Authors: Adrienne Bell
Damn, he felt solid.
“Maybe we should continue our conversation somewhere else,” she tried.
Jake didn’t turn toward her, but his muscles tightened under her touch. It was all she could do to keep breathing through the tension.
Eventually, Jake nodded.
Thank God.
She might get out of this place alive after all.
Verity held tight to his arm as she started toward the door. She kept her head down, doing her best to ignore all the stares.
“Have fun, buddy,” the man called out when they were a few steps away. “Just be sure to bring the whore back for the rest of us, once you’re done with her.”
Verity felt Jake tense just before he stopped. She tugged on his arm harder, but he didn’t budge.
“Come on,” she whispered. “I don’t care what he calls me. I swear.”
“But I do,” Jake said.
He pulled away from her easily as he turned around. It only took him a couple of long steps to stride back to the stranger.
Verity knew she should look away, but for some reason, she couldn’t. She was just as transfixed as the rest of the crowd.
She flinched as the guy threw a punch at Jake’s face. It never connected. Jake caught the fist in his left hand and held tight.
Faster than Verity could blink, Jake landed a hard hit to the man’s midsection, then another across his jaw.
It was brutal and efficient…and over in a second.
The man went limp and crumpled to the floor. Jake let him fall, then turned to glance around the bar, as if daring anyone else to say a word.
The crowd went silent.
Verity’s mouth hung open as he strode back toward her.
This time he wrapped his arm around her waist and shuttled her toward the door. She couldn’t turn her face away from his as they walked. She didn’t think she managed a full breath until they were outside on the porch.
“T-that was amazing.” Verity had a feeling that it wasn’t the sort of skill that someone should be impressed with but she couldn’t seem to help it. There was a certain grace to the way he moved that was undeniably awe-inspiring. “I’ve never seen a bar fight before.”
“You still haven’t.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “Still, I’ve never seen anyone fight like that.”
“I’m guessing you don’t get too many brawls at the University.”
“You’ve obviously never been to a faculty meeting.”
She spied a hint of a smile play at the corners of his lips as he hurried her down the stairs and into the parking lot.
“Where’s your car?” he asked.
“In the far corner,” Verity said, pointing to the silver compact.
“I should’ve guessed.”
She pulled out her keys and opened the driver’s side door. When she turned around Jake was right behind her, his body blocking her in. There was something about his closeness that was distracting, made it hard to focus on anything other than her physical reaction to him.
Especially now that she knew what he was capable of.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“
I
am going back inside,” he said, “and you’re headed to the airport.”
Verity lifted her chin, even as disappointment washed over her. “So, you don’t want to help me?”
“You want my help? Then take my advice. Forget about Roman’s bogus treasure hunt,” he said. A kind, honest quality had snuck into his voice, even though none of the firmness had faded. “Go back to your nice little life in Ann Arbor.”
If only she could.
Jake fixed her with a look. Her heart began to pound. She tried to blame it on fear again, but the strange truth was she didn’t feel threatened—and she hadn’t since the moment she’d sat down at his table and
really
started talking to him.
The truth was, she felt strangely safe with him. Now, more than ever, she was convinced that Roman was right. Jake
was
the only one who could keep her out of harm’s way.
No, her speeding pulse had more to do with being so close to those warm brown eyes and soft lips—those few features that were at total odds with the rest of his rough exterior and reminded her that he was
just
a man, after all.
Somehow, that made what she had to do next even harder.
Verity lifted her head and slowly nodded.
“Okay,” she said.
His eyes narrowed. “Okay?”
He obviously wasn’t expecting her to give up so easily. He should have listened to that instinct.
“Thank you for what you did for me in there,” Verity said.
Before he could say anything in response, she slipped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug. He was every bit as surprised by the affectionate display as she’d hoped. His arms went out to the side…giving her access to that motel key that she’d spied inside.
As delicately as she could, Verity pinched the top of the hard plastic card and slid it out of his back pocket.
“Yeah,” he said, giving her back a quick, awkward pat. “Take care of yourself.”
“You bet,” Verity said, palming the key as she took a step back.
She didn’t waste any time slipping into the car. She didn’t even look his way as she started the engine and pulled out of the Crossroads parking lot.
There wasn’t any need.
She’d be seeing Jake Thorne soon enough.
Verity waited until she was almost a mile down the road before she pulled over to the shoulder and looked down at the key card still clinched in her hand. Just like she’d hoped, the name of the place was printed on the front.
The Blue Sky Motel.
Next, Verity pulled her phone out of her bag and went straight to her texts. Her fingers flew over the keyboard.
Remember when I said I was making the biggest mistake of my life? I lied.
I’m about to make it now.
Because if there was one thing that fight inside the bar had proved to her, it was that Jake Thorne was wrong.
He was the
only
man she wanted to protect her.
Adrienne Bell has lived her entire life in Northern California. She now resides on the far edge of the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and kids. You can follow the minutia of her life on
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, or check out what’s coming out next on
AdrienneBell.net
. Oh, and she thanks you for reading.