He huffed a dramatic sigh, and she grinned at him. “Fine. There was a minor explosion. But the police are investigating, got a detective in from Conroe, so I don’t think I’m supposed to say anything about it.”
Jake hadn’t told him to stay quiet, but he was going to keep the guy’s confidence anyway. It just seemed like the thing to do when someone had been gruesomely murdered. He covertly looked around to check if Jayla Williams was here. He didn’t even know if she lived in town anymore. Either way, she wasn’t going to be at a bar the night after finding out her dad had died.
“How close were you when the cars blew up?” Though Gina was obviously trying to make light of it, he could see the concern in her eyes.
“Close enough that a deputy had to tackle me for cover. If it hadn’t been for him—”
“Oh my God!” Gina reached out and clamped a hand on his forearm. “You don’t mean the new deputy? The hot one?”
“Jake?” he asked in return, maybe a little too fast.
But Gina didn’t seem to notice as she bounced in her seat. “He came into the salon the other day and I swear he charmed every woman in there. Even cranky old Mrs. Welch, who always complains that we don’t put the right color in her hair.”
“Sounds about right,” he mumbled, thinking of the way Jake had winked at the high school girls and sent them into a fit of giggles that morning.
“Except Connie was in this afternoon and told me she saw him wearing one of those rainbow pins.” Gina leaned forward. “You know, for gay pride or whatever. What a tragedy, if he is. I was all ready to fight half the girls in the county for him. I know all the men in this town, and I don’t want to date any of them. First time we get some fresh blood in ages and it turns out he’s not the prize, he’s the competition.”
He couldn’t help laughing at that. Gina, however, sent him an unimpressed look.
“Well, do you know something? You met him.”
He held up a hand in surrender at her badgering. “I met him, but I don’t—”
“Danny, hey.” A familiar deep voice sounded right behind him and he straightened.
Gina was staring over his shoulder with wide eyes and a smirk.
He half turned to find Jake standing a step away. He was wearing a white T-shirt with some kind of blue-gray graphic printed across it, dark jeans, and biker boots. It was the first time Danny had seen him out of uniform, and he looked so hot.
Except he also looked hot in his uniform. Possibly the guy looked hot no matter what he wore. Or didn’t wear. His heart rate tripled because, yep, now he was thinking about Jake being naked.
“You going to introduce me to your friend?” Jake sent him a half smile after asking the question, his golden-hazel eyes gleaming with amusement and something else. Except Danny was still stuck on the part in his mind that had oh-so-helpfully supplied him with an image of Jake without clothes and dammit, was it getting hotter?
Old man Murphy chose that moment to come over with the next round of beers he was supposed to be paying for, belatedly reminding Danny they were standing in the middle of a crowded bar, and both Gina and Jake were staring at him expectantly.
“Oh, yeah.” He shifted to the side, making room for Jake to join them properly, then did a quick introduction as Jake helped himself to a beer and Danny hastily dug some money out of his jeans for old man Murphy.
“So, Danny was just telling me about how you saved his life yesterday,” Gina said once the beers were handed out and Danny was decidedly poorer for it.
“Yeah, I sure did.” Jake sent her a wide grin without a speck of humility, leaving her laughing.
“Well, I hope you’re around when I need saving.” Gina set an elbow on the table and leaned forward a little.
Danny wanted to roll his eyes at the obvious flirtation but managed to restrain himself, taking a long swallow of the ice-cold beer instead. It helped bring down his inner temperature, which he swore had been near boiling point a few moments ago.
“Planning on getting yourself in trouble?” Jake asked smoothly, though his tone was more conversational.
“Maybe. Would you help me out, or get me into more trouble?”
Hell, Gina wasn’t trying to be subtle at all. That’d always been her play, though: balls out and not caring what anyone thought.
“Sorry, but you’re not the kind of trouble I like,” Jake said, his eyes sliding to Danny.
Jake took a casual drink from his beer but still held his gaze. Whatever good the beer had done cooling him down was lost as Danny felt a warmth starting in his chest and radiating outward. He could see it in Jake’s eyes. If he gave the slightest indication he was interested, they could start something. Temptation had never looked so hot in jeans and a T-shirt.
“So, where are you from, Jake?” Gina asked, breaking the moment as she gained Jake’s attention. Jake answered and they fell into an easy conversation; Gina had that way about her—she could make a stranger feel like her best friend. He’d never met anyone more genuinely nice and welcoming in his life.
Brad and a couple of the other guys came over, and Jake got sucked into buying the next round. They took their beers over to the pool table where Jake proceeded to kick everyone’s asses. After three drinks, Danny decided he needed to slow down. Somehow, he kept finding himself in Jake’s personal space—or maybe Jake was getting into his personal space—either way, as the night wore on, it was getting harder to convince himself he didn’t want to plaster himself up and down the length of Jake’s body and kiss him until neither of them could breathe any longer. It didn’t help that Jake was charming and funny and getting along with everyone like he’d been in Everness all his life, not two weeks.
