CHAPTER TWO
CAYLEE
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Jake is as gorgeoustoday as he was the night, six months ago, that I met him in a local LA bar.
Rugged, sparkling light-blue eyes, with a seemingly permanent scowl on his face which gives him a tough guy look.
I like that.
I don’t like pretty boys.
I didn’t know he was a US Marshal when we met, but given he was drinking at Smudge, a bar known to be frequented by cops and other law enforcement officers, I wasn’t surprised when he told me.
I suppose it was a little cliché to go there, given my brother was an Army Ranger, but, yes, my friend Kathy and I were there for the men in uniform and live music.
Glancing up a good foot and a half, and after not seeing him for months, I feel myself melting into those eyes of his and don’t know what to say.
Do I want him to explain?
Is there anything to explain?Jake never promised me anything.It was barely a real relationship.
What can I expect after taking him home the night we met?You’d think at twenty-nine, wanting to meetthe one,I’d have been a little more strategic, but oh no, I’d grinned as he tried out some terrible pickup lines, then agreed to dance with him.
Which he was also terrible at.
But there was something about him, the way he stood closer than appropriate in a protective manner, glared at other men as if I belonged to him already, and the feel of his hand in the small of my back.
I wanted to close my eyes and melt into his large, muscular frame and let him do lots of bad things.I wanted him to show me that he was a bad boy.
He clearly had the same idea.
Jake escorted me home, and Kathy took off with a beat cop named Tom.
I teased Jake about whether he was trustworthy, and when he walked me to my front door, he held up his hands cheekily and said, “Hey I can show you my badge.I won’t even kiss you if that’s what you want.”
“Well, that would be disappointing,” I’d replied, propping out my hips and letting my eyes drift across his bulky chest.
That had been all it took.
Before I could think another thought, Jake’s fingers slid around the back of my neck and through my hair.His lips landed on mine as I sucked in a breath, and then US Deputy Jake Murphy kissed me like no man ever had.
Or has since.
