“I heard you.” She moved for her backpack on the far side of the room, lifted it to a chair, and rummaged around until she found clean clothes. “But you’re wasting your breath.”
“And you’re naïve if you buy everything he’s selling out there without considering the source.”
God, this man was so aggravating. And it wasn’t because she was in love with him, dammit. It was because he was just completely bullheaded sometimes.
She tossed her pack on the floor, gripped the fresh clothes in her free hand, and tugged the towel up with the other. “And what source is that? He’s been through hell, Jake. You saw the people who were after him. Cut the guy a break.”
She moved back for the bathroom, but Jake stepped in her path. “Have you even once asked yourself why they were after him?”
“Because he escaped. Duh.”
Irritation darkened his eyes. “Don’t get smart with me. You know what I’m getting at. Why him? Why not the other guys?”
“Because they’re dead.”
“Right. And why did the cartel kill them and not him?”
She exhaled and stared at him. She’d asked herself that when Gray had been explaining what had happened to him. But no matter the answer, she couldn’t see how the facts of his imprisonment changed his situation now. “Regardless of why, he was still imprisoned. I didn’t go to Colombia to figure out what happened five years ago. I went to help a friend.”
She stepped past him and moved for the bathroom.
“Is that all he is? Just a friend?”
Marley’s feet slowed at the quiet question, and her pulse ticked up all over again. Resting one hand on the bathroom door, she turned to look Jake’s way. “Does it matter if he’s just a friend?”
He watched her carefully, but he didn’t immediately answer. And in the silence she tried to read his blank expression and figure out what he was thinking—what he was feeling—but couldn’t. His face was as guarded as always.
“No, it doesn’t matter,” he finally said. “But the truth does. And my gut’s telling me there’s something off about the guy. You need to be careful.”
Disappointment rushed through her—way more than she wanted to admit, even to herself—and she looked away. What did she expect? That he was suddenly going to open up to her? That he’d tell her how he felt? He’d never done either of those things before, so why would she expect him to start?
She turned back for the bathroom and stepped through the doorway, more exhausted than she ever remembered being. “Thanks for the concern, but I know how to take care of myself. I think I proved that the last few days.”
She pulled the door closed.
“Marley, wait.”
She couldn’t. Because right now she just needed to be alone. Flipping the lock on the door, she drew a deep breath that did nothing to ease the burn in the center of her chest, and told herself this was all for the best. Once they got home, she could forget about the last few days, forget about everything that had happened between them, and focus on what really mattered. Namely, getting everything back to normal.
The only problem was, her heart screamed there was no more normal. Nothing with Jake would ever be the same again.
Jake stuck his head through the cockpit door to thank Tony and Ben for the easy flight. They’d made good time on the way back to Kentucky, but he hadn’t been able to sleep even though they’d flown through the night. All he’d been able to think about was Marley. About the disappointed look on her face when she’d closed that bathroom door. About the way he felt as if she’d expected him to say something more.
The hard truth was, he didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to do, either. Talking about what had happened between them would only remind him just how hot kissing her had been. And how much hotter making love with her was. And while a big part of him wanted only to do both of those things again and again, an even bigger part knew it could never happen. Not with how closely they had to work at Aegis.
To his relief—and disappointment—she hadn’t seemed up for talking when she’d emerged from the bathroom. Dressed in fresh jeans that molded to her body and a fitted white sweater that accentuated her breasts, she’d feigned exhaustion. Then she’d found a chair near McKnight in the main cabin and closed her eyes. Jake had no idea if she’d actually slept, but just the fact she’d gone to sit by McKnight set off a weird vibration in his stomach. One that had kept him awake all the way home. One he didn’t like.
The pilots killed the engines. It was close to four a.m. and darkness pressed in through the windshield, but Jake could see the remnants of another snowstorm littering the edges of the runway.
Frustrated—with the weather, with McKnight’s presence, mostly with himself—Jake said goodbye to the pilots, walked back into the main cabin, and then stilled. Marley stood near the couch in a lightweight red jacket, tugging her backpack over one shoulder while she reached for her extra bag from the seat. Her shoulders were tense, her blonde hair hanging past her shoulders. He knew she’d heard him walk back into the room, but she refused to look up.
She was upset. About their argument? About what had happened in the galley? About their conversation in the stateroom? Probably all three, but he couldn’t stand the distance between them any longer.
Say something, idiot, and fix the giant mess you made with your dick.
He cleared his throat. “Where’s McKnight?”
“Washing his hands.” She tossed the strap of her pack over her shoulder and took a step toward the exit, but as he was blocking her path, she had no choice but to stop. “You’re in my way.”
He drew a quick breath. “Look, Marley. I know you’re upset with me. I get that. But I’m just keeping your best interest in mind here. This guy . . .”
She glanced up at him. Her gaze narrowed, and as their eyes held, he realized there was only one thing he could say that would hopefully get through to her.
“I’m worried about you,” he said softly. “That’s all. I don’t want to see you make a mistake.”
“Why not?”
