Dangerous Secrets: Callaghan Brothers, Book 1 (4 page)

“Funny, I never figured you for a voyeur,” said a soft-spoken voice behind him.  Jake whipped around to find Taryn looking up at him with those big eyes and a little smirk on her face.  She’d released her hair from the clip and it fell softly around her shoulders now, the little curls brushed out into soft waves extending well past her shoulders.  She smelled good, too.  Like warm caramel apples in a clean autumn breeze.

Relief flooded through him.  Taryn wasn’t with Ian, and from the sounds of it, Ian was taking out his frustrations on someone else.  Jake felt a surge of pride for Taryn. 

“Technically, I’m not a voyeur since I wasn’t actually watching,” he replied, shooting her the trademark half-grin that women seemed to find irresistible. 

“Oh, I see,” she laughed.  “My mistake.”  Her stomach chose that particular moment to grumble loudly enough to be heard over the noises emanating from the back room.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“A little,” she admitted, with a bit of a shy smile, as if embarrassed.  It was cute as hell.

“There’s an IHOP right down the road.  I was going to head out to get a bite.  Care to join me?”

Taryn hesitated.  Jake watched, intrigued, as she processed his invitation.  Wariness and doubt clouded those pretty eyes for a moment before they cleared. 

“Yes, I think I would,” she answered finally.  Jake discreetly released the breath he’d been holding.  If she had said no, he wasn’t sure what he would have done; he just knew he wasn’t quite ready to say goodnight.

“Great.  Let’s go.”  He retrieved her jacket and held it for her while she slipped her arms into it.  He grabbed her backpack as well and slung it over his shoulder.

“I can take that,” she said, holding out her hand expectantly.

“Yes, you could,” he agreed, but he made no move to give it to her. 

“Jake?”  She waved her hand in a “give it” gesture.

“Taryn,” he said with a sigh that suggested exaggerated patience.  “Do you have a problem when a man opens a door for you?” 

She blinked.  “Well, no, but –“

“Do you have a problem with men who try to treat a woman like a lady in general?”

“Of course not.”

“Then please let me carry your pack for you.”  Without waiting for a response, Jake turned and flipped a few switches so that only a few security lights glowed in the public bar area, then headed toward the kitchen.  He glanced over his shoulder once or twice to make sure Taryn was following him.

“Do you mind walking?” Jake asked as he extended his long arm and held the door open for her. 

“No, I prefer it, actually,” she said.

The cool, fresh air felt refreshing after spending the last several hours inside a packed pub.  The mist had stopped, though there was a bit of fluffy rolling fog several inches above the ground.  A few of the brightest stars were visible in the inky sky; the silence was pristine at this time of the morning.  The air still held a chill, but it didn’t seem quite as biting as it had earlier.  Maybe it was because the precipitation was no longer falling.  Or maybe his body was running a little hotter than usual for some reason.

They walked together in a comfortable silence.  When Jake held open the door to the restaurant for her with a dramatic bow, she smiled – it looked genuine enough – and thanked him.  In his mind, it was more than enough to justify placing his hand lightly against her lower back as they followed the hostess.  And when they reached his usual private corner booth all the way in the back, he didn’t hesitate to take her jacket and hang it up on the hooked post that graced the high-backed seats.

“Are you always such a gentleman?” she asked, her voice holding a trace of amusement. 

“No,” he answered simply, passing her a menu.  He didn’t bother to open his own.  He turned his coffee cup upright, then pointed to hers.  She nodded, and he reached easily across the table and righted hers as well.

“Then why are you being one now?”  He glanced at her questioningly.  “Not that I’m complaining,” she assured him with a little smile.  “I’m just curious.” 

It was a long minute before he answered.  He wished to hell he knew.  Sure, his father had raised him and his brothers to treat a woman right, but there was more to it than that.  He just didn’t know exactly what, yet.  But he would. 

“Because I am not usually in the company of someone like you,” he said finally.

Taryn narrowed her eyes a bit.  He could tell she wanted to ask him exactly what he meant by that, but the waitress picked that moment to arrive with a carafe of hot, steaming coffee.  That worked to his advantage, because he was afraid his answer might spook her.

