Mission Made For Two (5 page)

He shrugged.  “I’ve been around the block enough times to know that a lot of things go on behind the scenes that aren’t always on the up and up.  Politics can be a powerful motivator and is usually driven by money.”

She couldn’t argue with that. 
“True.  So what are your plans?”

She wondered if he noticed she’d said
your
and not
our
.  He did.

“
My
plans are to go after Diaz.”

She ignored his emphasis on ‘my’ for now.  It wasn’t time to try to convince him, yet. 
“Is Trent sanctioning this?”

His mouth quirked.
“Let’s just say, he’s not telling me not to go.”

Sierra shook her head and smiled. “And there you have politics at its finest.”

Jake’s eyebrow arched and his blue eyes were
expectant.  He w
as waiting for her to launch a
campaign to let her help him. 

But, she already knew it would be like bouncing her head on a brick wall.  He wasn’t ready to budge yet. 
She c
hugged the rest of her beer
and stood.  “We better go check on that sauce.”

She almost laughed at the look on his face.  Yep, always keep your advers
aries guessing. 

“I’ll help you clean up,” Sierra said after she and Jake finished their meal.  The spaghetti had been good
, eve
n though with the first bite she’d been reminded of the meals that Daniel ha
d cooked for them the last month
. 

Jake stood and shook his head.  “That’s okay.  I actually have a dishwasher in the cabin.  I’ll get you another beer and you can relax outside.”

She leaned ba
ck in her chair and grinned.
“Well
,” she drawled
, “
aren’t you the gracious host?  I’d almost think you were used to entertaining.”

Humor glinted i
n his eyes. 
The knowledge that she could amuse him
thrilled her more than she’d ever admit. 

“Just because I don’t do it very often
, doesn’t mean I don’t know how…
to d
o it.”  He picked up his plate and hers and swaggered to the kitchen to retrieve her beer.

The
innuendo in his words raised goosebumps on her arms. 
W
hen all they’d shared was a heated look from time to time
the man had been dangerous enough
.  Exchanging words with him was
downright
treacherous to her resolve not to jump his bones.

He returned with a cold bottle in hand and t
heir fingers brushed as she accepted it.  The tiny flutters the touch set off in her
stomach made her feel like a silly school girl. 

And silly school girl was not a character trait Sierra had ever enjoyed. She’d gone straight from the terrible tw
os, to basic survival training—
care of the Department of Social Services. 

Sierra stood, the chair scraping the floor in her haste.  “Thanks,” she murmured and headed for the cooler air outside.

Fortunately
she was a pro at hiding her emotions.

She was too antsy to relax
in the rocking chair.  Looking around the yard, she decided to explore.  The small barn at the back of the property called to her curious nature. 

Condensation from the beer bottle wet her fingertips.  She took a large swallow of the
yeasty
brew, the warm buzz from the first one long gone.  She wasn’t much of a drinker—not liking to have her senses dulled—but after the day she’d had, sh
e needed something to dull them
.

The sweet fragrance from some flower or bush drifted in the air.  Sierra looked around to try to find the culprit, but she didn’t see anything that looked like it could produce the smell that tickled her nose. 
Of course, horticulture wasn’t her strong suit, since everything green she’d ever try to grow usually bit the dust after only a month. 
One day she would change that though
.  In the back of her mind, she always thought one day she’d buy a little farm house and tool around, growing vegetables, planting flowers. 

Small, sharp
rocks
pricked
the soles of her feet.  Ma
ybe she should have slipped on her sneakers
before going on this little adventure. 
Too late for that now.
  The urge to find o
ut more about Jake spurred her forward
.
     

She was
n’t disappointed when she
open
ed
the barn door.
  The low whistle came out before she could stop it.  A Harley Davidson
V-Rod. 
Sweet.
 
All that chrome and leather.
 

And power.  She ran her hand lovingly over the seat. 

“Don’t drool on it.”  Jake’s husky voice came from the entrance.

She looked up
and grinned
.  “This is one fine machine.
”

“That was a gif
t to
myself
for my thirty-eighth
birthday.”

She laughed.  “
I
guess you take to heart the saying, if you want something you should just buy it yourself
.”

A full-
fledged grin appeared on his face.
The affect was quite devastating.  “
Guilty
.”

She threw a leg over the bike and settled onto the seat
with a sigh of ecstasy
.  The thought of riding the big powerful machine was as erotic as the thought of ri
ding Jake.  Moisture pooled between her thighs as she straddled the hard leather. 

Too bad things weren’t different.
 
A shame
Jake wasn’t just your ordinary bad boy she could let her hair down with and enjoy a night of sexual release. Then walk away in the morning
, no strings,
no
regrets.  But Jake was definitely not ordinary, though she suspected he could be very bad
. 

