Dangerous Secrets: Callaghan Brothers, Book 1 (5 page)

The dizziness passed and some of her self-control returned, but she still felt drained.  She had to get some rest soon or she really was going to do a header right into the table. 

“I don’t need much,” she shrugged unconvincingly, “but I guess I’m due.” 

Pulling out a handful of ones from her wad of tips, she counted out about twenty, and left them on the table. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Paying for my breakfast.”

Jake pushed the money back toward her.  “It’s on me.”  His voice left no room for argument.

She stiffened.  Holding open doors was one thing, but he was not going to buy her a meal.  That put a totally different spin on things.  Spending time with him hadn’t been a hardship, but this was no date.  Taryn paid her own way, and if she couldn’t, she didn’t eat.  Period.  On the plus side, his arrogance seemed to give her a much-needed energy boost.

“Thanks, but no thanks.”  She got up, steadying herself against the edge of the table. 
You’re not strong enough to fight this one, Taryn.
  “I really enjoyed talking with you, Jake.  Thank you,” she said sincerely.  “For everything.  And good luck with your pub.”

Taryn took off before he could say anything else.  She heard him swear under his breath, but she didn’t bother looking back.  The urge to flee was growing with every passing second.  Pushing her way through the door, she stepped out into the cool air and breathed in a lungful while she got her bearings. 

The Pub was a few blocks up on the right; the park she’d seen earlier wasn’t too much farther beyond that.  She needed to be heading that way while the fog and shadows were still heavy enough to conceal her presence.  If she could just grab an hour or two, she’d be good to go.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

She’d made it an entire block before that deep, slightly-roughened bass was rumbling through her again.  Since his pursuit wasn’t wholly unexpected, that odd little tingle in her core had to be from some other instinctual response to that particular sound. 

“Excuse me?”  Taryn whirled around to find him right behind her.  How had the man managed to get so close without her hearing his footsteps?  She must be even worse off than she’d thought, because she never allowed anyone to sneak up on her.

He looked down at her, a towering mass of brawn and muscle that smelled far too good, a heady mixture of spice and clean male sweat.  Heat rolled off of his body in the cool air; for one crazy moment she had the urge to take a step forward into it and let it envelop her.  How long had it been since she’d felt the warm embrace of another human being?

Far too long
, answered a tiny, wistful voice deep inside her head.  It was countered immediately by a much stronger one: 
Don’t even think about it.

Taryn ruthlessly shoved those thoughts aside for later, when she didn’t have a large, dominant alpha-male looming over her, talking to her as if she was some recalcitrant child.  As stunning as the view was, she had to be on her way.  The little bit of fire he’d unintentionally managed to stoke would not sustain her for long.

“I asked where you were going,” he repeated, though he had obviously made an effort to make his tone calmer, less aggressive.

“To get some rest,” she sighed, resuming her forward progress.  Not surprisingly, he fell into step beside her.  She rolled her eyes.  She shouldn’t have stopped; she should have just ignored him and kept walking.  Given the man’s tenacity it probably wouldn’t have mattered, but at least he wouldn’t have taken their brief interaction as encouragement for more of the same.

“It’s Homecoming.  There’s not a vacant room within a fifty-mile radius of this place, not for another two days at least,” he said matter-of-factly. 

This time she did ignore him.  She had no intention of trying to find a room.  She needed to save every penny she could for important things like food and water.  She could rest anywhere, but she’d be damned if she was foraging for food in a dumpster.

Apparently the guy had a functioning brain to go along with all that appealing brawn, because he put two and two together pretty quickly.  “So what – you’re going to crash under a tree somewhere in the woods?” 

She kept her eyes forward and her pace brisk, neither confirming nor denying his baited question with a response.  Maybe he was joking, maybe he wasn’t.  It didn’t really matter one way or the other.

“There are bears in the woods, you know.”

Despite her resolve to remain annoyed with him, the corners of her mouth actually twitched a little.  “I’m not afraid of bears,” she grumbled.  Actually, curling up with a big, furry, warm bear was sounding pretty good right about then as the cold dampness of the early morning seeped through her clothes.  She thought back once again to the heat of Jake’s body and shivered. 

