Nobody But You Read online

  the wood rounds he’d found lying in a huge pile on the side of the cabin.

  He’d chopped more than they’d need at the resort, stocking the extra against the back of the cabin for winter—even though he’d only rented the place short-term and it was currently summer.

  He stopped when he could no longer lift his arms. He’d set the ax aside and stood there catching his breath when he felt it. Her. But the dock was still empty, no Little Lucas and no wild tumbleweed Sophie Marren.

  And then he realized she was sitting above, on the edge of the embankment, her bare feet hanging over, swinging slightly. She wore her sunglasses so he couldn’t see exactly where she was focused, but he knew.

  He lifted a hand in greeting, his body tightening. In hunger, he told himself. But he knew that it wasn’t food he was hungry for.

  She stood and made her way down to the beach. He met her just as a truck pulled up to the cabin. Hud’s truck. Deciding Hud could wait a second, Jacob smiled at Sophie.

  She didn’t smile back.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing,” she said. “Or…you’re not lake patrol.”

  He smiled at the idea of being lake patrol. Yeah, he’d been military for nine years and still was, but if there was one thing he’d learned about himself, he wasn’t exactly a rule follower. Taking a job where he had to impose rules upon others wasn’t going to work for him. Ever. “Not lake patrol,” he agreed with a laugh.

  She took a step back, and he realized his mistake. Never laugh at a pissed-off woman. He reached for her, but she evaded, jabbing a finger in his direction.

  “You think this is funny?” she asked.

  “Funny that you thought I was lake patrol? Absolutely,” he said. “Funny that you’re somehow all riled up at me? No. I don’t find that funny at all. Unless you’re looking to expel some of that energy in a constructive but down-and-dirty way. Because then I’m game.”

  She stared at him. “Are you talking about sex? Because you should know, I’m so not going there with you, not ever again. The thought makes me sick.”

  Her nipples were hard even though it was still eighty degrees out. Her face was flushed, but he’d bet the last beer in his fridge that it wasn’t from heat. “That’s a big fib,” he said.

  “No, see, that’s my point,” she grated out. “You’re the fibber.” She shoved her hair from her face, where it’d fallen into her eyes. “You let me think that I was going to get in trouble by parking here. More than once. You acted all…authoritative, and I believed you. You sucked me into your force field and I nearly lost—” She bit back the rest of that sentence.

  “Lost what?” he asked.

  “My job!”

  He’d have laid another bet down that she’d nearly said herself. Which cut him like a knife.

  “You know what?” she said. “Forget it. Forget all of it—including that morning last week, where for one teeny-tiny second I thought maybe your entire gender didn’t totally suck!”

  “It was more than a teeny-tiny second,” he said.

  She glared at him.

  Okay, so she couldn’t be charmed out of this. But he had absolutely zero idea what exactly was happening. “I’m going to need a hint here, Soph. I don’t remember ever telling you that I was lake patrol.”

  “I assumed.”

  He knew better than to tell her what assuming made her. “How? I told you I was on leave.”

  “Yes, but you always seemed to be there when I was…illegally parking, pointing it out. And you have that whole authority presence down. I just—” She bit her lower lip. “Assumed,” she whispered.

  “I promise you,” he said, “I had no idea you thought I was lake patrol.”

  “But…” She tossed up her hands, looking genuinely upset and miserable, and he felt bad about that. Really bad. He stepped toward her, but she pointed at him to stay. Clearly going for a dramatic escape, she stormed the beach, heading to the next property over, which was North Beach and the campgrounds. She stomped her way down the dock, with him right behind her. Ignoring him, she boarded the boat and slammed the door behind her as she headed belowdecks.

  And caught the hem of her dress between the jamb and the door.

  “Dammit,” he heard her mutter from the other side of the door before whipping it open. She yanked her dress in and slammed the door for the second time, clearly making a statement that she was still mad.

  As if he couldn’t tell by the energy crackling off her, enough that he could have popped corn off her skin. He blew out a breath and stepped on board as well. “Sophie—”

  “No,” she said through the door. “You wielded around your power like…like you’re some male alpha dog whipping it out to pee all over everything and mark your territory!”

  “I rarely ever whip it out to mark my territory,” he said, hoping to make her smile.

  What he got was silence. “Soph.”

  Nothing.

  “Listen,” he said. “Did you ever think that I kept seeking you out because…well, because I wanted to talk to you?”

  He waited while she processed that, waited as she hopefully remembered three truths and a lie. Or more accurately just the terrifying real truths over a bottle of Scotch. Their kiss.

  The time they’d spent in his bed…something that hadn’t been far from his mind. How she’d felt in his arms, the way she’d looked at him, like he really did it for her, like he was enough, just as he was, screwed up and all.

  She opened the door and looked at him. Color tinted her cheeks. Yeah, she remembered everything. But there was something else going on here, something far deeper that was upsetting her. And he didn’t buy that it was simply because she’d misunderstood him being lake patrol. No, she was upset because she thought he’d lied to her.

  Her past was rearing up and lifting its ugly head, and he got that. He did. But he wasn’t going to let her make him the bad guy here. “I’ve never lied to you,” he said.

  He could feel her doubt and wished he could eradicate it, but only she could do that.

  “I need to think,” she said.

  “Can you think over dinner? I’ll cook so you won’t have to.”

  She looked at him doubtfully.

  “No, really, I’ll surprise you.” And himself…

  But she shook her head. “I can’t think in your presence.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because looking at you is like…” She tossed up her hands. “It’s like walking down the chips and cookie aisle at the grocery store. I can’t resist you, and then I’ll forget why you’re bad for me.”

  “How about I promise to be so good to you that you’ll forget the bad?”

  Her gaze had started to soften, but then she apparently found her resolve, because she shook herself out of it and said, “Argh!” Then she jabbed a finger at him. “No. No more of your magical kisses that make my clothes fall off. You’ve got to go.” To prove it, she moved to the captain’s chair, started the boat, and revved the engine.

  He’d have liked to push the issue and talk her down, coax her into coming back home with him, but he knew pushing her right now wasn’t the smart move.

  And he wanted to be smart here. Wanted to be smart with her. Careful. She needed to be in control, and he got that. “Promise me one thing,” he said. “That you’ll moor at my place. No more sneaking around, trying to find a place at the end of a long day when you’re too tired to be behind the wheel. My dock is open to you. No fee, no paybacks, no worries. Period.”

  She stilled. “Okay,” she murmured.

  Okay. She’d be back when she needed to moor the boat for the night, and they could talk then. On her terms.

  He barely got out of the boat before she hit the gas and was gone, leaving nothing but a wake.

  Hud came down to the dock to stand next to him, smirking, the ass. “You’ve been back, what, two weeks, and you’ve already pissed off the hottest redhead in town. I think that’s a record, even for you