Dangerous Lies(9)

“Actually, I’m his driver.”

My shoulder sagged, but his mischievous grin helped me catch on.

“You’re a terrible liar in person, too.”

He tilted his head and laughed, a familiar sound to help back up my instinct on who he really was.

He paced the ten feet between us, holding both hands in the air. “You caught me.”

“I knew by your laugh,” I smiled, aching to reach out and touch him. He was really a real person. The relief inside of me eased my anxiety.

He shook his head, a smile still planted on his lips. Pointing to the logo on his shirt, he said, “I thought the sign and my shirt might give me away.”

“You’re right, but, you could have been a crazed fan, stalking our conversations, kidnapping the real Jake then plotting to capture me, throw me in a trunk and drug me, only to bring me to a cellar where they had you locked away, then force us to recreate scenes from our books.”

Jake blinked, then burst out laughing, wrapping an arm around my shoulder to guide me to the luggage carousel. “You’re such a writer. I think it’s time for you to branch out into thrillers, or maybe horror.”

I flushed. Speaking my obscene ideas wasn’t a norm for me. Blurting out my asinine ideas didn’t seem to bother Jake, probably because he shared the same creative and wacky mind.

We stood with the group of passengers from my flight, Jake’s arm still across my shoulders.

I looked up to him, studying his facial features. “You’re a lot taller than you look in your pictures.”

“Standing amongst mountains will make a tall man look vertically challenged. Although, I thought for sure you’d be as tall as me.”

My brows furrowed at him. “Really?”

He winked, and my heart fluttered. “No, I assumed you were short as hell. Are you even five feet tall?”

I elbowed his side, causing him to let out an oomph. Crossing my arms, I defended myself. “I’m five one, thank you.”

“And feisty,” he chuckled. “I knew that, though.” His palm squeezed my shoulder, pulling me so our sides were touching.

My head tilted into his shoulder. “Just like I know how big of a smart ass you are.”

“Can’t deny that.”

The soft stroke of his fingers brushed down my bicep, and I closed my eyes. The contact that I’d been terrified to share with a man because of Martin wasn’t there. This touching felt insanely good. Almost too good. I needed to be careful with him and remind myself why I was here. We were work associates and friends. This wasn’t to explore any intimate feelings that had been stirring inside of me for the past week toward him.

I stepped out of his hold, taking a big breath and heading toward the conveyor belt as if I saw my luggage. The space was needed, especially when he smelled so damn good. It was a mix of freshness from the outdoors and a heady scent of soap made for a man.

All too soon my bag emerged from the pile, slowly trekking toward me. I yanked it off the belt, nearly falling over from the size of it. Jake was beside me in an instant, sweeping in and taking it from me. “Let me. I don’t want it to tip over and smash you.”

“Ha ha, as if I’ve never heard the short jokes before,” I teased.

“Come on, it’s about a forty minute drive to my place from here. You hungry? We can stop somewhere, or if you’re willing to wait, I can make you the best hamburger you’ll ever eat.”

I was hungry, but I needed a shower more. “I can wait.”

Following him out of the airport and into the parking lot, I spotted his massive black truck. It sported the same logo in a decal on the back as the one on his shirt. He was good at advertising his brand that was for sure.

“I recognize this truck,” I hummed, heading toward the passenger side.

He threw my bag in the back, situating it so it wouldn’t move. “Yeah, I get noticed,” he teased, throwing me another wink. Averting my gaze from his, I opened the door. I melted inside from his playful gaze.

One side of his lip quirked upward. “You going to drive?”

I glanced inside the truck to find the steering wheel, then blushed. “Sorry, didn’t realize you drive on the opposite side of the road as us in the States.”

“Right, well you want to give it a go?” He held his hand to the steering wheel.

I shook my head drastically, backing away from the truck. “No way!”

“Alright then, maybe tomorrow.”

“How about never,” I coughed, finding the passenger side.

He climbed into his seat, still chuckling from my reaction.

It was weird sitting on the side I was used to driving on, yet there being no steering wheel. It was even more awkward driving on the opposite side of the road. I found myself leaning toward Jake whenever a car drove passed us on the road.

“Am I hugging the line?”

I shook my head, tilting toward him again as a semi-truck blasted by.

“Okay,” he grumbled, reaching over to my seatbelt and unfastening it.

“What are you doing?”

Without saying a word, he grabbed my arm, yanking me so I was in the middle seat of the truck.

“Now it won’t feel like oncoming traffic is about to rail into you.”

Another truck was approaching, and I winced, scooting until our sides were pressed against each other.