“Stay here while I check the bathroom,” he said and left them to their reunion . He made a full sweep of the one-bedroom apartment, and as he took in the destruction of all that she owned, his rage grew. This was a warning from Fortunada to Maria. Jake longed for just ten minutes with the man, no guns or knives, just bare fists.
He took out his cell and called Detective Nolan. When he finished reporting the break-in, he returned to the bedroom. Maria sat on the floor, her cat still cuddled in her arms.
Her gaze swept the room, then she looked up at him. “I can’t live here, not even when this is over.”
“No, I don’t suppose you can,” he said, sitting on the floor next to her. Without warning, Maria pressed against him and sobbed. Jake tried hard not to notice the way her breasts bounced over his chest as she cried. It didn’t work. He noticed. He was a very bad man.
Not good with crying women, never knowing what to say, he just held her until she quieted. “Better?” he asked.
“No.”
“Yeah, stupid question. Detective Nolan’s on the way. Why don’t you see if you can scrounge up some clothes and whatever else you might need. As soon as we deal with the police, we’ll get the hell out of here.”
“The sooner, the better,” she said and dumped the cat in his arms.
Jake entered into a staring contest with the creature while Maria dug through the scattered clothing, salvaging what she could. The cat’s green eyes narrowed to slits as if he knew just where Jake’s mind had been a few moments before.
“Good God, what’s wrong with him?” Jake asked.
Maria glanced over her shoulder at Mouse, scrunched up in a corner of his carrier and yowling his displeasure at being inside a car. “He thinks he’s going to the vet.”
Jake glanced at her, a puzzled look on his face. “Why would he think that?”
“Because the only times he’s in a car, that’s where the car goes.”
“Well tell him to stop.”
“Mouse, stop.”
Her cat increased the volume of his protest, and Jake gave her an eye roll. Maria lifted a hand to her lips to hide her smile, the first since she’d stepped into a living nightmare. How she would manage to deal with everything without Jake, she couldn’t imagine. Along with all the other reasons she hadn’t wanted to call her brother, his wife, Dani, was due to deliver their son any day now. Logan wouldn’t have been at all happy to leave Dani’s side.
“Do you know where we’re going? We need to get Sally,” Maria said.
“Yes, and we’ll pick up your precious car on the way. That damn possessed cat’s riding with you.”
They were both almost yelling, trying to talk over Mouse’s wails. “Cut him some slack, he’s had a bad day what with the break-in and the car ride.”
“No worse than mine and I’m not shrieking like one of the Devil’s own minions.”
Jake was starting to sound testy, like his patience was nearing its end. Well, she couldn’t really blame him. He’d been dragged out of his bed—one where he claimed he had a woman—dealt with the stupidity of his boss’s sister, and then sat with her while she told her story to the police, held her while she cried over her destroyed apartment, then dealt with the police again, and now had a crazed cat on his hands. Oh, and he’d lied to Logan because of her and that one probably bothered him more than even the cat.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
The frown on his face dissolved, and he shook his head. “No, it’s not you, it’s me. I can’t stop thinking about your breasts and it’s pissing me off.” His eyes did a rapid blinking thing. “Hell. Tell me I didn’t just say that.”
Maria tried to stop her grin, but failing, turned to stare out the window so he wouldn’t see it. He was thinking about her breasts? Little shivers of pleasure danced their way from her heart to her toes.
“So, if you’re not going to assure me that my mouth isn’t saying things it shouldn’t, then please accept my apology.”
She really wished he wouldn’t apologize as she liked him thinking about her, breasts or otherwise. “Whatever,” she said, annoyed now.
“You know, I hate that word.”
She glanced at him. His lips were pressed together, and he stared straight ahead. Just to mess with him, she said it again. “Whatever.” Mouse followed up her response with an ear-piercing yowl.