Free Spy Games: Lethal Limits by Mia Downing Page A

horses, but I didn’t realize they’d be at your house.”
    “I have two. It’s part of the charm of coming home.” Jake smiled. The closer they got to home, the easier he smiled, and the less smug those smiles became as well. “You can’t take the ranch from the Texas boy. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t come home and ride.”
    “What else do you enjoy while at home?”
    “I read. I have a tree I like to sit under in the yard. I mess around with the tractor. I fish in the lake and swim there in the summer. I like to shoot. I have a target range out back. Even though shooting is something I’d do in D.C., it’s a necessity. And I like to hunt, so I’ll take out the shotguns.” He looked at her, his mouth firm, serious. “And I don’t know what else I enjoy. If I’m in D.C., I am either working or spending time with Chase and Kate and evenings at the club sometimes. So my fuck-up has really made an impact in my life, as you can imagine.”
    “I can see that.”
    “But when I come home…” He looked so wistful, and the stress seemed to just melt from the lines in his face. “I’m home.”
    ****
    Jake stepped out of the truck and sucked in a deep breath of fresh, Virginia air. He loved it. Not as much as he loved Texas, but if one had to live a zillion miles from their home state, Virginia had a lot of selling points. This farm was his major selling point. He loved everything about it, from the old white clapboard farmhouse and rolling hills, to the tire swing in the front tree.
    Tia got out and looked around, then smiled. “It’s beautiful.”
    “It is, isn’t it?”
    She glanced at the ancient farmhouse with pristine white clapboards, the walkways bordered by late spring flowers. “So this is the possessive house with the wacky rules.”
    He rounded the truck and put a finger to his lips, giving her wide eyes. “Don’t let the house hear you. It will demand vengeance.”
    “I think it’s already well on its way to vengeance with the vanilla sex rule.”
    He laughed at the dirty look she gave his house. “Be thankful there’s any sex. When Chase came home with me, the no sex rule was in full effect. It was a sad, sad time.”
    “And how do a couple of man whores entertain themselves without sex?”
    “Lots of booze and bad porn. It’s always the solution.” Jessa, his mare, nickered, and Jake went to the fence as both horses ambled over. His heart gave a funny leap at seeing them again. He missed the horses the most while away.
    “Hey, girl.” He patted Jessa, his elderly bay mare, and Tonka, the six-year old gelding nosed his golden head over the fence for attention. “There are carrots in the grocery sack. You want to feed them one?”
    “Sure.” She rustled in the truck and came out with the familiar cellophane bag that made the horses nicker. Jessa stomped an impatient hoof. Tia looked surprised. “They know the carrot bag?”
    “Smart creatures, these two. They at least know the crinkle of the plastic.” He ripped open the bag and gave Tia a carrot to feed. “You know how?”
    “Of course.” She expertly broke the carrot into pieces and stuck her hand under Jessa’s muzzle. Tonka got one next. She grinned up at him, and his heart did a different funny leap, one that it hadn’t done in a long, long time. “Will you ride them today?”
    “After we get settled. You can ride Jessa if you want. She’s quiet. Tonka is a handful.” He patted the buckskin’s golden neck, then turned back to the truck. “We’ll take in the groceries, and we can leave our overnight bags in the living room. Those can go upstairs later.”
    “Okay.”
    She was still stroking Jessa’s neck, reluctant to leave. He knew the feeling, and he leaned against the truck for a moment, drinking her in. He realized with a start this was the first time he assessed her as a woman, not a bed partner, a friend with benefits, or as his captor. He knew she was beautiful, but usually when he assessed