Understood Read Free

took a deep breath and leveled a hard stare at her. “I’ve waited a long time for you to get over the issues you had with Ray. A long damn time.”
    Ellie looked down for a moment. Jake never hesitated to speak frankly about her ex-husband. On one hand, she appreciated it. She didn’t have to pretend with him. But it still made her cringe that Jake knew so much about her disastrous marriage.
    He walked over to the alcove and leaned until he once again looked her in the face. When she would have looked away, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned her back to him.
    “There’s not going to be any other man, Ellie. There’s only me. You know it, and I know it. What you did last night was stupid and dangerous as hell. The very fact you had to get three sheets to the wind to even work up the nerve tells me you should have stayed your ass at home.”
    She licked her lips nervously. “I’m scared,” she whispered.
    He snorted. “Don’t give me that bullshit. You’re not afraid of me. You know damn well I won’t hurt you. You’re afraid of yourself and you’re afraid of what you know to be an unshakable truth. You are mine and I’m going to take you in every imaginable way. When you get tired of running. When you get tired of looking over your shoulder afraid of the shadows, I’m going to be there. Waiting. And when I claim you, I’m not ever letting you go.”
    Her eyes widened at his proclamation. He’d never come out and said it. He’d been there, always there, but he’d never said anything so forceful to her.
    “That’s right,” he said huskily. “I’m staking my claim. But you’re going to have to come to me. I’m not pushing you into something you’re not ready for.”
    He drew away and continued to stare at her. “Think about that, Ellie. Think long and hard about what you really want. And when you decide, you let me know. But if I ever catch you doing what you did last night, I’ll turn you over my knee and tan your ass.”
    He tossed down the dishtowel he’d picked up and headed for the door. He didn’t look back. He simply walked out and shut the door behind him with a bang.
    Ellie’s bravado died a long hard death. She wilted against the bar, burying her head in her arms. God almighty, what a bomb for Jake to drop on her.
    She wasn’t a complete moron. She knew he looked at her. Knew he wanted her. But she’d had no idea the extent of his desire. It thrilled her and scared the shit out of her all at the same time.
    After Ray, she couldn’t even look at a man the same. Gone was her carefree lack of self-preservation. Replaced by a wary, cautious reserve that sheltered a frightened, vulnerable woman.
    Last night…last night was supposed to be her flipping her middle finger at Ray and the insecurity that had gripped her since her divorce. Last night was supposed to have been the first step in going after she wanted. And she wanted Jake.
    She raised her head and looked glumly at the door he’d walked out of. She knew she couldn’t have just gone to him and offered herself up like a sacrifice. He would have shoved her out his door so fast her head would have spun. No, somehow she had to convince him, and herself, that she was past her fear.
    Yeah, last night was a mistake. Going to bed with a complete stranger wasn’t going to satisfy the desire she had for Jake. Nor would it be some miracle cure that would enable her to go to him a whole woman. And she really didn’t fancy getting kicked out of his bed.
    “Dumbass,” she muttered. All she’d managed to do was get a very large, very brooding man pissed off at her.
    Butterflies danced in her stomach as she processed his parting words. He’d made it so she’d have to come to him. She couldn’t even begin to count the ways that terrified her. Making the moves was so out of her comfort zone it wasn’t even funny. She hadn’t even known what to say last night when she’d hatched her grand plan of picking up a