He went to pull the key out of his back pocket as he stepped out onto the pavement.
It wasn’t there.
It must have fallen out on the seat. He was just turning around to check when he noticed the light coming through the drapes in his room.
Jake stopped cold.
He hadn’t left the lights on.
He leaned over and pulled out his 9mm from the glove compartment. Slowly, he made his way over to the room. He tried the knob, but it didn’t budge. He slipped a credit card from his wallet and made quick work of the old lock. Neither the chain nor the deadbolt were set, so the door swung open easily.
If someone was inside they either weren’t very good…or they were ready for him.
Jake held his gun at the ready as he stepped inside the motel room.
And lowered it the instant he spotted Verity Green laying on top of his bed.
She was asleep, and by the looks of it had been for a while. She was fully clothed, curled up into a ball on top of the covers. Her dark curls splayed in a wild halo around her head. She must have fallen asleep while waiting for him.
Jake caught sight of his motel room key on the nightstand next to her. So that’s what that hug had been about. He let out a long breath and let his shoulder fall against the doorjamb.
He’d been played by an art history professor.
So much for absence of guile.
He thought for a second about wrenching her off the mattress and tossing her out into the street, but he quickly rejected the idea. The decision had nothing to do with the pull Jake felt at the sight of her tempting body on his bed, and everything to do with the realization that if she was desperate to pull this trick, she wasn’t likely to leave just because her ass hit the pavement. Hell, he’d probably just find her tucked up tight in the bed of his truck tomorrow morning.
Verity Green might be scared and way out of her depth, but apparently she wasn’t the type to give up easy.
Or at all.
Jake cursed under his breath. What he needed was some advice.
He put his weapon down on the table by the window and stepped back out into the parking lot. He tilted his head up, looking for divine guidance from the night sky.
Not surprisingly, none came his way.
Instead, he did the next best thing. He pulled his phone from his pocket. He noticed a couple of missed calls from his boss, Carter Macmillan, but he ignored them and dialed his best friend instead.
Rhys Vaughn answered on the second ring.
“Jake.” Even at two thirty in the morning Rhys’ voice was crystal clear.
“I’m sorry to bug you man,” Jake said, knowing full well no one wanted to get a phone call in the middle of the night.
There was a slight pause on Rhys’ end. Jake heard a mattress creaking followed by the sound of Rhys’ girlfriend, Tessa, asking in a sleepy voice where he was going.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad to hear from you,” Rhys said a moment later. “Everything okay?”
“Roman Green’s sister is in my bed,” Jake answered.
“Well, that was fast.”
“Not like that,” Jake said, moving back to his open door and checking inside. She was still sleeping peacefully. “Wait. You knew she was coming?”
“She came by the office today, looking for you,” Rhys answered.
“And you didn’t think to warn me?”
“Would it have done any good? You haven’t answered your phone in weeks.”
Jake leaned against the wall, propping his boot behind him and letting his head fall back against the stucco facade. What could he say? He’d come out here to disappear. To put a little distance between him and his demons. Turned out they knew how to follow him.
“She’s out here trying to clean up one of her brother’s messes. Roman has convinced her I’m the only one who can protect her.”
“For once that bastard is right about something,” Rhys said.
“You, of all people, should know that isn’t true,” Jake said, shaking his head. “I let Tessa get taken. She could have died…or worse because of me.”
“You’re the only one that thinks that,” Rhys said, his voice calm and even. “You were ambushed, badly wounded.”
Jake kicked the wall behind him. But he knew better. He was the one with all the training. He should have seen the attack coming. He should have known.
“Do you know what Roman wants from her?” Rhys asked when the silence had stretched on too long.
“Help moving smuggled war spoils on the black market,” Jake said. “Seems his team got sticky fingers while clearing out a hidden stockpile outside Kabul. But his sister has…other plans.”
“And you agreed to help her?” The skepticism in Rhys’ voice was loud and clear.
“Hell, no,” Jake said. “I tried to send her packing the moment she found me.”
“But…”
“But she found me again.”
If it wasn’t Rhys on the other end of the line, Jake would have sworn he heard a slight chuckle.
“Well, if I were you, I would get back in that motel room and try to make nice with Miss Green,” Rhys said.
“Why’s that?” Jake asked.
“Because if you check your messages you’ll find a few from Carter telling you that Macmillan Security has agreed to take on her case. And that, effective immediately, he’s pulling you off leave and assigning you as her personal security detail.”
Jake gritted his teeth. He knew something like this would happen eventually. He’d been out for over two months. His body had healed. He couldn’t hide from life forever.
So why did it feel like Fate was making him her bitch?
***
“Rise and shine, Goldilocks.”
Verity’s eyes popped open as something small and hard thumped down next to her hand. For a moment, the bright sunlight pouring in through the windows blinded her and she blinked several times, trying to get her bearings. Eventually, her gaze focused on the sight of her phone lying next to her hand on the motel bed.
