"Do you feel better, Detective?" Bart asked from his position on the floor.
"Shut up!" Kevin ordered as he jerked Bart to his feet and handcuffed him.
"I know men like you. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t kill her. I’ve touched her, and right there in your bed. She’s soiled to you now. You’ll never touch her without thinking of me."
It didn’t matter to Jake that he heard the other officers invading the boat above or that Watkins was cuffed. He still turned around and hit him in the face with such force that Bart fell back into the floor, out cold and nose bleeding.
Jake ignored the jolt of pain that shot up his arm and crossed to Sydney. He pulled her into his arms and cradled her face against his chest so she wouldn’t have to look at Bart anymore. She shook with her tears, and he wrapped a blanket around her back."Shh, honey, shh. It’s over. He can’t hurt you or anyone else ever again."
She clung to him in desperation, and he gently rocked her. Those words he’d promised to tell her didn’t seem appropriate at the moment. Now that she was safe, he’d be free to tell her anytime — the right time.
The guys carried Bart’s still unconscious form up the narrow stairs, leaving only Kevin behind."You two okay?" he asked.
Jake nodded. "I’ll come in later to deal with everything."
Kevin glanced down at Sydney. "Take your time. I can handle things."
When Kevin left, the two of them sat in silence, Sydney’s tears slowly fading away. "I was so scared," she finally whispered.
"I know, honey. But it’s okay now."
He held her for a long time before she pulled away and went to the bathroom to exchange her ripped blouse for one of his sweatshirts.
When she came back, she curled up in his arms. He simply held her until she was ready to talk. She had to give a statement, but he’d be the one to take it. He wanted to spare her a trip to his office and the questions of other reporters.
Gradually, she told him everything, from the moment Watkins had grabbed her to when she awoke and was forced onto the boat while still groggy. About how she fought and searched in vain for some way to escape. For what she’d been through, she gave a remarkable account, and he loved her even more for it.
"I don’t even know how he got me out of the building," she said.
"In a mail cart. Rolled it out just like he did every day."
For several minutes, they sat. Quiet. Just holding each other.
Eventually, however, they had to leave. Jake had to go in and do what he could to make sure this case was rock solid, that Bart Watkins never breathed a free moment of air again. And Jake needed to get Sydney out of the boat, away from this cramped cabin that had come close to being the last thing she ever saw.
As he guided the boat away from the island, he called his mother. After the trauma Sydney had endured, he wasn’t about to leave her alone. His mother could provide a woman’s ear and the mother’s comfort Sydney needed. He told her to meet them at a different marina farther down the lake. The marina where he normally docked would be filled with TV crews, and he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t deck someone else if they hounded Sydney.
Jake continued to cradle Sydney as they rode with his mother to her house. But when he placed a kiss on Sydney’s forehead and left her with his mother, she didn’t object. She even seemed to like the idea of spending time with his mother. Good sign.
He headed back to his mother’s car, determined to get his portion of the casework done as quickly as possible. As he slid into the driver’s seat, he glanced back at the tidy little house that had always been home to him – even after he’d moved out. A plan started forming in his mind. He shoved the car into gear. The faster he got his work done, the quicker he could put his plan in motion.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sydney sat on Lou Anne’s front porch, enjoying an abnormally warm November afternoon. She bit her lower lip in concentration as she worked on the cross-stitch pattern. She’d never been very domestic, but Lou Anne’s completed and framed cross-stitch patterns had caught her imagination. Jake’s mother was more than happy to have an eager student.
She glanced at the pattern again, one of a baby black bear with his nose in a honey pot, to count her squares.
"Hey there, Sydney."
She glanced up to see Mr. Robinson from next door waving at her. She waved back, smiled and watched as the nice older man took Buster, his well-fed basset hound, out for his daily constitutional.
In the two days she’d stayed with Lou Anne, she’d met more neighbors than she had during the nearly two months of living at her apartment. She’d thought this type of community atmosphere would be impossible in a growing city, but here it was, friends and neighbors right out of a 1950s television program.
She liked it, and she almost dreaded going back to her impersonal apartment complex. Maybe she’d be fine. Maybe she’d just needed the comforting atmosphere at Lou Anne’s in the hours after her ordeal. She still shuddered when she thought of Bart’s hand around her neck, but for the most part she’d pulled herself back together.
Thanks to Jake.
