Page 12 of The Acquisition

"Come with me," I practically growled, and pulled Jana out of the room by her elbow.

I swung her inside my office and slammed the door. She took a couple quick steps backward, and without thinking I began to stalk her.

"Are you scared of me, Jana?"

She shook her head and moved to put my desk in between us.

"No?" I taunted. "Then why are you trying to get away from me?"

"I'm not," she argued but shifted again to remain beyond my reach.

Chuckling, I vaulted over my desk and caught her. "I've got you now, blondie. What should I do with you?"

She placed her hands against my chest and feebly shoved against me. There seemed to be very little commitment in her effort to separate herself from me. "You should let me go."

I took a step back because as demanding as I was, when a woman told me to stop I stopped.

"Do you really want me to stop?"

She shook her head but said, "Yes."

"I'm getting mixed signals here, Jana."

She took a deep breath. "I don't want you to stop, but I need you to. Evie is my best friend, and you're her dad."

"She would understand. Hell, her baby daddy is my best friend. I can't believe I have a reason to use the term 'baby daddy.'"

Jana was searching for another excuse. Perhaps one of them would be the truth. "My life is a disaster."

"True, but I'm not going to judge you. I already saw you standing out in the rain with your mascara running down your face. I don't care if you don't have money, you should know me well enough by now to know that I don't give a shit about the world our parents live in."

She bit the corner of her mouth. "Look, I don't do relationships. Not that you're looking for one, but I definitely am not."

A ball of tension filled my chest, and I hoped she wasn't about to tell me she only had casual flings. It was hypocritical of me, considering I'd had nothing but meaningless hook-ups since I left Kentucky, however, something inside me changed knowing that Jenny wasn't out there for me anymore.

"Don't look at me like that," she scolded me. I'd have to add mind reader to her list of talents. "I don't do one-night stands either. I've had a few relationships, but I was able to handle those. I know you won't be managed."

I smiled. "You like to be in control?"

She nodded, but it wasn't convincing.

"No you don't. It's exhausting for you. You are the boss at work, you're fiercely independent, and you'd love nothing more than to have a man wrap his arms around you and let you put your burdens down for a minute."

Jana blinked several times, and I knew I was right. She straightened her spine and tilted her chin up. "We can't happen."

"Why not?" I challenged.

"I'm not strong enough. I'd fall for you, and when you got bored you'd move on. And then what? Would I have to avoid Evie to avoid you? We are in each other's lives, and that makes exploring whatever this is impossible."

"I never pegged you for letting fear rule your life. I understand everything you just said. It makes perfectly logical sense, but nothing about us is logical. Take a leap with me, Jana."

She opened her mouth to argue some more, but Beckett burst into my office.

"Everyone needs to go home and pack. We're catching a plane to Tahoe."

Jana looked relieved for the interruption. "I'm game. Tahoe is always a great idea. I want a room as far away from grandpa as I can get though. I hear seniors tend to get confused and wander. I don't want to be the victim of a dirty old man."

So that's how she wanted to play it. If she thought I wouldn't make a move just because we would be in a house full of people, she was seriously underestimating me, and overestimating the size of the Anderson's Tahoe compound.

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