Chances Are

chapter Twelve

Jake had felt helpless plenty of times in his life, but he usually had a clue how to fix things. Not this time.

The instant they’d gotten into the car, Angela had phoned McCall. The conversation had been short and one-sided. She had been calm but resolute as she told him she was no longer on the job.

The emotionless way she’d announced her decision must have stunned McCall. At the hospital, once the nurse had taken Angela into an exam room, Jake had called his boss. McCall’s “What the hell happened?” wasn’t a surprise. What struck him was the sadness he heard in the man’s voice.

Quickly and succinctly, Jake described the evening’s events. McCall had expelled a long, ragged breath. “Bring her back here when you can. She’ll want to talk to Samara.”

The LCR leader had ended the call with disturbing information. Another woman was missing. There was no seeming tie to the disappearances of the other women with the exception of a bouquet of red roses found in the woman’s home. Neither a stripper nor a waitress, the missing woman worked at a small investment firm. Her home was in a different area of the city from where the other victims had lived. Plus, her physical characteristics had nothing in common with the killer’s preferences. The only similarities were the roses and the fact that she had vanished without a trace. The police were tentatively treating her disappearance as related.

After talking with McCall, Jake debated his next move. Telling the others, Riley Ingram and Justin Kelly, that he and Angela were off the job felt too precipitous. He wanted to wait and talk to Angela again after she’d had a while to think about her decision. Just because she’d told McCall she was off the case didn’t mean things couldn’t be reversed. Why he was so concerned about changing her mind escaped him. Only a week ago, he would’ve been happy to hear she had decided against being an operative. Now, he wanted to convince her to stay the course.

Jake shoved his fingers through his hair. Hell, his thinking was as skewed as Angela’s.

The door behind him opened. He whirled around and watched as she wandered into the room like a lost waif. And he knew why he wanted to change her mind. Before this incident, there had been a bright, unquenchable light in her eyes. The brightness was gone, leaving them dull and sad.

She held up a bandaged hand. “It’s a slight sprain. No fractures. The doctor said it should be fine within a week or so.”

“That’s good news.”

She grimaced a half smile. “I guess we can leave.”

In silence they left the hospital, got in the car and headed back to the apartment. Jake searched for the right words—something he could tell her that would make her rethink the experience and realize her fear had been natural. The truth hit him between the eyes and with a sigh, he opened his mouth and did something rare. He began to talk about his past.

“I went into the Army gung-ho and clueless. Took to the training like a duck in water. Everything they asked of me, I was eager for the challenge and excelled in it. Ask me to shoot a target, I was dead-on. Drop me in the middle of wilderness with no equipment and I’d find my way home, no problem. Tell me to swim a mile in the ocean and then hike twenty miles just to capture a damn flag, I was all over it.”

As he talked, Angela sat quietly, unmoving. He knew he had her attention because her body was stiff, as if she were holding her breath. Encouraged, he continued, “Then came my orders. They were sending me to Afghanistan. I was going to fight, probably kill, and possibly be killed. It finally hit me that I was going to have to put all those skills I’d learned and excelled at to use. I was scared shitless.”

Jake thought back about that time. Today he could smile at that too eager kid who enjoyed playing Army until it came time to man-up and actually do what he’d been trained to do.

“What did you do?”

Pleased at the question, he continued his story. “The night after I got my orders, I lay in my bunk and thought about all the things that could happen. The harder I thought about it, the more I panicked. The next day, I was headed to talk to my sergeant, ready to admit that I wasn’t prepared. On the way, I passed by the chapel. I thought, ‘What the heck? I’ll go in and have a talk with the Big Guy before I give it all up.’

“The chaplain happened to be in his office as I passed by, and for whatever reason, maybe because I looked scared or probably because he’d seen the same thing in hundreds of other soldiers, he invited me inside. I sat down and let it spill. Every fear, every scenario my brain could come up with…”

They pulled into a parking space in front of the apartment complex and Jake paused to see if Angela would stay and listen. She didn’t move.

“The chaplain listened while I poured out everything bubbling within me. When I was finished, I thought he’d probably tell me I was right to want to quit, that I would be doing my country a favor. Instead, he just nodded his head and said one simple sentence.”

“What?”

“He told me that when it’s time, God gives you the courage to do what you need to do.” Jake shrugged. “He was right.”

