by Sonya Weiss
She put her hand on his shoulder and the contact shot through him, dragging him backward in time to the hotel room when her hands had gripped his shoulders as he’d held them both up against the wall. He scooted back fast enough to cause the stool to fall over with a loud clang. Bending down, he picked it up and set it on the legs again.
Her tongue darted out to touch the center of her bottom lip. “Are you okay with me being here?”
No. He was not okay. He was no stranger to wanting to get laid, but what spooked him was that he didn’t want sex with just any woman. He wanted sex with Holly. Again. If stupidity could be painted, he would be a Picasso work of art.
“Jake? I asked if you were okay with this.”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll show you to your room. It’s the last one on the left.” Far, far away from his, and he would not lie in his bed and think about her. He led the way down the hallway to the first guest room and swung open the door. “I’ll grab your suitcase.”
“I’ll take care of it.” She brushed past him. “Good night,” she called out as her hips swung in a sexy walk toward the living room. Holy hell. His first mistake was sleeping with her. His second was thinking he could have her at his place and act like a monk.
Jake didn’t relish knowing the amount of time he’d have to spend taking cold showers as long as Holly was around. The sooner he found out her secrets and sent her on her way, the easier it would be to think with his brain again.
Chapter Seven
Holly was already at the table eating a piece of toast when Jake strolled into the dining room with a mug in his hand. Pulling out the chair across from her, he eased into it and looked at her over the rim of the cup. “You’re up early.”
“The early thief gets the gold,” she said, wishing he’d shave off that let-me-drive-you-wild facial scruff. He looked too damn sexy for her peace of mind. “So,” she said to interrupt her hot-Jake thoughts, “what’s on the to-do list?”
“We’re heading to Chicago.”
“Oh. We’re going to your office, after all?” Holly didn’t bother to hide her disappointment. Though she wanted to leave the city and Jake far behind, she’d looked forward to spending the day relaxing. With Jake. No, not with Jake. Just relaxing.
He shook his head. “Have you ever been to the Chicago Observation Deck?”
She’d been too busy working and trying to keep her head down to spend any time visiting tourist attractions. “No, but I hear it’s nice.”
“It is. You’ll like it.”
Holly finished off the last of her toast and reached for the glass of orange juice she’d poured earlier. “What makes you think that?”
“A gut feeling.” He drained his coffee and pushed his chair back to stand. “I’ll grab one of my coats for you and we’ll leave.”
Minutes later, they left in Jake’s car and headed for downtown Chicago. After he joined the throng of cars on the interstate, he glanced at Holly, then asked, “Do you have family in Chicago?”
She had to protect Liam at all costs. “Nope. I was just in town for the job,” she said.
“You don’t have any family?”
“My parents are gone,” she said, giving him at least that much truth.
He took an exit and then slowed the car to a stop at a light. “How long have you been alone in the world?”
“A long time,” she hedged.
“How long, Holly?”
“What does it matter? If you’re looking for a hidden reason why I became a thief, you won’t find one. Some people are just bad.”
“True.” His jaw tightened and his gaze darkened as he looked at her. “But something tells me you’re not one of them.” Slowly, he raised his hand and touched her cheek.
For one glorious second, she reveled in the tenderness but then she saw the look in his eyes and sighed. “Look, Jake, no matter how much you might wish what happened between us was good and that we had a connection, we don’t, okay?” She kept her eyes focused on him, hoping he couldn’t see through the huge lie she’d just told. It was good and she’d felt that connection, but she couldn’t afford to get her emotions all tangled up in someone she’d have to leave behind in the long run anyway.
“It was good and there was a connection,” he bit out. “You can lie to yourself all you want, but you can’t lie to me. I was there, remember?”
Did she remember… Goose bumps rose on her arms when she thought about his lips between the valley of her breasts and the way he’d slowly, thoroughly kissed every inch of her body. She’d felt the strength of him throughout their time together, not just physically but in his character. He was a man who’d been forged in the fires of hell and had come out stronger. She didn’t know what had hurt him but she knew wounded people when she met them.
Jake moved the car through the intersection when the light changed.
“What does it matter if I felt like we connected? It was just sex. Incredible, toe-curling sex, but it was a one-night stand and now it’s over and done.” Holly knew she was babbling, but Jake made her edgy. Made her crave what she couldn’t have.
He pulled the car into the parking area in the John Hancock building before saying, “Any time you want your toes curled again, all you have to do is say the word.”
Holly frowned. “You’d want to sleep with me again knowing that I stole from you?”
He pushed open his door. “It would just be sex, right?”
After he got out, Holly took a second to bring her racing thoughts under control. This was not going according to plan. Jake was supposed to be so angry that he could barely look at her. He wasn’t supposed to talk about them having sex like he was all I’m-down-with-that. He was supposed to look at her with disgust and think she was the lowest life form on the planet.
Her door swung open and Jake held his hand out to her.
