Page 63 of Her Rugged Guardian

“Never, girlfriend.” I ended the call and gave him a sweet look. “I’m sorry. You were saying?”

“You were talking about me to a girlfriend?” he asked, his tone lighter than before, the shadows leaving his angular face.

“No, I was telling her about another hot guy I met.”

“You need another spanking.” When he reached for me, I scooted backwards.

“That’s not going to happen.”

He laughed, the husky sound keeping the fire burning hot deep inside. “It’s good to laugh, lady. I can’t remember the last time I did so.”

“You look good when you smile. It alleviates all those little frown lines you have.”

The way he wrinkled his face on purpose sent another swell of desire into me. I liked the guy more than I should, but I’d been feeling sorry for myself for far too long.

When my phone rang again, I answered it without thinking. “I will call you back, Jess. I promise.”

I didn’t need to look at the screen to realize Jessica hadn’t called back. I expected there to be nothing but dead air, not the dark laugh that assaulted my eardrums. “What do you want? Why are you doing this?” I asked without thinking. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know I wasn’t talking to my friend, the change in my tone significant.

Whoever was on the other end of the phone continued to laugh. Yet when the unknown male spoke, I started shaking.

“Everything. And I will get it.”

I ended the call, immediately trying to shut off my phone. One big hand stopped me.

“Who was that?”

“Nobody.”

“Uh-huh. Terrible liar.” Jake snagged my phone from my hand before he’d need the code.

“Give that back to me.” I reached for it, almost sloshing my wine.

He held it over his head, glaring at me as he did seconds before indulging in calling me a bad girl or worse.

“Fine.”

He held the look of amusement until he shifted to my call history. When he lifted his head, his look was entirely different. While the call had scared me, his expression went way beyond that.

It terrified me to death.

CHAPTER 18

Jake

The asshole had broken into her house. That much I believed. Cassandra hadn’t left the door open by accident. That’s not who she was. And the phone call was meant as a warning. The reason why was something I needed to find out.

Everything.

The caller hadn’t threatened Cassandra outright, but she’d remained quiet the rest of the night, consumed in a fear that I couldn’t conquer. But I was damn well going to try. I had had a sense the two of us were embroiled in something that was capable of destroying what little joy either one of us had been able to experience over the past couple of years.

I took a deep breath as I walked down the stark corridor toward Bart’s office, furious that I’d been accosted in the parking lot.

Goddamn reporters.

I’d even worn a ballcap and sunglasses, but a female newscaster had recognized me, all but chasing me down in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office. That was enough to put me in an even worse mood, enough so I’d turned around and gave them an example of why people stayed away from me before storming inside.

Okay, so riling them wasn’t good for anyone, but I was sick and tired of being hounded. The truth was uglier than that. I was finished with being me, the memory of who I’d been crushing down on me like a heavy weight. I’d allowed that to happen, had groveled in the ‘woe is me’ attitude until I was ready to choke on it. Those hounding me had been an excuse to remain locked in a bubble. But it was past ready to pop.

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