Chances Are(8)

She chose to attack first. “I can do this job so don’t try to talk me out of it.”

Instead of answering immediately, he walked toward her, his steps slow and determined, like a wild animal stalking his prey. Angela swallowed hard but stood her ground, waiting for him to reach her.

With only inches to spare, he stopped in front of her, and in a voice that rumbled like soft thunder, said, “Did I say you couldn’t do this job?”

“No, but you—” She stopped abruptly. Okay, so maybe she should have waited to see what he had to say.

“But I, what? Am I concerned for you? Hell, yeah. Do I wish you’d wait until a less dangerous assignment came along for your first time out? Double hell yeah. What I’d most like to know is why you didn’t tell me yourself?”

“Noah only approved it yesterday. You know missions can’t be discussed until he officially takes them on.”

Though she was telling the truth, she couldn’t help but feel guilty. She’d had the opportunity to talk to him yesterday and had run away from it. She wasn’t proud of her lack of courage.

“Fine. I’ll give you that. But why didn’t you ever mention you wanted to be a field operative?”

Considering she’d told him almost everything else about herself, she could understand his bewilderment. Tilting her head, she said, “What would you have said if I’d told you?”

His eyes seared her for several seconds and then he gave an explosive sigh. “I would have tried to talk you out of it.”

She smiled her appreciation of his honesty. “That’s what I thought. I’ve wanted to be a field operative for years. I couldn’t because my family depended upon me.” Drawing in a shaky breath because the pain was still so massive, she added, “I don’t have that anymore.”

Compassion flashed in his eyes. “You have plenty of people depending on you to stay safe.” He drew closer, the sympathetic look gone in an instant, replaced by a steely directness she wasn’t used to seeing. “Understand one thing. Our friendship cannot get in the way of this op. You do something stupid, don’t expect me to be easy on you. I’ll haul your ass off the job, if necessary.”

Her feet were moving before she realized it. Closing the distance between them, Angela could feel the heat of his body, smell the musk of his aftershave. “Friendship?” she challenged softly. “Is that what we have?”

Desire flared like a rocket in his eyes. She had seen evidence of attraction but nothing like this. Before she could glory in that look, he shut it down, his expression going impassive and cool. Though he was mere inches from her, she felt the distance as if it were a thousand miles.

“Yes, friends.” He paused and then added with humiliating emphasis, “And nothing more.”

The hurt came swift, slashing like a knife against her vulnerable heart. Angela shoved it away, refusing to get sucked into the pain. Jake might be attracted to her, but he didn’t want to have a romantic relationship with her. That was no different than what she had already known. Nothing had changed. End of story.



Jake felt like the lowest of slugs. That hadn’t been the most diplomatic way to tell her there could be nothing between them. Still, it was for the best. After the trauma Angela had been through, she didn’t need to get involved with a battle-scarred jerk who’d seen too much hell to ever believe in fairy tales and promises of forever.

Her smile obviously forced, she took several steps away from him and nodded stiffly. “Thanks for setting the record straight. I won’t embarrass myself again.”

“Angela, dammit…”

“Don’t worry about it, Jake.” Turning her back to him, she threw over her shoulder, “I’ve got two days of evals with Dylan and then a meeting with Samara on Thursday. I guess I’ll see you Friday so we can discuss the case.”

“I’ll be at the evals with Dylan.”

That stopped her in her tracks. She turned around to glare at him. Those beautiful, chocolate brown eyes that had looked so sad and defeated a few second ago were shooting brilliant sparks of temper. “Why do you have to be there?”

Fighting a grin at her quick temper, he made sure his tone told her there was no room for arguing this point. “We’re partners on this case. Wherever you go, so do I. Besides, I need to know your limits and your weaknesses.”

She turned her back to him again and snapped, “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As she walked out of the room, her shoulders so stiff they looked as though they could crack, he couldn’t help but let his eyes sweep over her. She was just so dammed beautiful.

Jake had never considered himself to have a type before. Over the years, many women, with different looks and shapes, had attracted him. He was thirty-five years old and had been noticing and appreciating women for a long time. His wife, Teresa, had been slender, medium height, with brownish-blonde hair. He had thought she was one of the most attractive women he’d ever known. But Angela was… He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck where a knot of tension had developed. Angela was unlike any other woman. It wasn’t just her exotic, sultry beauty that attracted him, it was a thousand other things, too. She had spirit, determination and drive, along with a vitality that radiated a love of life. And her loyalty and love for her family had been remarkable. She had put their needs before her own desires. That not only took enormous discipline but a tender, giving heart.

Now that caring for them was no longer part of her life, it only made sense that she would want to fill that void. Staying occupied helped with grief, he knew that all too well. But dammit all to hell, why did putting her life at risk have to be included?

He rubbed the back of his neck again, something he figured he’d be doing a lot over the next few weeks. Whatever Angela’s reasons, it was a done deal and was going to happen whether he liked it or not. Best thing he could do was make sure she was adequately equipped to handle whatever came her way.

They were hunting a remorseless killer, something, as far as Jake knew, LCR had never done before. As a cop, he’d seen more than his share of evil people and had apprehended quite a few. Two he had shot to death.

This assignment would be the toughest he’d ever had for a whole different reason. Finding a serial killer would be hard enough and keeping Angela safe would be priority one. However, he had a feeling one of his biggest challenges would be keeping her at arms length.





Chapter Five

LCR Training Facility

Paris

Hands on her knees, Angela stayed low as she concentrated on pulling air evenly through her lungs, then exhaling slowly. She had to focus. Jake’s presence wasn’t the least bit helpful. For every assignment Dylan had given her, she had known Jake was on the sidelines, his eyes sharply assessing…judging. She was in excellent shape, but so far, she’d probably given both men serious doubts that she could handle this mission.

“You okay?” Dylan asked.

“I'm fine,” she snapped.

“He's only being tough on you to save your life.”

In an instant, Angela straightened and turned to glare at the non-sweating, gorgeous man a few feet away. Jake’s condescending words were infuriating. Knowing she smelled like a dead skunk certainly didn't help. “I don't expect him to take it easy on me. I don't need easy.”

“Then what's your problem?”

Shouting that he was the problem would get her thrown out of this mission and rightly so. If she couldn’t handle Jake staring at her, how was she going to strip down to almost nothing in front of a crowd of strangers, many of them ogling her and making all sorts of sexually explicit comments? She’d always had the kind of confidence to carry on no matter what was happening around her. The opinions of others had never really fazed her, mostly because she was sure of herself and her abilities. She knew who she was. But this was different. She had to prove to Dylan that she was capable and could do this job. And she had to prove it to her partner, too. It couldn’t matter that her partner was also the man she fantasized about every night. She had waited years for this opportunity. Her libido would not stop her from fulfilling her dream.

“It's just taking me a while to get into the swing of things. I'll be fine.”

“The killer isn't going to wait for you to “get into the swing of things.””

Jake’s sarcasm was not only unappreciated, he used his fingers to make quotations of her words. She hated when people did that.

Whirling around, Angela faced Dylan again, who’d stood watching and waiting silently as she and Jake argued. The gleam in his green eyes told her he knew she was pissed; the slight smile on his face told her he was pleased. Realization came quick. They had played her and she’d fallen for it. She mentally shrugged. It had worked. They were all in this together. This wasn’t some arbitrary test set up to anger her or destroy her confidence. This was a test most operatives had to complete…she was no different.