It was probably just the sudden plunge into darkness heightening his senses. With the headlights and dash lights cutting out, their degree of visibility had reduced even further, making him excruciatingly aware that he was cocooned in this cab with the cupcake queen.

Alone. In the dark. With nothing to do.

It was…intimate, and the thought of that itched under his skin. Soon the windows would fog up, and it’d be even cozier.

“Is it stuffy in here already, or is that just my imagination?” she asked, her voice husky.

The heating had been going full-on when Della had turned the car off, but, given how cold it was outside, it wouldn’t take long to dissipate. “You can turn the engine on, if you like—get some air circulating?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Before he could make another suggestion of cracking her window open a little, Della was undoing her seatbelt and pulling down the zipper of her hoodie to reveal a white form-fitting top that hugged everything inside it like plastic wrap. He couldn’t tell if it was a tank or a tee, but the intimacy level increased tenfold.

That top practically glowed in the dark like a fucking beacon.

“How long do you think this downpour will last?” she asked.

Grateful for something to think about other than that shirt, Tucker pulled out his phone and checked the weather radar. An ominous-looking band of blue and orange was tracking overhead. “It’s quite broad, but it seems to be moving fast, so hopefully not too long.”

“Okay.” Her breath hitched.

He searched her profile. “You okay?”

“Ah-huh.”

A cold hand clutched Tucker’s gut. Was being alone in the dark with a guy triggering her somehow? “There’s a flashlight in the glove box?”

She let out a wobbly laugh. “Thanks. I’m fine.” She smiled at him. “You wanna play I spy?”

“I don’t know about you, but all I can see is rain bouncing off glass.”

“I spy with my little eye something beginning with R?” The sky lit up again, temporarily illuminating the cab before plunging them back into the dark. “I spy with my little eye something beginning with L.”

He laughed. “This is going to be a very short game.”

She laughed, too, and the huskiness resonated around the cab, warm and throaty, upping the intimacy yet again. He was pleased for that middle-seat distance between them because she seemed a little shaky right now, and that tugged at him in all kinds of male-bullshit ways.

“Have you heard any more from Bailey?” Nothing like talking about Della’s dating exploits to take a mental machete to that tug.

“Yep.” She reached into the pocket of her hoodie and pulled out her phone. “He’s been sending me these snaps of his favorite foods all week.” She navigated for a beat or two and handed the phone over. “Here.”