Page 17 of Securing the Odds

Smile on his face, he slowly shook his head. “Nope. Just another way for me to touch your ass.”

“Are you going to do that often?”

“What? Touch your ass?” She gave a small nod, and his smile turned into a grin. “Sweetheart, every fucking chance I get.”

“Good.” She turned and started up the stairs. And fuck him if she didn’t put an extra swing in her hips.

He stood there watching her ass all the way up until she disappeared behind the closed door of her room. Then he gave serious thought to ditching the search for her asshole ex to put her back in his bed so he could spend the day with her there instead.

Chapter 8

Jimmy Trent livedin a classy neighborhood in La Jolla and was Jake and Tammy’s first stop of the day. A beach community, once they exited the freeway, the view turned breathtaking. If they weren’t on a mission to find her asshole ex, Tammy would have thoroughly enjoyed the scenic drive with its pine trees and sandstone bluffs. As it was, she was too anxious to discover if one of Kevin’s best friends knew of his whereabouts to enjoy it.

Having a super-rich movie star for a brother, Tammy had grown a little desensitized to lavish lifestyles even if she didn’t live one herself—to the great chagrin of her ex. But even she couldn’t help but be impressed by the beach-front property lying before her and was surprised Kevin had never dragged her to it while they’d been married to show off his friend’s wealth.

She heard a long, low whistle beside her and turned to find Jake taking in the expansive beach house.

Spying what appeared to be an Audi R-8 in the open garage, she pointed out the obvious. “Looks like someone’s home.”

Bold as brass, Jake pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. Tammy reached for her door handle but stopped short of opening the door when Jake’s hand landed on her thigh.

“You’ve met this guy before?”

She nodded her answer.

“I’m gonna hang back until he answers the door, so we don’t scare him off.”

Tammy gave another confirming nod, and he opened his door and came around to her side. She noticed he did that a lot—opened doors for her—and she couldn’t help but feel a little thrill at such gallantry. Call her old-fashioned, but she liked it. A lot.

She realized she hadn’t had that with Kevin even when they were first dating but she hadn’t known any better to miss it. Now, she did.

She smiled at Jake as she stepped out of the car, letting him know his efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed. He rewarded her with a forehead kiss. She liked that a lot, too.

Jake positioned himself to the side of the door—out of peephole view—as she rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer.

It was Jimmy who answered the door. To say he was surprised to see Tammy standing on his doorstep was an understatement. He looked good—tan and fit. He wasn’t her type with his bleached-blond hair, cosmetically enhanced pearly whites, and his smarmy personality which she’d never understood how that didn’t detract from his popularity with the ladies, but it was true, as he was never without female attention. Case in point, the equally bleached blonde standing behind him.

“Tammy?” Jimmy’s voice was a loud boom filled with surprised confusion.

He opened the door wider, and hisfriendstepped up beside him, putting a hand on his forearm. “Who is it, honey?”

He ignored her, continuing. “Wow, what’s it been? Two, three years? You look fantastic, by the way, ditching Kevin worked out well for you.”

She didn’t get a chance to reply to his asinine comment because Jake appeared, stepping partially in front of her and blocking Jimmy’s direct line of sight. “Jimmy Trent?”

“Who the fuck wants to know?”

“Name’s Jake Carter. I have some questions regarding Kevin Williams.” She couldn’t see Jake’s face, but his tone said it all, and what it said was, don’t fuck with me.

“Jimmy, what’s going on? Who are these people?” Tammy could no longer see the blonde either, but she sounded as confused as Jimmy had seemed a minute before.

“I’m not answering any questions about Kevin.”

Jake reached behind him and took her hand before taking a step forward, getting into Jimmy’s personal space. Tone low but no less lethal, he said, “Why don’t we take this inside.”

“Are you fuckin’ crazy? I’m not letting you in my house.”

“Wrong answer.”

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