That’s good enough, for now. Jake relaxed inside. He could have basked in that lovely smile the rest of the evening. He hoped before the night was over, he’d see many more just like that one. “Excellent. But before we go, there’s one last thing.”
Rachael appeared to be at the end of her patience. “Okay,nowwhat?”
“You may want to grab your shoes.”
She looked down at her bare feet. “Oh. Yeah. That might help. I’ll be right back.” She practically sprinted down the hall and into her office. She was back out in a blink. “Well?” She grinned and headed for the front stairs.
Jake followed, happily watching her bounce down the steps. Instead of wearing her usual baggy clothes, she’d dressed up today. Her fitted white blouse nipped in at her waist, tucked into a pair of navy blue pants that hugged her curves on their way down to her black ankle boots. Her long, dark shiny hair was pinned up in a series of loose curls and tendrils. She looked classy, confident for a change. And sexy as fuck. Tonight was going to be perfect.
As long as he kept thinking with the big head and not the little one. That would be a challenge, considering the stirring already going on in his jeans. Wasn’t the first time. He’d actually been thankful for his loose-fitting uniform that hid his erection every time he talked to Rachael on break. It had only gotten worse (or was it better?) in the three weeks he’d gotten to know her. Yeah, she was gorgeous, but he’d known plenty of beautiful women in L.A. who did nothing for him, because that beauty often came with a haughty attitude—until they learned who his mother was—and by then he wasn’t interested. From everything he’d seen, Rachael was genuinely kind and generous with the employees who didn’t harass her. That, more than anything else, appealed to him. Oh, and her smile. And her love of music. And her voice.God, that voice.
Okay, pretty much everything.
When they passed Elena sitting behind the receptionist’s desk, she barely looked up from her computer screen as she mumbled a goodnight. But as soon as they got out into the parking lot, Rachael’s phone buzzed.
“One sec.” She dug into her tote and glanced back at the front doors with a smile as she thumbed in a text.Elena has Rachael’s six, Jake thought.Good. She desperately needed a friend and Elena struck Jake as an excellent choice.
Jake caught himself. He couldn’t afford to think of Rachael as innocent, not yet. But he had to admit, he was working on it. So was Camden back at the office. Jake had asked him to track down Rachael’s mother. She might lend some insight as to why she left her husband, and why she didn’t take her little girl with her. Every time Rachael mentioned a song that made her think of her mom, like “Blackbird”, she’d smile and look wistful. Good memories of a loving mother, not a neglectful one. Something didn’t add up.
“All done.” Rachael dropped her phone back into her tote. “Should I follow your…wait, I don’t even know what you drive.” She laughed as she looked at the scattered cars from the night crew in the parking lot.
Jake smiled proudly. “I don’t drive, I ride.” He pointed to his Indian. The late summer sun lit up his baby like the star she was.
“Oh.” Rachael drew the sound out.
Jake beamed. “You ever ridden?”
It took Rachael a minute to tear her eyes from the motorcycle. They were wide and round and startlingly blue when she looked at Jake.Upstaged by my bike. Typical first reaction.
“No, I haven’t.”
“Do I even need to ask if you’d like to?”
“I’d love to.” She broke out of her reverie, looked over at an old Toyota and Jake watched her mood immediately deflate. “But, my car. I don’t want to leave it here.” She brightened again. “How ’bout you follow me to my place first and I drop it off there?”
She looked as startled by her suggestion as Jake felt. But what if her place was actually Daddy Deal’s mansion?Shit shit shit, he couldn’t let the old bastard see him with his daughter.
“Sure, um, where do you live?”
“Over on Second. I’ll go slow, not that it’s easy to get lost from here.”
Jake breathed a sigh of relief. Casa de Daddy Deal was on Greenwood Court. Theonlyhouse on Greenwood Court to be exact, as it dominated the entire dead-end street on the far edge of Ross. One way in, one way out.
He ticked another box in his imaginary Rachael Deal Pros and Cons Checklist—this one in the ‘pro’ column—she has her own place away from her father.
Rachael’s house surprised Jake. It was old and small, in need of repairs and fresh paint. But the freshly-cut lawn and neat flowerbeds in front showed pride in the place. Did her own father actually make her rent one of his shacks?
That column of pros was adding up way faster than the column of cons.
Rachael parked her car in the short driveway. “I’ll be just another sec,” she said over her shoulder and ran in. She returned with a purse-sized backpack and a moto jacket. “Ready.” She looked both the bike and Jake up and down. “Roll me away,” she added almost to herself.
Nice, Jake thought, his stomach doing that flip-thing that started the first time he’d realized how much she loved music. He grinned. “That’s a Bob Seger classic.”
“Oh.” She looked surprised then grinned back. “Got it in one.”
Jake realized “Ride” by the Cary Brothers was playing in his head. That had its own implications. The singer sang about a woman who was everything he wanted, and asked the question—would she leave her life and ride with him?
“Roll Me Away” had the same message in the lyrics—right up until the part where she missed her home and he headed off alone. Jake didn’t want to think about that right now.