Their server, a motherly-looking woman with an engraved name tag that said “Annie”, smiled warmly at Jake.  “Want the usual, sweetie?” she asked. 

Jake smiled and nodded.  Taryn gave her order as well.

“I take it you come here often?” she asked after the waitress had gone.

“Yeah, you could say that.”  In truth, it was a nightly post-closing ritual, at least on those nights when he and Ian weren’t otherwise engaged.  “Annie makes the best coffee around.”

“Mmmmmm,” Taryn said, closing her eyes as she took her first sip.  “This is good.  I need all the caffeine I can get.”

“Tired?” Of course she was tired.  He could see it in her eyes.  No one could keep up the pace she had for the last seven hours or so and not be.  A subtle roll of her shoulders gave him the sudden urge to place his hands on her shoulders and massage gently while she melted into him. 

“Wiped,” she admitted openly.  “But it was worth every minute.  I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun.”

It was the second time she had said as much, and once again, it made him wonder.  “Glad you liked it.  Seems like you might have a little more experience than you let on.”

“Maybe a little,” she confessed with a mysterious grin.  He waited, but she didn’t say any more.  That in itself interested him.  He’d never met a female who wasn’t interested in talking much about herself or relaying her life story. 

Even more surprising, however, was the fact that he actually wanted to hear hers.  When a few more questions were met with short, non-committal answers, he decided not to push the issue.  Jake was adept at reading people, and he had the distinct impression that Taryn was not a woman who could be pushed into doing much of anything.  Coaxed, possibly.  Enticed, maybe.  Pushed, no.

“So, Taryn, beyond incredible good fortune, what brought you into my bar tonight?”  He leaned back against the soft padding of the booth seat, bringing the coffee mug to his lips.  Everything about him suggested a relaxed, casual inquiry, but the truth was, he was hyper-alert and terribly curious.

Taryn mimicked his movements, leaning back and sipping from her own mug.  The corner of Jake’s mouth twitched.  She was attuning herself to him and she didn’t even realize it.  To test his theory, he brushed an imaginary stray lock of hair away from the left side of his face.  Taryn mirrored the movement, tucking an actual loose strand behind her ear.  He felt a surge of power flow through him.

“Car trouble,” she answered as she did so.  “I broke down on the interstate, and my car was towed to the garage in town.  The mechanic said he’d check it out tomorrow, but it didn’t look good.”  Taryn exhaled a breath.  “I had some time on my hands, and I don’t know, your pub just kind of called to me.  Is it always so crazy?” 

Jake noticed she fingered the Celtic cross as she spoke.  “No,” he said honestly, forcing his eyes away from the perfect-looking, silky-smooth skin of her neck.  He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss her there, to feel her pulse speed up under his tongue.

“We get a decent crowd, a lot of regulars, but this weekend is Homecoming.  We’ll have a big alumni crowd through Sunday.  Couldn’t have done as well as I did without your help.”

“Wasn’t much of a sacrifice on my part.  It was that or stand out in the rain.”  Taryn sat back and sipped her coffee, letting her eyes drift closed as she savored the rich brew.  “Not to mention I could totally see that your ass was in a sling,” she added, one eye peeking open to see his reaction.

Little vixen
.  “Yeah, so what made you offer to help?”

She grinned devilishly, making his cock strain against his jeans and ache all that much more.  “You have a very nice ass.” 

Jake was somewhat taken aback by her boldness, not to mention incredibly turned on by it.  His face must have displayed some of that because Taryn laughed; it was soft and musical with a unique cadence, just like her voice.  The mere sound of it made him feel lighter somehow, and he decided it was definitely worth the momentary lapse in his guard.

“Well, I guess I should thank you, then,” he said smoothly, deliberately lowering his voice, leaning forward slightly and flashing her that half-grin again.  “For both the rescue
and
the compliment.”  He could have sworn she blushed, just a little.

Their food arrived, and for a while there was very little conversation as they tucked in.  Taryn was not shy about her healthy appetite, shocking Jake by eating nearly as much as he did.  If this was any indication of how she ate normally, he figured she should be approximately the size of a house.

“What?” she asked when she caught him grinning and shaking his head at her.  She tucked one leg beneath her and reached for the carafe of coffee once more. 

