Hot Spell

“You can always change your mind,” Jacob said.

She blinked and turned to face him. “Pardon me?”

“If you change your mind about quitting, I’m sure Patrick would be okay with that.”

His comment had thrown her a bit. He couldn’t know what she was thinking, could he? No, of course not. Obviously he was just trying to make conversation and the subject of her resigning from PARA was the obvious choice.

“I won’t change my mind,” she said firmly.

“So when you make a decision you stick to it, no matter what?”

“That’s right.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure there are dozens of people who’d love to have your job, so Patrick won’t have a problem finding a suitable replacement for you.”

The thought that she might be so easily substituted hurt a little. “I’m sure he won’t.”

Jacob focused on the road ahead, but his brow lowered into a frown. “I’m just saying that if you’re doing this so your new boyfriend will accept you, then that’s a pretty lousy reason to turn your life upside down.”

He’d been talking to somebody who had extremely loose lips. But who?

Of course, she thought with annoyance. Vicky.

Vicky had wanted to get Jacob alone and naked since he’d started at PARA and she’d managed to land an official date with him last month. She’d had a smile on her face for days and it was all Amanda could do to avoid hearing the sordid details of Jacob’s sexual prowess.

The stab she’d felt in her gut when her best friend had informed her about the date had not meant she was jealous. The thought of Vicky running her hands all over Jacob’s admittedly perfect body didn’t bother her at all. Because that would be ridiculous. They were both consenting, condom-carrying adults, after all, and it was a free country.

She did know Jacob hadn’t called Vicky back for a second date. And that news hadn’t been met with any relief or happiness on Amanda’s part. How petty would that be?

Frankly, she didn’t want to know the details of anyone’s sex life—especially Jacob Caine’s. The point was, Vicky had obviously gossiped to Jacob—before, after or during their tryst—about Amanda’s situation.

“I’m not turning my life upside down,” she said as firmly as she could. “This has nothing to do with David. It’s my decision.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Sure it is.”

“You don’t think I can make my own decisions in life?”

“All I know is that a woman who is obviously gifted in ways that can help other people is giving up her God-given talents to go hock advertising at her boyfriend’s agency and leaving behind her friends and everything she’s ever known.”

Hock advertising? He made it sound so unpleasant.

Jacob was trying to unnerve her and she’d be damned if she let him know he could succeed so easily.

“I’m happy with my decision,” she said with resolve. “Thrilled, in fact. It’s what I want.”

“I don’t think it is.”

“You,” she forced herself to smile at him, “are entitled to your opinion.”

He eyed her. “Do you do that with everyone?”

The smile remained. “Do what?”

“Put on that false exterior? Do you even realize you’re doing it? Maybe you don’t. Maybe this is just how you always are. I wouldn’t know since you’ve avoided me from the moment we met, so we’ve never really gotten a chance to get to know each other.”

“I don’t avoid you,” she said.

He laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Our paths rarely cross at the office, sure, but it doesn’t mean that I’m avoiding you. That doesn’t make any sense. I barely even know you.”

“If that’s true, then I’m not exactly sure why you hate my guts.”

Why were they having this discussion? She felt trapped, which, since they were speeding along the highway at seventy miles an hour, was quite accurate. “I don’t hate you.”

“Sure you do.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Why can’t this drive be nice and relaxing without any conflict?”

“Good question. I guess now that I know you’re definitely leaving, I’m kind of curious about everything.” He took his attention off the road again long enough to look at her long and hard. “Even though you have those walls up and I can’t get an empathic read on you, I can still see the truth. You might be able to pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes, but you can’t lie to me.”

Her face felt warm. She hated how he seemed to know her so well. But he didn’t. He didn’t know her at all. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, that’s so.”

“Then I guess we’re even, because I can read you like a book. I know exactly what you’re thinking, Jacob, and your opinion means nothing to me.”

The words hung heavily in the air between them as they studied each other for a long moment.

Then he snorted. “You’re still lying. You can’t read my mind. If you could, I don’t think you’d like what I’m thinking.”

His gaze flicked to the road for a second and then moved down the front of her, lingering at her breasts, then moving to her legs and back up again. While making her extremely self-conscious, his rude and blatant appraisal also made her nipples harden and heat spread across her skin. She felt a strange ache inside her and suddenly realized it was difficult for her to breathe normally.

She focused on his hands holding tightly to the steering wheel and in her imagination they were holding on to her, skimming her bare skin, pulling away her lacy bra to squeeze her taut nipples while his mouth took hers.

She rolled down the window a crack to get some fresh air and then cleared her throat. “I’m not lying.”

“You are. It’s obvious. Do you lie to David, too?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.”

His lips quirked. “Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?”

“Yes, actually it does.”

“I met David once in passing when he came by the office looking for you. Seemed like a real stand-up kind of guy.”

“If you mean that he’s honest and reliable, then yes, he is.”