JACOB (Brothers In Ink Romance Series Book 4) Read online

  “Of course.” I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how a guy would put his dog before another chance to get laid, but that was okay. “So, do you normally not stay the night with a woman then?”

  I watched a blush touch his cheeks. “I um, normally invite women back to my place.” He spoke softly,

  I couldn’t help but laugh at his discomfort. “Well, that makes the most sense.”

  I rolled out of bed and wrapped myself in a black robe as he started pulling his clothes back on. I couldn’t help staring at him and squinted as he brushed his hair to the side. 09/22/2005. A date? I couldn’t help but wonder what to.

  “So,” I cleared my throat. “Can I see you again?” There was no point in giving him my number and waiting around wondering. “I’d like to.” Make that really, really like to. I wasn’t going to say I was in love with him or anything, but there was something about him that I liked … a lot.

  ***

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I slipped my shirt on. I couldn’t bring myself to face her. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see her; in fact, I really wanted to see her again. It was that … I’d finally started looking for him, and once I found him, a relationship wouldn’t be an option. I knew that.

  I buttoned the shirt up halfway and finally forced myself to turn around. She tried hard not to look like she was hurt. A smile spread across her lips, but she didn’t look happy.

  “Oh.”

  I wanted to take it all back. I couldn’t though. The best thing I could do for her was stay away from her. Sometimes protecting someone meant staying the hell away from them, and I wasn’t going to let this girl get hurt because of me. I’d only known her for less than 24 hours but already I … I liked her.

  Her blonde hair was still in the braid from last night, her makeup was slightly smudged, and I could see a couple of the hickeys on her neck, but I was sure there were more. I swallowed, unable to look at her. “I’m sorry I just …”

  “Please.” She cut me off. “I don’t want to hear your excuses.” She turned away from me. “I get it.” I was sure I heard her voice break.

  Guilt tugged at me, twisting in my stomach and making me want to puke.

  “Ashley, it’s not like that.” I knew what she was thinking. She thought it was all some excuse because I didn’t want to see her again. Because she was just a booty call or something. She looked at me, a snort escaped her, and she walked away. “Ashley!” I ran after her.

  ***

  I just didn’t get it. Why did guys bother making this shit up? All they had to do was tell me they didn’t really want a relationship, and we could both move on with our lives. I stormed into the kitchen and got my coffee ready. I didn’t make enough for him—just a small little ‘fuck you’ to him, but it made me feel damn good about it.

  “Ashley.” He stood behind me. “I mean what I said. Things are … crazy for me right now.”

  “Okay.” I’d heard the line before. I turned to face him, stepped around him and made my way towards the bathroom. While I waited for my coffee to brew, I was going to have a shower.

  I undid my robe, let it slip from my body and turned to face him, trying not to grin as I saw his eyes roam over me, lust filling them. “I’m going to go have a shower; you can either join me or be gone by the time I get out. I don’t really care either way, but you might want to make up your mind soon.”

  Before he could say anything else, I padded into the bathroom, completely naked, and closed myself in, but I didn’t lock the door. My heart sank because I knew he wasn’t going to come after me. After all, he’d already made that clear by saying he didn’t want to see me again. I still kinda wanted him to chase after me. I got the temperature just right as I heard the front door close. Sighing softly, I stepped into the shower.

  Ten minutes later, I was out of the shower and in the process of getting dressed—still by myself.

  I honestly wasn’t sure why I was so upset about it. I’d been through this dozens of times. I knew what it was like, and I hadn’t been expecting any more than a hot fuck last night but … when he’d decided to stay the night, it had made me feel special like maybe he wanted to see me again or something. Not like it was just something for my birthday.

  I drank my coffee back in a matter of seconds. I had work in two hours and then I’d have to take care of a couple errands.

  That was one thing about growing up I hated—it never mattered if it was your birthday; you still had to act like an adult and do your daily crap when all you wanted to do was treat yourself, and the day after was no better.

  Chapter Three

  My eyes locked on his from across the street. Oh, God. Please don’t let him notice me. I brushed my hair into my face in some lame attempt that it would hide me better. I held the grocery bags closer to me and tried to hurry out of his sight.

  I heard a whistle from behind me. My heart skipped a beat as I forced myself not to turn around.

  “Hey.” A male’s voice came from beside me.

  I picked up my pace thankful I had earphones in so that I could pretend I didn’t hear him. The hand in my pocket wrapped around the small knife I kept in there. I knew it wouldn’t do me any good in reality, but it made me feel safe to hold it.

  “Hey?” He grabbed my arm and yanked me towards him.

  My heart slammed against my chest as I pulled away from him. My eyes locked on his for a fraction of a second; he had brown hair, he looked strong, and his green eyes looked me up and down as he smirked. I turned away from him again.

  “Bitch.” He grabbed me and spun me back to face him. “I’m trying to talk to you.”

  “I’m not interested.” I tried to pull away from him but couldn’t. My heart pounded in my ears as I pulled again, harder. This time I managed to pull away from him. My eyes engaged his as he opened his mouth. The fight or flight instinct tugged at me. I knew I should run away from him but the fight … oh, I wanted to break his nose so bad for touching me. I wanted to teach this asshole a lesson.