Several seconds of silence passed. Finally when he realized she wasn’t going to ask any more questions, Jake opened his door. He was coming around the car to help her out when she got out on her own and said baldly, “The difference between you and me is that when it was time, you had the courage to follow through. I didn’t.”



Jake stood outside Angela’s bedroom, unsure of his next move. He almost felt like that clueless kid again, struggling with the right thing to do and afraid of doing the wrong thing. What he wanted was to barge into the bedroom, force a confrontation, igniting her anger and that fiery spirit he admired. Seeing Angela so defeated tore at him like a jagged knife. Good judgment told him to let her be—the rest would do her good. Tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep, she’d have a different perspective.

He turned the knob and pushed the door open. Good judgment be dammed.

The sound of the shower from the bathroom should have stopped him. He was aware she took a shower every night after her performance. Dancing worked up a healthy sweat and she’d commented more than once that she smelled. Jake couldn’t tell her that he loved the natural fragrance of her body. Admitting that would get them into a territory he was determined to avoid.

So why the hell was he headed where he was sure to find trouble?

He stopped at the entrance to the bathroom. Steam billowed from the shower but Angela stood in the middle of the room. The humid mist was so thick, he couldn’t see her clearly. He waved to clear his vision and then froze. She was standing in the middle of the room, completely nude with the exception of those damn black boots. Unable to look away, his eyes roamed over her. Yes he saw her almost every night with little more on than what she was wearing now. This was different. The setting was intimate and if he reached out his hand, he’d be touching that soft-as-silk skin. From the tip of her long elegant feet to the top of her beautiful head, she was perfection. Impossibly long legs, slender hips, taut, flat stomach, perfect globes for breasts, slender, feminine shoulders, and a face both exotic and ethereal. It was as if every fantasy of the perfect woman had culminated into the making of Angela Delvecchio.

“I can’t get my boots off.”

While he’d been standing here, salivating like a teenager in the first throes of sexual arousal, she’d been working to remove her clothes to take a shower. Her injured hand prevented her from tugging the boots off. Never had he felt more like a heel.

“Sit on the edge of the tub. I’ll pull them off.”

When she complied, Jake went to his knees and lifted a booted foot. He told himself he was performing a service. Appreciating the view shouldn’t be part of the equation. Yet in this position, how could he not look? She was smooth and hairless, everywhere. He knew about Brazilian waxes. Had heard they were painful. As a stripper, it made sense that she’d had the procedure done. Yet all he could think about was whether or not she’d been like that before this mission and what would she do if he leaned forward and tasted her sweet, moist flesh?

Swallowing hard, he tugged at her boot and removed it slowly, torturing himself as he exposed even more beautiful skin. One boot off and one to go, he glanced up at her face, sure that he would see the same need that was roaring through his bloodstream. Instead her eyes were closed and tears streamed down her face. Hell and damnation, enough with his inappropriate lust. She was suffering.

He removed the second boot, stood and pulled her to her feet. “Get in the shower.” He grimaced at the thick, gruff command but was surprised he’d been able to speak at all.

“I’m not supposed to get my hand wet.”

“I’ll help you.”

She turned and stepped over the rim of the tub. Jake adjusted the nozzle, and grabbed the sponge hanging from a hook on the wall. He poured fragrant liquid soap onto the sponge, recognizing the scent that drove him crazy every time she was near.

“I think I can manage almost everything with one hand but could you stay and prop me up?”

Rivulets of water streamed a caressing path over her shoulders and down her luscious curves. Mesmerized, all Jake could manage was a small grunt of agreement to her request. Then with great difficulty, he pulled the shower curtain closed, shutting out the delectable sight of her soapy body.

Holding her slender, elegant hand in his own, Jake closed his eyes and tortured himself as he imagined the scene behind the curtain. In his mind, her hand became his as he slowly caressed down her body, from soft, beautiful shoulders to her breasts. He swirled the sponge around each ivory globe and then trailed it down her flat stomach toward the soft mound between her legs. His hand moved between her legs and then the sponge was gone. His fingers touched unbelievably hot, smooth flesh and—

“Jake?”

Pulling himself out of his fantasy, Jake managed a thick, raspy, “Yeah?”

“Could you help me wash my hair?”

Oh hell.



Feeling both fragile and powerful at once was an odd combination. She was so disappointed in herself because of her cowardice, a part of her wanted to bury her head beneath the bedcovers and forget reality. But seeing the desire in Jake’s eyes made her feel stronger, more secure. And though she had known Jake was attracted to her, the need she’d seen in his eyes made her realize just how much he wanted her.