Why not? The question took him back. “Because I care about you.”
“How?”
His skin grew hot. His mouth opened, but the words wouldn’t come.
She shifted the bag on her shoulder and tipped her head. “How do you care about me, Jake? As your assistant? As a friend? As something more? As what? After everything that’s happened these last few days, I think I deserve to know what, exactly, you mean by that.”
She wanted an answer. About the night they’d shared in the jungle. About that kiss in the galley. About what it all meant in the long run. Only, he didn’t have a clue what it meant, and he had even less ability to explain it.
The palms of his hands grew damp, and his mouth couldn’t seem to find any words that made sense. But he needed to give her something, and the only thing that kept circling in his brain was the fact he didn’t want to lose her. “Marley, I—”
“I’m all set, Marlene.” McKnight stepped through the stateroom door with a shit-eating grin on his clean-shaven face. But the grin faltered when he saw them standing together. “Oh, Ryder. I thought you’d already left.” That same contempt Jake had noticed before flashed in McKnight’s eyes before quickly clearing. “I’m not interrupting something, am I?”
“No.” Disappointment flashed in Marley’s eyes, and she turned away before Jake could say, Hell yes. “We were just saying goodbye. Are you all set?”
That aggravating grin returned to McKnight’s face, only this time it was laced with victory as he glanced toward Jake and then focused on Marley. “Yeah. Ready to get on with my life, that’s for sure.”
Marley brushed by Jake and headed for the door. Jake turned, wanting to reach out for her and pull her back, wanting to finish what they’d started, wanting to hold on to her. But McKnight moved past him
before he could do just that and said, “I can’t wait to see what you’ve done to your place.”
The air whooshed out of Jake’s lungs, as if he’d been sucker punched in the gut. She was taking McKnight to her place? To her house? In the three plus years the two of them had worked together—closely together—she’d never once invited him to her place. Hell, she’d never once let him drive her home after work when the roads had been icy.
Pull it together, man. She’s not yours. You don’t even want her to be yours, remember?
Jake’s head grew light and an odd tingle took up space in his belly. Reaching for his coat, he swallowed hard to distract himself from his shaking fingers..
Crisp, cool air slapped him in the face when he stepped off the plane, but his feet drew to a stop when he spotted the sleek black Escalade parked on the tarmac, and Mason Addison standing near the hood.
“Dad.” Marley dropped her bag on the ground and closed her arms around her father’s broad shoulders. “What are you doing here?”
Mason’s salt-and-pepper hair caught the light from the plane as he drew back from his daughter, highlighting the silver strands. At five-eight, Marley wasn’t a small woman, but next to her father’s six-four frame, she looked tiny.
“Eve told me when you were due back. I wanted to meet you.” He looked over Marley’s shoulder toward McKnight, and a worried look passed over his weathered features. “Holy mother of God. I don’t think I really believed it until this minute. He really is alive.”
Marley let go of her father and turned toward McKnight. From his vantage, Jake couldn’t see McKnight’s face, but he could read body language. And McKnight’s was so rigid, Jake could tell the man would rather be back in a Colombian jungle than with Marley’s father.
The animosity in McKnight’s voice when he’d been talking to Marley on the plane about her father ricocheted through Jake’s mind. He moved quickly down the aircraft’s steps, unsure what the guy was going to say, what the hell he’d do for that matter.
“Addison.” McKnight spread his stance, clenched his hands into fists at his side. His voice dropped to a menacing whisper. “It’s been a long time. Too long.”
Shit. Jake glanced at Marley. She was standing way too close to her father if McKnight decided to launch himself at the man.
He pushed his feet forward to get to her, to pull her out of the way. Before he could reach her, Mason stepped past his daughter. Every muscle in McKnight’s body went rigid.
“Marley!” Jake lurched for her. She twisted at the sound of her name. McKnight glanced his way. Jake was still two steps away when Mason wrapped his arms around McKnight’s shoulders and hugged the man.
Jake’s feet shuffled to a stop. Marley looked up at him like he’d just lost his mind. “What the heck is wrong with you?”
McKnight’s body was still as stiff as a board, but his hands were no longer clenched into fists, and Mason was muttering something about being sorry, about being glad he was back, about making everything right.
McKnight nodded once, then Mason let go of him and, with a beaming smile, turned Jake’s way. “Ryder.” He captured Jake’s hand in both of his. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you brought this man back. I wish someone would have told me. Omega would have been down there in a heartbeat.”
“He didn’t do it on his own,” Marley said before Jake could answer. “In fact, it wasn’t even his idea.”
“She’s right.” Jake glanced down at Marley, relieved nothing had happened and that she was okay. But the minute his eyes locked on her, he had a flash of her in the jungle, building that camp and taking care of both of them, saving him from those natives, even planning and finding McKnight. Awe rippling through him. Awe for everything she’d accomplished, even when he’d thought she couldn’t handle it. “It wasn’t me. It was her. It was pretty much all her.”
Marley turned wide, surprised blue eyes up to meet his. And like it had in the jungle, when he’d watched her dance around that fire, heat exploded in his belly, and every inch of his skin burst to life.
