Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Then the telephone rang. He grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”
“Jake?”
It was Rina. If she hadn’t already sounded out of breath, Jake would have liked to strangle the breath out of her.
“Listen, I have some seating problems and I need to rush, but I wanted to check. Did—?”
“Brianne’s here,” he muttered. “And you should have butted out, Rina.”
“You and I spent enough time at the café for me to know better. Fate doesn’t send many gifts, and when one arrives, you can’t turn it away. The time Robert and I shared was too short. I want more for you. All I did was give you that chance. You can’t be mad at me for pumping her boss for a little information. She was heaven sent, Jake. You need her.”
In frustration, he ran a hand through his hair. If he wondered why he’d kept his rehab from Rina, she’d just reminded him. Any time she decided she knew what was best, there was no stopping her. Thank God she was headed for Europe. He couldn’t risk her messing with his career next.
He shook his head. “Isn’t it up to me to decide who and what I need?”
“Oh, did you hear that? They’re paging me. Maybe they found someone to switch seats. You know I can’t stand the window. I get claustrophobic, not to mention that I can’t get up and pee as often as I like on such a long flight.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Oh, and Jake? Before I go, did I mention Brianne will be moving into the spare room off the back hall? She was able to break her lease, and it’s so much more convenient for your workouts. Besides, I know she needs…” The rest of his sister’s sentence was cut off by a loud voice over a sound system. “I’m sorry, Jake. I really have to run. I’ll call from Italy. I love you.” And then she was gone, leaving Jake dizzy from her rushed admission.
And he damn well was concerned by her information. He lowered himself onto the bed, trying to absorb his sister’s news. His solitary existence was about to be royally screwed up. He’d no sooner gotten Rina safely out of the country than he had another female on his hands. At least this one wasn’t a relative. She had no overt ties to Jake, which made her safe from any retaliation by Ramirez. The thought brought him marginal comfort.
He couldn’t completely relax because he still had Brianne and their sizzling attraction to deal with. She was right in thinking they’d been set up. And he was right in thinking the physical therapy angle had made Rina’s matchmaking easier. But Rina would have found a way to move her in here even if Brianne had been a taxi driver.
Brianne had broken her lease and given up her apartment. She’d obviously accepted this job in good faith and was here to stay. There wasn’t a thing Jake could do about it. He couldn’t fire her or throw her out on the street. But no matter how much he desired her—and even now his body throbbed with yearning—she definitely didn’t fit into his summer plans. Her presence would put his ability to come and go as he pleased at risk, compromising his freedom and private agenda to nab Ramirez.
Once she moved in here, with him…The realization sunk in, slamming into his gut with startling clarity. The woman he’d desired for months was about to become his roommate. Not even a cold shower could douse the heat that thought inspired. He’d spent too many nights, after leaving the café, tossing and turning in his bed, thinking of her, yearning for the touch of a woman who existed only in his fantasies. Yet those fantasies were real enough for his sheets to rasp against his naked, aroused body. Real enough for his hands to become her hands, and for him to be spent, but not satisfied, thereafter.
But things were different now. Because, this time, she was more than a face, more than a fantasy. She had a name and a personality. Like it or not, she was his very own physical therapist who was moving in with him for the duration of the summer.
And she was waiting for him in the other room.
Chapter Three
Brianne walked to the array of windows that offered a perfect view of the East River. Norton followed, his dog tags jingling behind her.
The sun’s rays were strong through the thick glass, heating her skin as well as the room. Not that she needed any more body heat. There wasn’t a part of her that wasn’t already on fire, thanks to Jake. A sexy name for a sexy man. A sexy, single and unattached man, she thought, again taking in the marble floors, sculpted works of art and modern paintings adorning the walls in the apartment he shared with his sister. From the mundane to the more in-depth aspects of his personality, there was a lot she didn’t know about Jake Lowell. She wondered what he did for a living, even what he liked to eat for breakfast.