LIGHTNING RIDER by Maree Anderson
CHAPTER SIX
Jake spotted Andie, and stopped dead in the doorway. He could feel his face splitting into a broad grin as he drank in the sight of her. Hell, he didn't care if he looked a right fool. All he cared about was that she'd emerged from the dark place that'd sucked her down and leached the life from her.
"Yeeeeeeha!" he yodeled, punching the air. "She's awake!"
Her head snapped up and her eyes flashed hot emerald fire at him, like she'd flay the skin off his bones given half a chance. And then she recognized him. Her eyes went all enormous-like and her entire face softened into a smile that robbed him of breath.
Whoa. Now there was a welcome that'd knock the stuffing outta any red-blooded man. And, sweet Lord, it was all for him.
His heart pounded like a jackhammer in his chest. Damn, but he was falling hard for her. Again.
"How're you feeling, sugar?" he finally managed to ask through a mouth gone dry. He hadn't felt this inept around a girl since high school. Not to mention the first time he'd spotted Andie.
"Fine. Just tired."
She looked great—still a mite pale round the gills, but that was by the by. Animated and alive, her hair crackling around her face like each strand was electrically charged, her eyes bright with some strong emotion.... A-thousand-percent improvement over yesterday.
Ever since he'd glimpsed her that one time six years ago, he'd never been able to forget her. And God, even after everything she'd recently been through, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
"You look wonderful," he said.
Her pale cheeks bloomed pink and she ducked her head. "Thanks."
Jake's world narrowed until there were only two people in the room who mattered: him and Andie. Shit. Six years. Six damn years wasted. If only he'd gotten his shit together and raced outside to introduce himself. If only he'd stayed in Moab, gotten to know her....
Things might've been a whole lot different. But Jake had never been one to dwell too long in the past—well, except for all those nights he dreamed of the rain-soaked beauty who'd captured his heart and soul.
Andie ending up on the same Slickrock Bike Trail tour he'd signed up for had been fate, pure and simple. So it'd been no surprise to Jake that they'd shared a connection, something powerful and real. And after so nearly losing her, seeing her awake, healthy, looking so goddamn beautiful it stole his breath, was a gift beyond price.
"It's 'bout time you woke up, sugar. Been sittin' here, day in day out, waiting for you to smile at me and give me the thanks I'm due." Jake registered the tension in Andie's body and cut his gaze to her visitor.
Huh. Get a load of those designer duds. Must be some big-shot hospital specialist.
"And what thanks might those be, exactly?" Mr. City-Slicker Specialist with the high-falutin' accent got down off his high-horse to ask.
"'Scuse me?"
"The thanks that you appear to believe you're due."
Jake laughed. "Oh don't you worry 'bout Miss Andie over-exerting herself, sir." His daddy'd taught him to always be respectful and mind his manners—even if the other person's attitude did grate. "I don't expect more'n a kiss on the cheek from my girl, here." He winked at Andie. "But I remain ever hopeful."
"Is that so."
What the heck was Slick's problem? Other than being an overdressed, uptight, big-city-type, that is. Seemed more'n likely the guy'd left his sense of humor in his other suit—if he'd ever owned a sense of humor, which Jake doubted. Slick didn't look like he smiled much. Or maybe those fancy shoes of his were pinching his feet. Dry as a dust-bowl in the desert and twice as unpleasant. What a prince.
Andie's mother had rung to give Jake the good news, so he knew Andie had only come to a couple of hours ago. And now she had to deal with this guy. Poor kid.
Andie shifted restlessly on the bed and Jake raked his gaze over her, assessing her minutely.
He'd had plenty of time to observe Andie's face during the hours spent by her bedside, holding her hand while he whispered his hopes and his dreams to her, praying she'd wake up and still be the woman he'd fallen ass over tea-kettle for. He gauged the tightening of the faint smile-lines around her mouth, the thinning of her full lips, the strained expression in her eyes. Tension to the nth degree and then some.