It was when he finally beat Jake in a game of pool, however, that things almost got out of hand. He’d sunk the winning shot and spun around to gloat, knowing Jake was standing with Gina somewhere behind him. Except Jake had started to step forward and Danny had almost crashed into him. He’d immediately tried to backpedal but lost his balance. Jake—seeming far less caught off guard—snaked an arm around his waist to steady him, but they both ended up stumbling into the edge of the pool table, hips pressing together.
A few of the others laughed and teased him about being uncoordinated, but he barely heard a word, too caught up in the feel of Jake against him.
“I didn’t think you’d had that much to drink,” Jake murmured with a lazy upward tilt of his lips.
It was all he could do not to close the distance between them and kiss the grin right off his lips. Oh God, he’d never wanted to kiss anyone as much as he wanted to kiss Jake right then. But the idea of his dad getting a phone call from a gossipy local first thing in the morning about his only son making out with another guy in the middle of the bar, followed by getting verbally punched all the way out of the house when his mom needed him was like being handed a bucket of kicked puppies.
“Actually, I don’t think I’ve had enough.” He pulled out of Jake’s grip, desperately needing something else to take the edge off. “I’m going for another beer.”
He stepped around Jake, escaping before he or anyone else could say anything. But when he reached the bar, he detoured and went down the back hallway, past the bathrooms and out into the yard, where there was a kind of garden people often sat in when the weather was nice. It was pretty full tonight, despite the humidity. He didn’t stop, though, until he’d pushed through the gate that led out into the narrow, dusty side street between buildings.
He exhaled hard and dropped back to lean against the warm brick wall. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Great. It’d probably rain and he’d get soaking wet walking home. At least it wouldn’t be cold.
“Find your beer yet?” The gate banged as it swung shut behind Jake.
“I wasn’t really getting a beer,” he replied in annoyance, not looking up, since he’d come out here mostly to escape from Jake. Except he’d apparently decided to follow him.
“I figured,” Jake returned in a
dry voice. “Look, I owe you an apology. I was blatantly flirting with you. Except I told you this morning I wouldn’t do that if it made you uncomfortable, especially in front of other people. But I kind of forgot. I just— You look really gorgeous and I literally take one look at those ridiculous blue eyes of yours and completely forget—”
Danny straightened and grabbed a handful of Jake’s shirt at the shoulder, shoving him into the wall. He’d heard enough. Too much. He couldn’t stand it anymore.
Jake’s eyes widened slightly, concern edging into his features. “Danny—”
“Jake, shut the hell up.” He leaned in and at the last second, Jake finally got a clue, because he closed the remaining distance between them, sealing their mouths together.
Danny immediately groaned, because, Jesus, this was so much better than the dream he’d woken up from early that morning. Jake wrapped his arms around him and pulled him flush up against his chest. Danny stumbled into him, not expecting it, but then unashamedly pressed himself against the entire length of Jake’s leanly muscled body, relishing it the way he’d wanted to do moments ago by the pool table in the bar.
The kiss deepened, Jake’s tongue sliding over his lower lip, then rubbing sensuously against his own in a way that nearly made his knees give out. He returned the caress and Jake moaned. The low, raw sound sent a harder, sharper lance of pleasure arcing through him. Goddamn, it might have been the sexiest noise he’d ever heard, leaving him willing to do anything to hear it again.
His whole body was lighting up, getting hot, sensations sparking under his skin. He was getting hard faster than he ever had in his life, and there was no way to hide it from Jake, not with the way they were plastered together from feet to chest. And he might have been embarrassed, except he could feel the same thing happening to Jake, which only made it all worse. Or maybe it made it all better. Either way, he’d never been so turned on by a single kiss.
Jake’s hands were tight on his hips, his fingers slipping under the hem of his T-shirt, tracing the waistband of his jeans, trailing too light across his overheated skin and leaving him shuddering. Danny couldn’t help thrusting against him, the friction stealing his breath and all higher brain function. He’d never, ever considered fucking someone against a wall in an alleyway, but in that moment, he realized he was about ten seconds away from throwing all caution to the wind and doing exactly that.
He pulled back a little, both of them panting.
“We should stop.” The alley wasn’t exactly private. It was more of a side street linking two main roads in town. Anyone could stumble across them at any second. Though being gay was no longer illegal like it technically had been in Texas until 2003, there were probably still a few old-school cops who’d at least charge them with public indecency if they got caught making out…. Though possibly they’d skipped right over any innocent making out and gone right into groping territory.
“Or we could go find somewhere a little more private.” After Jake said the words, he trailed his lips over Danny’s jaw and down his neck, making him shudder. Danny was almost ready to beg for release. But if they did that, it’d make this real. Make it something. And he wasn’t even sure if this was what he wanted.
Oh, he wanted Jake, all right. The evidence was hard and obvious. But he knew this was a bad idea. It could lead to disaster in any number of ways, not the least of which was Jake getting hurt because he was too messed up to deal with a relationship right now. He needed to decide if this was a path he really wanted to take or not, instead of just losing his head in a few minutes of insanity.
Jake looked up at him and must have seen something in his eyes. He gave a quick smile and then leaned in to kiss him lightly, almost tenderly on the mouth before gently pushing him back a few steps. He’d actually forgotten for a second there that he was the one holding Jake pinned against the wall.
