Jake shook his head and laughed, his relief so staggering, his fucking knees shook. Thank God, she’d at least been spared that particular brand of pain. And speaking of pain...
His smile dimmed as he zeroed in on her bruised forehead and cheekbone. “He do that?”
Olivia’s hand absentmindedly went to her face. “Yeah.”
Jake’s hatred was visceral. The image of some guy’s fist hitting Olivia was so wrong that he—“Wait. Did you say ‘Scarface’?”
One corner of that delectable mouth turned up again, and damn if he didn’t want to kiss it.Not now, dickhead.
“That’s what I called him in my head. He was the guy in charge. He had this mean-looking scar that ran down the entire right side of his face.”
Jake’s pulse quickened because he knew exactly who she was talking about...Javier Cetro.
There wasn’t a lot in this world that scared him. Knowing Liv had been in fucking hand-to-hand with that bastard terrified the shit out of him.
Quickly schooling his thoughts, Jake nodded toward her dress. “That his blood?”
“No.” Sadness and regret flashed in her eyes before she added, “It’s his brother’s.”
He tried not to let his fury show as she recounted how she’d come to be covered in the boy’s blood. If Javier Cetro was still alive, the fucker wouldn’t be for long.
“What happened with that boy wasn’t your fault. You know that, right?”
Olivia innocently bit her bottom lip, and out of nowhere, Jake was hit with the image of him pulling it between his own teeth.For fuck’s sake, McQueen. Put that shit away!
“I know.” She started to reach for the dress’s top button but stopped and looked back at him. “Can you turn around? Please?”
Jake blinked at her modest tone, and it dawned on him what she was trying to do. “Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry.”
Turning around, he tried to think of something else.Anythingother than the fact that, at this very moment, Olivia Bradshaw was getting completely naked...less than five feet away from him.
The crotch of his pants began to feel snug. Within seconds, the damn zipper was downright painful, and his rigid cock began throbbing to the rhythm of his heartbeat.
Fearing she’d notice, Jake pulled his hands from his pockets and casually covered himself. Just when he thought he couldn't take much more, he heard Olivia's sweet voice from behind.
“Okay. I’m done.”
When Jake turned to face her, his breath stilled. Her hair was a mess, her face was bruised, and she wore elastic bandages for shoes, but damn, if she wasn’t the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
He stared. Couldn’t help it. The second he’d turned around, his mouth had gone desert dry. He couldn’t think of a single fucking thing to say.
****
One glance at the expressionon Jake’s face and Olivia knew she must look even worse than she’d thought. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to tame the tangled waves as best she could.Too bad he hadn’t felt the need to pack a hairbrush in his bag of goodies.
Unsure of what to do next, she handed him back the toiletries. “Here. Thank you.”
Jake took the items from her and put them back into his bag, but still didn’t say anything.
“Um, what should I do with this?” She’d rolled the dress around the dirty wipes and held it in a ball in her hands. “I’m assuming we don’t want to leave any evidence that we’ve been here.”
His voice sounded a bit rough when he said, “I’ll take them.”
Jake grabbed a gallon-size plastic bag from his backpack and put the soiled things inside. After pressing the extra air out and sealing the bag closed, he rolled it up and shoved it into a side-pocket before turning back to her.
There was another moment of awkward silence before he asked, “Feel better?”
She glanced down at his clothes on her body and tried not to think about the fact that they smelled like him. “I do. Thanks.”