“What
are
you afraid of, Taryn?”  His voice was much softer this time. 

Taryn didn’t even hesitate before answering with a fierce edge to her voice.  “Overly large Irish men with an inflated sense of chivalry.” 

He barked out a laugh.  “Fair enough.  But what if I offered a solution that benefitted both of us?” 

She didn’t stop, but she did slow her pace.  He used those long legs to place himself in front of her, then turned around to face her.  Eyes glittering with challenge, he walked backwards with far too much grace and ease for a man his size.

“I’ve got a couple of extra rooms at the Pub,” he continued as if she’d expressed an interest in hearing more.  “They’re not completely remodeled yet, but I’ve got the plumbing done and the water heater works.” 

“No,” she said immediately, but without much conviction.  A hot shower and a bed sounded heavenly.  Hell, a warm washcloth and a dry floor would work, too.

“You didn’t let me finish,” he chastised. “
You
need a place to stay while your car is being fixed. 
I
need a skilled bartender for the next two nights to carry me through Homecoming.” 

Taryn did stop then and gave him a doubtful look.  “I work for you, get you through the Homecoming crush, and you give me a place to crash?”  The idea actually had its merits.  If the next two nights were anything like the last, she could pocket enough in tips to allow her to really stock up for the upcoming winter if she was careful.  Plus she wasn’t crazy about the idea of picking pine needles out of her underwear for the next few days, warm furry snuggly bears or not.

He nodded.  Maybe it was just because she was so tired, but she actually found herself considering his offer.  She was having trouble seeing a downside, beyond the fact that it was totally insane.  What she should be doing is running as fast and far as she could in the opposite direction.  Screw the car.  She’d find something else.  Let the mechanic sell it for parts. 

Get out now while you can.
  Oh, good.  The voices were back.

She tried to force her feet to move away from him, but she couldn’t.  Even at arm’s length she could feel his warmth.  He was so big and tightly packed together he probably had his own gravitational pull.  That’s what it was, she thought dreamily.  He was like this warm, solid living magnet exerting his pull on her.  She fought the urge to move closer. 

Don’t smile, don’t smile,
she willed, knowing if he did she’d be helpless to resist. 

He did. 
Bastard
.

She narrowed her eyes and pinned him with the fiercest glare she could muster.  “Anything else?”

“Such as?”  He asked, far too innocently to be believable.  His eyes were practically dancing in their sockets, filled with amusement and wicked intent. 

Visions of lying sweaty and naked beneath him filled her head.  She felt the furious blush flaming across her face.  He had seen it, too.  He was trying hard not to grin.  He wasn’t just a bastard.  He was an
arrogant rat bastard
.  An arrogant rat bastard with a smile that melted her from the inside out and a way of looking at her with such tenderness that she felt almost powerless against him.

“Nothing, just asking,” she grumbled.  He coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

If he wasn’t going to say anything, then neither was she.  Besides, she could be wrong.  Maybe he really was just a nice guy with a white knight complex.  They were rare, but they did exist.  Supposedly.  And he had given her the chance to put a few bucks in her pocket last night without asking a lot of intrusive questions.  She reached up and touched the Celtic cross around her neck.  The telltale tingle in her fingertips made up her mind. 

“Okay, it’s a deal,” she said, but she put enough feigned reluctance into the answer to make it sound like she really wouldn’t be doing this if she had any other choice.  She tried to convince herself that was the case, anyway.

“Alright then.”  He held out his arm for her.  She looked pointedly at it, then growled a little in the back of her throat, did an about-face and walked back in the direction of the Pub. 

This time Jake didn’t even try to hide his laughter.

J
ake trailed along behind her.  If she wanted to take the lead, that was fine by him.  It allowed her a sense of having some control over the situation, and he got a lovely view of her delicious, heart-shaped backside. 

Offering a room at the Pub had been an impulse move, which was a bit out of character for him.  Normally he was the thorough, methodical type, with tendency to look at something from all angles before committing one way or another.  But there was something about this woman that tugged at his gut, something that appealed to the primitive, instinctual male within. 

