I stared out of the window at the dark gray clouds overhead, arms crossed over my chest. It wasn't raining yet, but it was about to... and it was going to be a big one.

"We're gonna get caught in the storm," I told John, turning around to face him.

He was just coming out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. Since he'd spent most nights at the main house over the last week and a half, I decided to give him some room in my closet for a couple of his shirts so that he wouldn't have to go back and forth all the time just to change.

"Do you doubt my drivin' capabilities?" John asked with a smirk.

"Your drivin' is fine, it's other people I'm worried about... and freak weather," I laughed, crawling onto my bed and sitting in the middle, Indian style. I watched as the towel around his hips fell to the floor.

Despite the fact that we'd made love in my bed at least a dozen times now, I couldn't help but find way too much amusement in the fact that there was a hot, completely naked man walking around in my bedroom.

My parents would've killed me.

"Dallas is just forty minutes away, we'll be fine... and my truck's a beast, so no worries," John shrugged, pulling on a fresh pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt.

"If you say so," I shrugged. "I'm puttin' my life in your hands, be nice to it."

He put one knee on the bed and leaned towards me. I met him halfway and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him on top of me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him long and hard, a new sort of confidence soaring through me, shining brighter the more I got to know John's body and what he liked.

"We'll definitely get caught in the storm if you keep kissin' me like that," John pointed out huskily, running his fingers through my hair, which were scattered in loose waves over the pillows.

"Then we should go," I said, but made no move to stop kissing him.

He had an appointment tomorrow afternoon at the Dallas VA Medical Center, just a follow up to make sure his injuries were healing up fine. We decided to get a hotel room and head up there the night before: grab some dinner, maybe watch a movie or just take a long walk down the Trinity River.

It would likely be the former now, since walking around Dallas while it was pouring wasn't nearly as appealing.

As luck would have it, the moment we got into the truck and started driving it started to pour, and when I say pour I mean really, really pour. We drove on the I-45, the rain pounding against the windshield reducing our speed to 35 miles per hour.

"I told you so," I told him with a giggle, watching as he let out a series of colorful words, squinting to try and see where the hell he was heading.

He didn't speak and I didn't pester him anymore, not wanting to distract him. We drove for just over five miles when his truck made a loud noise and then, just like that, everything stopped. He had just enough of a head's up to steer the truck onto the side of the road.

"Oh for fuck's sake," he grumbled, hitting the steering wheel with his balled fist.

We were out in the middle of nowhere, barely able to see five feet in front of us. I was pretty sure we weren't too far from Palmer, but in this weather we might as well have been five hours away.

"Your truck ain't so mighty now, is it?" I said with a small smile.

"Shut up," John grumbled, wrapping his hand around the door handle, glancing at me and taking a deep breath, ready to brave the weather. "Stay here," he said.

"Trust me, I have no intention of goin' out there," I laughed.

He stepped out into the downpour, drenched to the bone within seconds. The wind was blowing against him as he made his way in front to check on the engine. I reached for my phone but I had no signal. I checked John's, maybe I'd be luckier with his, but he didn't have a signal either.

I saw John's hat fly right off his head, disappearing into the nearby field. He looked so mad - and drenched - while I was sitting here, nice and dry, giggling at his misfortune. He slammed the hood of his truck shut and came back into the truck, water droplets dripping from his hair and chin.

"I think the fuel line is torn," he gasped, running his hands over his face and through his hair. "Nothin' I can do here. We'll have to get this piece of shit towed... I can call Darryl, he might help us out," he said, hitting the steering wheel again. Darryl's father owned a towing company.

"I checked our phones, no signal," I told him.

"Well this is just fuckin' nice," he grunted.

I started giggling again.

"I'm glad you're findin' this funny," he said, smiling a little despite himself. "Meanwhile, I feel like a wet dog," he snorted.

"You're a cute wet dog," I laughed.

He leaned in to kiss me but I gave a futile push.

"You're gonna get me all wet too!" I laughed.

"That's the general idea," he smirked.

I choked on a laugh. "We're not doin' it in your truck like some horny teenagers," I told him pointedly.

"I'm freezin' my ass off over here, you aren't even gonna try to warm me up?" he asked, placing his cold hands on my belly underneath my shirt. My whole body tensed at his touch and I let out an unattractive squeal of surprise, swatting him away.

"Fine, I suppose we're gonna have to find some way to keep busy..." I shrugged.

We'd just started making out when somebody knocked on my window. I jumped in surprise, gripping John's shirt as I whipped my head around.

"Y'all need any help?" a, gray-haired, middle-aged man asked when John rolled down the window, rain and wind coming in full force. There was an amused grin playing on his scruffy lips, evidently aware of what had been going on seconds before.

I was all kinds of red, my cheeks flushed and unable to stop myself from giggling.

"Just waitin' out the storm... you by any chance got a cell phone signal?" John asked.

We ended up calling Darryl and Maisy to let them know what was going on. The storm was still raging, so we didn't want them to come pick us up in the middle of it all. Darryl told us the second the storm started letting up, he'd be driving over with his dad. Until then, we were stuck here.

"Damn it!" John hissed when the car that was nice enough to stop for us drove away again, disappearing into a curtain of rain.

"It's really not that big a deal... we can go to Dallas some other time, when the weather's a little more on our side," I told him, putting a hand over his arm.

"I'm sorry," he sighed.

"Sorry for what? It's not your fault," I laughed.

"We had this whole evenin' planned," he said, glaring at the rain as it pounded against his windshield. "I was gonna do this right... we were gonna have dinner, walk around, catch a movie... and then I was gonna take you back to the hotel and make love to you," he said, our fingers intertwining between us.

He stroked my index finger with his thumb, meeting my gaze. Being this close to him, listening to him talk like that... My heartbeat was racing fast.

"John, it's alright... Really, it is... I'm not mad about the-" I began, but he shut me up by kissing me again, his hand cupping the side of my face. When he pulled away, his eyes met mine, unwavering. I looked back at him, breathless.

"And afterward I was gonna tell you how much I love you," he said softly, staring at me, his thumb stroking my cheek. "Because I do... I love you."

He loved me.

I stared at him like an idiot. My brain was screaming at me to tell him that I loved him back, but my lips just wouldn't cooperate. I touched his face, my fingers stroking the stubble of his jaw, outlining the scar on his cheek.

"Damn it, Carly, right now is not the time to go silent on me," he chuckled. "I'm dyin' here," he said nervously.

"It's not often you're the one complainin' that I'm silent," I giggled. "I'm just... takin' it all in..." I whispered.

"Well, take it in faster," John smirked.

I kissed him and against his lips I spoke the words, saying them to a man for the first time in my life. Two months. That's all it took for me to fall in love with him and it was absolutely fantastic.

"I love you too John Kessler," I smiled giddily.

We didn't give a damn if anybody got a show; as the rain poured, John and I crawled into the backseat of his truck and decided to behave like a bunch of horny teenagers... just this once.