The motel.
Oh, crap. That meant…
Verity shot up and kicked out her legs, scooting across the bed until her back was flat against the headboard. She gripped the pillow that had been underneath her head and held it in front of her like a shield.
She must have fallen asleep sometime during the night while waiting for Jake to return.
Well, he was back now, and by the look of it, he wasn’t any kind of happy to see her.
He stood at the foot of the bed, glaring down at her. His lips were fixed in a flat, tight line. His dark brows hung heavy over his eyes.
Shit. She’d really screwed up this time. She prayed that she could talk her way out of this trouble and walk out of this room alive.
“I-I can explain,” she stuttered.
“Good,” he said. “You can start by explaining to your friend Cheryl. She’s threatening to call the cops if she doesn’t hear from you soon.”
“What?” Verity’s brows pulled together. How the hell did he know about Cheryl?
Jake gave a pointed look to the object he’d tossed down on the bed.
Her phone. Of course.
Verity snatched it up and scrolled through half a dozen panicked messages. Damn it. She quickly shot off a text.
I’m alive…for now. I’ll let you know if that changes in the next couple of minutes.
Verity didn’t want to look up once she was done. Jake had every right to be furious with her. It hadn’t been her intention to fall asleep on his bed. It was just that, between all the travel and stress, she’d been exhausted.
She’d tried to stay awake. That’s why she’d been texting Cheryl so much. Joking back and forth with her friend had kept her both awake and distracted. The messages about Jake had been particularly amusing.
Verity’s eyes widened as she stared down at the screen.
Oh God.
She glanced up. He was still there, of cours
e. A sick feeling settled in the pit of Verity’s belly.
“You looked through my phone, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Yep,” he said, his voice hard.
Verity felt her throat start to close. She knew she should leave well enough alone, but, somehow, she just couldn’t.
“Even the texts?”
“Which ones? The one where you talk about my caveman allure, or the one where you call me the scariest son of a bitch you’ve ever met?”
Verity swallowed down hard. “Like I said, I can explain.”
Jake crossed his arms in front of his chest, waiting for her answer. Despite her best intentions, Verity’s eyes were drawn to the sight of his inked-up biceps bulging from his sleeves.
Damn. She didn’t have a good explanation. The terrible truth was she did think all those things about him. The man was hot as hell, and just as terrifying.
“Those messages were supposed to be private,” she tried weakly.
“So was my bed,” he shot back.
“And I’m so sorry about all this.” Verity inched forward on her knees, putting her hands up in front of her. “I know it was wrong to break in to your room. I would be furious if someone did it to me.”
He cocked a brow at her admission. “But?”
“But I didn’t know what else to do. I came all this way and you barely even listened to me. You literally pushed me out the door. I was—”
“Desperate,” he finished for her. “I get it.”
Verity narrowed her eyes. He might get it, but he didn’t sound any less upset.
“You do?” she asked.
“How did you know which room was mine?” he said, ignoring her question.
“I didn’t,” Verity said. “I just tried the key in every door until I found the one that opened.”
Jake looked her up and down for a long second, but whatever conclusions he came to he kept to himself. After a long second, he turned his back to her and went to the table next to the door. He pulled Roman’s letter out of the top of her bag.
At least he hadn’t picked her up and physically thrown her out…yet. That was a good sign. Wasn’t it?
There was only one way to find out.
“D-does this mean that you’ve changed your mind?” she asked as he unfolded the paper and started reading.
He didn’t look up.
“Haven’t changed my mind,” he said. “I still think this is a terrible idea. But it seems what I think doesn’t much matter.”
“I don’t understand.” Verity scooted over to the edge of the bed and risked putting one foot down on the floor.
Jake made her wait as he looked over the letter. After nearly a full minute, he put it down on the table.
“Seems you made quite an impression when you went to the Macmillan office yesterday.” His voice was low and tight. “My boss has decided to take your case, and has assigned me as your bodyguard.”
Oh, thank God.
A smile lifted Verity’s lips.
She started, “That’s—”
“A huge mistake.”
He spun around. That familiar dark glower was back. Verity knew she should look away, but she felt caught like a deer in the headlights.
“You should have been more careful what you wished for,” he continued. “Because now you’re stuck with the scariest son of a bitch you’ve ever met.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yeah, you did.” He took a step toward her, and Verity slid her foot right back up on the mattress. “And you’re right. I am.”
His stare might be hard, but, damn, if his eyes weren’t the color of dark honey.
Verity gave herself a mental shake. She shouldn’t be thinking about him that way.
Then again, she had no idea what was the right way to think about him.
He intrigued her as much as he terrified her. She seemed to be both drawn to and repulsed by him in equal measure. Verity had never met anyone who inspired such mixed feelings.
Not that she had any such effect on him. The way he was glaring at her now made it clear that he wanted nothing more than to get rid of her.
Well, she could help him with that.