And yet, he had done nothing more than look. If she made any advances to him, would that shut him down? His rejection, especially tonight, wasn’t something she was willing to risk. If he turned down her offer, she’d shatter into a billion pieces right in front of him.

She finished her shower, albeit a little awkwardly. How odd to have Jake outside the shower curtain holding her hand. The act was gentlemanly and courteous but also amazingly erotic. The connection of him holding one of her hands while her other one glided over her body was uniquely arousing. Every place she touched, she imagined it was Jake’s hand instead of her own.

Now came the biggest test as she waited for him to respond to her request to help her wash her hair. Though she had been aware of the tenseness of his body outside the curtain, when she asked the question, he went board stiff. Would he say no?

The curtain opened and Jake stood there. If she had thought she saw desire before, it was nothing like what he was experiencing now. Blue fire blazed in his eyes, dark, wicked…knowing.

Angela stood, mesmerized.

He picked up her shampoo bottle. “I’ll pour the shampoo in your hand and then help you massage it in.”

The hoarse growling was barely recognizable as Jake. She did as he asked and then he put her injured hand against the wall, outside the shower. “This will go faster if I can use both of my hands. Keep your hand here.”

When she complied, he said, “Now, bend your head.”

What followed was one of the most erotic moments of her life. Jake’s big, strong hands, along with her much smaller one lathered her hair into a soapy mass of bubbles and foam. Her eyes closed, she swallowed moans of arousal as strong fingers massaged her scalp and the back of her neck. Never had she realized the correlation between her head and her sex. For every strong press of his fingers, a corresponding throb occurred between her legs.

“Rinse.”

Though water gushed over her, she had no problem hearing the husky thickness of his tone.

Standing beneath the spray, she allowed Jake to rinse the soap from her hair. It took an enormous amount of self-control for her not to grab his hand and lead him to other, hidden places aching for his touch.

At last the soap was gone. The water stopped abruptly as Jake turned off the faucet. Angela opened her eyes and watched in agony as Jake turned away. Was he walking out, just leaving her like this?

A large towel covered her head and Angela smiled beneath it as Jake dried her hair. Then, as if it was just another day at the office, he efficiently and effectively dried her entire body.

“Let’s get you out of there before you get a chill.”

He helped her out of the shower and then she stood in the middle of the bathroom, stark naked, and waited for his next move. Yes, she knew she could leave and go throw some clothes on. She also knew she could touch him and probably get what she’d wanted almost from the moment she met him. She did neither—this was Jake’s call.

Every particle of Jake’s body felt like it was on the cusp of explosion. Cupping her face with his hands, he stared down into a dark velvet gaze filled with need. Angela had never closed herself off from him and she wasn’t now. Expressive, beautiful eyes told him she was his for the taking. And God help him, he was going to take all she could give.

He watched her eyes widen as he lowered his head. Before he pressed his mouth to hers, he whispered softly, “You’re sure?”

At her soft response of “With everything that I am” Jake was lost. The instant his lips covered hers, he was engulfed in an erotic burning haze. Sweeter than any delicacy he’d ever tasted, her mouth offered sensual delights he had never imagined.

He pulled away from her soft, luscious lips and then closed his mouth over her breast, sucking deeply, his tongue flattened against her nipple as he pulled at her. The breathy, gasps coming from Angela urged him on. But he needed more. With a growling “Hold on” he cupped her beautiful ass in his hands, lifted her and headed to the bedroom.

Following his orders perfectly, she wrapped her legs around his waist and held tight. Jake could hear words of caution and reprimands coming at him from various sources in his head. He shut them down. He had dreamed about this forever…had wanted Angela from the moment he met her. She had made no secrets of her desire for him. They were two consenting adults performing an act as old as time. It was nothing more than that.

The instant the back of her legs hit the bed, Jake pushed her all the way onto the bed and then followed her down. His mouth became a marauder as he delved into every valley and shadow on her silken body. Starting at her long, elegant neck, he caressed with his hands and his tongue, leaving a trail of wet kisses as he glided to her breasts where he once more tasted each one. With great reluctance, he lifted his mouth and stared down at them. The soft glow of moonlight from the bedroom window highlighted gleaming mounds of perfection.

