Sins of the Past (10 page)

“I swear if that bitch is at the door again, I’m going to really kick her ass this time.” Lorna snatched the door open just as the person on the other side started knocking. “What the he—”

She swallowed the last of what she was going to say and just stared at the man standing on the porch with his fist still raised in the air. Lorna knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t get her brain to function enough to close it. The man standing there was absolutely stunning. She thought Jacob was gorgeous and still did, but this man was beautiful. His features were still masculine, but there was no other was to describe his all-American boy-next-door looks.

The man lifted his eyebrow and grinned at her, snapping Lorna out of the trance he had put her in. “Can I help you?” She swallowed and reached up to wipe her chin, hoping she hadn’t been drooling.

Cole held back a laugh, amused as he watched the cute little woman eye him up and down. He recognized Jacob’s truck in the driveway so he was pretty sure he had the right house, but he had no idea who the sexy little woman was that had opened the door. It seemed his best friend had a lot of explaining to do, starting with the woman who was wearing a shirt that clearly wasn’t hers.

“I’m Cole Michaels,” he answered when the woman asked. Cole held out his hand and took the woman’s in his when she lifted it up. He felt her shiver when he rubbed his fingers on the inside of her wrist and decided to take pity on the woman. As sexy as she was, she was obviously Jacob’s and there was no way he was poaching his best friend’s girl. His mind didn’t seem to get the hint though and he wondered what her rough little hands would feel like rubbing all over his body. Belatedly, he wondered what the woman did for a living to cause the calluses that he felt on the tips of her fingers.

“I’m here to see Jacob.” At the mention of his friend, the woman seemed to come to her senses.

“Oh, yeah, um Cole. You’re one of his Navy SEAL buddies, right?” At his nod she continued. “Come on in. He told me a little about you. He’s sleeping right now, but I can go wake him up if you need me to. I made him take some pain meds last night. Well really it was early this morning after we um… I’m babbling, aren’t I? I’m just going to shut up now.”

Cole watched as the woman’s cheeks turned bright red even through her caramel complexion. He could guess what she had been about to reveal and laughed at her almost slip. “Honey, I don’t blame him for being up all night. I would be too if I had someone as sexy as you in my bed.” Cole had no idea why he said that. There was just something about the woman that was drawing him to her.

“Well fuck me,” the woman whispered under her breath.

Cole had a feeling that she hadn’t meant for him to hear that and held back his grin. Whoever this woman was, she had a potty mouth and that was a huge turn-on to him. He wanted to ask her was that an invitation but he held back. “Am I allowed to know your name?” he asked instead.

“I’m Lorna. I live across the street.”

“Well, Lorna,” he said following her to the kitchen. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Lorna didn’t respond. She started to make coffee and Cole noticed that she moved around the kitchen without a problem. It was obvious she was more than just a passing fling for his friend from her familiarity to his home. He wondered why Jacob hadn’t mentioned her the last time he talked to him on the phone.

Cole sat his bags down and took a seat at the table. He was happy to watch the woman. When she held up a coffee mug silently offering him a cup, he nodded and watched as she turned to pour. Her graceful movements caused his cock to stir and Cole grimaced as he reached his hand under the table to adjust himself. Lorna was just his type, from her short black hair that was standing on end, from either sleep or Jacob running his hands through it during sex, down to her curvy hips and thick thighs. Cole had no use for women who basically had the figures of pre-teenage boys. He liked his women with enough meat on their bodies that he could grab on to and hold on as he pounded into them. Looking at Lorna, she definitely had that department covered. His mouth watered at the thought of her thighs wrapped around his waist squeezing him tight as he pounded her into the mattress. He assumed Lorna had a mixed heritage based on her skin tone and it made him want her even more. She had to be the sexiest woman he had ever seen.

The clearing of a throat snapped Cole out of his thoughts. He looked over at Lorna who had a smirk on her face as if she knew what he had been thinking. He was glad that the table was covering the erection tenting his jeans. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

Lorna grinned. “I asked if you wanted any cream or sugar.”

