Page 14 of Her Property

“You know what? I’m just going to take a cab. Thank you very much for the ride over, but I’ve had enough excite—”

Her words fell away as Jake walked over to her and picked up her hand. His warm fingers sent a warm tingling down her arm, momentarily distracting her from the pain.

For a moment they locked eyes. Cat should have pulled her hand away, but her body wasn’t responding to her brain’s demands. Nothing was. Up close, Jake smelled of soap and something unidentifiably masculine and outdoorsy. Pine needles, maybe. Wood smoke. She was rooted to the spot. Jake’s eyes went down, making a stop at her lips.

Before she could stop herself, she licked her lips.

Licked her lips! Motherfu—

Cat pulled her hand away.

“How’d you do?” he asked.

“Four stitches.”

Jake whistled. “Not bad,” he said. “Nearly beat my record.”

She should have left then. She wanted to leave. Instead, her traitorous lips said, “What was your record?”

“Seventeen.”

She sputtered, the tightness in her chest loosening at the thought of someone getting seventeen stitches and not being dead. “Not exactly close! What were you doing?”

“Nasty motorbike accident in Bangkok. Luckily, the only casualty was a palm tree. And my bike.”

Then, without warning, he pulled up his shirt.

Catherine nearly melted into a pile of goo right there on the sidewalk. His muscles rippled along his side. She made out a long bifurcated scar along the side of his ribs, older and faded to pale white.

“Mrs. Bradley is friends with my grandmother,” he said, dropping his shirt. “And Michelle is in school to be a social worker. She applied to intern at the camp when it opens next year.”

Cat swallowed. “I see.”

God, the man was being so nice to her, and all she’d been was a capital B-bitch. She’d yelled at him on Alfred’s doorstep—he’d still driven her to the doctor. She’d snapped at him just now, out of what—jealousy? And still he looked like he genuinely cared about her well-being. Or at least her hand’s well-being.

It wouldn’t kill her to be nice to the man.

“I dove into the shallow end of the pool when I was six years old and got two stitches on my forehead,” she said. “So you’re not the only one who’s a daredevil.”

He grinned, seeming to relax at her loosening up. “You tell that story like you’re proud of it.”

“It’s the most reckless thing I’ve ever done.”

“Save what you did today?”

Cat gasped indignantly.

Jake laughed, the sound making that warmth spread all over her. She should have still been annoyed that he brought it up to tease her again. But his laughter was contagious, and it felt special somehow, like he didn’t laugh that often. Not that she knew that for certain.

Maybe it was that specialness, but for the first time since it happened, Cat felt she might be able to see the humor in the situation.

Laughing at herself was not something Catherine Jones did.

It felt good. Still, she turned away so he wouldn’t see her taking his bait. When she did, she had a sudden vision of Alfred scowling in the car.If you see him, call me.

Cat had been worried as Alfred had driven away that she was stepping into some furious feud with a maniac. But Jake had been nothing but kind. She wondered what Alfred’s real beef was. It couldn’t just be about a strip of land.

When she looked back, Jake was staring at her curiously. He hesitated a moment, then he said, “Do you have dinner plans? I thought I’d grab a burger over at Aubrey’s.” He pointed his thumb behind him in the direction of the diner down the street.

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