Slick had got her all upset. Barely suppressed hostility and frustration whispered about her like newly risen ghosts. She was antsy as heck. Looked like she wanted to jump outta bed and head for the hills.
Jake's gut twisted and a doom-laden fist squeezed his heart. Almighty Jesus, please let it not be bad news.
"Everything okay here, sugar?" He leaned down to kiss her cheek, faintly astonished by how warm and alive her skin felt beneath his lips. Only yesterday it'd felt so cold and lifeless—as though her life-force had departed, leaving only a shell behind.
"I've been better." Her gaze cut to Slick before she smiled up at Jake. A forced, unnatural smile, which curved her mouth but failed to reach her eyes.
Jake didn't much appreciate that fake smile. He remembered other smiles—genuine ones. Andie laughing over some useless nonsense that IT geek on their tour had spouted. Andie raising her arms to the sky and crowing her delight at the top of her voice because she'd beat him in a cycle race he'd challenged her to. Not that he'd ever tell her so, but he'd let her win. Just to see the triumphant glee lighting up her face and shining in her eyes.
"I thought you said you didn't remember him, Andrea," Slick said.
Jeeezus. The way the guy said her name. Andrea. Brimful of disapproval and then some. Man's tone would freeze the bollocks off a Rocky Mountain Elk.
Andie's eyes blazed liquid vitriol. "I lied because I knew how you'd react. Jake saved my life. Of course I remember him."
Hang on just a minute. She'd lied 'bout remembering him? To a specialist?
And why'n the heck should it matter to this guy whether or not Andie knew Jake?
He scratched the stubble on his chin. There was something mighty strange going down here. And he'd walked right smack damn into the middle of it.
He took a good hard look at Slick. He looked beyond the clothes to the man... and he didn't much like what he saw.
Slick was on the short side, about five-foot-six, and Jake could see he was running to fat despite the expensive cut of his immaculate suit. Too many executive-type lunches, no doubt. Thinning blond hair expertly cut to disguise a receding hairline, washed-out blue eyes narrowed with a special disdain for the lower specimens of humanity—in this case, that would be Jake—and to top off the pretty picture, thin, humorless lips.
Jake narrowed his eyes. He knew the man from somewhere. There was something all too familiar about that patronizing expression.
And then Andie's sisters' detailed and wholly unflattering description of a certain man in Andie's life crashed through his mind.
Jake almost groaned aloud. Ahhh crap. Slick was no big-shot specialist. Odds on he was Andie's asshole boyfriend. The guy who treated Andie like an accessory—when he wasn't putting her down. The guy who was trying to mold her into some prissy little society gal who'd have a nervous breakdown if she broke a nail. The guy who'd sucked all the fight out of her, clipped her wings, and stopped her from doing all the things she loved.
Marnie and Sherrilyn couldn't stand the guy.
Andie's parents were more circumspect about their dislike but they weren't convinced he was the right man for their daughter.
Shoot, Jake had only been in the same room with the guy for five minutes, and he didn't think much of him, either. Truth was, if Jake hadn't been conscious of disturbing the other patients, he would have tossed Slick out the door like the sack of horseshit he was for upsetting Andie after all she'd been through.
Huh. Knowing Andie, she wouldn't have been impressed by that, mind. More'n likely she'd have sent him off with a flea in his ear and that'd have been the end of the start of a beautiful relationship.
"So you're the man I have to thank for saving my Andrea's life."
"That'd be me," Jake agreed, leaning over Andie to stick out his hand. "Jake Knight. Hero of the moment."
Slick hesitated before shaking Jake's hand, and then released it a little too quickly. "Bradley Winters. Andrea's significant other."
His attitude royally pissed Jake. Yep, indeedy. The infamous boyfriend. No wonder Andie looked stressed.
