The deputy was a tall and leanly built man with cool blue eyes and a firm mouth. His chiseled face was impassive and his arms casually crossed. His long legs were braced slightly apart, anchoring him to the asphalt as he assessed her from head to toe from beneath the brim of his hat.
“Deputy,” she greeted him, regaining her composure.
“Anastasia.” His voice was whisky-rough and it spoke her name like a caress. “What brings you back?”
“Pit stop during a work assignment.” She shoved her free hand into her pocket to hide how it trembled. Wondering if he had more news than Tilly did, she asked, “Where’s Eric?”
Jake’s lips pursed. He had a gorgeous mouth. Neither too full or too thin and perfectly sculpted. That mouth knew every inch of her body. She still had dreams about what he could do with it. “He headed down to Florida with your brother.”
She nodded and somehow refrained from shifting on her feet. “I never did like Florida. Too much humidity for me.”
“How long are you gonna be in town?”
“A few days, at most.”
He adjusted his weight, his body moving with sleek fluidity. “So why are we wasting time talking about nothing?”
She stared at him, absorbing everything about the man she’d left behind. He was harder than before. Bigger, too. He’d been twenty-two the last time she saw him. He was fully a man now, his frame filled out. The formidable strength of will he’d exuded as long as she’d known him hadn’t changed. “Are we supposed to be doing something else?”
“Getting to the point would be good. You staying with Tilly?”
“No.”
“You married?”
She shook her head. “You?”
“No. You’ll stay at my place, then.”
Heat shimmered through her, her pulse quickening. She hadn’t expected him to move so fast. If she was honest, she would admit that she’d been afraid he would brush her off, having long gotten over her. Worse, she’d wondered if he had a woman in his life, someone who had a normal family she could be proud of and he could be a part of.
“How’s your internet access?” She was thinking about how much closer she’d be to getting a bead on Eric if she was staying at Jake’s house. She would also be closer to Jake himself, the man she loved so much it was like an aching wound in her chest.
“Sweetheart,” he drawled, his gaze hot. “You really want to start out that way? I was planning on easing you back into it, but if you’re eager to be punished, you just let me know.”
Her body responded to the sensual threat with familiar alacrity. Jake had always been able to make her ready for him with just a look, because she knew exactly where that look would lead—to dark pleasure that took her to her limits. “I have to work, Jake. It was a valid question.”
“I’m not saying it wasn’t. Just that it’s insulting to imply that the quality of the Wi-Fi in my house has a damn thing to do with whether or not I’ll be nailing you into my mattress tonight.”
She winced inwardly. He’d always been raw and blunt when talking about sex, but there was an undercurrent of hurt anger to his words now and it broke her heart. Not that she could show it. Her sympathy wasn’t what he wanted or needed, and it wouldn’t be fair of her to give it anyway, considering she was the cause of his unhappiness.
“Well—” She cleared her throat. “Glad we cleared that up.”
His smile sent goose bumps racing across her skin. “I’m not as far outside of town as Tilly is. My internet is just fine.”
“Good. I’ll need it.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “You know how to get there.”
Ana took them from him, swallowing hard at the sight of the keychain. It was a round piece of wood, a one-inch thick cross-section of a small branch. She’d made the thing as an assignment in woodworking class. On one side she’d burned the letters Jake + Ana surrounded by little decorative hearts and asterisks. The other side read Forever.
“I’ve got some business to take care of,” he said. “I’ll call you at the house to see if you’re up for dinner in town or if you’d like me to bring something home with me.”
“I could cook.”
“Could you now?” He grinned. “I’d like that.”
“Sure you would,” she said dryly. “You’re a man.”