  I jumped as I felt someone touch my back and turned to face them utterly aware that I would have my back to the other man. My knife slipped from my pocket, and in one quick motion I had it unfolded, the blade ready to use. My jaw almost dropped.

  This was not what I’d wanted. I’d been trying to stay away from his line of sight. He pulled me close to him, his arm wrapping around me, but his eyes weren’t on me. I glanced down at the white pit-bull beside him as she sat down, her eyes fixed on the man in front of them.

  “Is everything alright here babe?” He stared at the guy.

  “It is now,” I managed as I turned back to the other guy.

  Even standing up straight, Jacob was a good foot and a half taller than him, and muscle wise, this guy didn’t have anything on Jacob. “Good.” He let go of me and stepped towards the guy. “If I ever see you again, I will kill you.” He said it as if he meant every word, then turned to me and motioned for me to follow him.

  I fell into stride with him as his dog turned to look over her shoulder. He reached out and took my hand in his, squeezed gently and didn’t let go.

  “I … I guess I should thank you for that.” I didn’t really want to. Actually I wanted nothing more than to be away from him, otherwise I might try to ask him out again, and I already knew what the outcome was going to be if I did that.

  “No, you don’t have anything to thank me for.”

  “Still … I really didn’t know how I was going to get out of that,” I confessed.

  He shrugged and said nothing.

  I let out a deep breath. Here I was trying to be nice, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

  ***

  “Well …” She looked over her shoulder. “Thanks for walking with me, but I’ll be fine now.”

  “No.” There was no way I was going to let her walk home alone.

  “No?” She snapped.

  “I’ll walk
you home. Jas needs her walk anyways,” I said as if that made everything make sense. The truth was that I couldn’t let her walk home alone after that, not after Becky. We didn’t say anything for a while.

  “Well if you’re going to insist on walking me home, then there is one condition.”

  Great. What did she have in mind? Didn’t she realize how hard this already was for me? I didn’t want to stop seeing her, but I couldn’t be around her. It wouldn’t be any good for her.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “I want you to stay for dinner, and Jas.” She added quickly, “Since you’re going to make me walk home with you both.”

  I was making her? I was trying to make sure she was safe, and she was going to use it against me? Of course, she would. I couldn’t help but smirk. “Fine. But it better be damn good.”

  She laughed. “Oh, you better prepare yourself to be surprised.”

  ***

  I couldn’t believe it had been that easy. He’d agreed to dinner without me kicking up a fuss or even having to fight with him on it. Maybe there was hope. Maybe he did actually want to see me again but honestly felt like it couldn’t work. I was just going to have to prove him wrong.

  I smiled as I made my way into the kitchen. “Make yourself at home, hell Jas is welcome, as well.”

  “Even if that means her lying on the couch?” He raised an eyebrow as if he expected me to take it all back then and there.

  “Of course!” I smiled. He looked shocked for a fraction of a second as I flicked the stove on and unloaded the groceries that I’d just picked, I was suddenly very glad I’d gotten what I had.

  I started with the bread. I’d planned on doing it all up for myself and nothing else, but I’d have to change that plan now. Oh well, it would be worth it.

  I pulled the pork chops from the bag, thankful that they were already marinated and popped them into the oven. I turned my attention to the onion, tomato and cheese. The pork chops would take half an hour, and the bread would only need ten minutes to toast up, so I focused on chopping the onions, cheese and tomatoes and mixing them together with a little salt, pepper and olive oil.

  He watched me the entire time as Jas made her way around the room. I saw her head down the hallway, and a few minutes later she was back, her tail wagging. She made her way to the couch, sniffed it and climbed onto it, making herself at home.

  “How long have you had her?” I asked, trying to make small talk and trying to get to know him.

  “Just about a year now.” He glanced over at her and based on the look he had on his face, he was lost in the past.

  “How’d you get her?”

  “I walked into the rescue, and they were bringing her in from a walk. I asked about her and the man behind the counter said she’d been there for four of her five years. No one wanted her because she was aggressive with dogs and cats, and some people. A lot of people didn’t want that in a dog. She was damaged goods as far as most people are concerned.” His eyes locked on the dog as she stared at him. I was almost sure that they were having their own conversation.

  “That’s dreadful.” I focused on putting away what was left of the groceries.

  “I didn’t even go look at other dogs. I got her right then and there. I wanted a dog that no one else wanted, and she walked in the door behind me.”

  “Did she like you when you first met her?”

  “Yes. She tolerated me. She didn’t like me as much as she does now. We’ve worked on it a lot. She’s better with people, she likes most of them though I find there are still some people she doesn’t like—mostly men, which leads me to assume she was abused by men.” I stood there listening to him. A soft smile touched his lips, his eyes still locked on the dog as he pushed himself away from the counter.

