Page 53 of A Lonely Road
The words she had accidentally uttered blended with all the words still unspoken, but we both understood.
When I drew back, I pressed my forehead to hers for a long, quiet moment. Then, when she offered a sweet, dazzling smile, I brushed the tip of my nose against hers and murmured, “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nora
Wedrovetherestof the way in silence, but Jake kept hold of my hand the entire time, occasionally lifting it to his lips. How was it this man could convey so much with a single glance, a simple brush of his mouth over my skin? Though I suspected I knew the answer, I forced myself to set emotional declarations aside for the time being and tried to reflect instead on my relief that I wasn’t being stalked by a ghost from my past.
It was stupid to be so grateful, I was fully willing to admit that, since I knew next to nothing about the man from the bar. Getting cocky because I’d taken him down once in a thirty second altercation would be a mistake. He could very well be even more dangerous than Shawn Milton.
There had to be a reason people said the devil you know is better than the one you don’t, but the devil I knew was utterly terrifying.
What were the chances that this guy was worse?
Putting a face to the recent incidents had sapped the fear right out of me and left behind a sharp edge of anger. By the time we pulled into Jake’s driveway, I'd replayed that scene at the bar in my mind a dozen times, struggling to recall as much about the man as possible.
Spiked light brown hair, wiry frame, clean-shaven. Almost as tall as Jake, but not as broad or well-muscled.I couldn’t remember the color of his eyes, only the slimy feeling they’d left on my skin as he looked me up and down. The keening sound he made when he dropped to his knees reverberated inside my skull, along with his friends’ taunting laughter when he returned to the bar.
At the time, my only concern had been getting the hell away from him, but now I recalled the furious humiliation sparking from his frame as he slunk away. Was that why he wanted to scare me now? Would he ever make a direct move, or was he satisfied with dancing around in the shadows?
Part of me had undoubtedly been annoyed to learn Jake had gone back to confront the man, even as I tried to look at the situation objectively. Jake’s interest in me had been perfectly clear almost from the start, but there'd been nothing really between us when it happened. He hadn’t reacted to the situation under the guise ofloverorboyfriendor whatever it was he might be bythis point in time; he’d responded as a business owner who had every right to tell a guy off for hassling women in his restaurant.
My reverie was interrupted when Jake opened my door and raised a quizzical brow. “Daydreaming?” he asked.
“What did you see in me when we first met?” I leaned my head back against the seat, studying his features.
“You mean besides the obvious fact that you’re drop dead gorgeous?”
My cheeks heated a little, just as I was sure he’d intended, but I continued to stare at him until he coughed up a real answer. With a pensive look, he set one hand on my knee and braced his other forearm against the doorframe.
“I saw a beautiful woman who looked so lonely it made my chest ache, who seemed afraid to even shake my hand. And then, underneath that bristling exterior, I saw a woman who was clever and curious and so full of life, it practically broke my heart to think about what might have caused her to be so skittish.”
My eyes widened slightly. Though I hadn’t been sure exactly what his answer would be, it was far more insightful than I ever would've guessed.
“You’re a perceptive man, Jake Lincoln,” I replied, my chest tight with emotion.
He bent down to brush his lips across mine. “I’m a patient man. And you, Nora Cassidy, are most definitely worth the wait.”
Before he could draw back, my arms shot around him and I buried my face against his neck. Jake clasped me tight andwe stayed there in the driveway for several long minutes. For someone who’d been insisting I could take care of myself barely an hour ago at the police station, I was profoundly glad that for once, I didn’t have to.
“Thank you,” I murmured finally. “I needed that.”
Jake kissed my forehead before lifting me down from the truck. “I am more than happy to hold you anytime you need it. Day or night, Nora, I’m here for you. You’re not going to scare me away. Got it?”
That simple affirmation caused my breath to catch in my throat. It took a moment before I could nod and whisper, “Got it.”
“Good. Ready to install your brand-spanking-new front door?”
Hand in hand, we went up and checked over the interior of the apartment again. The broken pane on the door had been boarded over and the glass swept tidily away, but everything else looked exactly as we’d left it. Jake eased his way around me to enter the bedroom and toss the skirt into the bottom dresser drawer.
“Now that is a crying shame,” he grumbled. “I liked that skirt almost as much as the blue dress.”
I laughed, and suddenly those threads of tension winding their way up the back of my neck and into the base of my skull began to loosen their hold. “Fortunately, your sister is an expert shopper. I’m sure she’d be happy to help me find a replacement.”
Jake gave an exaggerated groan. “Great, now I’ll be thinking about what you brought home from the last shopping trip while I’m trying to frame in the door.”
“Well, if you work real hard and get all your chores done, maybe there will be a reward for you later.” I batted my eyes at him and slid my hand seductively across his chest as I walked past.
