Verity blinked several times. It took a second for his words to sink into her sleep-soaked brain. Just a bump in the road. She’d only been shaken awake. Nothing bad had happened.
Well, as long as she didn’t count falling asleep on Jake. Which was obviously what she had done.
She glanced down at her side, and saw that her arm wasn’t wrapped around a post at all. It was Jake’s arm.
And here she’d thought this day couldn’t get any more awkward.
She should have known better.
Verity snatched her hand away as fast as she could, and dragged it through her mop of hair.
“H-how long have I been out?” she asked.
“A little over an hour,” he said. “You dozed off just outside of Modesto.”
Verity rubbed her eyes a few times before turning her attention outside the window. She didn’t know why she bothered. It wasn’t as if she had any idea where she was. All she knew was that the landscape had changed drastically.
The wide open, agricultural flatlands of the Central Valley had given way to gently rolling hills and valleys. Every inch of uncultivated land seemed to be covered in a dry, golden grass that rippled and swayed in the breeze.
The only thing she could tell for certain was that they had left the freeway…and probably some time ago. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it? It must mean they were close.
Jake was taking them down a two-lane road that meandered through the countryside. Verity spotted a few barns and houses that dotted the horizon, but no other sign of civilization.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“A few miles outside of Augustville.”
“Augustville?” Verity turned toward him. “But isn’t that past the house that Roman sent us to?”
“It is,” Jake said with a nod. “But it’s as good a town as any for us to set up camp.”
Verity’s eyes widened. “Camp?”
“I just mean a base of operations. A place for us to spend the night.” She could just catch a hint of a smile tugging at his lips as he cocked his head.
Verity glanced over at the clock on the dashboard. The time read four forty-two. Sure, it was autumn and the days were getting shorter, but certainly there was still plenty of time left in the day.
“You sure you don’t want to just swing by the house while the sun is still up?”
Jake shot her a look out of the corner of his eye. “Positive.”
“I just thought you might want to get a head start,” she tried. “You know, since the sooner we start, the sooner you’re rid of me.”
“The only thing that I want right now is a shower and some rest. It’s been a long day of driving, and I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Verity sucked in a sharp breath between her teeth.
A fresh wave of guilt crashed over her. She hadn’t given a single thought to how tired he must be. And here, she’d snoozed the last seventy miles.
“Sorry,” she said sincerely. “I guess I was being a little selfish.”
“Not selfish,” Jake said, shaking his head slowly. “Anxious. There’s a difference.”
Verity shifted in her seat. As long as she was doling out apologies, she might as well get to the one that was really making her cheeks burn.
“Well, I am sorry that I fell asleep on you,” she said. “You should have woken me up.”
“Why would I do that?”
Verity grimaced as she looked down at the wet spot on his sleeve. “Because I might have drooled on you.”
A smile spread across his face in earnest. “I’ve suffered worse.”
“Not by me,” she teased.
Jake’s brows shot up.
“Let me get this straight,” he said, giving her an amused look before turning his attention back to the road. “You’re more ashamed of falling asleep on me with your mouth open than to picking my pocket and breaking into my hotel room?”
“Well, yeah,” Verity joked back. “Those last two couldn’t have been avoided, but now I owe you a new shirt.”
“I’m pretty sure it will come out in the wash.”
“Well, if not, let me know,” she said as Jake steered around another bend and the outline of town came into view. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s owing people.”
“I understand.” Verity didn’t doubt his words. The smile faded from his lips, his expression growing suddenly serious. She lost him to his thoughts as they drove into the center of town.
He must have known exactly where he was going, because he didn’t check his phone or GPS, but took a series of turns through the small, rural town that led them right to an older strip-style motel on the outskirts of town.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, stopping the truck in the middle of the empty parking lot.
Verity craned around in her seat and looked out the back window as Jake made his way toward the office.
There wasn’t all that much to see. The biggest building was the bar across the street, all of its windows illuminated with the obligatory neon beer signs. The rest of the block was lined with an assortment of beige and brown storefronts that appeared to have come from the middle of the last century. Some had faded signs hanging out front advertising animal feed or auto supplies. Others looked like they hadn’t been occupied in at least a decade.
Verity counted three vehicles pass by in five minutes. It looked like Jake hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d called this place out of the way.
No one would ever find them here.
Not that anyone was looking.
But obviously Jake was concerned. She couldn’t think of any other reason that he would have driven nearly twenty miles out of the way just to end up at a no-name roadside motel.
Then again, maybe this was just his kind of place.
Before she could give it another thought, the driver’s door swung open.
“Grab your bag,” he said, reaching behind his seat and pulling out his own faded green duffel. “We’re all set.”
Verity stepped out onto the pavement, hauled her luggage out of the open cab, and wheeled it behind her. She met Jake in front of a faded blue door with a yellow 6 nailed in the center.
