Читать книгу Hot Spell - Michelle Rowen - Страница 10

“GREAT WEATHER we’re having, isn’t it?” Jacob said tightly an hour and a half into the drive. It was the first thing he’d said for over forty-five minutes.

Amanda smiled and nodded. “June is my favorite month.”

She stared out of the window but there was nothing to see in the darkness except the side of the highway racing past. A quick check of her watch told her it was nearly ten-thirty. She’d attempted to make notes in her notebook, but it was too dark, and having Jacob so close to her made it hard for her to concentrate.

He wore black jeans and a gray T-shirt that bared his strong forearms and muscled biceps, the thin material molding to his body so she could practically count his six-pack abs underneath.

Not that she was looking, of course.

She bit her bottom lip and studied the boring view out the window and thought about her boyfriend David. A wonderfully normal, respectable man with whom she’d never had one single argument.

It was his suggestion that she leave her job at PARA to work for him in the New York City office. He’d given her a choice, one that she’d never had before. She could continue living the life of Amanda the Strange—her words, not his—or she could have a chance to be Amanda the Normal.

Starting over in a fresh city with David never knowing about her psychic abilities meant she’d be consciously turning her back on her old life.

Which also, unfortunately but necessarily, included her friends, like Vicky, who didn’t understand why Amanda was so adamant about making this major change in her life.

When she moved to the city she would turn off the part of her brain that allowed her to communicate with ghosts and sense other supernatural presences. She wouldn’t use her abilities at all. She hoped that, over time, they’d fade away to nothing.

Her mother would be thrilled. Amanda had yet to share this news with Madeleine Harper—the last name taken from her new husband—who lived three hours south and rarely saw her daughter. She still blamed Amanda, even after all these years, for her first husband’s decision to abandon their family.

Which was understandable. Even after nearly twenty years, Amanda still blamed herself.

Moving is the right thing to do, she reminded herself for the millionth time. Even so, there was the smallest piece of herself, buried down very, very deep that wasn’t so sure this was the ultimate key to happiness. That piece was small enough to repress, so that’s what she did. In five little days she’d be leaving Mystic Ridge for good, and she wouldn’t look back.

“You can always change your mind,” Jacob said.

She blinked and turned to face him. “Pardon me?”

“If you change your mind about quitting, I’m sure Patrick would be okay with that.”

His comment had thrown her a bit. He couldn’t know what she was thinking, could he? No, of course not. Obviously he was just trying to make conversation and the subject of her resigning from PARA was the obvious choice.

“I won’t change my mind,” she said firmly.

“So when you make a decision you stick to it, no matter what?”

“That’s right.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure there are dozens of people who’d love to have your job, so Patrick won’t have a problem finding a suitable replacement for you.”

The thought that she might be so easily substituted hurt a little. “I’m sure he won’t.”

Jacob focused on the road ahead, but his brow lowered into a frown. “I’m just saying that if you’re doing this so your new boyfriend will accept you, then that’s a pretty lousy reason to turn your life upside down.”

He’d been talking to somebody who had extremely loose lips. But who?

Of course, she thought with annoyance. Vicky.

Vicky had wanted to get Jacob alone and naked since he’d started at PARA and she’d managed to land an official date with him last month. She’d had a smile on her face for days and it was all Amanda could do to avoid hearing the sordid details of Jacob’s sexual prowess.

The stab she’d felt in her gut when her best friend had informed her about the date had not meant she was jealous. The thought of Vicky running her hands all over Jacob’s admittedly perfect body didn’t bother her at all. Because that would be ridiculous. They were both consenting, condom-carrying adults, after all, and it was a free country.

She did know Jacob hadn’t called Vicky back for a second date. And that news hadn’t been met with any relief or happiness on Amanda’s part. How petty would that be?

Frankly, she didn’t want to know the details of anyone’s sex life—especially Jacob Caine’s. The point was, Vicky had obviously gossiped to Jacob—before, after or during their tryst—about Amanda’s situation.

“I’m not turning my life upside down,” she said as firmly as she could. “This has nothing to do with David. It’s my decision.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Sure it is.”

“You don’t think I can make my own decisions in life?”

“All I know is that a woman who is obviously gifted in ways that can help other people is giving up her God-given talents to go hock advertising at her boyfriend’s agency and leaving behind her friends and everything she’s ever known.”

Hock advertising? He made it sound so unpleasant.

Jacob was trying to unnerve her and she’d be damned if she let him know he could succeed so easily.

“I’m happy with my decision,” she said with resolve. “Thrilled, in fact. It’s what I want.”

“I don’t think it is.”

“You,” she forced herself to smile at him, “are entitled to your opinion.”

He eyed her. “Do you do that with everyone?”

The smile remained. “Do what?”

“Put on that false exterior? Do you even realize you’re doing it? Maybe you don’t. Maybe this is just how you always are. I wouldn’t know since you’ve avoided me from the moment we met, so we’ve never really gotten a chance to get to know each other.”

“I don’t avoid you,” she said.

He laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Our paths rarely cross at the office, sure, but it doesn’t mean that I’m avoiding you. That doesn’t make any sense. I barely even know you.”

“If that’s true, then I’m not exactly sure why you hate my guts.”

Why were they having this discussion? She felt trapped, which, since they were speeding along the highway at seventy miles an hour, was quite accurate. “I don’t hate you.”

“Sure you do.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Why can’t this drive be nice and relaxing without any conflict?”

“Good question. I guess now that I know you’re definitely leaving, I’m kind of curious about everything.” He took his attention off the road again long enough to look at her long and hard. “Even though you have those walls up and I can’t get an empathic read on you, I can still see the truth. You might be able to pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes, but you can’t lie to me.”

