by Donna Alward
Dedication
To Jenna Bayley-Burke—who inspires without trying and makes me laugh at everything.
Chapter One
It had been a long night, and Constable Kendra Givens was ready to clock out and collapse in bed when a call came through twenty minutes before her shift ended. And it couldn’t be a run-of-the-mill call either. Oh no. It was a break-and-enter at Jake’s Pub. Just who she wanted to deal with this morning—Jake Symonds.
She pulled into the empty parking lot and sighed. The pub was the newest watering hole between Wolfville and Kentville, and she was no stranger to calls from the staff. Sometimes things got a little heated as the night wore on and the drinks flowed freely. Luckily, the majority of calls dealt with throwing a local in the drunk tank for the night to sleep it off.
Most of the time she managed to avoid talking to Jake, with his thickly lashed hazel bedroom eyes and crooked know-it-all smile that met two ridiculous dimples. He was too confident. Cocky, even. Just the kind of guy that rubbed her the wrong way and tried her patience.
As she shut off the cruiser he appeared in the door of the pub. The sun was already up and cast a golden light on the shrubs and trees around the barn-like structure. It was August, and she should be just getting up to enjoy the summer day rather than wanting to go to bed. She should be looking forward to an afternoon at the beach rather than sleeping in her hot apartment with no air conditioning.
Instead she was face-to-face with cocky Jake Symonds. Perfect.
She slammed the door of the car and strode to the pub entrance. It’s your job, she thought. Just get it over with and then it’s beddy-bye time.
Jake was waiting for her at the doorway, wearing faded jeans and a button-down shirt that was, thankfully, buttoned but left untucked. His eyes looked sleepy, and the shadow of a day’s whiskers stubbled his jaw. Dammit. She might not like Jake, but she couldn’t deny he was a looker. Especially now, all sexily rumpled and without his trademark half-smile. He looked pretty grouchy now that she thought about it.
For some reason the idea gave her pleasure. The day was looking up after all. Perhaps this time she’d have the upper hand. Because normally Jake had a way of staring at her that made her feel about four inches shorter and about ten years younger. With pimples. And braces.
“Jake,” she greeted, keeping her voice curt. She was here to do a job, and the sooner they got through it the sooner she could be out of here.
“Constable Givens. Pleasure as usual.”
Annoyance flared at the ironic tone in his voice. She suspected getting under her skin was his goal anyway, so she ignored it and looked blandly into his stupidly handsome face. “Heard you had a break in.”
“Looks that way. Woke up when I heard the car doors slam, but I was too late. Got a make and partial plate for you though.”
“Great. Let’s go in and get this over with, shall we?”
Jake stood aside and let her open the door. Her cheeks heated as she realized he’d deliberately let her do it herself. Not that she expected a man to open a door for her everywhere she went, but she knew with Jake it was deliberate. He didn’t do anything without a purpose. It had always been that way, she suspected.
The inside of the pub was dim with the lights off. The smell of alcohol from the previous night still lingered in the air, mingled with the scent of frying grease and French fries. Kendra’s stomach let out a low growl, but in the silence of the open room it was embarrassingly loud.
“End of shift for you, I expect.”
“Yes, just about, so let’s get this done so I can go home, yeah?”
He moved past her and his scent followed, something fresh and slightly spicy, and she realized suddenly that Jake had showered before bed. None of the smells of a night tending bar were on him. She swallowed thickly as an image—quite unwanted—flitted through her brain of Jake underneath the hot shower spray in the middle of the night.
Was he as beautifully built as he used to be? She imagined so. She swallowed. She’d been a newbie officer, and he’d been home on leave before being deployed overseas again. That was before he’d opened his own place. Back then he’d taken to frequenting the other establishments in the area. And on that particular night, he’d been the one in trouble for public drunkenness and she’d been the arresting officer who’d had to put him in the tank to cool his jets.
Right after she’d made him put his clothes back on. The memory of that evening still made her squirm uncomfortably. His eyes had laughed at her, all green and impish and knowing.
She probably hadn’t needed to cuff him, but she had anyway to prove a point. Of course, Jake being Jake, that had opened the door to a whole other level of innuendo. Suggestions he’d felt free to make during the whole drive.
Now he was supposed to be all respectable, a business owner in the community, blah, blah. Kendra frowned at his back as they made their way to the back entrance of the pub. She should be able to forget it, right?
But she suspected a woman didn’t easily forget the sight of nearly naked Jake. And what made matters worse was that he knew it.
“They broke the back door frame,” he explained, showing her the splintered wood. “Guess I’ll be replacing it with something a little tougher.”
“The door and frame were probably as old as the rest of the place.” The previous owners had used it as a furniture-building shop, but they’d put it up for sale just over a year ago when the business had gone under. Kendra had rolled her eyes when she’d heard Jake bought it and was turning it into another drinking establishment. Like there weren’t enough of those in the area already. The only good thing about Jake’s was that she rarely had to deal with the college crowd this far out of Wolfville. It was mostly locals who kept him busy.
“It was the original door, yes. I always kept it locked and dead bolted, but clearly it wasn’t enough.”