He’d known exactly what she needed and had brought her to Lou Anne’s, giving her his own mother to replace hers. He’d spent a lot of hours at work since Bart’s arrest, but she didn’t mind. She used the time to relax, something she hadn’t truly done in a long time, and to come to terms with the fact that she and Jake would never be a couple. He cared, of that she had no doubt, but he just wasn’t the settle down and make babies kind.
She finished a row of yellow stitching and glanced up to see the subject of her musings turning the corner at the end of the street. She couldn’t help the extra thump her heart gave. She guessed that reaction would always be there.
She watched him step from the car, every wonderful, sexy inch of him. He smiled as he climbed the porch steps.
He leaned against the square, white column of the porch support. "I see Mom finally found a protégé."
"I like it. I’ve never tried anything like this before."
"Think you could tear yourself away from it for awhile?"
"Maybe. Why?"
"Let’s go for a drive."
Her pulse quickened at the mystery swimming in those dark eyes of his. She took her supplies inside and told Lou Anne they’d be back later.
"Have fun, dear," came Lou Anne’s chirpy voice from the kitchen.
Jake didn’t say anything as he drove east out of town, then down a series of narrow lanes. The trees grew thicker with each turn.
Her curiosity finally trumped her patience. "Where are we going?"
He stopped in the middle of the road and pointed out the windshield. "There."
She glanced forward and saw a cute little cottage. When she looked back at Jake for clarification, he only let off the brake and pulled into the driveway. A stone walkway led to the front porch where a white porch swing drifted in the slight breeze. Large bushes that promised vibrant colors in the spring hugged the side of the house.
"What do you think of it?" Jake asked.
"It’s beautiful. Who lives here?"
"Nobody, but it’s for sale."
Before she could ask why he was showing her a house, he stepped from the car. She followed. He clasped her hand in his. "Let me show you around." Her heart beat faster at the possibilities flying through her head.
They first circled the outside of the house, then went inside through the side door.
"I know it’s small, but I don’t think I’ll get much out of a fifteen-year-old boat."
"You’re selling the boat?" What was going on? Only weeks ago, he’d maintained he liked living on the boat because it gave him freedom. Had what happened on it two days ago tainted it for him? Had Bart been right?
"I’m thinking about it. It’s kind of cramped for two people."
Two people? She didn’t dare hope. "You’re getting a roommate?"
"I hope to." He looked at her with an intensity that made her want to melt.<
br />
He walked slowly toward her, each step boosting her heart rate. When he skimmed his fingers over her cheek, her heart almost burst from her chest.
"I was under the impression that husbands and wives live together," he said, his voice low and seductive.
"Husbands and wives?" Her words sounded breathless and hopeful.
The teasing in his eyes grew serious. "I love you, Sydney. I should have said it before, when I first knew, but I was scared to. I was so afraid of hurting you."
She stared at him, trying to comprehend the words she was hearing. He loved her. Had he really said that?
"But then Bart took you, and I was terrified I’d never get the chance to tell you."
"Oh, Jake." She reached for him, pulling his mouth down to hers.
He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her deeply, with such feeling she nearly cried. But she was done crying. From now on, she was determined to be happy.
She pulled away slightly. "Are you sure? This is crazy. We’ve not known each other that long."
"I’m positive. I’ve wasted too much time alone. I don’t want to waste anymore."
Her heart swelled. "Me neither."
"Does that mean you’ll marry me?"
"Yes, I’ll marry you, Detective Radley."
He picked her up and spun her in a circle, making her squeal in delight.
"We don’t have to get this house if you’d rather live somewhere else," he said.
She kissed his lips lightly. "No, it’s perfect."
"That’s what I thought."
Love filled Sydney nearly to overflowing, and she kissed Jake more deeply. When he set her on her feet, she couldn’t help teasing him. "I hope you don’t think that since I’ll be sleeping with you that the police department will get any special treatment from the paper."
"Of course not." He backed her slowly against the wall. He lavished her with kisses, stealing her breath. "But I feel it’s my duty to try to convince you otherwise."
His hands pulled her closer, revealing exactly what affect she was having on him.
"It might take an enormous amount of convincing," she said, enjoying the banter.
"Then we’re both in luck."
She laughed, then followed him toward their future.
###
Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoyed it.
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Trish Milburn lives in the South with her husband and spends what little free time she has reading, watching TV and movies (Is that her TiVo smoking?), hiking, taking road trips and valiantly fighting the weeds in her flowerbeds.
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Dangerous Kisses Page 18