Her face felt warm. She hated how he seemed to know her so well. But he didn’t. He didn’t know her at all. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, that’s so.”

“Then I guess we’re even, because I can read you like a book. I know exactly what you’re thinking, Jacob, and your opinion means nothing to me.”

The words hung heavily in the air between them as they studied each other for a long moment.

Then he snorted. “You’re still lying. You can’t read my mind. If you could, I don’t think you’d like what I’m thinking.”

His gaze flicked to the road for a second and then moved down the front of her, lingering at her breasts, then moving to her legs and back up again. While making her extremely self-conscious, his rude and blatant appraisal also made her nipples harden and heat spread across her skin. She felt a strange ache inside her and suddenly realized it was difficult for her to breathe normally.

She focused on his hands holding tightly to the steering wheel and in her imagination they were holding on to her, skimming her bare skin, pulling away her lacy bra to squeeze her taut nipples while his mouth took hers.

She rolled down the window a crack to get some fresh air and then cleared her throat. “I’m not lying.”

“You are. It’s obvious. Do you lie to David, too?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.”

His lips quirked. “Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“Yes, actually it does.”

“I met David once in passing when he came by the office looking for you. Seemed like a real stand-up kind of guy.”

“If you mean that he’s honest and reliable, then yes, he is.”

“Sounds exciting.”

She bit her bottom lip. “I guess compared to having fifty one-night stands already this year, my life doesn’t sound that great, but I don’t really care what you think.”

“Fifty?” He raised an eyebrow. “Why, Miss LaGrange, I had no idea you were keeping track for me.”

Her face now blazed with heat. “I’m not.”

“I don’t think it’s fifty yet. Low-forties, maybe.” He grinned. “Then again, we’re only halfway through the year, aren’t we?”

Great, she was amusing him. That hadn’t exactly been her goal. What was her goal, again? She wanted to go to the allegedly haunted house, assess it for the presence of supernatural activity and get the hell out of there. None of which had anything to do with Jacob or his sexual conquests. She should have simply refused the assignment. Patrick would have found somebody else. The property owner could have waited a day or two with no harm done as long as she stayed out of the house.

“When you leave, who’s going to keep count of the bevy of beautiful women I apparently have at my beck and call?” Jacob continued. “I’ll have to buy one of those click-counter devices.” He was silent for a blissful moment. “Maybe you’re looking for a boring commitment from David, but that’s never been what I’ve been looking for.”

“I’m sure your ex-fiancée would be interested to hear that,” she said evenly.

His expression froze. “What did you say?”

“Your ex-fiancée,” Amanda repeated. “Before you met her you were not the ladies’ man you are now. During your three-year relationship you were completely monogamous. It’s only after she left that you’ve become this macho, no-need-for-commitment Lothario.”

She’d thrown out her knowledge of his past as a diversion to move away from her own issues and it looked as though it had worked, although not exactly in the way she’d intended. Even in the darkness of the car’s interior she could tell that his face had paled at the mention of his ex.

When a new member of PARA was being recruited, extensive research was done on individuals who exhibited psychic abilities. Jacob had been pegged as a potential candidate and his life thoroughly investigated to make sure he had no ties to crime or other dark and nefarious forces. Amanda had handled the paperwork. If she had a choice, working within the agency was her preferred gig, rather than field assignments that forced her to tap into her hated abilities. That’s how she knew that he’d had a broken engagement before moving to Mystic Ridge to take the job. She also knew the cause of the break-up was that his fiancée had been unfaithful to him.

She’d always assumed that, based on his lifestyle, it hadn’t bothered him, but from his current expression she had to reassess that opinion. The breakup had been a bad one for him and it obviously still hurt. The pain in his eyes made her immediately regret saying anything at all.

Her stomach twisted in automatic sympathy for his pain. “I’m sorry. I…I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories for you.”

“My personal life is none of your damn business.” The words were spoken softly but there was a sharp edge of anger behind them.

“Nor is mine yours,” she said simply, fighting the feeling of guilt she now had.

“Understood.”

Their eyes met and held.

The sound of a horn a few seconds later, loud and ear-shattering, made her jump, and a quick glance out of the windshield revealed a large set of oncoming headlights. She screamed and Jacob clamped down on the steering wheel to lurch the car away from the middle of the road. The transport truck that had nearly crashed into them continued to honk its horn as if to remind them how very close they’d come to a head-on collision. Jacob pulled off the road onto the side, his chest moving in and out. Amanda’s heart slammed against her rib cage.

Then she realized that Jacob had put his hand on her thigh in a protective motion. His firm touch seared through her jeans and into her skin. If he slid his hand up only a few more inches…

She swallowed hard and her heart began to beat even faster than before.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded shakily. “Are you?”

The scent of his aftershave filled her senses; the rush of almost crashing, almost dying, the feel of his hand on her thigh made things low in her body ache with a dark and dangerous need she wasn’t used to. His hand tightened on her leg, moving a fraction toward her inner thigh. He looked down at where he was touching her as if surprised she wasn’t slapping his hand away from such intimate contact.

There was no way he couldn’t see her nipples now pressing against the thin fabric of her cashmere sweater. As if he again read her thoughts, his gaze moved to her chest and he began to stroke her thigh with his thumb. It was all she could do to stop herself from arching against his touch and begging him to kiss her.

Then, suddenly, he released her. “Sorry,” he said gruffly. “I need to keep my eyes on the road. That’s never happened before. I must be tired.”

“It’s fine,” she managed.

He pulled the car back onto the road. “We’re almost there, anyhow. Like you said, twenty minutes to check it out, and then we can leave.”

“Good.”

She pressed back into the seat and studied the road ahead, her body still tingling where Jacob had touched her.