Yeah, touching him with her mind on sex would be as smart as juggling cobras. “No, thanks. My hands are cold.” She stuck them in the pockets of the coat he’d loaned her.
“Okay, the elevator is this way.” He put his hand on the small of her back to guide her forward.
“We’re going pretty high,” Holly commented.
“A thousand feet up. You’ll feel like you’re on top of the world,” Jake said.
The first thing Holly noticed when they reached the 94th floor was the expansive views overlooking Chicago. She could see for miles out across the tall city buildings. That, combined with the brilliant blue of the sky and the huge clouds over Lake Michigan, made Holly suck in a breath.
“Exactly,” Jake said. “You should see it at night when the city lights up. Before I committed to being Santa Clause for the kids’ party every year, I used to come here on that same day and stay until the place closed.”
There was a reflection in his voice that caused Holly to slow her steps and look up at him. “Why would you do that?”
His throat worked as he swallowed. “That day is my brother’s birthday. He died and I guess in some stupid way I thought being this high up off the ground put me as close to him as I could get.”
Holly’s heart squeezed. Loss was something she was a good friend with. She touched his hand tentatively, then gently linked her fingers through his. “I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is,” he said quickly, like he regretted revealing what he’d told her. “C’mon. I got tickets for the Tilt,” he said softly.
“The what?”
“You’ll see.”
When they approached, Holly could see an area where people could step close to the glass and hold on to steel bars on either side of them as the attraction titled forward toward Michigan Avenue.
As if he sensed her hesitation, he asked, “Not afraid of a little attraction are you?” Like liquid silk sliding over heated bodies, the rich suggestiveness in his voice pulled Holly back to the night that had started everything.
Go ahead. Let go and fall into me. He’d whispered the words like he knew she’d been in control for
so long that she didn’t know how to let go. And she’d fallen into him over and over again.
“It feels…free up here. Like nothing else matters.” Just like making love with him had. Holly stepped forward and Jake stepped up beside her to grip the bars in his own space.
“Right.” He smiled at her understanding. “Freedom.”
Holly thought she saw a shadow cross his face before he’d smiled, but then the Tilt started leaning and her respect of heights kicked in. She kept a death grip on the bars. The view was spectacular but Holly was thankful when it was over and she could walk away on semi-steady legs.
They walked around for a while afterward admiring the stunning views until Jake announced it was time to get lunch. “You like steak well enough to have it again?” he asked once they were back in the car and out of the parking area.
Holly nodded even as misgivings filled her. She didn’t need to spin their spending time together into more than what it was. She sneaked a glance at him. He was gorgeous, insanely rich, and wanted by thousands of women, if the magazine articles she’d read were correct. He exuded confidence and yet, at the Observation Deck, she’d caught a tiny peek at vulnerability.
After she’d done her homework on him, she’d learned that Jake had a determination to make the world a better place. She’d read about the ways he’d given to the community and how he’d helped families in need. But it was more than his generous nature that drew her to him like an invisible rope was wrapped around her body and pulling her in his direction. It was the need she saw in him, that hunger to belong, to be loved that she recognized and identified with because she carried it, too. If she didn’t guard herself, she could lose her heart to this man and that would be the worst mistake she’d ever make.
…
Jake parked the car and walked along the sidewalk with Holly until they reached the Steak Station. Though it was cold out, there was still a lunch crowd lining up for the food. He glanced at her, noting the color in her cheeks from the wind’s sting.
After the hectic day yesterday, he’d wanted to take a day for them to relax and hoped it would help to lower her guard. Instead, she hadn’t told him a thing and he’d been the one to blab. He hadn’t planned to share what he had about his past visits to the Observation Deck. That he had rattled him a bit. He never talked about his brother to anyone except Mason and Cole.
As they moved forward in the line, Jake said, “Stan is the guy who runs the joint. I’ve known him for years and he comes out to the house occasionally. He’s probably close to eighty years old by now.”
When it was their turn to order, Stan gave Jake a knowing grin and reached out to shake his hand. “It’s about time you brought a hot date to this high-end establishment.” He looked at Holly. “Jake and his buddies held a business seminar years ago offering to help start-up companies.” His eyes twinkled. “I walked in with all my belongings in trash bags and you should have seen the looks some of those people gave me. Not Jake. He acted like he’d personally invited me. When I told him my idea, he helped set it up.”
Jake shifted, uncomfortable with the praise and the way Holly was looking at him. “I saw a good investment, that’s all.”
Stan snorted. “Yeah, right.” He got to work heating up thin, flat strips of bread on the grill and glanced at Holly. “Did you meet Jake at one of his fancy galas?”
“Actually…” Holly lowered her voice and said in an impish whisper, “I dressed up as an elf and when he saw me, he begged me to take his clothes off.”
Stan laughed. “Guess you never really know a guy.”
Jake laughed, too. “I got stuck in a Santa suit.”