She climbed off the motorcycle and
headed
toward Jake, finishing her beer as
she walked.  With the bottle empty
, she handed it to him.  “So how old are you anyway?”

“Thirty-nine.”

“Ooh.  I bet you get yourself a heck of a gift next year.”

He chuckled. “I haven’t thought about it yet.  I don’t plan too far in advance.”

She arched an eyebrow. 
“
Yeah.
  I didn’t think I’d make it
to
my thirtieth.  But here I am
, already thirty-three
.”

Her thoughts dimmed as she thought of Daniel and the fact he wouldn’t see his thirty-fifth in a few months. 

Jake
threw her bottle in a trash can by the barn door and pushed it open.  T
hey walked back into the yard and Sierra tucked her thoughts of Daniel away for now.
Grief would
o
nly interfere
and she needed all her faculties to deal with Jake.  

The sun sat low in the
Western
sky and a sligh
t breeze blew her hair from her face
.
  She could understand why Jake liked
it
here so much.
  There was something soothing and restorative about the towering trees, and dips and swells of the landscape.

They were halfway to the cabin when a big, black snake slithered into their path.  Sierra froze.  Her heart skipped at least two beats.  Perspiration popped out across her forehead.

As if the creepy beast could smell her fear, it stopped and turned its beady eyes on her, a red forked tongue darting out to mock her.

If she had her gun
, she’d shoot it.  As it was, she could barely breathe.   

Jake leaned down. 

“What are you doing?” Sierra gasped.

“It’s a harmless chicken snake.”

Sierra took a step back.  In her book, the word harmless
di
dn’t apply to any of the little beasts.

Jake turned and looked at her.  The jerk actually
chuckled
. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of snakes?”

Sierra straightened her shoulders.  She’d never told anyone of her one phobia.
  Not since she was eight. 
“
I didn’t say I was afraid.” 

Her voice must not have been convincing.  Jake reached down
and
grab
bed
the snake right behind its head and slung it around toward her.

Sierra didn’t scream
or jump
—
she was too well trained
—but she took several
slow
steps backwards
, her heart pulsing in her chest
.

Jake laughed again.  “You’re afraid of snakes.”  He waved the creature at her.  “You’ll go face to face with the
biggest bad-asses
in the world, but you won’t come near a harmless little snake.”

He was right and it pissed her off, yet she was helpless to overcome it.
 
 

She’d tried. 

The muscle in her jaw clenched involuntarily.
  “I don’t like them,
” she said slowly.  “O
kay?” 

She
stepped sideways
to walk around him and the snake
, doing her damndest not to look at it
. 
He
threw the snake toward the woods on the edge of the property.  She only made it a couple steps before his hand wrapped around her arm and stopped her.

“Why won’t you admit you’re afraid?”

She
turned and
looked into his eyes, realizing
the dilemma
it
presented
.  If she answered his question
,
she’d be admitting her fear.
  She’d learned early i
n life not to show or admit such things
.  The scavengers of this world fed on it.

“I don’t want to talk about this.  I
’m not afraid, I
simply
don’t like snakes.”  She jerked her arm free, unreasonably irritated at both him and herself. 

“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid of something,” Jake
said,
his tone placating.

She turned.  “Oh and what are you afraid of, Mr. Macho?”

He crossed his arms over his chest.  “Admit you’re afraid of snakes and I’ll tell you.”

She shook her head in disgust.  “This is a stupid conversation.  I don’t see why you even care.  I’m going inside.”

Ag
ain she only made it a couple
steps before his hand latched onto her bicep.  This time her anger and frustration at her own silly fear bubbled out. Without thinking she made a defensive move, spinning around to knock his hand loose and sticking her leg out with the i
nt
ent of knocking him on his fine-
looking butt
.

Jake may not have anticipated it, but his reflexes were quick. 
He didn’t let her go.  He ended up o
n his ass with her on top
. 

She immediately tried to scramble off him. Jake r
olled and pinned her beneath his large body
, his pelvis pushing against her abdomen. 

The blue in his eyes darkened to the color of indigo.
  “You’re so tough
, aren’t you?
 
Steel with a satin covering.”
 
His hand moved
;
long fingers tangled
in the side of her hair.  “Admit you’re afraid of snakes, Sierra.”  The words came out low.

Anger at his tactics gripped her belly a
lmost as fierce as the lust he stirred
.  “
Go to hell!
”

She bucked her hips.  Jake only pre
ssed more firmly against her.  The corner of his mouth hitched up. 
“Such language.
  Come on, Sierra.  It’s not that difficult to admit you’re
human, is it?”  His head lowered slightly.  “I’m feel
ing very human right now myself,
”
he mumbled. 

His words were the only warning she got before his lips brushed her mouth.  She
stiffened as a torrent of desire
filtered through her blood.