Jake’s cabin was nicer than I thought it would be. Nothing second-hand, all brand new furniture. A few paintings hung on the wall, all originals. None of that Southwestern style stuff, either, with the wolves and trees and eagles. More modern, the kind of stuff you imagined to be hanging in galleries in LA.
“Got your own shampoo?” he asked as he showed me the small, tidy bathroom. I glanced around, not a single speck of beard stubble to be seen in the sink, no stray curly hairs on the toilet lid. Hell, he even had the lid down. Impressive.
I nodded as I slung my bag off and dropped it on the floor. “Yeah, I’m fine. Now get out. I will literally die if I go a minute longer with this stench on me.”
I know I took a little longer in the shower than was necessary. But if the day hadn’t already necessitated a long shower before meeting Mr. Trigger in my motel room, meeting that dark, menacing figure certainly had. I washed my long hair, trying to get the imagined stink of rot and death off my strands. I worked the conditioner in and combed it through.
My thoughts began to wander. Damn, it had been a while since I was with a guy. My last boyfriend, Tommy, had dropped off the face of the earth as soon as Pops got sick. No luck on the relationship front after that, either. What guy in a small town would want to hook up with the woman who was stuck having to take care of her invalid father? Could I really blame them for steering clear?
Then I began to consider Jake in the other room. Began to consider those broad shoulders of his, the way he wore the sleeves of his flannel folded up just above his elbows so you could see his defined forearms. I wondered how his callused hands would feel on my body as those strong arms of his held me close.
Then I remembered he was a cop. I shook my head under the spray of the showerhead and tried to push those thoughts from my mind. Developing some kind of an attraction to Jake, or letting it go any further, wouldn’t help me get Eve back. No, that’d just make me lose focus.
With plenty of hot water still left, I thought, I shut off the shower and grabbed one of the two fluffy towels he’d set out for me. I dried off and got dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a tank top, and wrapped my hair up in the other towel.
He looked up as I walked into the kitchen. I blushed a little as I practically felt his eyes caress my bare shoulders and the outline of my hips. This was the first time, I realized, he’d seen me without a thick sweater or my winter coat on. He looked away quickly, back to the thawed, raw steaks plated in front of him.
“Steak and potatoes okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, sounds amazing, actually. Want me to cook them, or you want to?”
“Know how to sear a steak?” he asked.
“You do?”
“I’m a bachelor. I eat about five things, and one of them happens to be a medium-rare steak. If I didn’t know how to cook this far out, I’d be half-starved all the time.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, go take your shower, I’ll get everything going.”
He gave me a quick run-down on everything in the kitchen and disappeared into the bathroom. The appliances might have been out of date and plain looking, but at least he kept them clean. The two thawed steaks sat plated on the counter, busily coming up to room temperature as the oven pumped out heat.
The shower came on as I grabbed the salt and pepper from the spice cabinet. I ducked my head into the fridge and wasn’t surprised by the lack of forage. A couple dozen eggs, a slab of bacon, some green onions and carrots for his daily veggies, and shredded cheese, besides the staples of milk and butter and beer. Oh, and a stack of steaks. Geez, how much beef did this guy eat?
I shook my head as I pulled out a beer and set it on the counter before going back for the butter. I closed the door and got to work.
Jake was out faster than I would have imagined. He’d only spent five minutes in there, tops.
“That was fast,” I said as he walked past.
He came to a stop in the hallway, towel wrapped around his waist, droplets of water still sliding down his chiseled upper body.
Beer in hand, I tried to look away, but couldn’t. Instead, I watched a droplet of water fall from his trimmed beard and hit a defined pec, begin its slalom ride down his naked chest. Hoping the alcohol might dull my senses a little, I took a long swig of beer.
“I take fast showers. Besides, not enough hot water for two long ones.”
I winced as I took the bottle from my lips. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry, it’s my fault. Should have just taken one first, but didn’t want you to die.” He gave me a wink before disappearing back into the bedroom. I felt a bit warm, but I chalked it up to the alcohol, not wanting to consider the alternative cause.
He returned to the kitchen a few minutes later as I was searing the first steak, wearing jeans and a long sleeved Henley shirt that wrapped snug to his muscular body. He pulled a beer from the fridge and leaned against the counter, taking a long drink.
“Figure we’ll call it an early night and get up around five or five-thirty. We can head out first thing and try to hit the ground running in Yellow Rose. How’s that sound?”
I nodded as I pulled the oven door open and thrust the pan inside, setting the kitchen timer next to the oven. “Think we’ll find her out there?”
He took a swig of his beer. “She may have moved on already if she’s on the run from these Denver Mafia guys. But if Granny was right and she’s got friends in Yellow Rose, maybe we can find someone who gave her a lift.”
“It’s a long shot, isn’t it?”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Hey, Jake?”
“Yeah?”
I grabbed my beer like a security blanket, absentmindedly tearing the wet label from the glass. “I just—I wanted to thank you. For all you’ve done for me.”
He shrugged. “Just don’t go putting up a Yelp review that I work for free, huh? Hate for people to think they can get this deep of a discount.”
I took a step toward him without even realizing my feet were moving his direction. “I’m serious, though.”
“Look, Elise,” he said, looking down at me intently, “I don’t need your gratitude. This is just the right thing to do. It’s why I joined the service all those years ago, and why I became a cop after that. I like helping people with things they can’t handle on their own.”
“Are you saying you think I’m helpless?” I asked, looking up at him, my mass of turbaned hair pulling backwards on my neck.
He quirked a little smile, just a tiny one that turned up the corner of his lips. It looked sexy. Inviting. “Just saying you might not be equipped to handle these guys or the people we’re going to meet tomorrow, that’s all.”
Idly, I wondered how soft his beard was. Did he condition or oil it? Or was it naturally soft? Or just bristly? There was only one way to find out. I glanced up at his lips, touching the tip of my tongue to my own.
He glanced down at mine, that little knowing smile of his still there.
The kitchen timer went off, buzzing obnoxiously and bringing me back to reality with a jolt. What the hell was I doing? This guy was a cop, which made him totally not my type. Not in a million years. No good could come from hooking up with a man like him, especially when we were in the middle of trying to find my sister. I quickly stepped back to the oven and yanked it open, muttering under my breath as I grabbed the oven mitts from where I’d tossed them on the range. “Mind pulling down a plate and a saucer so I can rest this?”
I quickly placed the first steak on the inverted saucer, the blood and juices beginning to drain down the ceramic. “Could you take care of the next one?” I asked. “It’s been a long day, I think I might need to lie down for a minute.”
“Uh, yeah,” he said, a little note of confusion in his voice. “Couch in the living room is pretty comfy. Or there’s one in my back office. Take your pick.”
“Thanks,” I said, prying myself from the kitchen and retreating to the back office he’d mentioned.
No, this was best. I was just attracted to Jake. That’s all it was. Physical. But the last thing I needed was to get physically involved with this man. That would just complicate things.
No matter how much I wanted to.