“Ah, if that’s your story.” Stan loaded the bread with bite-size pieces of steak smothered with onions and red peppers, then rolled them up and put them in a paper food boat. He put two waters on the counter, then waved his hand when Jake tried to pay. “You know your money’s no good here. Off you go.” He wagged his eyebrows. “Be sure and tell that housekeeper of yours that I said hello. Bessie’s a fine woman.”
“I’ll do that.” Jake took their order and led the way to a group of tables beneath a red awning.
“Stan seems like a sweet guy,” Holly said as soon as they sat.
“He is.” Jake took a bite of the food and his eyes watered. “It’s a little spicy.”
“I like it hot,” Holly said.
“Living on the edge.”
“Absolutely. You have the best experiences that way.”
“Such as me,” Jake said.
“And Jake Lawson, in a surprise twist, wins Chicago’s Humblest Man of the Year award.”
He laughed and took a sip of his water, wishing he could cool more than his tongue. “What do you like to do for fun, Holly?”
She chewed thoughtfully for a second. “Like what you saw in my apartment, I do art for fun. All kinds of it. I once worked for a party entertainment company that specialized in business parties and I free-handed temporary tattoos.” She touched the collar of his shirt. “What does the gothic calligraphy one on your chest mean?”
Jake captured her hand and held her fingers still. His gaze locked with hers. “It’s Latin for broken soul.”
“The brother you mentioned earlier today,” she said in a voice filled with conviction as if she understood the desolate places in him.
Jake could feel himself being pulled under her spell again. He lowered her hand. “I thought tomorrow we’d go to the museum.”
If she was bothered that he didn’t answer her question, she didn’t show it as she picked up her food again. “The museum? I really should just focus on why I’m here so that I can move on.”
“Move on to what? The next city? The next score? What’s the rush?”
Her expression didn’t change. “I’m a wanderer. Gotta keep moving.”
Jake finished eating, then rose and gathered the trash from their meal. “While that might be true, you can only go into the office if I’m there and I’m taking a few days off.” Because I have to find out the truth about you.
“The deal was that I point out the system flaws and you don’t press charges.”
“Which we’re both going to stick to, right?” Jake asked, trying to keep his impatience at bay. “There’s no harm in us spending time together, is there?”
She stood and stepped into his personal space. “I don’t know, Jake. You tell me.”
Her tone carried memories of skin against skin. She was challenging him, trying to prove what a bad idea the two of them hanging out with each other would be. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her gently closer until their bodies touched. “No harm at all, sweetheart. It’s not like you can steal my virtue a second time.”
Holly rolled her eyes and moved away from him. “That ship sailed long before I came on the scene. Probably around the world a few times.”
“Nice. Now come with me. There’s a shop you’ll like.”
When she fell into step beside him, Jake felt a strange twist in his gut. True, he was trying to make her feel comfortable enough so he could get information from her, but for a brief moment when he looked at her, he wished things could be different. Sometimes, he got tired of the self-built prison he lived in. Never trusting, never loving, but then all he had to do was remember Adam, and he knew he was better off living that way. No one was ever going to make him vulnerable again, and that included the beautiful thief at his side.
Chapter Eight
Two weeks later, when Holly woke, she had to lie still as a bout of queasiness hit her. After a few minutes, the sensation passed, and Holly eased slowly from the bed. She and Jake had been on a whirlwind of days spent visiting tourist attractions around Chicago and the surrounding area. No doubt he’d planned the same for today until last night when she’d flat out told him that if he didn’t take her to the office, she was out of here even if he decided to turn her in.
The stress of the last few weeks, and the worry that Burt hadn’t yet made a move, combined
with the change in the way she’d been eating since moving into Jake’s place must not be sitting too well with her system. Shrugging it off, she picked out her best pair of blue jeans and a shirt dotted with pale blue flowers. After dressing quickly and brushing her hair and teeth, she called her brother’s place to check on him.
“He’s still fine, Holly. We’ve been sticking by his side and he’s never alone. Is everything okay? You sound nervous,” Mia said.
“I worry about our uncle getting to him,” Holly admitted. “And Burt’s silence makes me even more nervous.”
“Well, stop worrying, okay? I asked my brothers to take turns watching the supermarket for as long as it takes. If your uncle comes around, they’ll stop him, let me know, and then I’ll call or email you.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“We’ll keep him safe. What are friends for?” Mia said.
“I should be the one watching out for him.”
Mia laughed. “My brothers are all over six feet tall and built like linebackers. Taking them on would be like trying to run through a brick wall. I doubt you could do more to thwart Burt than they can. You concentrate on whatever it is you’re doing. We’ve got this on our end.”
Holly thanked her friend again, hung up, grabbed her shoes, and went in search of Jake.
“Holly?”
She spun around and came face-to-face with the short, white-haired woman she’d been introduced to the day after she’d arrived at Jake’s house. Her weathered face was lit up with a smile.
“Hi, Bessie,” Holly said. She’d felt a strange kind of instant connection with the older woman from the moment she’d met her.
In response, Bessie wrapped Holly in a hug. She pulled back and beamed up at her.