“I realize that we got off on the wrong foot, and the chances of us becoming good friends is pretty slight,” she said, scooting off the bed. “So maybe the best thing would be to just get going. That way we don’t have to deal with each other any longer than we have to.”
“Sounds reasonable,” he said, but his expression didn’t soften.
Verity nodded. At least his words were civil.
“It’s about a six-hour drive from here to the address that my brother sent me.”
“Then I guess we should stop for breakfast.”
“I think I’ll just grab something on the road.” She walked over to her purse and rummaged inside for her keys. “I can get going now, and you can meet me up there.”
Verity started as Jake’s big hand fell over her wrist, stopping her cold.
“No,” he said.
Her eyes went wide as she snapped her head up. “What do you mean no?”
“You’re not going anywhere without me.”
For someone that didn’t want the job, Jake was certainly taking this bodyguard stuff pretty seriously. Maybe a little too seriously.
Verity couldn’t help the nervous smile that lifted her lips. “I’m sure I can make it up to Yolo County in one piece on my own.”
“That’s probably true.” His hand stayed firm on hers. Verity didn’t try to pull away. “But you’ll still be riding with me.”
“I really don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Sure it is,” he said. “There’s no other way for you to get there.”
“What do you mean?”
“The rental company came and picked up your car about an hour ago.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Because I called them and told them to.”
Verity’s jaw dropped. “Why the hell would you do that without asking me?”
“Because your safety—your life—is my responsibility now,” he said, angling his body closer. Suddenly the room felt a hell of a lot smaller than it did a few minutes ago. “And that means from here on out we’re going to be doing things my way.”
Verity inched back, but Jake kept his hold on her. His grip was firm but not vicious. She knew she could wrench away if she wanted to…but she didn’t.
“And what exactly is your way?”
His gaze intensified, and Verity felt her heartbeat kick up against her breastbone.
“That’s a question you probably should have asked before breaking into my motel room to beg for my help,” he said.
Verity lifted her chin. Now he was just trying to intimidate her. And, yeah, sure it was working…but she wasn’t about to let him know that.
“Well, I’m asking now.”
“It’s easy.” He slipped closer, closing the gap between them. Verity couldn’t even take a deep breath without her chest brushing against his. Still, she forced herself to stand her ground.
“What I say goes. I make the plans. You do exactly as I say, no matter what.”
Her brows pulled together. “That seems a little tyrannical.”
The corners of his lips lifted, but the smile didn’t make it to his eyes. “There’s still time to catch that flight home if you don’t like my terms.”
Verity swallowed past the lump in her throat.
She couldn’t do that. It looked like she’d just have to put up with this caveman, at least for a little while.
“Okay, fine.” She twisted her wrist and her hand fell away from his easily. “Deal.”
Jake kept his gaze on her for a moment longer before giving her a curt nod. “Deal.”
Verity shifted back and forth on her feet when he didn’t back up. Her mouth suddenly felt dry, and she swiped the tip of her tongue against her lower lip to wet it.
“Um,” she said after another few awkward seco
nds had passed. “I know we’re doing things your way now, but are we going to get going soon like we talked about, or do you plan on keeping me pinned up against this wall in a show of dominance all morning?”
Verity instantly regretted the bold words when he inched even closer and the space between them disappeared. She swallowed hard as he pulled his hands out of his pockets. His fingers entwined with hers as he pushed the backs of her hands flat against the wall behind her, pinning her in earnest.
Her heart hammered with an emotion that had nothing to do with fear. Her lips parted. His mouth was so close, the dark look in his eyes so intense. Surely, he wasn’t going to…
Just then Verity felt something hard and cold press into her left palm.
Jake stepped away suddenly, turning his back to her.
Verity blinked several times before glancing down at her open hand and the small silver keyring now in the middle of her palm.
“W-what’s this?” she asked.
“Keys to my truck.” His back was stiff, the line of his shoulders hard. “I figured I’d give them to you this time before you had a chance to steal them.”
Verity closed her eyes as embarrassment crashed over her. She’d been a fool to believe for even a second that he was going to kiss her. He’d made it clear that he did nothing but despise her.
“Jake, I—”
“Grab your bags,” he cut her off. “You can wait for me out in the cab while I get ready.”
She didn’t say another word. She’d be an even bigger idiot to try and argue with a voice that hard.
She curled her fingers around Jake’s keys and turned toward the door before she could do anything to screw up this situation any more than she already had.
Chapter Three
She really was in the middle of nowhere.
The realization crashed down around Verity as she gazed out the dusty window of the roadside diner that Jake had brought her to. The darkness last night had hid the enormity of the rural southern California landscape from her, but now, in full sunlight, there was no hiding from it.
The long summer had obviously taken its toll on the valley. What little life that clung to the ground was dry and brown. The top layer of soil kicked up with every gust that ripped over the tops of the hills to the west, creating ribbons of dust that glided just above the roads and farmland like long, ethereal serpents.
Jake: The Sinner Saints #3 Page 3