“Do I have the room next door?” she asked as he slipped the key card through the reader.
“No,” Jake said with a shake of his head. “You’re staying in here with me.”
Verity’s eyes widened. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“You didn’t seem to mind the arrangement last night.” He threw open the door and held it for her.
“But you sure did,” she said, stepping inside.
“That was different, and you know it,” he said.
She let out a long breath when she saw that there were two beds in the room. That was a relief.
At least, it should have been. As it was, Verity wasn’t one hundred percent certain of her feelings about this situation…or Jake Thorne as a whole, for that matter.
She rolled her bag up to the bed closest to the door and sat down on the edge. She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing her curls back from her face.
“I just thought that we might rest better if there was a little space between us,” she said.
“There is,” he said, tossing his duffel down on the mattress.
Verity glanced to her side.
Yeah. A whole two feet.
“And trust me, having a wall in between us isn’t going to make me sleep any better,” he went on. “You wanted my protection? Well, that means keeping you close.”
“How close?” she asked.
Jake cocked his head to the side. “I won’t forget which bed is mine in the middle of the night if that’s your concern.”
It wasn’t.
She’d be lying if she said that the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. And who could blame her? It had been one hell of a long drive up the valley after all. How else was she supposed to entertain herself if not with the occasional fantasy of peeling off Jake’s T-
shirt? Of running her hands over his hard chest and back. Of dipping the tip of her tongue down into the hollow where his throat met his collar bones. Of leaving a trail of kisses along the thick column of his neck as she lifted herself up on tiptoes, rising up until she was level with his lips. Of…
“Y-yeah, don’t worry,” Verity said dipping her head, hoping he wouldn’t catch the blush that was burning her cheeks. “I’m well aware you don’t think of me that way.”
A long silence stretched on from the other side of the room, but Verity didn’t dare lift her head. And she didn’t have any plans to, not until she was damn well sure the guilty blush had left her cheeks.
Not that it did any good.
She could still feel his gaze burning into her, almost as if his stare was a tangible thing.
A few seconds later, she felt it slide away.
“I think it’s past time I took that shower,” he said.
Verity glanced up in time to see Jake turning the corner into the bathroom. A second later, she heard the water turn on.
She let out a long breath as she let herself fall backward. The springs in the mattress barely made a sound as she flopped against it. Verity cocked a brow. The bed was actually somewhat soft and comfortable. That was a nice surprise for a cheap motel.
Perhaps she was being unfair to the place. The room might be spare, but it was clean, and it didn’t look overly worn. It would be fine for a night.
Hell, she could survive anything for one night.
Even the crushing mortification she felt every time her imagination ran wild all over Jake Thorne.
And what the hell was up with that anyway?
Sure, there was no denying that Jake was attractive on a primal level. For some reason, just looking at him opened the floodgates of her hormones. He wasn’t like anyone she’d ever met…and that included all of Roman’s Army buddies.
So, maybe the draw wasn’t purely physical. But there had to be something novel in Jake because he was about as far from her usual type as she could get. She’d always dated men for their brains—historians, professors, doctors. And while Jake might not have turned out to be the knuckle-dragger that she’d originally feared, he also wasn’t likely to be giving a lecture on the significance of animal symbolism in pre-Columbian art any time soon.
Then again, he had appeared to be genuinely intrigued by her opinions on the preservation and public display of art this morning at breakfast. And when was the last time she could say that about any of the men that she’d dated?
Except, this morning hadn’t been a date, Verity reminded herself. It was the furthest thing from it.
Saying that she wasn’t his type was probably putting it kindly.
His body had been chiseled to near perfection after several hard years of training and experience. Hers, on the other hand, was the direct result of spending too many nights hiding in the corner of art galleries drinking complimentary wine and mooching off the cheese tray.
She couldn’t expect him to see anything in her. And the truth was she didn’t.
She wasn’t out here to make a soulful connection, or sneak in a quick roll in the hay. All she needed was a bodyguard—someone to keep her safe while she tried to save her brother’s ass and a cache of priceless treasures—and God knew, Jake fit that role perfectly. Nothing else mattered.
Nothing.
Especially not a pair of warm brown eyes that made her insides all hot and tingly.
Dear God, she needed to stop thinking about him. His eyes, his lips, his body. Every part of him.
Verity reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
Hey, she texted Cheryl. Anything new on the home front?
She stared blankly at the screen until the message bubble appeared with a chime.
Nothing good. Dean Philips asked me about you again.
Shit.
Verity let out a long breath.
That was the downside of landing a job at her alma mater earlier this year. She hadn’t been there long enough to earn any leave. Hell, she didn’t even have any vacation days, not that they would have done her any good. It wasn’t as if anyone would be willing to sign off on time off right in the middle of the fall semester.
So, when she’d finally decided to act on Roman’s letter and leave town, she’d been forced to improvise. She’d sent her boss an email saying that there had been a family emergency and that Cheryl would be covering all of her classes for the next couple of days.