And as much as he would like to think otherwise, it wasn’t like he’d had a conscious choice in the matter.  She had lifted her big, smoky eyes to look up at him, and
damn
, it hit him like a ton of bricks.  She shouldn’t look at him like that - innocent and challenging at the same time.  It made him want to kiss her until she passed out from it.  Of course in her current state that wouldn’t exactly be hard to do.  And when the hell did his pants become two sizes too small?

Head down, hands in pockets, she moved quickly, but he easily kept pace.  The more he thought about the idea of having her stay at the Pub, the more he liked it.  It felt right. 
Keep her close.  Keep her near.
  That’s what his instincts were screaming at him.  This clawing need to be with her ran even deeper than his inexplicable urge to protect her.

It went beyond garden-variety lust.  This was
hunger
. 

And the naughty little vixen had sensed it, too.  Had she felt the same instant, bizarre connection that he had?  Or did she just think he was using the invitation as a thinly-veiled attempt to get her into his bed? 

Maybe he was, but that was totally beside the point.  Perhaps he should have offered her an assurance that he would behave himself, but thankfully, she’d agreed without him having to do that.  That worked for him, because there was no way in hell he could promise such a thing in good conscience, and making promises he couldn’t keep was not his style. 

Jake shook his head to clear it.  The sheer amount of conflicting desires assaulting him at once – lust, need, concern, curiosity, and raw interest – was a bit disorienting, but not enough to change his mind.

He shoved his hands farther down into his pockets to avoid putting them anywhere on her stubborn little body.  To avoid scooping her up into his arms and rushing back to his bed.  Despite her little show of bravado, he could see that she was one step shy of face-planting on the sidewalk.  She needed rest before he could even consider anything else.

That included finding out more about her.  Who was she?  Where had she come from?  She had told him that her car had broken down on the interstate, but where was she heading?  And in what scenario would such a young, attractive woman actually consider curling up in the woods and taking a nap?

He had been joking when he’d suggested that was her intention, an effort to taunt her into refuting him, but a quick flick of her angry eyes had told him that was exactly what she planned to do.  There was no way in hell he would ever let that happen, whether she approved or not.  For some reason, his protective instincts had risen to the surface with tsunami-like force, which made no sense whatsoever.  He had no ties to her, and knew next to nothing about her. 

Well, that wasn’t quite true.  He knew some things.  He knew she had piqued his masculine interest in a way no woman had in a long time, if ever.  He knew she looked fantastic in those ass-hugging jeans, and that she was obstinate and feisty and unusually resistant to his charms.  And those things were just the tip of the iceberg.

It wasn’t enough to satisfy him.  Logical or not, the need to know more was burning within him.  His gut told him she was spooked about something, but she covered it well.  Whatever it was, he would take care of it, with or without her knowledge or consent, because that was just the way he was.  But if he planned on getting any answers, he realized, he would have to come up with a new strategy, because she wasn’t responding particularly well to his ‘just do it’ methodology.  Go figure. 

Jake led Taryn through the Pub to a well-concealed staircase adjacent to the kitchen.  They completely bypassed the second floor and went straight up to the third.  The door at the top opened into a huge living area.  It was a decidedly masculine space; everything was done in deep, earthy colors – dark forest green, midnight blue, tan.  Two huge L-shaped sofa’s mirrored each other, each with its own coffee table in front and flanked by Lazy-Boy recliners.  All seating faced a home theatre-sized, mounted flat screen TV.  The shelving all around it held so many sleek, flashing components and speakers it looked more like a sound studio than a living room.  A series of doors, two per wall, dotted the left, front, and right walls. 

“Jesus,” she murmured.  “This is a real-life, honest-to-God man cave.”

Jake chuckled at her instant and accurate assessment, and walked right through the room toward the leftmost door on the back wall.  Turning, he waved for Taryn to join him.  She made her way carefully over the deep pile carpet to where he waited.  Instead of entering the room, however, she remained at the threshold, leaning forward to peek inside.  He watched her reaction as her eyes widened at the sight of the huge, king-size bed that dominated the space, then roamed over the rest of it.  It didn’t take long.  The room was sparsely furnished, clean but comfortable.