Mason grinned, let go of Jake’s hand, and wrapped one arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “For some reason that doesn’t surprise me. She’s just like her old man.” He looked over at McKnight. “The guesthouse is yours. My personal doctor is on his way to look over you. Anything you want, you just have to ask.” He glanced down at his daughter. “You’re coming back to the farm with us, right?”
“I . . .”
Marley’s gaze was still locked on Jake’s, and Jake’s pulse was suddenly pounding, his hands inching to pull her away from her father and into his arms.
She blinked, breaking the connection, and looked toward McKnight, then up at her father. “Yeah. I-I guess so.”
“Great.” Her father let go of her and moved toward the SUV. “McKnight, take the front. We have a lot to talk about. Marley, hurry up. Amelia should have breakfast ready by the time we get back.”
The two men moved for the vehicle, and Marley reached down to pick up her bags. Jake grabbed her pack and duffel before she could and lifted them, anxious to keep her with him, frantic to come up with any reason for her not to leave just yet. “Amelia?”
She looked toward the bags in his hands, then took a step toward the back of the SUV. “Thanks. Amelia’s my father’s new assistant. I’m pretty sure she’s more than his assistant if she’s at the farm at four a.m. Even you don’t make me come in that early.”
No, but he suddenly wanted her around that early. And not for work.
“She’s also my age.” She opened the back of the vehicle so he could toss her bags inside. “How’s that for ironic?”
“More like awkward. Been there. My father never dated a woman his age—ever.”
A half smile curled her lip. “Yeah, I guess you would understand.”
She knew all about Linus Ryder’s love of younger women. Luckily, Jake’s father had never been stupid enough to marry any of them, so Jake wasn’t continuously supporting them. But every now and then, one would call Aegis looking for the man, completely floored that he’d actually had the nerve to keel over from something as ordinary as a heart attack. And Marley, the saint that she was, usually handled the calls because she knew how much they upset Jake.
She tugged on the door and closed the back, then looked up at him. “So, thanks for, you know, going with me. I know you had other, more important things you could have been doing these last few days.”
No, there wasn’t anything more important than her. Going after her hadn’t even taken a second thought. That tingle came back to his skin, and he tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans so he didn’t do something stupid—like grab her and kiss her.
“You mean thanks for pissing off your brother, getting in the way, aggravating you beyond reason, and generally mucking things up all the way around? You’re welcome.”
She smiled. A wide, beautiful smile. One that lit up her eyes and made him remember the way she’d danced and smiled around the fire. One that sent the blood pounding in his veins all over again. “Yeah, that. But I guess I deserved it since I stole your plane.”
He glanced toward the jet, then back at her. “Well, maybe just a little.”
Her smile faded, and she bit into her lip. A sexy nip that made him think of the way she’d bit his lip in the galley. How it had surprised him. How it had made him absolutely wild. “I guess I’ll see you on Monday?”
“Right. Monday.” Damn, he’d lost track of days. Today was Saturday, which meant he had an entire weekend to sit and think about everything that had happened between them and try to decide what the hell to do about it all.
“Okay.” But she didn’t move. Didn’t step toward the back passenger door. And neither did he.
Part of him wanted to grab her and never let go. Another part wanted to run. His track record with women w
as such shit, he was afraid of making a giant mistake and ruining what they already had. And as much as he complained about her sass and independence, he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.
“Well,” she finally said. “They’re waiting.”
Right. Waiting for her.
She took a step past him, but he moved faster and reached for the door handle before she could. Without opening it, he said, “You sure this is a good idea?”
A frown tugged at her lips. “Jake, do you honestly think my father would put my safety in danger by bringing someone he didn’t trust back to the farm? You’re worrying for nothing. You saw the way my dad reacted to him. You yourself have told me numerous times that Mason Addison is a crazy-good read of people. Gray is exactly what he appears to be. Nothing more. Trust me, I’m perfectly safe with him.”
Jake looked over his shoulder toward the silhouetted men inside. They were both facing forward, deep in conversation, neither paying an ounce of attention to them.
Maybe Marley was right. Maybe the guy was harmless. Maybe Jake was just reading into things because he was jealous her ex was still alive and getting in the way of whatever this was going on between them.
“You’re losing it . . .”
Eve’s words in the office just before he’d rushed off to Colombia to find Marley echoed in Jake’s head. At the time he’d ignored her, but now he couldn’t deny the fact there was a big chance his radar was off because his emotions were all over the stinkin’ map where she was concerned. And they had been for longer than he’d realized.
Pulling the door open quickly, he moved out of her way. He needed to take a giant step back before he did something he’d regret. Before he ruined things for good.
“Monday,” he said, holding the door open for her so she could climb in. “Bright and early.”
She didn’t move. Just stood still and stared at him. And he knew she was waiting for him to say something else, but he couldn’t. Because as much as he still didn’t trust McKnight, the one thing he could say to make her stay wasn’t something he was ready to admit, even to himself.