Cole pictured licking that cream and sugar off of her body and shivered. He bet they would taste extra sweet on her caramel skin. Evidently it had been too long since he had gotten laid if everything out of the woman’s mouth reminded him of sex. He waved her off. “I take it black.”

Once they had their coffee and Lorna sat across from him, she peered at him over her mug. “So, are you going to be here a while or are you just visiting?”

He liked her straightforwardness. “I haven’t decided yet. I need to have a look around the town and decide if I want to settle here or not.”

Lorna snorted. “Good luck with that.”

Cole tilted his head and stared at her. He was trained to read people and by the way Lorna tensed up when he mentioned the town, he had a feeling there was a story there. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Let’s just say that the town and I are not on good standings. We haven’t ever been, really.”

He felt his muscles tense as he stared at Lorna. If he hadn’t been watching, Cole would have missed the sad look that crossed her face and was instantly gone. For some reason all of his protective instincts were coming to the surface when it came to the petite woman across from him. He didn’t know her, yet he still had the urge to go out and find whoever had caused her sadness and beat the hell out of them for her. Before he could say anything, the sound of crutches tapping on the floor preceded Jacob’s voice as he came down the hallway.

“Baby, why the hell aren’t you still naked and in bed? I had plans this morning.” He stopped when he got to the kitchen and let out a laugh before hurrying over to Cole. “It’s ‘bout damn time you got here.”

Cole stood and pulled Jacob into a hug, thumping him on the back. “It’s good to see you, man.” He pulled back and looked at the man. The last time he had seen Jacob was in a hospital bed in pain just before he had to return back to the base. That was almost three months ago and there was a huge difference. Cole could tell the man had lost weight, but he no longer looked like he was in pain. “It looks like civilian life is treating you well.”

“I’ve had a hell of a time adjusting, but I’m just about there.”

Cole didn’t miss the smile on Jacob’s face or the way he glanced at Lorna as he said that. He was glad to know his friend had someone in his life to take his mind off everything. He hated the fact that he was about to wipe that smile off Jacob’s face when he told him the latest news he had found on Valente.

* * * *

“I see you’ve already met Lorna.” At Cole’s nod, Jacob walked over and pulled her into his arms noticing that she was wearing nothing but his shirt. He groaned under his breath at the thought that her tight pussy was bare underneath. It wouldn’t take much for him to be seated in a chair with her straddling him as he slid his cock deep inside her.

He had woken up rock hard only to roll over and find that Lorna wasn’t in bed next to him. He panicked until her heard her voice coming from the kitchen. When he recognized Cole’s laugh, Jacob grinned as he threw on a pair of sweats and made his way to the kitchen. He had a feeling that Lorna and Cole would hit it off, and it seemed he wasn’t wrong.

After thoroughly kissing Lorna, Jacob turned and looked at his best friend. He didn’t miss the look of lust on Cole’s face or the way he shifted to adjust the hard-on in his jeans. Jacob should have been pissed off at the way he was staring at Lorna, but he found it strange that he wasn’t. He knew she was Cole’s type and knew the man would be attracted to her as soon as he had laid eyes on her. Lorna was a beautiful woman that any man would be attracted to. He knew if any other man looked at Lorna the way Cole was looking at her, he would have probably been fighting mad, but with Cole, he just didn’t feel that way.

Jacob pushed those thoughts aside, deciding he would deal with them later. He was glad Cole was there, but he knew he wasn’t there just for a social visit. “You heard something, didn’t you?”

Cole nodded and Lorna must have picked up on the tension building in the room.

“It looks like you guys need to talk and I need to get to work.” She lifted up on her toes and when he bent down, she pecked a kiss on his cheek before turning to leave the room. Lorna patted Cole on the shoulder as she passed. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Oh, no, honey. The pleasure was all mine.”