She looked around. “So what’d they take? You’ll have to make a list for the insurance company too, you know.”
He looked at her steadily. “You don’t have to be so patronizing. I know how to file an insurance claim.”
She schooled her features. Ten minutes. Surely in ten minutes she could be out of here, right? “Of course you do,” she placated, but treated him to the same tone he’d dished out when she’d arrived. She’d do her job, but she wasn’t above getting in a dig or two while she was at it. There was nothing that said she had to like Jake Symonds.
“Did they take money?”
“Last night’s take is gone from my office. I always close off the registers at closing time so I know what’s there. I hadn’t done up the deposit, but the register tapes will tell me what I need to know.”
She jotted everything down and kept her eyes focused on her writing. “Anything else?”
“A couple cases of booze inventory from the back room. I’d have to do a count to be sure, but I’m pretty aware of what I’ve got in there.”
She looked up. Jake was completely straight with her now, no teasing smile, no cockiness. She tried to remember that this was his business, his livelihood. So what if she didn’t particularly like him? He still hadn’t asked to be burglarized. Though the flimsy back door was very nearly an invitation.
“I’d appreciate that,” she said, a little warmer than she’d first been. “And the make and partial plate?”
He gave her the information and she wrote it down.
“Thanks,” she said, and tucked her book away. “We’ll probably find the vehicle, but I wouldn’t be so sure about your stuff. It’ll probably be long gone.”
“There’s a bootlegger or two around,” Jake replied. “Easy place to u
nload a few cases of rum or vodka.”
“Got it.”
“Thanks for coming out, Givens.”
She nodded, a strange warmth sliding through her. There was no tone in his voice. It was simple gratitude. She hadn’t known he was capable of that.
Her stomach growled again, even louder in the closed space of the back of the pub.
Jake laughed. “Breakfast time.”
“I’d better get going then.” She moved out of the closed space by the back door and into the main part of the pub again. She could breathe easier out here. It had gotten a little close in the back with Jake. He was that kind of guy—a little larger than life when all was said and done, with an aura about him that seemed to suck up all the available oxygen in the room.
She remembered other details from that summer too. Like how Jake had seemed to be everywhere she went, even when he wasn’t in trouble. And she’d never seen him with the same girl twice.
“Hang on a few minutes,” he suggested, and she turned around. Jake went behind the bar and into the kitchen, peering at her through the cook’s window. “Let me make you breakfast. Least I can do for tying you up at shift’s end.”
For a few stunned moments, she was utterly silent. Jake was already opening and shutting the fridge and moving about the kitchen, slamming things around. “Jake, really,” she replied. “If we’re done here, I should go get the paperwork started on this.”
“And you’ll still be hungry, and then you’ll be so tired that you’ll go home to bed without eating.”
“So?” She shifted her weight. “My eating habits are none of your concern.”
He flashed a smile as he stopped at the window. “You can’t focus if you don’t fuel up. And since you’re the investigating officer here… I expect the job to be done right, after all.”
Now he was being irritating again. It wasn’t like she needed any overture of friendship from him to inspire her to do her job.
He disappeared from the window and she took two steps towards the door.
Then the smell hit her. He was frying bacon.
The hollow in her stomach sent up a hurrah and she closed her eyes, dithering. She did have to eat. And the bacon smelled heavenly.
But it meant eating with Jake Symonds.
She turned back and found him watching her through the window again. “How do you like your eggs and what do you want on your toast?” he asked.
Bacon and eggs and toast. Heaven on a plate as far as Kendra was concerned. Was it worth spending an extra fifteen minutes in Jake’s company? It couldn’t be that bad, right? It was only breakfast. And he’d already started cooking it. She’d hate for that to go to waste.
Oh, who was she fooling? She was starving. And maybe it was time to bury the hatchet with Jake. After all, he was being genuinely nice.
“Over with the yolks hard,” she replied with a sigh. “And jam.”
“You got it.”
“You don’t have to make me breakfast,” she said, taking a seat at the bar. Perhaps the odor of alcohol still permeated the air, but the wood bar top was spic-and-span, without even the slightest stickiness from drinks or mix. She’d say one thing for Jake, he kept his place in top shape. She hated to think what ungodly hour he got to bed each night if this was what the bar looked like first thing in the morning.
She heard a metal spatula ring against the grill. “I’m not going back to sleep now anyway,” he called. “And I didn’t get much shut-eye. So I need to eat if I’m going to get through the day. It’s another long one. Cooking a little extra is nothing.”
He came around the corner with a mug in his hand. “Here. It’s decaf so it won’t keep you up later.”
She took the mug, unsure of what to say. Decaf was pretty thoughtful for a guy this time of the morning on a few hours’ sleep. A simple, “Thanks,” was all she could think of.
Jake nodded. “Cream and sugar?”
“Black’s fine.” She was used to drinking it that way, and most of the time it wasn’t as fresh and fragrant as what Jake had just brewed. She took a sip. It was delicious. He drank from his own mug as he watched the eggs on the griddle. “High test,” he said, lifting the cup. “With an extra shot.”
