Trusting Jake (Blueprint To Love Book 1) Read Free

remembered everything?"
    Mentally reviewing the pile that had been on the passenger seat, she nodded. "Positive."
    A moment later, a set of keys dangled before her eyes. Straightening in her seat, she turned startled eyes to his.
    "These were in the ignition."
    "I don't know what's wrong with me today," she confessed. "I'm usually the most organized person on the planet."
    His slow, dazzling smile had her pulse skittering to life. Swallowing around the sudden dryness in her throat, she calculated how long it had been since she'd experienced a reaction like that. Since she'd felt anything for a member of the opposite sex– other than apprehension.
    "Maybe it's the interview." He checked his mirror before changing lanes to pass a slow-moving lumber truck. "They can be intimidating."
    "I'm out of practice," she admitted. "I work in construction, too." Worked. Before her handsy, chauvinistic, jackass boss presented the insulting offer she'd refused. Although offer suggested a choice in the matter. With no HR department to complain to, her choices included enduring his behavior– or leaving. Steve Baldwin had been her husband's friend. The husband who'd abandoned them over a year ago for the latest in an endless string of women. Should she really have been surprised when her boss turned out to be a lying jerk just like Rick? Flustered by her thoughts, Jen shrugged out of her suit jacket and laid it over the back seat. The afternoon sun blazed through the window.
    "Where do you work?"
    "Worked," she corrected. "A developer in Baltimore– but I've recently relocated." Drumming her fingers against the glass, she traced patterns on the window.
    "What was your role?"
    "I assisted three project managers." Her glance slid back to him. "I had three guys telling me their stuff was my first priority. They managed three or four jobs, but none of them seemed to grasp I was juggling ten projects."
    "That's impossible."
    "Hence the organization skills. Otherwise I would've gone mad." She laughed when his wary glance morphed into reluctant admiration. With his wavy brown hair and mysterious eyes, she had a hard time thinking of her stranger as being anything other than sexy as hell.   
    He tapped the steering wheel. "Small projects?"
    "A few million. Most were three to five million. One was ten," she explained, mentioning the name of the project.
    "That's Inner Harbor, right?" When she confirmed, he nodded. "We've been trying to land work up there. So far, no luck."
    "It's a pretty tight community. Developers seem to have their favorites." Another good reason for leaving. Everyone knew Baldwin. As punishment for refusing to sleep with him, he'd assured her of the reference he'd provide. Or worse– innuendo about an entirely different type of performance. Since most companies weren't interested in the specifics of why you'd been fired, Jen figured relocation could only help. Two months later, she hoped to land a job without the need for a reference.
    "Where were you interviewing today?" He glanced at her. "Wait– Alexandria?"
    Finally managing to yank her gaze from his magnetic smile, Jen remembered her voice. "One of your competitors." Her first interview in weeks– for a job she'd likely had a good shot at. She'd studied the company. Scoped out the address so she wouldn't get lost. Even allowed an extra hour for traffic. But the car gods had conspired against her. First Lulu dying– then her cell phone.
    No– first Rick. Her smile dissolved. Though she'd tried to summon sorrow over the loss, she'd only experienced it for her children. For the beautiful, loving daughter and son Rick had ignored for most of their young lives. For herself, Jen only felt relief. Along with reclaiming her maiden name, re-born Jen didn't have a lying husband or a harassing boss. New and improved Jenna didn't suffer sleepless nights dreading the next day.
    A tractor-trailer horn blared, startling her back to the present. Glancing at the signs overhead, relief