Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,82
a scowl at her brothers.
“Daddy says we’re gonna have a funeral,” Kayley told Jake.
“I think that’s nice.” Jake cleared his throat again. “Kayley, I’m sorry. I really wanted to have him be okay.”
She nodded. “I know. Mr. Landers told me you tried hard to find him.”
Mr. Landers was the Huberts’ next-door neighbor.
“I did,” Jake told her.
“He said you put food and water out.”
“Yes. I did.”
Kayley stepped forward and put her hand on Jake’s shoulder, looking at him intently. “Thank you. That was really nice. It’s not your fault he got knocked down by the tornado.”
Avery couldn’t see Jake’s face, but she had to wipe at her eyes.
He cleared his throat, then coughed and finally nodded. “Thanks. That makes me feel a little better.”
“Let’s get Cooper back home so we can give him a nice funeral,” Tim said, his voice sounding a little scratchy, too.
They all turned and headed back for the driveway and the wooden box waiting for them.
Kayley hung back for a moment. When everyone else was out of earshot, she moved in close to Jake and said in a loud whisper, “Thanks for not telling me I was silly to think Cooper was still alive. You thought so, too, huh?”
Avery moved so she could see Jake’s reaction. She was about to start blubbering herself.
Jake’s face was tight with emotion, but she could see that one of those emotions was relief.
“There are plenty of people to think the worst,” Jake told her sincerely. “I hope you’ll always be on my side hoping for the best.”
Kayley nodded and patted his shoulder. “I will.”
Then she headed after her family.
The Huberts loaded the box and then all climbed into the car and, with a little honk, were gone.
Avery turned slowly to Jake. “I don’t care what you say. What you said to that little girl was heroic.”
He shrugged.
“And what she said to you was heroic.”
“Yeah.”
“That was amaz—”
He grabbed her by her upper arms, hauled her up against his body, and kissed her.
Avery didn’t know what was going on, but she wasn’t going to complain. She wrapped her arms around his neck and arched close.
Jake’s hands splayed between her shoulder blades and on the curve of her lower back as he brought her up on tiptoe to fit belly button to belly button.
The kiss was hot but also sweet. It felt different again. Damn, was she ever going to feel like she knew what to expect with this guy?
Jake lifted his head, but only long enough to change his angle and come down again. He licked along her lower lip, then stroked firm and possessive against her tongue.
It felt like he was trying to absorb her, drink her in, and Avery let him. She gave herself over completely to the kiss, to the way he held her, to the moment—content to be there for him, whatever he needed from her.
Finally, minutes later, he dragged his mouth away. Breathing heavily, he rested his forehead against hers.
“For the record, you thinking I’m a hero makes me hot.”
She felt her eyes widen. “That’s what that was all about?”
He loosened his hold on her slightly, and she found her feet flat on the ground again. “Yep.”
She didn’t loosen her hold on him much. “Why?”
“Because you’re you—you’re hard to impress. Knowing I did makes me feel . . .”
She felt her mouth curving as she waited for him to fill in that blank.
“Hot,” he finally said with a self-deprecating grin.
She laughed and started to step back, but with one arm still around her waist, he brought her up against his hard body again.
“Come inside with me,” he said gruffly.
Her gaze skittered to the house, then back to his face. There were beds only a few yards away. Many times she’d imagined what she could do with—to—Jake on a nice sturdy bed.
But she shook her head. “I am not fooling around with you at your mom and dad’s house.”
“They’re not here.”
“They will be.”
“I’ll be fast.” That damned grin was back in place.
She put her hands flat on his chest and pushed slightly, chuckling. “I’ve had your fast.”
“That was my eighteen-year-old fast. My twenty-eight-year-old fast is a lot better.”
She gave him a cheeky grin and pushed him back farther. “You were twenty-eight in the shed.”
He groaned as if she’d wounded him, but she knew better.
“I need you, A.”
The words, the nickname that she was supposed to hate, the husky tone of his voice, all made it nearly impossible to shake her head. But the problem wasn’t that this was his