Page 15 of Her Property

Cat frowned. She was starving, she realized. And her options back at the house weren’t all that appealing. She wasn’t much of a cook, but she’d tried it out of pure boredom. It hadn’t gone well, and the country kitchen still had a vague aroma of burnt omelette to it. But having dinner with Alfred’s enemy—whether or not calling him an enemy was warranted—was probably not the wisest idea she’d ever had.

“I’ve got some food back in the fridge,” she said.

“Are you sure? Aubrey’s burgers are incredible.”

The thought of a burger made Cat’s stomach growl audibly. She clutched it, cursing at her body once again for betraying her.

Jake grinned.

Cat scowled.

But to hell with it—Alfred wasn’t here, and a burger sounded incredible. Besides, she realized the idea of going home after all this excitement had been sitting like a rock in her belly. Another long night at loose ends wasn’t exactly appealing.

“Fine. But then I need to get back home.”

He grinned again, making her stomach flip like a teenager. Cat felt a little streak of something like rebellion run through her. She’d had never been a rebel. She’d always played by the rules. Always did what authority figures expected of her—exceeded what they expected of her. Maybe it was her taciturn father, who only noticed her if she messed up. Or maybe it was her desperate need to please Alfred, who actually handed out praise now and again. But doing something she probably shouldn’t be doing—even if it was as innocent as getting a hamburger—that felt good too.

She could get used to this.

Jake

At first, Jake really had just wanted to give Catherine a ride to the clinic.

But the drive over had been disorientating. Having her next to him messed with his head, and his anger towards Jones had taken a backseat. In fact, he almost forgot all about it. Her presence was intoxicating.

But when she was in with the doctor and he ran into Mrs. Bradley, he’d started thinking about Alfred again. When Mrs. Bradley asked after his gran and he’d had to tell her she was going downhill, all the old bitterness came flooding back. He couldn’t forget how Gran, even in her dementia, still got so agitated when Jones or the camp or the property came up.

Which was often, now that Gran was lost in old memories most of the time.

Jones had been tormenting his family for years. Jake couldn’t let a sexy as hell woman get in the way of him remembering that. But after talking to Mrs. Bradley, Jake realized he didn’t just have to work to keep Catherine from distracting him. Maybe she could help. She said she hadn’t wanted to get involved, but maybe if he told her about what was happening, if she knew more about what he was planning for the camp, she might be able to talk some sense into Alfred.

If Jones could see sense.

But when he saw Catherine again, coming out of the examination room with her hair in a mess of waves around her shoulders and that pinkness in her cheeks when he introduced her to Mrs. Bradley, any ulterior motive slipped away like water.

All he wanted to do was keep her around. When she was next to him, he seemed to forget all the bad things happening in his life. He didn’t want this day to be over, and he knew that if he took her back now, she’d disappear into Alfred’s lake house and he might never have a reason to see her again.

So he’d asked her out for a burger, like a teenager. And she’d said yes.

“Bacon or no bacon?” he asked.

“Bacon, definitely.”

“Cheese?”

“Obviously.”

“Fries? Onion rings? Milkshakes?”

Catherine looked at him sideways. “Together?”

“No. What is wrong with you?”

She looked over at him, a smile pulling at her lips.

His stomach gave a little jolt. How could a woman’s smile have such an effect on him?

As they walked down the block, Jake kept trying different ways to elicit that elusive, gorgeous smile. He got the sense she took her life extremely seriously. He did too. But he also knew how to have fun. Even if that sometimes meant bungee-jumping off a bridge.

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