Titanium Security Series 4 - Extinguished Read Online Free PDF Page B

why did you drive all the way here to offer me the interview?”
    “Because I wanted to see you.” His answer seemed to surprise her into silence. He fought back a sigh. They had to talk about the night of Jamie’s funeral, but he wasn’t going to do it here in her parents’ kitchen. He owed her an explanation and if they were possibly going to work together they had to put this behind them so it wouldn’t get in the way later. “Look, if you’re serious about considering the job, then you’re tough enough to endure a few hours alone with me. So prove it and drive back with me. I’ll bring you home afterward tomorrow.”
    She stared at him for a second, then lifted her chin. “You sure you’re comfortable with that? Because you’ve done a damn good job of avoiding me since March.”
    Fuck. He felt like such an asshole for hurting her. He’d missed her like crazy. “I’m sure. We need to talk.”
    Measuring him with those dark blue eyes, she finally tossed the damp dish towel onto the counter and walked past him. “Fine. Follow me to my place and give me ten minutes to pack.”
     
    ****
     
    Jordyn’s stomach was a tangled ball of nerves but she refused to let it show.
    After so much time apart it was hard to be confined in the front seat of the SUV and not stare at Blake as he drove. She still could hardly believe he’d walked into the shop today. But she was absolutely not going to make a fool of herself a second time and let him know she still loved him—had never stopped. And not a familial I love you like blood , although she absolutely did.
    No, she was in love with him, in the intense and painful unrequited way only a woman who’d fallen for him as a lovesick teenager could. For years she’d hidden her feelings for him, burying them deep in the layers of the camaraderie and trust they’d forged during his friendship with Jamie. Now she was twenty-three to his twenty-nine, plenty old enough for him to finally see her. He’d fractured that trust when he’d all but cut contact since Jamie’s funeral. And still her heart wouldn’t let go of him.
    “So, your mom’s good? And John?” she asked a minute after they’d left her place because she had to say something to alleviate the palpable tension between them. Blake had the radio on low and the wiper blades swished every few seconds to clear the light rain falling.
    “Both doing great. They travel quite a bit, and every couple of months they go back to Louisiana to see my sisters and their kids. They’re real hands-on grandparents.”
    “I bet. And knowing your mother, she’s no doubt impatient for you to get married and give her more grandkids.”
    “Pretty much, yeah,” he said with a fond smile.
    God, the thought of him settling down and having a family with someone else put a crushing weight on her chest. His parents were wonderful people and their family was as tight as hers despite their geographical separation. Their lives could easily have been much different. After his biological father had taken off when Blake was just a baby, his mom had raised him on her own until Blake was five and she’d met John. They’d gotten married soon after and had two daughters together, yet John had never treated Blake as anything but his own son. Jordyn respected the hell out of the man for that.
    “Do you see them often?” she asked.
    “Not often enough. I’ve been all over the place working contract jobs.”
    That was the excuse he’d chosen to explain why he’d practically disappeared from everyone’s lives for more than half a year. The small talk was grating on her nerves though and they couldn’t keep dancing around the real issue at hand. She pushed out a long breath. “So, let’s just do this. About that night,” she began.
    It was subtle, but she didn’t miss the slight tightening of his expression and the way his grip shifted on the steering wheel. Still, he nodded. “Yeah, about that.”
    She waited, telling herself to calm