Technically, it wasn’t a lie, but unfortunately that couple of days was a couple of days ago.
What did you tell him? Verity wrote.
That your brother was terribly sick, but that you’d be back any time now. And you will be…right?
Verity closed her eyes and raised a hand to rub at her temples.
That had been the plan. Of course, that plan had gone up in smoke the second she’d landed in San Francisco only to find out that Jake was nowhere near the city. Now she was coming up on the end of her second day, and she hadn’t even been out to the address that Roman had sent her.
Verity forced her eyes open, lifted her phone, and started to type.
You bet.
Good, Cheryl wrote back. Not that I could blame you for wanting to spend some alone time with Mr. Muscles.
Verity groaned as she slammed the phone back down on the mattress. The last thing she needed right now was to hear echoes of her own thoughts from Cheryl.
“Something wrong?” Jake’s deep voice drifted from across the room.
Verity shot up on the mattress. Damn. She’d been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she’d somehow missed the sound of the shower cutting off.
“No. I’m good,” Verity said, quickly jamming her phone back into her jeans. “Just work trouble.”
Once it was safely stowed away, she turned toward Jake…and felt all the air leave her lungs in a giant rush.
He was standing in the archway between the rooms. A pair of jeans was slung low across his hips, the top button still undone. He was rubbing a towel over his short, dark hair, but it wasn’t catching all the water. Tiny rivulets still rolled down his neck and over his bare chest.
Dear God, that chest.
None of the fantasies that she’d indulged in had even come close. The man was magnificent—broad and cut. Hell, she could probably wash the laundry on those abs.
But even so, the build of his body alone wasn’t what had Verity’s jaw on the floor.
She’d known that his arms were covered in ink, but she didn’t give it much thought. Lots of Roman’s friends had artwork scattered across their limbs. Somehow Verity had figured that the rest of Jake’s body would be the same, dotted in haphazard tattoos.
She’d been wrong.
His sleeves were only one part of a much larger work. His shoulders and pecs were covered in ink. A single massive piece that made it seem like the top of his torso had been fitted with a protective sheath of hand-tooled leather. Verity had seen something like it before in real life, a detailed piece of Italian medieval armor that she’d studied in graduate school.
Everything inside her wanted to jump up and get a closer look. She was dying to see just how fine the details were, how much of the scroll work was layered in, how the artist had accomplished such realistic shading. All of it.
But she didn’t dare.
She swiveled her face away the moment he stepped deeper into the room. The last thing she needed was to be caught gaping…again. Their relationship had already reached its awkwardness limit. She didn’t want to push it over the edge.
She did have to spend the night in a small motel room with the man after all.
But surely, one more little look wouldn’t hurt anything. Just a tiny one.
A glance.
Nothing more.
She shot her gaze his way just as he sat down on the end of his bed…and caught a glimpse of more tattoos running across the top of his back.
Look away, damn it.
&n
bsp; The voice in her head was loud. She knew she should listen to it. She really did, but somehow she just couldn’t get her muscles to comply.
“Nothing major, I hope,” he said.
Verity gave her head a shake, but didn’t turn away. “E-excuse me?”
“At work. I hope the trouble’s nothing major.”
“No.” Verity started to shake her head, but stopped. “But maybe…I mean, I hope not.”
Jake arched his brows as he turned toward her. He let the towel drop down by his side. “You don’t sound too convinced.”
Verity leaned back a little, hoping to catch another glimpse of the details tattooed on his back, but she could barely see anything. She’d have to lay all the way back to get the right angle, and that would be anything but subtle.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she went on, risking lounging back just another couple of inches. “I just didn’t give my boss a whole lot of notice before I came out here, and I haven’t really earned any time off at work yet, and now my boss is asking questions, and…”
Her voice trailed off as a tiny portion of his back came into view. She craned her head to the side as far as she could, hoping to get a better look.
It was then she noticed just how quiet the room had become.
Verity flashed her gaze up at Jake’s face. His brows were pulled together, his chin cocked to the side.
“Everything okay, Verity?” he asked.
Crap.
She sat up instantly. Her spine went as straight as a lamppost.
“Everything is fine. It’s just…” Her voice trailed off again as she searched for any plausible reason that she’d be trying to sneak a look at his naked back. In the end, she decided that the truth was far less embarrassing than anything she could make up. “Your tattoo is amazing.”
Jake’s eyes widened. Apparently, he hadn’t been expecting honesty either.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I mean it’s stunning,” Verity said, standing up from the bed. “And I’m practically killing myself over here trying to get a closer look. Do you mind?”
Jake looked up at her for a long moment before finally nodding. “If that’s what you want.”
Verity didn’t try to hide the wide smile that spread across her face as she plopped down on the mattress beside him.
Jake: The Sinner Saints #3 Page 5