Maddy's Oasis by Lizzy Ford Read Free Book Online

in a whisper. “They’ll
see you! Turn off your flashlight! There must be a dozen of
them!”
    As she spoke, she hurried around the desk to
cover the light.
    “I brought the boys. They’ll take care of
anyone,” Jake assured her, twisting the flashlight out of her grip.
He did, however, flip it off.
    “Are you sure? How many-- ”
    “Enough, city-girl,” he growled, and took her
arms. “You’re shaking. You all right?”
    She was trembling and breathing hard and
quick. Her heart tumbled around within her breast, and adrenaline
made it hard for her to focus any of her scattered
senses.
    “I’m fine,” she murmured, surprised to find
herself so close to all out panicking. “I’m fine.”
    “C’mon, sit down,” he ordered with none of
his usual deliberation.
    She started to resist but relented as he
steered her to a couch and sat with her, close enough for their
sides to be pressed together. Jake released her arms but took her
hands, the heat and size of his comforting. In any other
circumstance, she would have moved away from him. She was not the
dependent sort; she didn't need a man to make her feel safe. Yet
she rather liked the feel of his hard, large body beside hers, of
his hands around hers. He was warm and solid and smelled of faded
aftershave, beer, and his own distinct scent. He wasn't like the
type of men she was used to dating in the city: ambitious,
self-centered, deceptive.
    “Did you call the police?” she asked
again.
    “Yeah. The nearest trooper is an hour
away.”
    Another growl.
    “What is that?” she asked, squinting into the
dark.
    “That,” Jake said as he flipped on the
flashlight, “is one of the boys. Not someone you want to run into
in the middle of the night.”
    Jake’s boy was a massive black Rottweiler
seated facing the door.
    “Why is he growling?”
    “You’re in his seat.”
    “He can have it,” she said and, started to
rise.
    “Never sat by a boy on the bus,
city-girl?”
    “It has nothing to do with you,” she assured
him.
    “Good. Then relax until the gallons of coffee
you drank settle,” he said with a familiar, irritated edge.
    She sighed, her eyes seeking men hiding in
the dark corners of the office.
    “I think they were looking for Alex,” she
said in a more subdued tone. "Something to do with money."
    She didn't doubt creditors
would send collectors to the site; she was prepared for them. What
she didn't expect was that they would come armed in the middle of
the night, like common thugs. At the thought of the men coming
after her , she
pulled her feet onto the sofa’s edge and pushed herself deeper into
the squishy couch back and into Jake’s side. He swung one arm
around her shoulders, as if sensing her disturbed
thoughts.
    Neither spoke. Jake’s breathing was deep and
steady, his body comfortable against hers. Maybe she truly had
drunk too much coffee that day, or maybe she needed some decent
rest. Her head still spun, and her nerves were shot.
    She looked down at the BlackBerry clenched in
one hand and once again tried to call Eric, ready to yell at him
for abandoning her.
    “He’s out.” Jake’s low voice was close to her
ear.
    “He’s never too out to take my call,” she
replied. “Unless … did you take him drinking tonight?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Why didn't he tell me?” she asked with a
frown.
    “Why would he? He can do what he wants in his
off time,” Jake said. “You ever go out drinking?”
    “Once last year.”
    “You go out for any other reason?”
    “If it’s work related, yes,” she replied.
    Jake snorted. “If it’s not?”
    “I don’t have the time,” she answered.
    “No drinking. No movies, bookstores, dates,
girls' night out?”
    “I have to work.”
    “Your life sucks,” Jake observed.
    “It doesn’t suck! I have
certain obligations that are not of your concern," she retorted.
"And I don’t have time to be un happy. I like my job and do it
well.”
    Her words sounded flat, even to her.
    “You work