Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,63

wear it?”

He stared at her. “No,” he said gruffly. “She didn’t tell me any of that.”

Avery seemed surprised. She took a breath. “Well, trust me. She most definitely felt sorry for me.”

“I promise you that sorry is not on the rather lengthy list of things I’ve felt for you.” Another thought occurred to him. “But if you thought that, how could you let me do what I did in the shed? You should never let someone close to you like that without pure emotions. Even lust is better than pity.”

She choked on a laugh. “It took you a year to fully wear me down, but I can’t resist you. And you know it.”

Her voice had risen, and the space between them had grown, and suddenly Jake became aware of the fact they had an audience. Literally.

Well, great.

He glanced across the table at Shelby and the two women she’d been talking to about meals for the workers the next day. Frank had also returned to the table and had Martin Carver, the city’s attorney, with him.

“See? That is what I’m talking about,” Shelby said ardently.

Avery sighed, then gave a soft but heartfelt “Crap” and bolted out of her seat.

She headed for the nearest door—the emergency exit.

The alarm squealed the moment she hit the door, but she didn’t slow at all.

Jake took one second to find amusement in the fact that the fire chief had just set off the fire alarm in the bar. Then he took off after her.

Well, that had been mature and professional.

Avery shook her head as she paced to the end of the sidewalk. The heavy, humid June air pressed against her, doing nothing to relieve the heat in her cheeks or the weight of her embarrassment.

She was mature and professional, dammit. Until Jake came around.

She kept her head on straight, her crap in order, her emotions under control. She put out fires, put together safety action plans, and put people at ease because they knew she was in charge. Until Jake came around.

Since he’d shown up this time, she’d set fire to a tablecloth and set off a fire alarm in a public building and blurted out her biggest heartbreak—or at least part of it.

The man made her lose her mind.

There was no other explanation for how she acted when he was in town.

Avery ducked around the side of the building. They’d get the alarm shut off. Two members of her crew were in there with plenty of witnesses to attest that there was no actual fire or need for alarm, so she didn’t need to stay.

But Jake would be following her, she knew.

She heard him approach and turned, her arms crossed over her body.

“We need to work on that thing where we get so wrapped up in each other that we forget there are other people around,” she said drily.

“Yeah, well, you’re about to be all wrapped up in me for the next several minutes or more,” he said. “Get used to it.”

“Excuse me?” She drew herself up tall. If he thought what had happened inside A Bar was some kind of strange verbal foreplay, he was sadly mistaken.

“Enough of this, Avery.” He took her by her upper arm and started toward his truck.

“Hey.” She yanked her arm from his hold. “Enough of what?”

He sighed and bent at the waist, put his shoulder into her gut, and stood with her hanging halfway down his back like a sack of potatoes.

“Jake!” She squirmed, but he simply tightened his hold around her thighs. “What are you doing?”

“Finding out once and for all what the hell is going on with you.”

She stopped squirming. She should have known this was coming. She’d let her emotions run away with her—as usual, when he was around—and she’d said that stuff about his mom feeling sorry for her. Of course he’d want to know what she was talking about.

“Nothing is going on with me,” she said, striving to sound calm. “I’m fine. I was just nervous in front of your aunt, and my mouth ran away with me.”

He stopped by his truck, hit the unlock button on his key chain, and let her slide to the ground.

Down the front of his body.

Slowly.

When her feet touched the pavement, she took a second before stepping back.

Part of Jake was happy to have her up against him, too. Maybe she could distract him from all of this with sex.

“Jake—”

“Don’t you dare,” he said gruffly.

“Don’t dare what?”

“Look at me like that. Say something sexy. Tempt me. You