Stealing His Heart(43)

“No.” She gave Cooper a pointed look. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you, but he’s been the perfect employee to you.”

Cooper nodded. “I believe you.”

“Tara, stop defending me,” Jake snapped. He glared at her. “He knows I’m doing my job.”

Cooper cleared his throat. “Look, we need to get Tara to—”

“I know.” She sighed, wanting to get this over with. “Are we going straight to the jail from here?”

Jake stood in front of her, blocking her from Cooper. “No. Your time isn’t over yet. We have tonight, too.”

“Will a few hours help?” Cooper asked.

She shook her head. “Probably n—”

“Yes,” Jake said, his tone hard. “Maybe later tonight, it’ll come back to her.”

Cooper lowered his brows. “I hope so. After what you discovered about this Soltese guy…I’d hate to be on his bad side.” He gave Tara a meaningful look. “More so than you already are, that is. Word has it he’s heading back here tomorrow. I suggest you remember, and remember fast.”

Well, crap.





Chapter Twelve

Later that night, Jake stood under the shower stream, letting the water slide down his aching body. It had been a hell of a long day, and it wasn’t anywhere near over yet. He needed to get her to tell them the code, no matter what. Had to get her to tell him how she did it, or tomorrow morning…

She’d go to jail.

No matter what he did from this point out…he’d lose her.

When she’d rubbed his leg earlier and called him a hero, something inside him had broken. He’d wanted to be a hero, for her. And some part of him had actually believed her words. Believed her. Believed that maybe, with her help, he could be a complete man again. One who deserved love and happiness and…yeah, maybe even her.

But those were the foolish thoughts of a foolish man.

He shut the water off and glowered down at his scars. They were more pronounced than ever in the bright fluorescent overhead lights. As if from a distance, he could hear his ex telling him that no one could love a lame man. That no one would want him. He slipped the shower curtain back and froze. “What. The. Hell?”

While he’d been washing up, his bathroom had been completely redone. It now had pink towels. And a pink rug. And a fucking pink toilet seat cover. No. Hell no.

This had to stop. She had to stop playing these stupid little pranks on him. Stop trying to make him laugh or smile. Stop…

Being her.

Yeah, he didn’t want that. Leaning back against the wall, he surveyed all the pink, his lips tilting into a smile. No, he definitely didn’t want her to change.

He liked her just the way she was.

Reaching over, he picked up a pink towel, shook his head at the dainty size of it, and dried off. He wrapped it around his waist, holding it at the side since it didn’t quite meet, and opened the bathroom door. Mumbling under his breath, he paused in the hallway. It smelled like…strawberries. Fucking A. Had she lit a candle, too?

As he walked into his bedroom, he called out, “Nice change in the bathroom. I kinda like it.”

No smart-ass remark came back to him. The house remained quiet.

Too quiet.

Son of a bitch, had she actually run away from him? Or had Soltese discovered where she was? Had she been taken against her will? The thought of her in danger sickened him. If Soltese dared to injure one hair on her head, he’d kill the fucker. He strode across the room and ripped his top drawer open.

Grabbing the first things he touched, he stomped into boxers and jeans. As he descended the stairs, he yanked a gray cotton T-shirt over his head and grabbed his spare keys off the hook. His main set was missing, which meant she’d left of her own free will.

And she’d stolen his car.

He threw the door open and froze. Tara stood there, holding a bag of takeout and a bottle of moscato wine. She watched him with amusement, her gaze dipping low over his body. “Going somewhere?”

His speeding heart slowed down to more human speed. She was back. She was safe. She hadn’t left him. “You were supposed to stay here,” he rasped. “Where the hell did you go?”

“I was hungry, and you were in the shower. So I ordered takeout and got some wine for us.”

“You have to be careful. What if Soltese was out there, waiting for a chance to—”

“He wasn’t. And he won’t be.” She shut the door behind her. “Do you think he’s the first tycoon asshat I’ve pissed off? Because he’s not. In fact, he’s a baby compared to some of them.”

He gritted his teeth. Fucking fabulous. That meant he had a numberless amount of angry men out in the world wanting to kill his Tara. And she didn’t care. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”