Page 12 of Securing the Odds

Jake checked one last time they were free to leave, then led Tammy out of the bar and over to his car, helping her in before climbing in on the driver’s side.

“Well, that was a bust. No pun intended,” she said once he got settled.

He threw her a smile. “Not a total bust. The bartender had a lead for us.”

“Yeah?” She’d twisted in her seat, so she was facing him.

He started the car. “Sit back.”

He waited until she was facing forward before backing out. “Showed the bartender a picture of your ex. Said he comes in every Friday like clockwork.”

“You’re kidding?” Surprise was evident in her tone.

“Nope. I’ll keep running leads—try to find him sooner—but if all else fails and he stays true to form, we’ll have him nabbed by Friday night.”

“That’ll be past the deadline.”

He glanced over and saw her worrying her lip. “If we don’t find your ex by the time they contact us, I’ll explain the situation.” She still appeared worried, so he added, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know. I just wish we knew who we’re dealing with. A loan shark? The mob?” Her head whipped around. “The mob still exists, right?”

He couldn’t stop the small chuckle that slipped out. “Probably not to the extent you’re thinking, but yeah, they’re still around.”

“If Kevin’s so easy to find, I wonder why they aren’t going after him instead of me for the money.”

“That I can’t tell you. But this was a lead from two years ago, so maybe they didn’t know about it. I’m just amazed he still goes.”

He saw her shrug out of the corner of his eye. “Some habits are hard to break, I guess.”

“Hey.” They were stopped at a red light, and he grabbed her hand. “He was an asshole and a stupid one at that. No smart man who has you is ever going to willingly let you go.”

Her lips pulled into a small, sad smile. “You don’t even know me.”

The light turned green, and he stepped on the gas. “I know enough.”

She grew quiet, the tires hitting the road humming loudly in the silence until she broke it. “I was always boring. Never a risk taker.”

He glanced over to gauge her expression, but she had her head turned, staring out the side window.

“Did you know Nate wanted to be a rock star before he became an actor?”

That surprised a laugh out of him. “No. But I’m happy you shared that with me.”

She turned his direction, a smirk playing on her lips. “He had long hair and everything.” Her expression turned serious. “Nothing scared him. Me? I feared everything. While I love my job, it’d been the safe route. Something with a steady paycheck because I knew teachers would always be in demand. Then, I settled and married who I thought was a somewhat boring man with a stable job because I worried I was getting too old and the pickings would only get worse. And look at where all that fear got me. Alone at thirty-three with bad guys after me because of my poor choice of husband.”

He pulled into his driveway and turned off the ignition before turning to face her. “Or you can think of it as fate. As much as I hate what you went through, without your prick of an ex, we wouldn’t have met two years ago or be here now.”

A slow smile transformed her expression. “Are you saying you’re my fate, Jake Carter?”

Taking in that smile and the crazy things it did to his chest, he declared, “I’d sure as hell like to be.”

Chapter 6

Tammy couldn’t fall asleep knowingJake was just down the hall with only two doors separating them.

Her thoughts kept drifting, making sleep impossible.

Where did they drift to? Jake, of course.

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