“Christ. That’s going to take a while to subside.” Jake winced and adjusted his jeans.
Danny erupted into laughter. It wasn’t really funny, because he was having the same issue and there was an easy fix if he dared take it. But for some reason he just found it all absurd.
“Sure, it’s hilarious. But I’ll have you know I’m in physical pain here.” Jake sent him an unimpressed look, but Danny could tell from the gleam in his hazel eyes that he was just teasing.
“I’m sorry,” he said once he caught his breath. “I just want to be sure. I really like you, and I don’t want to mess this up.”
“You mean I have to put up with you being all gentlemanly and respecting me the morning after and not using my body for crazy hot sex?” Jake demanded. “How will I ever deal with that?”
He gave another quick laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Yeah, I am.” Jake sighed like it was a heavy burden to bear. “Seriously, though. I understand, Danny. We can take it as fast or slow as you want. Or we can just be friends if that’s all you can give right now. As long as we have something, okay?”
“Really?” It sounded too good to be true. He definitely hadn’t ever met anyone like Jake before. “Where the heck did you come from?”
“I told you, Dallas,” Jake replied with a cheeky grin, deliberately misunderstanding his words. “You want to head back in, or call it a night?”
He glanced at the gate leading into the bar’s garden, but he didn’t feel like socializing, and he’d only come to see Jake anyway. Thunder rumbled again, and he decided he wanted to get home before the rain broke.
“I’m going to call it a night. But you should head back in, make some friends.”
“Friends like Gina?” Jake arched an eyebrow at him.
“She definitely wanted to be your friend,” he managed to reply with a straight face.
Jake shot him an exasperated look. “I’m sure she did. Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
“You don’t have to.” The reply was automatic and left him wondering why he’d blurted out the refusal without thought.
“I want to. Plus, in case you’ve forgotten, there’s a murderer on the loose. I wouldn’t be much of a cop if I let you wander the dark streets alone.” Jake winked at him. “It’s my duty to see you home safely, young man.”
He snorted a laugh at the young man since Jake couldn’t have been more than a year or two older than him.
“How did you know I walked here?” he asked as they headed to the end of the side street, where it opened onto the main road.
“Just a guess, since you totaled your truck.”
“Oh, right. Of course.” Duh. Between the beer and the kiss, he seemed to be missing a number of brain cells.
They walked in silence for a few moments after emerging on the main street. There were a couple of people hanging around outside the front of the bar, and they murmured greetings as they passed by.
They were halfway back to his parents’ house when it suddenly occurred to him that Jake was walking all this way from the bar just to see him home and would have to go back again.
“Did you leave your car back in town?” he asked, slowing his pace.
“Nope, I walked as well. Didn’t know how much I was going to drink, and it’s not that far from my house.”
“Where are you living?” They picked up the pace again.
“Sterry Street. The house with the hideous mustard-colored fence. I’m going to paint that as soon as I get some spare time.” Jake was shaking his head in disgust.
He was right, though; the fence was hideous. And that put him—
“You’re only like a block and a half from my parents’ house.”
“Yep.” Jake cut him a quick smile. “Feel free to visit anytime you like.”
“Do you live with anyone else?” The words came out slow, because he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know. It might be dangerous information.
“No. Well kind of. There’s this cat. I think it used to belong to whoever lived there before. I tried to ignore her at first, but she totally sucked me in and now I’m feedin
g her every day. She has this stupid cute furry face that I’m completely falling in love with.”
They’d reached the garage. The lights were all off, except for the single spotlight above the door illuminating the faded sign. They slowed to a stop and then turned to look at each other.
“Thanks for walking me home.” He felt awkward saying it, but it seemed like the thing to do.
Jake simply smiled, though. “It was fun. A little shorter than I’d been hoping, but definitely fun.”
He knew exactly what fun Jake was talking about and it’d all happened in a matter of minutes in the side street next to the bar.
Jake shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted back a step. “I have to go. Because I really want to kiss you good night and if I stand here any longer—”
Jake bit his lower lip, backing up another step. It was all Danny could do to stand there and not grab him, just like he had outside the bar. Especially now he knew exactly what was in store for him. Jake Perez was slowly but surely turning his entire life inside out.
“Good night, Danny. If you need anything, just text or call me, doesn’t matter what time.”
“Night, Jake,” he murmured, watching as he turned and strode quickly down the block.
Danny blew out a long breath and shifted to sit on the yard fence, watching the lightning fork across the darkened sky. Movement in his peripheral caught his attention and at first, he thought he was seeing things, but then the brief orange glow of a cigarette flared in the darkness as a figure separated itself out of the shadows across the street and headed in the same direction Jake had just gone.
Danny’s breath caught, and at first he worried whoever it was had been close enough to hear Jake say he wanted to kiss him good night. Sound carried in the still darkness the way it didn’t during the day. But that worry was quickly replaced by Jake’s earlier words about there being a murderer on the loose. By now, he couldn’t make out the figure any longer, but he still scrambled over the low yard fence and retreated to the porch, feeling better about being closer to the house.
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