The sideways grin was back. Kendra swallowed and focused on her coffee. She took too big a drink, nearly scalded the back of her throat with the hot liquid and started coughing.
“Easy there, Officer.” His voice was warm and teasing beside her and she looked up, his figure blurred by her watering eyes. Why was it Jake could always make her feel like a first-class idiot just by looking at her? It’s not like she had a reason to feel awkward and foolish. She was a fully grown, fully capable RCMP officer.
“Hot,” she mumbled, giving a last cough.
“Your breakfast is ready, but maybe I should blow on it first?” he asked, putting down her plate.
“I’m not a toddler,” she defended, forcing a smile.
He brought out his own plate, put it on the bar and came around to sit beside her on a tall stool.
The breakfast looked as delicious as it smelled. Four crisp strips of bacon were lined up on one side of her plate and two eggs sat in the middle, the whites slightly shiny from being sinfully fried in the bacon grease. Two slices of toast were cut into triangles and spread with what looked like strawberry jam. She picked up a piece of bacon first and bit into it.
“I know it’s not the healthiest breakfast, but good God, I love bacon and eggs,” she confessed, cutting into an egg with the side of her fork. He’d salted and peppered it just right, and she ate another bite before trying the toast. “Didn’t know you could cook, Jake.”
“I’d like to say I picked it up in the army, but I’d be lying.” He put down his fork and reached for his coffee. “My mom, all the way. She made all of us learn how to cook. And then made us take turns with dinner. My dad included. We can all hold our own. My specialty is pulled pork.”
Kendra wasn’t sure what to say. She’d come in here half an hour ago not wanting to do anything but get the details and get the hell out. Now she was eating breakfast with Jake and he was talking about his family. She gave her head a shake. She really did need sleep, didn’t she? She was losing her edge.
“What about you? You cook?” he asked, as if this were any ordinary day and she hadn’t just responded to his B&E. Like they were friends. The idea made her frown. She didn’t do friends. And definitely not with men like Jake.
“Some. I can make bacon and eggs.” Her lips started to twitch as he chuckled. “Grilled cheese. Chocolate cake in a cup.”
“In a cup?”
She shrugged. “Why make an entire cake for myself? I’d eat it all and never stay in shape. So you mix everything in a coffee mug and put it in the microwave for three minutes and voila. Perfectly sized cake in a cup.”
“Sounds delicious.” Sarcasm dripped from the words.
“It does the trick.” Especially on a rare Friday night off, sitting at home watching rerun movies from the nineties on cable. That was about the extent of her social life these days, not that she cared to admit that to him.
She put down the last bread crust and sighed. “Thanks for breakfast, but I really do need to get back. I’m on again tonight and I need some sleep.”
“You’ll let me know about the investigation?”
“Someone from the detachment will.”
“Not you personally?”
There was an intimate note in his voice she recognized, and it sent off warning bells in her head. The last thing she wanted was to get more familiar with Jake Symonds. Perhaps they’d struck a temporary truce here, but she still didn’t approve of him. It wasn’t just the way he used his sexy charm so carelessly. It was deeper than that. The choices he made. The kind of life he lived. He caused more problems than he solved around here, and she’d do well to remember it.
She slid off the stool and nodded. “First thing you might want to do is call the insurance company and have someone fix that d
oor. I’m sure boarding it up would violate some sort of fire-code thing, and heaven forbid you shut down for a few days. Wouldn’t want anything to keep the pub closed, would we?” She couldn’t help the sarcastic twist to her final words.
“Well, well. I was wondering how long it would take for the claws to come out. I guess they operate better on a full stomach, huh?”
His eyes, usually so full of sass, flashed at her, mossy green and hard as jade. She’d hit a nerve. Good, she thought with satisfaction.
“I just say it like I see it.”
“Maybe you need glasses, Kendra. You seem to be quite short-sighted.”
Something flickered inside her as he used her first name. It was too personal, too… She swallowed. Too intimate. Which seemed foolish considering they were rarely ever in the same room together.
But there was always the memory of that night. And the fact that for a moment—just a single breath of a moment—his gaze had caught hers and she’d lost herself just a little. They’d connected.
But that had been right before she’d shut the cell door in his face and the moment had been quickly broken. She lifted her chin. “That’s Constable Givens to you.”
“I beg your pardon, Constable.”
She checked her watch—she should have been back by now. All she really wanted was a hot shower and to crawl into bed. But the thought of a hot shower brought her earlier thought about Jake to the front of her mind, and she felt heat rise through her body. She’d go home and have a shower, and it would definitely be a shower alone.
“We’ll be in touch with any developments.” She deliberately used the all-encompassing we. “And we’d appreciate any numbers you come up with for cash and stolen items.”
“I’ll make sure the detachment gets it.”
She stalked out, her shoes making heavy footsteps on the wood floor. Outside, the sun was fully up and the air was heating, promising another scorcher of a day. Scratch the hot shower. By the time she got home she would probably require a lukewarm shower just so she could cool off enough to sleep in her stuffy apartment.
The idea that Jake Symonds could be contributing to the elevated temperature didn’t bear thinking about.