And with that too-cultured voice still grating in his ears, Jake remembered exactly where he'd first met Bradley Winters. Silently he cursed himself for not putting two and two together earlier. Bradley Winters might have let himself go physically over the years but his eyes hadn't changed one bit. They were still cold and ruthless and determined.
"Sure is nice to meet you, Brad." Jake had the small satisfaction of observing the pinched look around Winters' nostrils become even more pronounced. He grinned.
"I prefer Bradley. Or Mr. Winters."
"I'm sure you do, Brad. Good of you to make time outta your busy schedule to see how Andie's doin'—her havin' had a recent near-death experience 'n all. Bet it was hard to get away, huh? You bein' so darn indispensible to your employers."
Jake laid the country-bumpkin act on real thick. It was a technique he employed to encourage business rivals to underestimate him. "Why, Andie's sisters were tellin' me only yesterday 'bout how important you are."
"Quite. I'm sure Andrea is very grateful for your kind, but wholly unnecessary, visit. However, we were in the middle of an important discussion and I think it would be best if you left. Now, would be good."
Shit a flaming brick. What an asshole. Jake briefly considered doing the right thing, taking the hint and leaving Winters alone with Andie to continue their "discussion". Very briefly. No way could he resist hanging round to annoy the hell out of Winters, but also to protect Andie. Because to Jake, it was as plain as the Roman nose on Winters's pasty face that the man was causing Andie a mite of trouble.
"Well now, I'm right sorry to be interrupting your discussion." Yeah, riiight. Like I give a fuck. "Hey, Andie, did the doc say when you might be gettin' out of this here hospital and goin' home with your folks?"
"Bradley shoved everyone out of the room before I had a chance to confirm anything much," Andie told him, her mouth downturned and her eyes shooting daggers at her boyfriend. "But he's very impressed with my rate of recovery. So it should be soon, I imagine."
"Andrea. We have matters to discuss. I'm afraid you'll have to ask your... friend to leave."
Jake glanced at Andie. Her eyes.... God, her eyes were pleading for him not to leave her alone with Winters.
Jake stood to confront Winters man-to-asshole. "Well, that's where we have a slight problem, Brad. You see, I have important matters to discuss with Andie, too. And seein' as how I have to get back to the Lodge real soon, I'm asking you real nice to go grab a coffee and give us a spell."
Winters tried to out stare him but Jake just stood his ground and smiled, playing dumbass country boy to the hilt. With any luck, if he gave Winters enough rope he would hang himself.
"The lodge?" Andie piped up, an edge of curiosity in her tone.
"Rockscape Adventure Lodge," Jake elaborated.
Winters sneered. "Where you work as what? A dishwasher? Bartender, perhaps?"
Jake noticed Andie throwing her boyfriend a look that promised retribution.
Well, well, lookie here. All was not happy in the Garden of Eden. Seemed his girl had taken a big bite outta the apple, and grown a backbone while she'd been unconscious.
Just as well. Winters deserved being taken down a peg or three, and if Andie hadn't been game, Jake was about ready to do it himself.
He leaned against the wall, rocking back on the worn heels of his scuffed boots and hooking his thumbs into the belt-loops of his faded denims. He was going to enjoy winning the first round of one-upmanship stakes with Winters. Smacking him a good one, right between his supposedly superior, squinty little eyes.
"Where I work as part-owner, along with my daddy," he drawled. "We also own two other going concerns in the area, Canyonlands Hotel and Slick-Rock Inn. They're more recent additions to the group. Perhaps you've heard of them? They're both undergoing a major refurbishment at the moment."
Jake noted Winters frowning as he struggled to make the connection and jumped in with, "You're a lawyer, right?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
"You look the type." He said it tonelessly—so tonelessly that it couldn't possibly be construed as a compliment. "You'll have heard of my daddy's group then. The Knight Consortium."
"Jake Knight."
Winters rolled the name over on his tongue then gratified Jake with bulging eyes and a choked sound. "You're Jackson Knight? Jebediah Knight's son?"
