“Strip,” she ordered and then watched intently as he exposed the most magnificent body. Broad shoulders narrowed to a thin waist, but she was more interested in the not-so-thin part below that. Pushing him back to a sitting position, she knelt in front of him and wrapped her lips around his glorious length.
“Oh, God,” he moaned. She made a swirly motion with her tongue and thought he might jump out of his skin.
“Shit. Hannah, the water,” he said, sliding out of her mouth to reach for the faucet. “I think the tub’s full.”
“Ooops.”
Another ten seconds and it would have overflowed. He let some water out of the tub and then helped her in, making sure her cast stayed dry.
He put on a condom, slid in behind her, and wrapped her in his arms, toying with her breasts until she was begging for release again. She flipped around, put her knees on either side of him, and slid down on him gently. His length filled her and she moaned in pleasure. As she started moving on him the water sloshed over the side of the tub. She held up the arm with the cast to keep it from getting wet but didn’t slow down.
He flicked the tub stopper with his toe to let the water start draining and then held onto her as she rode him hard and fast. He cried out his release before the water was gone, and they fell into a breathless, satisfied heap as the last bit of water drained.
“Oh. My. God,” he said.
“Yeah.”
They caught their breath and then got out and grabbed towels. Jake threw a handful of towels onto the floor where the water had sloshed over saying they could clean up later. Then he dried her very thoroughly, getting every nook and cranny, before wrapping a towel around his waist and leading her to his bed. Where they spent the night in each other’s arms.
In the morning, he was gone. She could hear the shower running in his bathroom and got up to use hers. After cleaning up, she went to the kitchen, where he was sipping coffee and scrolling on his phone. He brightened when he saw her, put his phone down, and beckoned her to come sit on his lap. She did, and he kissed her thoroughly, leaving the taste of coffee on her tongue.
“Mm. Coffee.” She sighed. He held up his mug to her in offering, and she took a sip.
“Oh, my God. Guess what I forgot to tell you last night,” she asked.
“What did you forget to tell me?”
“I found the money! It’s in an online bank account—different from my bank in town. All the statements were in a subfolder of my banking emails. That’s why I didn’t notice it at first glance. I also found my business plan for taking over Grinder’s. I thought it was schoolwork, but it’s my actual plan.”
“That’s awesome. I knew you would find it eventually. We should celebrate. How about dinner tonight? Somewhere fancy.”
She smiled, thinking, memory or no, things were looking up for this Hannah chick.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Monday morning rolled around way too fast. Jake had squandered Saturday being an idiot, but he and Hannah had enjoyed a relaxing Sunday together. That was, once he tamped down the guilt for outright lying to her. He’d planned to tell her about his reputation when he came home on Saturday.Beforehe said all the other stuff about trying a relationship. And it had been on the tip of his tongue when she’d flat out asked for the reason they hadn’t dated. But when push came to shove, he chickened out. What a coward! Then he’d rallied and actually started to tell her. The words were halfway out of his mouth. But she shushed him and took him to the tub. How was he supposed to tell her now?
He knew he was on borrowed time but couldn’t stand the thought of her thinking badly of him. The irony was not lost. She would eventually find out about the sleeping around. If she found out before he told her, he would not only be a slut, but a liar. The longer he waited, the worse it would be.
Still trying to figure out how and when to tell her, Jake suited up for work and signed in bright and early Monday morning. Most days, he loved being a trooper. He liked not being tied to a desk and knowing every day would be something different. Hell, almost every hour was something different.
He’d just finished clearing a three-car collision. As the tow truck driver pulled away with the last of the vehicles, Jake headed back to his own car. Movement to his left made him look to the shoulder. He caught sight of a small cardboard box a short distance up the grassy embankment. The box wasn’t weather-worn enough to have been there long, and when it moved again, he wondered if rats or some other critters had gotten into it.
Curious, he veered left to investigate. As he approached, he heard mewing, soft at first and then louder, as if whatever it was sensed him coming and was either crying for help or scared.
Inside the box was a purple Crown Royal bag with a drawstring top. Jake opened the neck of the bag, then knelt and gently shook the contents onto the ground in front of him. It was full of kittens. All but one were dead, and the one still alive was in bad shape. His temper flared. Who would do this?
He knew there were dirtbags in the world. He dealt with them a lot. People committed crimes for all sorts of reasons. Some were stupid and desperate, some greedy and entitled, and some just plain evil. But anyone who would throw a bag of kittens, probably from a fast-moving vehicle, onto the shoulder of the freeway and leave them to die had a special place in hell with their name on it.
“Hey, buddy. Rough night, huh?” The kitten mewed but didn’t open its eyes. “Come on, let’s see what we can do for you.”
He picked up the lone survivor and cradled it in his hands. The kitten had gray fur with stripes on its tail that made it look like a raccoon from the butt down. It was freezing and no doubt hungry. Not exactly sure what he was going to do with it, he knew he couldn’t leave it here. He set the kitten down long enough to bag up the dead ones and took them all back to his patrol car.
He opened the trunk and set the bag in the back. Then grabbed a survival blanket and ripped it open with his teeth and one hand before walking to the passenger side of his car. He shoved all his junk to the floor, wadded up the blanket to make a little nest, and placed the kitten in it.
The lights from his patrol car were causing looky-loo drivers to slow traffic. And since the freeway was already backed up from the accident he’d just cleared, he needed to get moving. Back in the driver’s seat, he shut off his overhead lights and merged back into traffic. Not knowing his next move, he took the nearest exit, found a place to park, and got out his phone. He searched “what to feed an orphan kitten” and “pet store near me.”
Instead of meeting the guys for coffee on his break, he parked in front of a big-box pet store and ran in. Since Hannah wasn’t at the coffee shop, he didn’t mind just getting drive-thru food and eating in his car.
