Someone Like Her(24)

 “Why?”

 Jake had given this some thought and knew Maria would eventually ask the same question. “The Tango stole all of Angie’s mother’s money and now she can’t make the mortgage payment. If I know Maria,”—and he was sure he did—“she’ll probably want to help out.” He would insist on contributing at least half.

 “What’s a Tango?”

 Right. No SEAL lingo. “A bad guy. Can you find out?”

 Eddie squared his shoulders, his stance one of the man he might grow into some day. “I already took care of that, dude. I had some money saved up, you know? Gave it to Angie this morning to give to her mom.”

 He was starting to like this boy. Jake exchanged a smile with the kid, giving him a manly slap on the shoulder. “Cool, dude.” Had he really just said that? Jesus, he’d been sucked into a time warp.

 Maria noted his return with a softening of her eyes as he escorted Eddie back into the room. Stop looking at me like that, Maria. Somehow, he had to put an end to this growing desire to make her his. When she turned those coffee-colored eyes on him in that warm way, he wanted to promise things he couldn’t deliver.

 Forever was not in his vocabulary.





CHAPTER SEVEN




Jake’s gaze fell on Maria, then flicked away. He’d been quiet and distant all day, speaking only to answer a question. She’d given up trying to get him to talk. If this was how he was going to act for the duration of his time with her, then she hoped the police caught Fortunada soon.

 The Davis living room was dark because of the drapes drawn over the windows. Jake stood off to the side, out of the small beam of light from the lamp, his face shadowed. She didn’t need to look into his hazel eyes to recall the heat they’d held the night before when he’d kissed her. He wanted her, she was certain.

 If she could choose who her heart wanted, it wouldn’t have been Jake. He was exactly the kind of man she should avoid. But from the time she’d met him, he had fascinated her. Her teenage crush on him had blossomed into something more at her twenty-first birthday party. Logan’s wife was a romance writer, and it had happened just like in one of Dani’s stories.

 She’d met Jake’s gaze from across the room, and it was as if time had stopped. He’d taken a step toward her, but then he’d shifted his gaze to her brother and some kind of message had passed between them. From then on, Jake had avoided her as if she carried some kind of plague. She supposed she did, one named Logan.

 When Jonathan had asked her out, she’d thought he was exactly the kind of man she should marry. Like her, he was going for a law degree and was goal oriented. Most importantly, he was as different as possible from the men her mother brought home. But she’d erred. It hadn’t taken long for her to see he was too possessive and critical.

 She loved colorful clothes, Jonathan didn’t. It wasn’t only her clothing that bugged him but also her eating habits, her cat, her love of horror movies—just about everything that made her Maria, actually. Then there was the sex. It hadn’t lived up to her fantasies.

 Looking back on it, she realized she’d hoped he would make her forget about Jake. Unfortunately, Jonathan had failed at that, too. She glanced at Jake and caught him staring at her. His gaze quickly shifted to the detective.

 “If you think of anything else, Mrs. Davis, call me,” Detective Nolan said, handing her his card.

 Once outside, Maria stood close to Jake while they talked to the detective. Occasionally, she accidently brushed her arm against Jake’s to gauge his reaction. Every time she touched him, he tensed. She suppressed a satisfied smile.

 “I think if Maria and I drop in at Missy’s Place, we’d be able to learn more than if you go there in cop mode, full of questions,” Jake said.

 Maria’s ears perked up. When Carol had said that’s where Fortunada worked, she’d decided—whether Jake agreed or not—they were going there.

 Detective Nolan shook his head. “This is a police investigation, not a game for civilians.”

 As Maria opened her mouth to dispute that she thought anything about the situation was a game, Jake put his hand on her arm and gave it a slight squeeze. Message received, she waited to see what he would say.

 “Did you call that number I gave you?” he asked the detective.

 “Of course. And I was duly impressed, which was your intention. You might know how to kill a man three different ways with your little finger, but you’re not an investigator, nor are you involved in this in any kind of official capacity.”