And Jake was almost—but not quite—ashamed by how much he enjoyed watching the mottled red patches break out on Winters' face.
It wasn't such a good look for dear ole Brad.
Andie uttered a shocked squeak. She gave Jake stunned, wide eyes.
Aw shit. In all his eagerness to take Brad-the-Cad down a few notches, Jake had neglected to consider how Andie might feel about him deliberately keeping his real name from her. He'd skirted the subject of what he did for money when it'd come up over the weekend, too, not wanting to risk her being put off by the fact he was rich as sin and then some.
Hell. It hadn't been lying—not in the true sense of the word. He'd merely let her assume a few things and not gotten around to correcting her. Wasn't like he'd deliberately misled her—
Well, all right. He had misled her. And he hadn't told the entire truth. But he'd had good reasons. Chief among them had been his need to get away for a bit. Have some good clean fun and leave behind all the staff hassles and whining clients with more money than good sense. Just for a weekend. Was that too much to ask?
When your daddy was Jeb Knight, one of Utah's captains of industry with billions of dollars at his disposal, maybe.
And now Jake's little lie of omission had come back and bit him on the ass.
Shoot. He'd have to find a way to make it up to Andie—if she was still talking to him after this.
"You're Jackson Knight?" Winters repeated, like he still couldn't believe it could be true. His eyes were still bugging out of his head, too. And, magnified behind the lenses of his glasses, it sure wasn't pretty.
"Only when I have to be," Jake said. "Most of the time I'm just plain Jake. Not that it should make any difference what my name is, or who my daddy is. Respect ain't no automatic birthright, it has to be earned. Ain't that right, Brad?"
Winters paled even further, and Jake decided to go for the jugular and let him bleed out for a bit. Heck, if he'd blown it completely with Andie by not coming clean with her from the get-go, at least he'd have the satisfaction of watching her asshole boyfriend squirm. "Come to think of it, don't I know you from somewhere, Brad?"
Brad-the-Cad shrank under Jake's guileless gaze. "Ah... I'm not sure."
Jake snapped his fingers, smothering a bark of laughter when Winters visibly jumped. "You're that hot-stuff lawyer who's gunnin' for partner at Wilkinson Smith and Bailey. We met when the Old Man invited a bunch of people from your firm to stay at the Lodge. 'Course, Jeb was doin' all the talkin' and the rest of us folks was all clean-shaven and dressed up real fancy—sorta like you are right now, Brad. Maybe that's why you don't remember me."
He rubbed his unshaven jaw and met Winters' gaze directly. "I remember you, though. Very well indeed."
Winters' mouth worked soundlessly and his gaze slid away from Jake's.
Yeah, Jake recalled Bradley Winters oiling his way across the polished wooden floors of the Lodge's main restaurant. Bastard had taken one look at Jeb Knight's open, honest face, his casual attire of jeans, plaid shirt and cowboy boots, the bottle of beer and his plate laden with burger and fries, and treated Jeb like some small town dimwit who wouldn't know a contract from a girly magazine.
Had to give the Old Man credit, though. He hadn't lost his temper or walked out, like Jake would have done back then.
Nope. Jeb Knight knew better'n his son how to handle people and get them on side. He merely tucked his linen napkin into his shirtfront, upended the ketchup bottle over his fries, and pounded it 'til it belched out a huge red dollop. Then, between mouthfuls of food, Jeb proceeded to make Winters earn his keep, grilling him over every darn clause in the contract until it finally got through Winters' thick skull that he was dealing with someone with more smarts when it came to making money than Winters had eaten hot dinners.
Boy, you changed your tune then, didn't you, Winters? Fawned all over Jeb and had him crackin' jokes with you by the end of lunch. Got the big pat on the back from your superiors for bringing in a fat new account, too.
Jake had tried to warn the Old Man that Bradley Winters was the type who looked after his own interests. A man who would do anything to get to the top, who used others as a means to scurry up the corporate ladder like a damn rat up a drainpipe.
