Chances Are(12)

“Maybe that’s because he—”

“Because he what?”

Looking as though he wanted to bite his tongue off, Jake shrugged and looked away as he murmured, “Maybe it’s because he hasn’t looked at you as closely as I have.”

A flash of heat rushed through her. Though she would love to take this conversation to a different level, she wouldn’t. Jake had made it clear he wanted nothing between them and while she refused to accept the finality of that, she wouldn’t pursue it here. When this case was over though, she planned to pursue the hell out of it.

“When I was hired, I was sporting a couple of fake tats. Just experimenting to see how I liked them. Noah told me my number one priority would be to deter uninvited visitors to LCR. So, when it came time to report for my first day on the job, I showed up with so many piercings and tats, Noah barely recognized me.”

“Did he ask you why you’d added them?”

“No, funnily enough, he didn’t. Noah has always been accepting of my differences.”

“You’re very fond of him, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely. Without him and Milo hiring me, I’m not sure how my family and I would have survived.”

“Milo’s the guy who helped McCall put LCR together?”

“Yes, he was killed by an LCR traitor.”

“Hard to believe there are those who betray Last Chance Rescue, knowing what we do.”

“Unfortunately there are people who would sell their own souls for money.”

Jake released a dry, humorless laugh. “Yeah, don’t I know that.”

“You’ve run across a lot of people like that?”

“Hell yeah, haven’t you?”

“Actually no. Most of the people I know are good, decent people. Learning we had a traitor in our midst was a shock.”

“You’re lucky. Most of the people I’ve known were out for one thing only—themselves. And to hell with everyone else.”

“That’s a very jaded view of life. Do you include LCR people in your assessment?”

“No. I know none of them are angels but from what I’ve observed they’re not in this line of work for the power and money most people desire. They genuinely want to help others.”

“Just like you.”

He got to his feet and headed to the kitchen. “Want something to drink?”

An exasperated sigh, laced with sadness, escaped her. Typical Jake move. If the conversation got the least bit personal, he shut it down or walked away.

She had stopped wondering what made her pursue a man who made it obvious he didn’t want the attention. It wasn’t sheer stubbornness, although she had that in abundance, nor was it wanting what she couldn’t have. She had been attracted to other men, some had returned her interest, others hadn’t. None had fascinated her like Jake. Not one of them had made her want to hold and comfort him. Nor had any of them infuriated and turned her on at the same time. Her heart had no doubts that Jake was the one for her. She did, however, have serious doubts that her heart would get what it wanted.

“I have another question.”

She looked up as Jake returned to the room, a glass of water in his hand. “What?”

“Why a stripper?”

She was more than a little surprised he hadn’t asked the question before. The disapproval on his face when he’d looked at her cover had been apparent.

“Exotic dancers are one of his preferences. It only made sense that one of us go undercover as one.”

“I agree. But why you? You set up the covers for most LCR operatives. You could have assigned dancer to someone else.”

“The other female operatives on the mission don’t have the experience I have.”

It took every ounce of control she possessed not to laugh at his stunned expression.

“You’ve been a stripper?”

“Not technically but I took some classes.”

“When?”

“Exotic dance class was an elective in college and I really enjoyed it. After I graduated, I took more classes to stay in shape. It’s a great workout. My body is as limber now as it was when I was in school.”

Jake clenched his jaw. Hell, that was information he definitely didn’t want. He’d been throwing out questions at her, hoping for relief from the ache that was a constant part of him when he was with Angela. Her revelations about her exotic dance experience were ones he could have done without. Just the thought of her beautiful, graceful body, barely clothed and dancing sensually to music, made him rock hard. What the hell was he going to do when he actually witnessed the event?

He took a long swallow of his cold water. The temperature outside was just above freezing. In this room, it had shot up considerably in the last few seconds.

“I’m going to shower.” She stood and smiled slightly. “All of my tats are just about gone. None of the victims were inked, so I figured I needed to get rid of them.”

“So none of them were real?”

“And no piercings either.” She easily pulled an earring from her earlobe that he could have sworn was pierced. Laughter dancing in her eyes, she added, “I have an aversion to needles.”

“That’s something we have in common. I can’t stand them either.” He grinned as he remembered one drunken night long ago. “I was on leave with a few of my buddies from the Army. One night we were hell bent on getting tattoos. I thought I was just drunk enough that I could go through with it. Got in the chair and they brought the needle out. Didn’t take long for me to realize that no matter how much alcohol I consumed, I would never be drunk enough to voluntarily get stuck with a needle. Everybody but me got a tat that night.” He shook his head. “I liked to have never lived that down.”

That was probably more than he’d ever told her about his past. He tensed, waiting for the inevitable questions. They were there…he saw them sparkling in her eyes. But, as usual, Angela did what she always did—the unexpected. Instead of pursuing the subject, she shrugged. “It’s probably best that I don’t have any. Tattoos and piercings might have been a distraction.”

Considering that everyone would probably have their tongues hanging out watching that gorgeous body strip bare, Jake figured few would have noticed body art or piercings. Angela’s body was a work of art all by itself.

She stretched, revealing a slender, toned torso and then worked her neck back and forth. “I’m a little tense. Hopefully the shower will loosen me up. If I get to dance tonight, I need to be as limber as possible.”

Jake’s eyes followed her hungrily as she walked out of the room. An email ping from his laptop was a welcomed distraction. Twisting the laptop around, he clicked the email icon and sighed when he saw the sender. Even after all these years, his mother had yet to let go of the idea that the life she wanted for her son wasn’t the life he wanted for himself.

Weekly, if not daily, she sent newsy emails, detailing what was going on in their pocket of the world. Jake had learned to break down the information, picking out the parts that updated him on his family without paying attention to all the society news his mother liked to impart. He enjoyed the updates on his parents but could care less about the other stuff.

He had played that game once—gone to the right schools, associated with the kids that met his parents’ approval, dated the most suitable girls. And he’d almost married one of those girls. The only rebellion he’d ever had was his choice in careers. His parents had wanted him to join the family business. Instead he’d gone into the Army and then the police force. The latter had been a bad decision since it’d had so many negative consequences. His job as a cop had gotten Teresa killed, cost another woman her life, and had virtually destroyed his own life. Yeah, a damn bad decision.

“Did you read the email from Noah?”

He glanced over his shoulder and felt a gut punch all the way to his groin. Angela stood at the entrance to the living room dressed in nothing but a towel. He knew he’d be seeing her in a lot less very soon but had planned to be prepared by then.

Tearing his eyes away from the vision, he turned back to his computer and clicked a few keys to go to another email account. She came to stand beside him, so close he could feel her breath on his neck. His eyes narrowed, focusing on the screen in front of him. Dammit, did she not know what she was doing to him?

Another ping came from the laptop, indicating that he did indeed have a new email from McCall. Clicking on, he cursed softly as he read the terse message: Missing woman found this morning. Same cause of death. You have a five-to-ten day window to get this bastard’s attention before he grabs another victim. Let’s make sure he takes our bait.

“It’s just so sad. A family is learning the awful fate of a loved one. And if we’re not successful in trapping him, another woman will soon be going through the same horror. We have to stop him, Jake.”