Assumed Identity(49)
But there was a purpose in those gray-blue eyes, a directness that seemed to indicate she felt that same connection, too. She was asking the silent question now and Jake nodded. “He won’t mess with you,” he vowed. “Or Emma. I’m involved.”
Maybe he’d just been expertly played. Flirt with the big monster. Give him some sugar. Get his heart and hormones racing so hard that he’d do anything to get another kiss, some tender touches and maybe something more—all in exchange for getting involved in Robin Carter’s problems and making them go away.
Didn’t matter if he’d been played or not. And he might well regret it. But he wasn’t going anywhere now. There were too many strange things happening around this tiny family. He intended to keep them both safe. Or die trying.
At last Jake found the strength to pull his hands from her mussed hair and back some distance between them. “Pack your things. I’ll call Robbie and tell him I won’t be back tonight. I’ll need to make a stop by my place. Then I’m taking you home.”
Chapter Eight
“I love what you’ve done with the place.”
Robin set Emma’s carrier on the small, laminate-topped counter that passed for a kitchen in Jake’s tiny apartment. Other than the weightlifting equipment in one corner, Jake’s apartment looked as old and out of date as the dingy limestone facade outside.
“All the comforts of home,” his tone mocked, “if comfortable isn’t the thing you’re going for.” He tossed his key on a tiny table with one chair and walked to the dresser beside the lone closet.
Nice to see he had a sense of humor hidden beneath that stony exterior. Other than a few terse commands about where to turn and park, their short trip from the floral shop had passed in silence, giving her plenty of time to second-guess the wisdom of forming this alliance with Jake Lonergan. It was sad, if not surprising, to see that he lived in such a Spartan abode. There was not one painting to give it color, no photograph to give any hint of what was important to Jake, no knickknack of any kind to give her any clue about her mysterious rescuer. There was certainly no sign of a family or that he ever entertained visitors, given the single chair and the sofa she suspected was there to serve as his bed rather than seating for guests. No wonder he lacked the social skills of other men she knew—he never got any practice socializing.
Is that what was he getting out of his agreement to help her and Emma? The chance to be a little less alone? He certainly didn’t need her money, judging by the large roll of cash he pulled from the dresser. “You don’t believe in banks?” she asked.
“I believe in being prepared.” He stuffed the wad into the front pocket of his jeans.
“What are you preparing for?” she asked. “What do you think is going to happen?”
He’d charged to her rescue more than once, yet hid in the fringes of her life, avoiding contact with the police and almost anyone else. Beyond the striking silver-white hair and scars that she suspected made most people stare in morbid fascination or turn away in fear, he cursed and made cryptic comments. He shied away from holding a harmless baby, yet had no qualms about putting a stranglehold on an attacker. Maybe a few lessons in standard, polite behavior could be her gift to him—teaching him how to make friends, her way of thanking him. She might as well start with lesson number one. “It wouldn’t kill you to answer a question when someone asks it.”
“I don’t know what’s coming next, so I don’t know what to say.”
“‘I don’t know’ is an answer,” she pointed out. “It doesn’t hurt you to just say so. And I won’t feel like you’re avoiding me again.”
His eyes seemed particularly icy when they glanced at her. But he opened the closet door and shifted his attention there.
Robin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and frowned at his broad back. Maybe friendship wasn’t what he was hoping for, after all. While there’d been little familiarity with the process in that first kiss tonight, she’d been more sure of Jake’s desire for her in those few moments he’d trapped her between the wall and his kiss than she’d been with Brian or any other man she’d been in a long-term relationship with. Besides, the man was a fast learner when he put his mind to it. She could count on one hand the number of times the memory of a kiss had stayed with her, and that greedy, grabby passion-fest tonight topped the list. Jake’s overt masculinity triggered something ultra-feminine, vaguely nurturing and maybe just a little bit reckless inside her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to soften some of those rough edges and tutor him in the finer points of building a relationship, or if she wanted to throw caution to the wind and hold on for wherever the ride with Jake would take her.