But Jeb reckoned Winters had a fire in his belly that'd make him "just the type of lawyer they needed". He laughed off the man's superiority complex, insisting everyone deserved a second chance.
Riiight. The only fire in Bradley's soft belly had likely resulted from a bout of indigestion after scoffing rich food and guzzling too much expensive wine during lunch. The man was a cold fish with a cold heart. A manipulator—used to getting his own way. Always had been. Always would be.
The memory still stuck in Jake's craw. He didn't believe in giving two-faced, two-bit lawyers like Bradley Winters second chances.
Jake knew Winters remembered that particular lunch, too, because he sported a pained expression on his face—like something had crawled up his butt and died. Jake gnawed the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't laugh outright.
He risked a glance at Andie. To his relief, her lips had quirked upward.
Atta girl.
"I must be off," Winters said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Andrea. We'll finish our discussion then."
Andie couldn't quite hide her flinch.
"Mighty nice of you to be so accommodatin', Brad." Jake flashed his good ole boy grin. It tightened just a smidgeon when Winters leaned over to kiss Andie goodbye. And when she turned her head at the last moment so the kiss met her cheek instead of her lips, the smile became genuine.
"See you tomorrow, Bradley," she said, not quite succeeding in hiding her relief that he was leaving. "Oh, and perhaps you'd be able to meet up with Mom and Daddy for dinner?"
"Unfortunately I have a pressing engagement."
"Of course you have, Bradley," Andie said tonelessly, like she'd kind of expected nothing else.
"I have to meet, er, a client flying in from out of state." Winters' gaze slid away from Andie's and he fiddled with his cuffs.
Jake knew a lie when one smacked him upside the head. And he figured on doing some digging later, to find out who the "pressing engagement" might be with. Just for curiosity's sake, mind. But if he discovered Winters was two-timing Andie, then the cuffs were off.
On the up side, he didn't think Andie's folks would be too cut up about missing out on spending quality time with their daughter's boyfriend. Neither could he imagine Winters voluntarily spending time with down-to-earth folks like Dave and Janie Brennan. They weren't his style.
Jake, on the other hand, liked Dave and Janie a whole lot. They were good folks. Didn't stand on ceremony. Loved their daughters, and would do anything for them.
Wasn't hard to see why Winters had dragged Andie away from them, and done his best to isolate her. Couldn't risk having Andie's parents talking some sense into her, now could he? Andie might just have reached the end of her tether and told him to fuck off.
Jake turned his back on Winters and ignored him, making desultory small-talk with Andie until the man skulked from the room and left them in peace. He'd just begun to congratulate himself on how well it'd all gone when he realized Andie was eyeing him up in a way that screamed she wasn't happy.
Uh oh.
"Now that the testosterone in the room has been significantly reduced—"
"Come on, sugar." Jake snorted. "Hardly a significant reduction. Your Bradley is a—"
"Is a what?"
Jake clamped his lips together, wisely opting to keep his opinions to himself.
She turned away to punch a pillow and fuss with its positioning. "I know he's an arrogant prick who treats me like I'm a brainless little doll. In fact, you might say I've recently had an epiphany."
She paused, cocking her head as though listening to some inner voice. "Yep, that's definitely the right word. Epiphany."
"I guess being electrified by a few billion trillion volts can do that to you," Jake said. "Pity it wasn't Brad out there getting his ass fried, instead of you. That man sure could do with an epiphany."
She choked back a snort of laughter.
Lord it was good to see her smiling.
"You got that right. He spoke to my landlord—told him I was giving up my apartment. Can you believe that? Without a by-your-leave. Just assumed I'd be happy to move in with him and his mother."
"A mite presumptuous if you ask me," Jake offered. Shit. Please let her not be thinking of cohabitating with Bradley effing Winters.