  He strolled over to the dog, dropped down in front of her and touched her head. She lifted her head and licked his cheek. His eyes closed, and for a second I thought he was about to cry. He pushed himself up and gave me a smile. “Sorry, I got caught up there.” His cheeks were pink.

  “It’s okay. Did you think about looking for another dog?”

  “Not after I saw her. I wanted a dog that had a hard time finding someone to love them, and I found her as soon as I opened the door. I didn’t need to look around for someone else.” He gave her a smile as he headed towards me. “And that’s my story.”

  “Actually, it sounds more like the story of how you got Jas, but what about the rest of your story? You know; your life before her.”

  “It’s not interesting.”

  I raised an eyebrow as I turned away from him and checked the pork chops. They’d be done soon. Slipping the bread into the oven, I said, “I’d love to hear it, even if it is boring.”

  He paused for a few seconds. “Maybe, I’ll tell you later.”

  I rolled my eyes though I was sure he couldn’t see it as I opened the oven and pulled out the bread quickly. I turned the oven off but left the pork chops in there as I cut the bread, drizzled with olive oil and dressed it. I put two slices on each plate and then went for the pork chops. It wasn’t a fancy dinner, but it was better than what I’d planned on doing for myself.

  I turned the oven off and motioned for Jacob to come get his own, and they made their way over to the couch. Jacob sat beside his dog, and I sat down beside him.

  It felt odd, but it felt really relaxed. It felt like something I could get into the groove of.

  “So, are you going to tell me anything else about yourself?”

  “Maybe, but I can’t be the one to do all the talking.”

  “What do you want to know about me?”

  “I want to know your life story.”

  I laughed softly. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to give you my full life story but, well long story short, I was born and raised three hours away from here, I came here for school and then met Jade. We’re in the process of trying to open … a restaurant.” I felt silly saying it, but it was the truth. Of course, everyone thought it was silly but Jade and I really wanted to do it. She had the smarts, and I had the cooking skills.

  “Did you go to school for cooking?”

  “No, I’m self-taught. I mean, not really; my mom and grandma taught me most of it, but I’ve been able to teach myself a few things.”

  The conversation died for a couple seconds. “Well, I think you’re a great cook. I’d come to your restaurant.”

  I felt my cheeks burn as we both finished dinner quickly and silently. He took my plate from me when I was done and ambled to the counter.

  He looked around the room. “Dinner was very good, thank you. But I’d better get going.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer?” He paused, and I was sure he was thinking it over. I couldn’t help but smile. I just didn’t understand why he said he didn’t want to see me but acted like he did.

  “Thanks, but I’d better go.”

  “Before you do, let me ask you something.”

  “Alright.”

  “Why are you so determined not to see me again?”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to,” he said breathing deeply. He brushed his shoulder-length hair back with his fingers. “It’s just …”

  “I know, things are complicated or some other excuse like that, but I’m asking for the real reason Jacob. Don’t you at least think I deserve that?”

  “The truth is that it is complicated. The truth is that there are things I can’t tell you. There are things that won’t make sense to you, and there are things that I need to do. But the truth is that I don’t want to see you again because you deserve better. You don’t deserve to get wrapped up in my bullshit, and it will only fuck you up if you do.”

  “And what if I don’t mind that? What if I want to get to know you?”

  He paused, his eyes widening.

  ***

  Why was she so determined to see me again? She hardly knew me and yet she’d put up more of a fight for me than m
y own mother had. The second it occurred to me, I looked away from her so she couldn’t see the emotion on my face.

  “Fine, you really want to see me again?”

  “Yes!” She almost shouted.

  “Then meet me at 129 Haoak Street tomorrow around 7:00. You want a date, I’ll give you one.”

  I’m not sure what possessed me to pick that place, but she had said she wanted to get to know me so I was going to show her one of the most important things in my life.

  With that, I turned on my heel, motioned with my head for Jas to get moving, and made my way to the front door.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow!” she promised.

  Chapter Four

  He told me not to dress up or wear heels. What the hell was he going to have in mind for me? I tried not to worry about it too much as I approached the address he gave me, the cab coming to a stop outside a small brown building.

  I paid the driver and stepped out of the car. The sound of dogs barking caught my attention, lots of dogs barking.

  I took a deep breath, made my way towards the door and pulled it open to see only one person.

  He wore a black leather coat that almost hid his muscular frame. As he got up from the desk, he looked me up and down. “You look nice.”

  I rolled my eyes. I was wearing skinny jeans, black knee high boots and my own well fitted pea coat. I wanted to believe that he actually meant what he said, but after the way I looked last night, tonight just didn’t cut it.

  “So do you.” I let my eyes roam over him. His light brown hair was clean and honestly looked like it was in better shape than most girls’ hair. Although he wasn’t dressed up, he still looked hot. “So, you brought me here for a date …?” Although I didn’t really know where we were, I was interested to find out.

  Jacob grinned. “Well, you said you wanted to learn more about me so, here we are. My work.”

  “This is where you work?”

  “Yes.” He motioned for me to follow him. “I’ve got to take a couple of the dogs for their walks. I was hoping you would be willing to help me.”