Jacob watched Lorna’s eyes widen at the silky tone in Cole’s voice. He had seen him use that tone on plenty of women he was picking up. None of the women Jacob had ever seen him use it on had resisted the man and it seemed Lorna was just as affected. He saw her cheeks redden as she blushed before she swallowed. Her eyes flicked over to him as she turned and moved down the hall.

Again, Jacob wondered why he wasn’t angry with Cole for flirting with Lorna. He knew Cole would never take it further than flirting, but if he was honest with himself, the thought of watching Cole pleasure Lorna, or maybe even joining in as they pleasured her at the same time was a definite turn-on. He felt his cock plumping at the thought. Grimacing, Jacob shook his head. He had no idea why he was even thinking like that. He had never shared his women and there was no way he would even ask Lorna to do something like that. As much hell as the town put her through because of the way her mother was, there was no way he wanted her to think he agreed with them. Asking her to have a threesome with him and his best friend was the fastest way to lose her.

When he heard the front door shut behind Lorna, Jacob sat at the table and prepared himself for what he was about to hear. He knew whatever it was, it wasn’t good news. “Don’t sugarcoat it,” he told Cole.

Cole sighed and sat as well. “Your position here has been compromised. Valente knows where you live and it’s only a matter of time before he gets the balls to come here. Word is that he is taking this personally and he’s coming here himself to take you out.”

Jacob rubbed his face. Why couldn’t life ever be easy? The good guy takes out the bad guy and saves the day so that everyone could live happily ever after. “It’s not like I’m in witness protection or anything or that my location is a secret, but how did the bastard even find me? We went in undercover on that mission.”

Cole nodded. “I wondered the same thing, so I did some digging. It seems we had a mole on our team. We figured out it was Jenkins, but by that time, it was already too late. It’s one of the reasons I decided not to reenlist again. Without you there watching my back, there was no way I could stay knowing there was someone on the team betraying us.”

Jacob nodded. He would have felt the same way if he was still on the SEAL team. They had the most dangerous jobs in the world and if they couldn’t trust each other, then there was no point in working together. It was the fastest way to get someone killed. “I never did like that asshole Jenkins. It was those shifty little eyes of his.”

He and Cole were both silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts. Jacob thought of Lorna and had the urge to pack her up and just run. He didn’t want her drawn into his danger, but he knew that a man like Valente wouldn’t give up until he tracked Jacob down. Valente had lost a lot of respect in the criminal world. The only way for him to save face was to take Jacob down. It was easier for Jacob to just wait on the man to come to him. Now that he knew an attack was inevitable, Jacob could go on offense and get prepared.

As if sensing his thoughts, Cole leaned forward and spoke. “We need to come up with a plan.”

Jacob nodded. He didn’t just have himself to think about anymore. He thought of his sexy neighbor. He had her to think of as well. He knew there would be no help coming from the town on her behalf, and based on last night, he had no doubts that by this morning the entire town knew they were connected. It wouldn’t take much for Valente to find that out and use Lorna against him. The thought of that scum getting his hands on her made his blood boil. Jacob decided then and there he was going to keep Lorna safe at all costs.

He stood and looked down at his crutches. He was glad he had a doctor’s appointment coming up and hoped he had progressed enough to get rid of the damn things. If he was going to keep himself and Lorna safe, then he needed to be on his own two feet and not hobbling around on sticks. Jacob knew he still had a way to go to recover, but he was willing to fight through the pain if the doctor would only just put him in some sort of brace that allowed him to walk on his own.

“Come on.” He motioned for Cole to follow him. “Let’s get a beer and come up with a plan.”

Cole laughed. “I’ll get a beer and you can have a soda. Your woman told me she had to give you pain meds last night. Or in her words ‘this morning after you um…’”

He laughed and Jacob couldn’t help laughing with him. That sounded like something his feisty little neighbor would say. Jacob was starting to learn that she wasn’t blessed with a filter between her brain and mouth. He wasn’t complaining though, her mouth was one of the things that had attracted him to her.