Andie puffed a sharp breath from her nose that was a borderline snort. "It gets worse. Just before you arrived, he asked me to marry him."
She squinched up her face, like she had a nasty taste in her mouth. "Well, that's not entirely true. He presumed I was going to marry him. Just like he presumed I'd go along with when and where and how. Had it all planned so I didn't need to worry my pretty little head about a thing."
Her voice had a funny little catch to it. A cold chill gripped Jake's heart. She couldn't seriously be considering telling Winters "Yes".
Could she?
"That so?"
He fought to keep his voice light, to give the impression the thought of Andie marrying someone else didn't overly concern him. But he couldn't help asking the question, anyway. "And what answer did you give him? If you don't mind me askin', that is."
She gazed at him, clear-eyed, like she could see straight into his soul. He hoped she couldn't. Not yet, anyway. He'd like as not scare her off completely if she knew how he truly felt about her.
"I told him flat out 'No'. That's what we were discussing—" she made speech marks with her fingers— "when you turned up."
The breath Jake hadn't realized he'd been holding whooshed out in such a rush he felt light-headed. "Thank the good Lord for small mercies," he muttered.
"And my biggest problem now, is how the hell I'm going to extricate myself from Bradley's clutches with the minimum of fallout for me and my family. He practically runs my life, you know. Even to the extent that he got me my job and is in cahoots with my boss to cut back my hours. He doesn't want me to work, you see, after we get married. Not that I even like my job. My boss is a pig. But that's so not the point."
The words spilled out like she couldn't keep them inside any longer, had to tell someone or she'd burst. "It's not so much he doesn't listen to me, it's more like he just doesn't even register I'm speaking at all. He'll push and push until I give in and do what he wants. So on top of waking up from a... a... near-death experience, I have a job that I hate—but for how much longer I have no idea—no apartment, and a boyfriend who's a control freak and won't take no for an answer."
Splotches of hectic color flared in her pale cheeks and Jake wanted to snatch her up into his arms and tell her everything would be all right. That he'd take care of it.
He didn't. Because he knew that if he did, he'd be acting just like Winters. Not really listening to what she had to say, just moving forward with what he wanted.
"Could it get any worse?" she asked. "God!"
Stupid question. Because in Jake's mind, it sure could.
She could have died in the lightning strike. And she could have agreed to marry Winters.
But this wasn't the time or the place to voice those thoughts, so he stayed mute, and forced himself to watch all that lovely vivaciousness drain from her.
She seemed to shrink before his eyes. And his jaw ached because he was clenching it so hard.
He'd seen the same thing happen to Andie after the tour group had returned to their hotel Saturday night. She'd taken a call from Winters on her cell and in the space of seconds, she'd become another person. Hunched over, the joy in her eyes fading, replaced by a defensiveness that reminded him of a dog that'd been kicked once too often.
She'd been subdued afterward. Cowed. It'd taken a heap of persuasion to cajole her back to her former self. He'd thought maybe she was upset over some argument—some lover's tiff that'd got her down. Now he had a sneaking suspicion she'd been lying about her whereabouts to Winters, trying to escape him for a while.
It hit him like a punch in his gut. The Andie Jake had admired over the weekend hadn't been the real Andie at all. She'd been reacting to her freedom, temporarily blooming like some short-lived desert rose.
Now was the real Andie. Careworn and lackluster, all the spark gone from her.
And Bradley Fucking Winters had done that to her.
If Winters been present right now, Jake would have ripped him a new asshole.
"God," she said, in a voice that sounded more like a sob. "What a mess."
Jake pulled up one of the armchairs next to the bed and made himself comfortable. "Well, now ain't that a coincidence, sugar."
She blinked at his easy tone. "What's a coincidence?"
"You being so concerned 'bout your job."
"I-I don't follow."
"How'd you like to come and work for me?" He held his breath as his whole world ground to a standstill—even his heart stuttered. Everything hinged on her answer. If she said no, if she did another disappearing act, Jake truly believed his world might end.
