Secrets Rising by Sally Berneathy Read Free Book Online Page B

have this discussion earlier tonight? You either hired me to do a job or you're going to do the job yourself. Take your choice."
    "That's a totally illogical thing to say. I may not know what questions to ask or what newspaper stories to look for, but I'm a woman. Another woman is much more likely to talk to me than she is to you. Unless you can give me a damned good reason why I shouldn't, I'm going with you."
    She was a curious mixture of vulnerability and determination, of fears and courage, of blatant sexuality and dignified sophistication. And she was getting his mind and his body completely messed up.
    Telling her she couldn't come with him, making every attempt to avoid her, wasn't the real solution to that problem. Getting his head back on straight was the only real and final solution.
    He shrugged, as though the matter were of no consequence. "Fine. I can't stop you from coming with me, but you let me handle the questioning unless I ask for your help."
    "Fine. I'll be ready to go at, what? Nine-thirty?"
    "Nine-thirty."
    She started out the door then stopped. "Oh, your shirt. I—"
    "I'll get it tomorrow."
    She stared at him for a long moment then her gaze hardened and her jaw firmed. Slowly, deliberately, never taking her eyes from his, she unbuttoned his shirt, slid out of it, handed it to him and strode away. With each step her long legs flashed in the darkness and her rounded rear moved enticingly below her slim waist, the wispy gown accenting more than it hid.
    She vanished into her room, but her image remained in Jake's thoughts, imprinted on his eyelids, tingling between his legs.
    If she got any more calls tonight, he'd know because he wasn't likely to go back to sleep any time soon.
    ***
    "Good morning."
    At the sound of Jake's voice, Rebecca lowered her copy of The Edgewater Post and looked up to see him standing there in a denim shirt—the one she'd worn last night?—and faded blue jeans. The jeans were snapped today, thank goodness.
    She wasn't surprised to see him. The motel coffee shop—inappropriately called The Eat Rite Grill—was the only restaurant in the immediate vicinity. However, she was a little surprised to see him still looking so appealing in the light of day. She'd greeted a tired, drawn face in the mirror this morning, but Jake, in spite of—or maybe because of—an indefinable dishevelment, looked more rugged and sexier than ever.
    "Good morning," she said politely. "Would you care to join me?"
    "Thanks." He slid into the booth across from her, cast a quick glance at her half-empty coffee and picked up the plastic covered menu. "Are you eating or just pumping up on caffeine?"
    He almost sounded as if it mattered to him whether or not she ate breakfast. Almost. After his callous treatment of her last night, she knew better than to expect any such thing from Jake.
    When she'd impulsively run to him after the shattering phone call, he'd seemed reassuring and concerned at first. He'd wrapped her in his shirt that smelled of laundry detergent with a faint essence of Jake, and then brought her a glass of tap water. For those few moments he'd seemed human, his dark eyes warm like a summer night. For those few moments she'd leaned on him. Then he retreated from her, brushing aside her fears with a cold reminder that she'd known going in her mother didn't want to be found.
    She'd lain awake the rest of the night regretting her impetuous flight to him.
    "I've ordered eggs, bacon and biscuits," she said. "I had a rough night, so I figure I need something besides coffee to get me through the day."
    A waitress appeared and refilled her cup, then poured coffee for Jake and took his order.
    Jake smiled up at the woman, a warm smile Rebecca had never seen from him before. He certainly had never used it on her. "I'll have the same thing this young lady is having."
    "Got it." The waitress returned his smile, took his menu and left.
    He drank deeply from his coffee before he spoke. "Any more