Free Jake by Rian Kelley

just establishing, but that felt right. It was something she wanted. Had wanted for a long time, but refused to focus on.
                  Men weren’t her specialty. In fact, her record in the relationship department was a sad 0-2. But she had to catch a break some time. Statistics were on her side. Right?
                  He guided them through the corridors, weaving around gurneys and strollers, and small knots of people until they slipped out the front doors. Across the street, the parking garage loomed and triggered Ivy’s memory.
                  “You paid for my new tires,” she said and rummaged through her purse for the bill and the cash she had folded into it. “I’m paying you back for that.”
                  He nodded. “This time,” he said. “So there are no confusing signals.” He accepted the
    cash and stuffed it into a pocket.
                  “You’re really good at helping,” she pointed out. “Or are you that thorough at everything?” She loaded her voice so that the double meaning was unmistakable.
                  “You’re determined to challenge my good intentions,” he observed, but played along, “I apply myself. I never quit. And I seldom disappoint.” It sounded like a creed and she wondered how long he’d lived by those principals. “I like to see a job to its finish. I’m totally into results and don’t mind putting in the work when I know the pay off’s going to be phenomenal.” He let his gaze fall to her face. “With us, it’s going to throw the earth off its axis.”
                  “Confidence,” she replied. He had a lot of it. It was in the way his body moved forward, his shoulders leading into the next moment. It was in the deep, steady timber of his voice. He had enough going on that his words were more than that—they were promises. “You definitely don’t lack that.”
                  “No,” he agreed. “Not in a long while.” They waited at the crosswalk, as the pedestrian lights began to flash and the cars slowed. “But I wasn’t always so good at helping,” he confided.
                  “You want to tell me about that?” They may as well start the unveiling of their lives.
                  “I was a menace to society,” he confessed, but a smile softened his mouth. “I suppose I wasn’t too bad. Some tagging when I was fifteen. Street racing at sixteen. I wrapped my car around a tree and luckily the only person I hurt was myself.” He tugged lightly on her hand and started them across the street. “I was smart enough to know I was spinning out of control and had just enough humility to accept help when it was offered.
                  “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” he countered.
                  Her lips twisted as she thought about that. “I have two,” she revealed. “They’re connected so maybe it’s just one big mess.”
                  He raised an eyebrow. “You going to share?”
                  “I think you should get to know me better. See that I’ve grown up a little. Matured.”
                  “You know all about my mistaken youth,” he chided. “Anyway, the more we share the closer we’ll become.” He waggled his eyebrows and his smile was full of his taunt.
                  “Now you’re playing on my weakness.”
                  “Is that what I am for you?”
              She nodded. “Right now.” The potential for him to become something more—hugely more—was frightening, but persistent.
                  “You won’t scare me off, Ivy,” he promised. “We’ve learned from our mistakes.”
                  She had. In a big way.
                  “My biggest mistake was becoming engaged at sixteen, married at