Free To Protect the Heart of a Brazen Woman [Brazen Sisters 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Rita Sawyer Page B

sisters planned would make the next few weeks almost unbearable. Especially if he thought it had been her plan. That just wouldn’t do. She walked back into the main room and found Jake at the small table in the kitchen area unloading boxes.
    “I need to go back to the house.”
    Jake didn’t even glance up from his task. “Bobbie, you agreed this was the best thing to do.”
    “I know, but—” Jake held up his hand and she stopped talking.
    “Look, we can’t go back. Not yet. Maybe in a few days we can sneak back for a quick visit.”
    He just didn’t understand the trouble he was asking for. “Jake, I need—”
    He growled as he lifted his head and looked at her. “Whatever you forgot obviously wasn’t that important. Besides, I’m sure I’ve got whatever it is.”
    “I don’t think so.” She gave a slight shake of her head, barely holding back a laugh.
    “I’m sure I do. See?” He started pulling things out of the box and lining them up on the table in front of her.
    He was right. He had everything. He had the shampoo she used, her favorite bodywash, a toothbrush, and her brand of toothpaste and mouthwash. He even brought a hair brush and hair bands, but it was the last thing he pulled out of the box that shocked her. The twelve-ounce tub of vanilla body lotion was the same brand she used after every shower. Only this one was much bigger and more expensive than she usually bought. All of the other stuff he would have been able to pick up at the store in town—one of the cashiers might have told him what brands to buy—but not that.
    She reached forward and picked up the lotion. This he could have only gotten online. No one around here carried it. The closest store that carried it was seven hundred fifty miles away. Not even her sisters knew where she got it. They’d asked her dozens of times, but Bobbie liked keeping it her little secret. Obviously, Jake had figured it out.
    “How long have you know about the threats?” She ran her finger across the fancy silver filigree label.
    He shrugged. “A few days. Why?”
    Why? Because that meant he would have had to order the lotion at least two weeks ago, since it took that long to get there. And the company didn’t rush delivery. She’d found that out firsthand a couple of months ago when she’d run out. After having to use regular moisturizing lotion for two weeks she had made sure that never happened again. So that meant Jake had to have already had the lotion on hand.
    She knew she should just come right out and ask Jake why he had it, but she was a little afraid to hear the answer. Somewhere in the back of her mind the thought that he may have bought it for someone else tried to work its way to the surface. His supposedly just-friends dinner with Kerri was still too fresh for her to ignore the possibility. Still, she had to wonder why he’d want another woman to smell and feel like her. Could he be thinking it would be that easy to find a substitute for her? She truly hoped not. There was a way for her to dig up the information, but it would mean calling in some favors.
    “Bobbie.” Hearing her name as a sigh on his lips broke her out of her negative musings. “Please don’t look at me like that.”
    Bobbie had no idea how she’d been looking, but he obviously didn’t like it. “Sorry.”
    “Look I’d rather you not be involved in this at all, but you are and there’s no changing that. Can’t we just try to make the best of it?” He sounded so sincere, and Bobbie really wanted to spend some time alone with him.
    She nodded, earning a smile from Jake before he went back to unpacking the supplies. With nothing left to do, she grabbed her backpack off the chair and walked over to the couch. She pulled out the romance novel she’d picked up earlier that day for Jessie. Her sister would be pissed when she remembered Bobbie hadn’t given it to her. Jessie had already waited two weeks for it, but now she’d have to wait a little