About to go back for another taste, she arched slightly, brushing her body up against him, reminding him he had even more treasures to taste. Lowering his head again, he kissed and licked her stomach and followed a slow, delicious path to her long legs. Trailing kisses down one leg, he stopped at the bottom, picked up her foot and licked from heel to the top of her toes. Looking up to see what kind of effect that had on her, he became lost in the dark sensuality of her eyes where every emotion was revealed to him—acceptance, arousal and desire. All the things he needed to see.

Taking her other foot, he performed the same taste test and then, still holding her foot in his hand, he leaned forward, bending her leg as he went. And there she was, exposed and open for him. She arched toward him in blatant invitation. With a deep growl of approval, Jake dipped his head. Pausing at her entrance, he breathed in the musky scent of arousal. Never had he smelled anything sweeter. Spreading the folds of her sex, his tongue licked in a long, deliberate swipe. Her hitching breath made him smile. Yes, they both wanted it. This time he went deep, thrusting all the way inside her. Hot moisture hit his tongue as he delved over and over again. Angela’s fingers weaved into his hair, her hands pressed him deeper between her legs. Hell, he could spend a lifetime eating her. Her breath hitched higher and when climax hit, she tightened like the taut string of a musical instrument, her body arching upward toward his greedy mouth. Grabbing her hips to still her movements, his tongue delved as deep as he could go as he let her ride his mouth to fulfillment.

Breathless and panting as if she'd just run a marathon in a matter of minutes, Angela wound down from the most deliciously exquisite orgasm of her life. Jake's head was still between her legs, gently lapping. Wanting to give him the same kind of pleasure, she cupped his jaw in her hand and whispered, “Jake, let me taste you, too.”

She had a flash of fear that regret would set in and he'd leave her without letting her have the same luxury of delighting in his body. That fear was obliterated when he sprang to his feet and stripped with impressive speed and no finesse.

She laughed softly. “It's a good thing you’re not a stripper by trade. The show would be over before it started. You are—” She broke off on a gasp. He was…there was no other word for it…he was beautiful. She had never even seen him without a shirt, which was probably a good thing because she would have been all over him. Every inch of his body was steel encased in smooth, hard silk.

She stretched out her hand and was instantly mesmerized by the feel of him beneath her fingers. He dropped down beside her and then did something no other lover had ever allowed her to do. He sprawled out before her and gave her total access to his body, allowing her to touch him anywhere, everywhere. Her hands glided over him as if he was a piece of fine art and she was a connoisseur. Her fingers trembled as they roamed over the steel hard muscles of his shoulders and chest. The slight furring in the middle of his chest was a delight to touch, the hair coarse and silky at once. She swirled a fingertip around a copper nipple and smiled when it sprang up hard, as if eager for attention.

Trailing her hand down his torso, she explored the hard planes of his abdomen. Her gaze lowered and despite her knowledge that big men often had big parts, she couldn’t prevent the gasp at his size. Without thought of consequences, her only desire was to taste the long, hard length, she opened her mouth and took the head into her mouth.

Jake drew in a sharp breath and pulled away.

She looked up at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Not a damn thing. Just didn’t expect that.”

“Can I have more…now that you know?”

His laughter was a short bark. “Baby, you can have as much as you want.”

She smiled. “I don’t think I can handle as much as I want.” Lowering her head again, she took him back into her mouth and to her throat, testing exactly how much she could take. When he reached her throat, she pulled away to keep from gagging, then tried again. The sounds coming from Jake told her he approved. She reveled in his taste, in the sheer loveliness of being able to give him pleasure.

Seconds later, Jake pushed her away and grabbed her shoulders. Before she could ask him why, he had flipped her onto her back and was devouring her mouth like a starving man. Angela wrapped her arms around him and opened her legs wider, allowing Jake to settle between them. And with one hard, driving thrust, he pushed deep inside her.

Angela met each thrust with a counterpoint arch of her body. In perfect rhythm, as if they had synchronized and planned this sexual dance, their bodies writhed and twisted. Coupled with the need for fulfillment was the desire to give each other everything they had. For every groan from Jake, Angela gave a moaning approval of her own. In beautiful sexual connectivity, they took what they wanted and gave all that was asked.

He stiffened and she knew he was close. Grabbing his hips, she arched up and pushed him even deeper, igniting her own explosive climax. On a wail of ecstasy, release washed over and in that splendid moment of sweetness, Angela knew that her life would never be the same.