“I’ve never seen such a tiny woman eat so much,” he chuckled.  “Where do you put it all?”

She laughed.  God, he liked that sound.  He swore it actually tickled him somewhere deep in his chest.  Or maybe it was more like a soft caress.  “No, really,” he said.  “You go what, like a hundred pounds maybe?”

“A little more than that, I think.” 

Jake shook his head.  Couldn’t be much more than that.  He’d lifted kegs heavier than her.  And he’d held her easily when Big John handed her to him over the bar.  He flexed his fingers instinctively;  his hands still felt her waist beneath them, aching to do it again without all of the material in between. 

“So tell me about your pub,” she said, settling back.  “It’s quite beautiful.”

Jake beamed with pride.  “That it is.  It’s got my name on it, but it’s a family endeavor, really.  My dad, my brothers – they all have a big hand in it.  My dad bought it years ago; it was in pretty bad shape.  Lots of history, though – it used to be a Union house during the Revolutionary War.  My brothers have been helping me fix it up.  The public areas downstairs are done; we’re working on the upstairs floors now.”

“You and your brothers must have some serious skills, then.”

“
They
do,” he corrected.  “I just do what they tell me.”

Taryn studied his face closely.  The ghost of a smile still played along her lips, but there was a new intensity to her eyes.  They were remarkably clear and piercing, looking much farther than Jake normally would have liked.  With Taryn, he didn’t mind so much.  There were several things he would like to bare to her, as a matter of fact.  One large, impossibly hard thing specifically. 

“I have a hard time believing you do anything just because someone tells you to,” she said finally.

His eyes twinkled.  “You are very perceptive.”  His eyes became just as piercing, just as searching.  She, however, was apparently not as willing to share.

* * *

T
hose eyes
, she thought, feeling his icy blue, laser-like gaze.  They were so powerful, so probing, that she actually found herself shifting in her seat a little.  She had the distinct impression he was a lot sharper than his casual, flirtatious manner suggested.

“So tell me about your brothers,” she said, forcing her eyes away, distracting herself by pouring more coffee into his cup.  “Obviously Ian is one of them.” 

His eyebrows lifted.  “Oh, come on,” she chuckled.  “He looks just like you.” 
Except he’s still a naughty boy, and you are a very dangerous man.
  The words echoed in her head, shocking her so much she started a little. 

Why would she think that?  Jake had done nothing but be a perfect gentleman around her. 
It’s his eyes.  They are trying to look right into your soul.  And they have the power to destroy you.  You’re not strong enough to fight this one, Taryn.
  Taryn shook her head, struggling against the sudden wave of dizziness.  She was hearing voices now?  Definitely not a good sign. 

“Are you okay?”  Jake asked quietly, his expression concerned.  He leaned across the table, reaching for her hand.

“I’m fine,” Taryn said, attempting to smile, but she suddenly wasn’t feeling very well at all.  That quickly the color drained from her face and she began taking deep, even breaths to steady herself. 

“I’m sorry.  You must be exhausted, and here I am keeping you.”  Jake signaled the waitress for the check. 

Taryn felt like she was going to pass out or throw up any minute, not necessarily in that order.  She held back both urges, stubbornly refusing to let either take hold.  God knew where she would end up.  She briefly considered just stretching out a bit on the oversized booth seat and letting it pass, but if she went prone she knew she wasn’t going to get up anytime soon, and the sexy bar owner was far too chivalrous to just leave her there.

“No, I’m okay,” she protested. 
And I have nowhere else to go
.  He glanced down at her hands the same time she did; they were shaking. 
What the hell?
  She hid them quickly under the table.

“When is the last time you slept?” he asked.  Damn, the man saw too much.  She would do well to remember that.

It was a valid question, though.  When
was
the last time she slept?  Her brain struggled, like trying to trudge through knee-deep mud.  She never should have eaten so much; her body wasn’t used to it.  She felt like she was crashing hard after a major sugar high. 

She reached for the glass of orange juice and forced herself to take a sip.  A quick check of her watch told her it was nearly seven a.m. on Saturday morning.  At least she thought it was Saturday.  She’d driven all day Friday, her car lasting at least till dusk.  Before that, she’d grabbed a few hours at a rest stop - until she awoke to see a state police car trolling the parking lot.