She brightened, smiling up at him with hope shining in her eyes. And for Jake, it was like basking beneath his own private sun.
"At Rockscape Adventure Lodge?"
"Yep. My assistant's just up and given notice. And from what your sisters have been telling me, you've been a mighty fine executive assistant for the past five years or so. Ain't that right?"
"Well, I—" She paused and sucked in a deep breath. "Yes, dammit all. I have been a mighty fine executive assistant." She blinked again, all wide-eyed and startled, like the words that'd just popped out of her mouth hadn't been her own.
"Good. And you worked at the Lodge once before, I understand." He allowed no hint of the truth to escape. No hint that he knew darned well she had been an employee, because he'd fallen ass over tea-kettle in love with her from day one. And that even knowing he was being completely unrealistic, he'd waited for her, hoping one day she'd dance back into his life and heal the rents she'd torn into his heart when he gotten back from his business trip and found her gone.
"Yes. When I was nineteen, I worked there over the summer. God, it was such a great place. I loved it!"
The passion in her voice warmed him. He was passionate about the Lodge, too.
"I'd have stayed on, except I met Bradley and he convinced me I could do better."
Jake froze. She'd met Bradley Winters at the Lodge? His Lodge?
Well, shit.
He gave himself a mental kick in the ass and pulled himself back to the present. The past was dead and gone. It was time to make plans for the here and now. "Whaddya say, sugar? Want to come work for me and help me run the Lodge?"
"If you're serious—"
"I am. I don't make offers like this lightly."
"God, yes!"
He grinned at her vehemence. "Nice to see you so enthusiastic, sugar. Stephanie leaves a fortnight from today, so you've got a couple of weeks to get yourself organized."
"Why is she leaving?" Her gaze had narrowed, and she was staring at him in a suspicious way that made him wonder what her old boss might have tried to pull.
"Her boyfriend's been transferred out of state. Stephie says keepin' an eye on him when he was here in Salt Lake was bad enough, but keepin' an eye on him in another state would be right impossible. So she's packing up and headin' on out with him. She's been with me for a long while, Stephie has. I'll miss her."
"I'm sorry."
She didn't sound sorry. She sounded highly relieved to hear his PA had a valid reason for wanting to leave his employ.
"So was I," Jake said. "Until now—when you accepted the job. I have a feelin' things are gonna work out just fine."
Andie eyed him, assessing-like. "Just one thing, Jake."
"And what might that be?" he drawled, choosing to ignore the strange light in her eyes because all his Christmases had come at once and he didn't want to spoil the moment.
"You'll have to stop calling me "sugar". It wouldn't be professional."
That all? "Easy done."
"And I don't know if you'll think I'm an idiot for saying this." She paused, nibbling her lower lip, giving Jake just enough time to hear warning sirens screaming in his head before she said, "But I'll say it anyway. I don't believe in dating colleagues. Inter-office relationships always end in disaster. So if you've offered me this job thinking to take advantage of the situation—of me—you can think again."
Well, shit. There went his plan to take advantage of the situation.
But all was not lost. Nyuh uh. No way. A woman like Andie was worth waiting for. So Jake would take it nice and slow.
~~~
Copyright 2012 Maree Anderson
www.mareeanderson.com
Thank you for reading this excerpt of LIGHTNING RIDER. You can buy the published electronic edition of this eBook now at Smashwords, Apple iBooks Stores worldwide, Amazon worldwide, B&N, Kobo, and Google Play.
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*****
You might also enjoy these other books by Maree Anderson, all available wherever electronic books are sold:
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~Seer's Hope (Book 1) - FREE at most eBook stores; read the full story here on Wattpad!
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~The Seer Trilogy eBook Bundle (Books 1, 2 & 3)
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~The Crystal Warrior (Book 1) - FREE at most eBook stores; read the full story here on Wattpad!
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THE FREAKS SERIES
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