She still wondered why she bothered to make the store a success. Dillerman was a total asshole with seven stores in three states and rarely bothered to pay attention to them unless they were losing money. He’d given Sallie the job without references.
For some reason Rance Dougal had decided he needed to keep her alive after the first attempt on her life. And she had to admit, he’d gone out of his way to try to hide her each time she’d been found. Credible identities and the paperwork needed to go with them were always provided, job opportunities as well as cash to survive.
She’d bought the house in Deer Haven out of a small inheritance left to her by her paternal grandparents and placed the rest in a safe deposit box in a bank nearly a hundred miles away, just in case she didn’t have time to contact her stepfather when and if she had to run.
She’d learned over the years to protect her own six, as John had once called it. “Always protect yourself, Sallie,” he’d warned her. “People will fail you and not even mean to. It’s your six, so watch it yourself.”
Frowning as she listened to Tara complete her report, Sallie realized John had given her quite a bit of advice during their year together. Advice she’d used in the past years since he’d left.
Had he known once he left, she’d become a target?
“I think that’s everything, Sallie,” Tara finally called an end to the list of complaints, problems, and general concerns. “I’ll get a summary of everything together and email it to you.”
“Thanks, Tara,” she answered as the front door opened.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Tara said hurriedly. “Some guy has called here for you twice. Name was Rance. He wants you to call him ASAP. It sounded really important.”
All too aware of the fact that Jacob now stood behind her at some point, Sallie inhaled slowly before answering. “Okay, I made a note of it,” she said easily. “Send me the summary and I’ll go over it in case I forgot anything.”
Disconnecting the call, she tried to push aside her unease at the information that her stepfather was searching for her. He never made an effort to contact her. Once he’d deposited her somewhere, he rarely concerned himself with her unless she called after running again. So why was he attempting to contact her now?
“You should have waited to contact the store.” Jacob stepped around her, his frown disapproving as he stalked to the coffee pot.
“I didn’t tell her where I was,” she assured him, the demanding tone irritating her already sensitive nerves.
She watched as he strode to the coffee and poured a cup. His shoulders were stiff and tense, and she wasn’t certain if it was anger or a sense of danger she could feel rolling off him in waves.
Whichever it was, he wasn’t happy.
“You wouldn’t have to tell them where you were if they have the right equipment and managed to tap into your office phone. Which they likely have.” He turned back to her as he raised the cup and sipped at the steaming liquid.
Sallie felt her heart nearly stop in fear. Her hands shook so bad she nearly dropped her tablet and she felt terror racing through her.
“Jacob…” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I didn’t think…”
She should have thought. She should have known better, or at least made certain it was okay to make the call.
He gave a little shrug of his shoulders. “Don’t worry, the connection here is encrypted enough to cover you. I’m a paranoid son of a bitch when it comes to protecting what I consider mine.”
It was enough to cover her?
After scaring the shit out of her, it was enough to cover her?
“You bastard!” Tearing the Bluetooth mic and receiver from her ear, she threw it to the table before placing her tablet beside it and turned to face him furiously. “What was the point in scaring me to death? Is that how you get your jollies? You scared the life out of me.”
He sipped at the coffee again, then without breaking her gaze, placed the cup back on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. His expression was dark, too sexy, and tinged with a shadow of anger. Yeah, he was mad, and he had a right to be, she thought. She’d rather mucked his life up a bit, but that was no reason to terrify her any further.
“To make a point.” Arrogance settled on his expression so naturally it was easy to tell it was a part of him. “The encryption on my Wi-Fi connection is good, but nothing’s perfect, so watch what you say when online or using the cell. It would be easy to guess where you are, at this point, but hard to get to you if you’ll cooperate.”
If she would cooperate.
Now he was talking to her as though she were a child.
“You don’t have to do this,” she reminded him desperately. “I offered to call Rance. He’ll make arrangements…”
“Yeah, that’s worked out for you in the past, hasn’t it?” He grunted, crossing his arms over his chest as mockery gleamed in his brown eyes. “This makes the third time you’ve been found. And this time, they were serious about it, baby.”
She stared back at him, the truth of that statement racing through her mind and once again filling her with a sense of uncertainty and helplessness.
“Thank you for that reminder, Jacob,” she stated, frustration eating at her. “It doesn’t change the fact that you’re not responsible for my safety. I never wanted to put you in danger.”
“No, you wanted to save your ass all by yourself.” His voice raised just enough that she no longer had to suspect he was angry. “Have you ever asked anyone for help, Sallie? Or did you just decide you were going to die without a fight?”
“Without a fight?” she asked painfully. “I’ve been running for over four years, Jacob. I’ve fought the only way I know how.”
She wasn’t some super-secret spy or tough-assed agent with an alphabet agency to back her and she had no idea why her life had gone to hell. And she had no idea what he wanted from her.
“You’ve run. That’s not fighting. And Dougal let you run rather than using his connections to help you,” he snarled, dropping his arms from his chest and moving to her before she could evade him. “And what did you do when you came here? When you saw me? Did you ask for my help?”
Sallie lifted her chin, surprise and disbelief coursing through her. “Ask you for your help?” she repeated softly. “A man who forgot my very existence. Why, Jacob, would I have asked you for anything?”
“Because you did remember.” Hard hands gripped her shoulders, holding her in place when she would have jerked from him. “And you should have known I would have never forgotten this willingly.”
This.
One arm went around her, pulling her to him, lifting her into the hard length of his body. A powerful hand cupped her jaw, lifted her face, and his lips commanded hers. It wasn’t a simple kiss. Nothing like it had been in the past weeks. It went beyond a kiss. It was ownership, and oh God, in this, she wanted to be owned.
By him.
He parted her lips forcefully, his tongue forging past them, rasping against hers and creating arcs of exquisite pleasure. His kiss electrified her. It pleasured her.
His lips slanted over hers, moving against her. There was nothing teasing in the possession, nothing gentle. It was demanding, and he took what he wanted, gave what she had been longing for, without apologies.