I open my mouth to say, “Yes, take me and do what you will,” when a second large shadow falls over my booth.
“Everything good here, Ada?”
Davis has emerged out of nowhere like a gift from a higher power.
“Davis!” I leap to my feet. “Thank fucking God! I’m going to bed. Alone.”
“Ada?” Jake barks, but his man-mysticism is broken. I’m free.
“Sorry, gotta bail.” I snatch my notebook from the table. “Bye. Good to see you again. Sorry about the fridge. Not really, but you know what I mean.”
“Ada.”
“She’s going to bed,” Davis says firmly. “Right?”
“Right! Buh-bye, Jake. See you at the reunion.”
“You’re coming to the reunion?”
His hard stare would be unnerving if I wasn’t so giddy with relief. “Of course. Me and Cece.Reallylooking forward to it.”
“Why are you?—”
“Quit talking to her,” Davis snaps.
Jake hasn’t so much as glanced at him so far, but he does now and the look on his face reminds me that he attacks dudes for a living under the guise of ‘sport.’
“You again.” Jake flicks two fingers at Davis. “I told Cece you’re a good guy. Don’t change that.”
Davis smiles coldly. “Don’t make me change that.”
“Nobody needs to change anything,” I say loudly. “I’m leaving.”
“Why don’t you leave?” Davis asks Jake. “She works here, you don’t.”
Jake opens his mouth, seems to think better, then closes it. He gets slowly to his feet. “Fine. Renaldo?”
“Yah-huh?”
“Unblock me when you’re ready to get hammered.”
Oof, that’s pretty hot. Especially since he said it in front of Davis, who once again looks like he wants to die.
“I’ll see this guy out, Ada,” he mutters. “Talk when I get back?”
“Sounds good.”
Jake does a double-take. “You two…?”
Davis and I look at each other. We have, and always will have, negative sexual chemistry. But in this moment, we wordlessly unite in a shared goal—making Jake Graves-Holland think we’re going at it raw the second he leaves this establishment.
“What about us?” I chirp as Davis growls, “None of your business,” in a voice that’s borderline sexy for a narc. I’m so lucky to have him on my team.
Jake rounds on Davis, drawing himself up to his full height, and Jesus-fuck, Aggie was right, itisa miracle he didn’t crush me.
“Stay away from Ada,” he tells Davis.
“Fuck off,” Davis says neatly. “And get out.”
