Page 10 of Her Property

Gripping the wheel with both hands, Jake forced himself to keep his eyes forward. He was getting his knickers in a twist—and lost in his home town—because of a woman he didn’t even know. A sexy-as-all-get-up woman, yes, but a woman who was Alfred Jones’s employee.

Thankfully, the turnoff for Barkley Falls appeared as he rounded a bend.

“There it is,” he said under his breath. Of course the turnoff was there, just like it was every day of his damn life.

“I’m sorry?” she said.

Oh, just talking to myself. Not used to having an angel riding shotgun.

“Barkley Falls is right up here,” he said. “The clinic’s just on the other side of town. They’re good in there; they’ll get you fixed up pretty quick.”

She yawned, thankfully not seeming to notice his awkwardness. Out of the corner of his eye Jake saw her t-shirt stretching over her chest as she stretched and bit back an audible groan, forcing himself to concentrate on the road.

“Seems like you’re familiar with open wounds,” she said.

“I’ve seen a few,” he said.

“You work in the medical field?”

“No. I run—ran an adventure company for bored New Yorkers. I flew them halfway across the world then take them parasailing, skydiving, jungle hiking in Borneo, that type of thing. It doesn’t always end well for people used to wearing expensive suits and getting pedicures.”

“Wow,” she said. “Sounds fun.”

“You like that kind of thing?” he asked.

She threw him a look that, for the first time, looked almost like a smile. “No, actually.”

Something warm spread in his chest and he laughed. “It’s alright. It’s not for everyone. It’s not for me anymore either.”

“But it used to be?”

“I guess…” Jake considered for a moment. What he usually told people about why he started up an adventure travel business was that life was more exciting on the edge. That he liked helping people push their limits and take risks. And all that was true. But it wasn’t the whole truth. And foolish or not, he felt like telling her the truth.

“I was looking for the biggest thrills I could find. I felt like I needed to get as far away as I could from here and wanted to do the most dangerous things I could legally get away with.”

I wanted to run away. To toy with life.

Okay, almost the truth.

“I can understand that,” Catherine said.

“Oh yeah?” Jake said, surprised. “Thought you weren’t a thrill seeker.”

“I’m not—” They went over a dip in the road and she was jostled towards him again. This time he grasped her forearm to keep her from sliding, and when he did, she looked up at him as if he’d burned her. He could wrap his entire hand around her, and had a sudden flash of holding her arms up over her head, leaning down and…

Jake jerked his eyes back to the road and let go of her arm.

She cleared her throat. “Riding a road like this is thrilling enough,” she said finally. Then, “You used the past tense there when talking about your job,” she said. “What happened?”

He considered how much to tell her. Wondered how much she already knew. Maybe Alfred told her all about him. Maybe she had all kinds of misinformation.

They went over another bump. “I sold my business and gave up my apartment in Manhattan. Moved back here just last month. Might have been a stupid decision. It was before I knew… well before your boss served me with papers.”

Catherine gave him a look—how much did she know about what was going on between him and Alfred?

“He tells me you’re starting up your family’s camp,” she said.

Obviously she knew enough.

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