. Either he