“Yeah, sort of.” Jake scratched the back of his neck.
“What did she say?”
Jake pushed his hands into his pockets. “All she said was it proved effective in driving Debbie away.”
“Ouch!” Robert patted Jake on the shoulder. “In my experience, a woman doesn’t invite—or force—a man to kiss her if she doesn’t want to be kissed.”
“You think?”
Jake hadn’t dated anyone seriously for a long time, and it had been even longer since he’d kissed a woman, unless he counted Debbie throwing herself at him last fall. He fought the urge to shudder and cringed instead. That was an experience he’d rather forget.
He’d never had a woman insist he kiss her like Emily had. Surely, she wouldn’t have forced him to kiss her if she didn’t want to be kissed.
He pulled his hands from his pocket. As much as he hated to admit when Robert was right, his brother’s words made sense.
“Hey, bro.” Robert scratched his head, his face serious. “As amusing as I find your love life, this isn’t a social call. I’m afraid I have some bad news for Emily.”
Jake’s muscles tensed at Robert’s grim tone. “What?”
“The Spokane police finally found Emily’s brother.” Robert chewed the inside of his lip a moment before adding, “He’s dead. Murdered. Most likely the day Emily was abducted.”
A vice closed around Jake’s chest, sucking the air from his lungs. He doubled his right fist and punched the wooden wall of the stall, letting loose a string of words his mother would have scolded him for.
Pain ripped through his knuckles, mirroring the pain in his chest. Emily had lost everyone. Couldn’t the poor woman get a break?
“Dude. I know you hate seeing others in pain but hurting yourself won’t bring her brother back or help Emily.”
Jake flexed his fingers and clenched his teeth. Robert was right again.
“He was shot in her condo. She likely witnessed it.”
“No wonder she didn’t want to remember.”
“I’m guessing the driver of the car shot her brother,” Robert said. “I’ve spoken with the Spokane Police Department and reminded them of Emily’s whereabouts and her memory loss. They agreed to let me continue to investigate on this end. But that also means I have to break the news to Emily.”
“I’m sorry, man.” Jake had envied Robert many times throughout his life, but this was not one of those times.
“The police said it looked like her condo was tossed as though the killer searched for something. They want her to come to her place as soon as possible to see if anything was taken that may give us clues as to who killed her brother.” Robert scratched his jaw. “Do I tell her he was killed in her condo?”
Jake sighed. “I don’t know.”
“If I don’t tell her, and she goes home, then maybe her memory will return, and she can tell us exactly what happened. On the other hand, if I tell her that’s where he was killed, would she subconsciously block the memories from returning because she doesn’t want to remember it?”
“Ironic, isn’t it? Emily’s the psychologist. She could tell you the right answer. Do you want me to come in with you to talk with her? Mom’s not here right now.”
Whether Robert wanted him there or not, he wanted to be there. For Emily.
Robert sighed. “Please.”
Chapter 16
Emily waited until Jake entered the stables before making her way into the house. Pain sliced through her ribs as she plopped down on the couch. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes and groaned.
Jake wasn’t a man who used a woman for his own selfish purposes, yet that’s exactly what she’d done. She used Jake’s desire to avoid Debbie to get him to kiss her.I practically forced him to kiss me. Her cheeks burned at the memory.
Disappointment had been swift when he’d pulled away, but when he drew her to him and claimed her lips again...
He’d stolen her breath and sent her pulse racing.
