Page 49 of No Reason to Trust

Livvy felt herself go pale at the description of what she and Jake had as a relationship. “Yeah,” she said, avoiding looking at Jake. She wasn’t ready to describe it as anything but sex. Hot sex? Absolutely. The best sex of her life? She swallowed. Labeling it as ‘the best’ made her feel… trapped. In a box, with no way out. She settled on, “I wouldn’t, either.”

She didn’t look at Jake, and finally he sighed. “I’m guessing sexy times are over,” he said as he slid off the bed and yanked on his pants. “You want to watch TV? Read? Just eat our food and go to sleep? Any preferences?”

“Maybe we should just eat our dinners and go back to Washington,” she said, afraid of what would happen if they spent the rest of the night in this hotel room. They’d be all over each other as soon as this… this uncomfortable, awkward moment had passed.

If she was honest with herself,thiswas exactly what she’d wanted for a long time. But opening herself to Jake made her feel exposed. Unnerved.

Jake jerked his head toward the window. “It’s getting dark already,” he said. “I’d rather drive during the day. Gives us a chance to make sure no one’s following us.”

“How could anyone follow us?” Livvy asked, afraid of what would happen if they spent another night in this hotel room. She and Jake had connected too… deeply. The sex they’d had? It was the best she’d ever experienced. She’d somehow known it would be, which was why she’d run to Montana when she realized where things were going with Jake. If it happened again, how would she keep her barriers up?

“They don’t know where we’re staying or what car we’re driving,” she said, grasping at straws. “We could slip out after dark and no one would know.”

Jake shook his head slowly. “My guess? They’re watching all the hotels in this area. They know we walked to that meeting, because the shooter followed us on foot into that alley. If they plant a guy in every hotel within walking distance, which wouldn’t be impossible, they’ll see us checking out. Figure out which is our car. And we’d have a fatal accident on the way home.”

“Then how will we ever get out of Brooklyn?” Livvy asked, panic a tight hand squeezing her throat.

Jake swiveled to study her. Livvy wanted to grab her clothes and slide into them, but instead she tightened the robe around her body.

“This really freaked you out, didn’t it?” he finally said.

“I’m not freaked out,” Livvy said, too forcefully. Becauseof courseshe was freaked out. The best sex of her life? What was she supposed to do with that? Get down on one knee and ask Jake to marry her?

She swallowed the lump of panic in her throat as Jake smiled at her. “Of course you are, Livvy. You have to know I can read you by now. I know exactly what’s going through your head.”

“And what would that be, Mr. Mind Reader?”

Jake leaned closer, and Livvy wanted to move away. But she forced herself to stay where she was. Jake’s breath feathered over her skin, and she couldn’t prevent the ripple of need that shivered through her.

He smiled, as if he knew exactly what she was feeling. “You’re terrified by what happened between us,” he said. “You want to pack your stuff, run out of this room and go directly to the airport. Fly back to Helena tonight. And never, ever, see me again.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she managed to say, even though he was right on the money. “I already have tickets from D.C. back to Helena.”

Jake laughed. “Wow, Williams. You’re really scrambling for a reason to get out of this hotel room.” He edged a little closer, and Livvy swore she felt sparks ping against her skin. She tugged the robe a little closer around her body.

After a long moment, Jake sighed and stood up. He’d put on his pants, but not his shirt. As much as she wanted to look away, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from him.

Jake picked up her clothes from the floor and tossed them onto the bed. Kept his back to her while he pulled on his shirt. Finally he sat down on the couch. He reached for the small cart with the two trays. Put them on the small table they’d used for breakfast, then took the cover off both meals and set the plastic domes on the cart.

Jake ate his meal, then, without looking at her, said, “I’m beat. I’m going to bed.”

Livvy’s heart shrank in her chest as she saw the hurt on Jake’s face. The disappointment. The pain.

Why was she acting this way? She wanted him as much or more as he wanted her. And the sex they’d shared had been… mind-blowing. She’d never even imagined that two people could connect the way she and Jake had done.

She was acting this way because she was terrified. It wouldn’t take much for her to go from really liking Jake to falling in love with him. And falling in love was something she’d promised herself she would never do. She’d seen her mother fall in love with a different man every couple of months. It never lasted, and then her mom had been devastated. Completely heartbroken. She’d hide in her bedroom for a month or two, then go out and find another man. A man she was also madly in love with. For a week or a month of even a handful of months.

Then the whole cycle started over again. After growing up with the ugly reality of her mother’s life, Livvy had sworn she would never be like her mom. Never make a man the center of her life, the only important thing she had.

Jake edged onto the bed, careful not to touch her or get close to her. “Talk to me, Livvy,” he said. “Tell me what happened. What went wrong for you? Because I swear you were into me as much as I was into you. Why did that change?”

Livvy swallowed the saliva that had pooled in her mouth. “Nothing happened,” she said. “I just… just need to get back to Montana. Mel probably has an assignment waiting for me.”

Jake frowned. “Did she email you that you have an assignment waiting?”

“No, she wouldn’t do that,” Livvy said. “She wouldn’t want to distract me from our job.”

“Then why do you think a job’s there waiting for you?” He tilted his head to watch her. “I thought all the Blackhawk Security operatives got ten days off between jobs.” He smiled. “I know that because a number of them have spent their ten days off with the man or woman they’d met on the job.”

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