Jake shook him again before giving up when Zack grabbed his phone, nodded, and walked in the opposite direction.
Scrubbing his hands over his face, Jake went after Sandy. After looking in his room to find it empty and her clothes and bag missing, he searched the rest of the house. Jake was surprised when he saw her walking toward the road.
Running after her, he yelled for her to stop, but she seemed in her own little world. Finally he stopped her as she reached the front of the property.
“Little Red, where are you going?”
Sandy felt stiff in his arms, and he looked down to see her brow furrowed and her lips turned down into a frown. “Do you have a choice of who is your mate or are you stuck with me?”
What the hell is she going on about? “Sandy, I don’t know what you mean.”
Her eyes widened at the fact he’d used her name, and she pushed at his chest. “Do you have to be with me or do you have a choice? Does being a shifter take away who you would really choose?”
Growling at her silly thoughts, he pulled her to him and kissed her until they were both fighting for air. “Little Red, I don’t do anything I don’t want to, and we shifters always have a choice.”
He closed his eyes and breathed her sent in as she relaxed in his arms. “How angry is Zack at me right now? I know I shouldn’t have spoken to his mother like that, but that woman…”
Jake chuckled and leaned down to pick her up, cradling her in his arms, before slowly walking back to the house. “Zack’s not angry, just shocked that someone stuck up for him against his mother. She’s a force to be reckoned with, and usually he just avoids his parents.”
“Oh, well, I’m glad I cleared that all up, and now I’m on a roll, I might as well ask you the rest of what I wanted to ask.”
“You have more questions?”
She snuggled into him. “Yep, and my number one is why are you so afraid to let go with me? I feel you holding back. I know you want to say things, and you keep biting your tongue. Like about me going to this concert, how I won’t let you or Zack pay for things, the fact I do so much for my brothers, or even talk about your job. I want to ease your tension, not make it bigger, and don’t think I haven’t noticed how much you avoid things. I know you can’t tell me too much about your work, but, Jake, I’m willing to listen to anything you have to tell me, be it little or a lot.”
Jake paused at the front door to stare down at her and couldn’t help the words that came out of his mouth. “God, I love you. No one else worries about me or asks every day how my day went, even when they know I don’t want to talk about it. You don’t complain about my crazy phone calls in the middle of the night. You’ve welcomed me with open arms every night since I’ve met you. I’m so lucky to have you.”
Jake looked down to see tears rolling down Sandy’s cheeks. He leaned down and kissed them away. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
She reached up and pulled his face down to hers. She kissed his lips and whispered, “I’m crying because I’m happy. I love you too. I wanted to save it to say to both of you someplace special, and I didn’t want to say it after my tirade to Zack’s mother, as I didn’t want you to think I thought of you as an afterthought because I didn’t.” She brushed her lips against his again. “Come on, let’s go and sit inside. I want you to tell me what’s going on. Why you’ve been so stressed.”
He nodded and opened the door before walking straight to the lounge room. He sat on the lounge without letting go of his precious bundle. He stroked her hair as he thought of what to say. “There’s a shifter killer on the loose. My partner, cousin, and his partner, are working nonstop to find him. The last three killings have been people we knew. I can’t shake the feeling he is deliberately playing with us. He is killing more and more. I have to find him.”
She let out a big sigh. “Why else are you holding back with me?”
He moaned because he knew he had to tell her. He couldn’t keep holding back. “I don’t want to be too controlling, as I know you hate how your brothers and father are. But I can’t help it.”
Jake gripped her hands and kissed her fingers. “Please don’t get angry when I tell you this. When you’ve been working late at night and are the last to leave work, I watch you to make sure you get in your car and get home and lock your house. I also had your car checked, and a guy will be installing a security system in your house. Oh, and I went to the fire station and had a chat with your father and brothers. That’s why they haven’t been around every morning and night.”