Chances Are - By Christy Reece Page 0,24

I could go through with it. Got in the chair and they brought the needle out. Didn’t take long for me to realize that no matter how much alcohol I consumed, I would never be drunk enough to voluntarily get stuck with a needle. Everybody but me got a tat that night.” He shook his head. “I liked to have never lived that down.”

That was probably more than he’d ever told her about his past. He tensed, waiting for the inevitable questions. They were there…he saw them sparkling in her eyes. But, as usual, Angela did what she always did—the unexpected. Instead of pursuing the subject, she shrugged. “It’s probably best that I don’t have any. Tattoos and piercings might have been a distraction.”

Considering that everyone would probably have their tongues hanging out watching that gorgeous body strip bare, Jake figured few would have noticed body art or piercings. Angela’s body was a work of art all by itself.

She stretched, revealing a slender, toned torso and then worked her neck back and forth. “I’m a little tense. Hopefully the shower will loosen me up. If I get to dance tonight, I need to be as limber as possible.”

Jake’s eyes followed her hungrily as she walked out of the room. An email ping from his laptop was a welcomed distraction. Twisting the laptop around, he clicked the email icon and sighed when he saw the sender. Even after all these years, his mother had yet to let go of the idea that the life she wanted for her son wasn’t the life he wanted for himself.

Weekly, if not daily, she sent newsy emails, detailing what was going on in their pocket of the world. Jake had learned to break down the information, picking out the parts that updated him on his family without paying attention to all the society news his mother liked to impart. He enjoyed the updates on his parents but could care less about the other stuff.

He had played that game once—gone to the right schools, associated with the kids that met his parents’ approval, dated the most suitable girls. And he’d almost married one of those girls. The only rebellion he’d ever had was his choice in careers. His parents had wanted him to join the family business. Instead he’d gone into the Army and then the police force. The latter had been a bad decision since it’d had so many negative consequences. His job as a cop had gotten Teresa killed, cost another woman her life, and had virtually destroyed his own life. Yeah, a damn bad decision.

“Did you read the email from Noah?”

He glanced over his shoulder and felt a gut punch all the way to his groin. Angela stood at the entrance to the living room dressed in nothing but a towel. He knew he’d be seeing her in a lot less very soon but had planned to be prepared by then.

Tearing his eyes away from the vision, he turned back to his computer and clicked a few keys to go to another email account. She came to stand beside him, so close he could feel her breath on his neck. His eyes narrowed, focusing on the screen in front of him. Dammit, did she not know what she was doing to him?

Another ping came from the laptop, indicating that he did indeed have a new email from McCall. Clicking on, he cursed softly as he read the terse message: Missing woman found this morning. Same cause of death. You have a five-to-ten day window to get this bastard’s attention before he grabs another victim. Let’s make sure he takes our bait.

“It’s just so sad. A family is learning the awful fate of a loved one. And if we’re not successful in trapping him, another woman will soon be going through the same horror. We have to stop him, Jake.”

Bracing himself for the effect she always had on him, he turned to face her. He had been prepared for her beauty, not the tears swimming in her eyes. Telling himself he was only going to offer comfort, he reached for her. Suddenly she was in his arms, in his lap, and he was holding her.

Slender arms wrapped around his shoulders, a soft as silk face lay against his neck. She felt so dammed good. Better than any fantasy he’d ever allowed himself. He swallowed hard and kept his arms loose around her. This was about offering his support and friendship. It had nothing to