Free Tangled Hearts by Barbara McMahon Page A

shoulder, she stepped to one side, giving him as wide a berth as she could.
    “My name is Brianna. Only my family and close friends call me Brie,” she lashed out, hurt and humiliated.
    “Friends is what I thought we were. Until…”
    Until you wanted more. If he had shouted the words, she could not have heard them more plainly.
    “I’m tired. I’m going to bed. I’ll be finished in the bathroom in a few minutes if you want to use it then,” she said stiffly, heading for the bedroom.
    She went straight into the bathroom, gritting her teeth to keep from crying. Be careful what you asked for, she repeated silently. You might get it and have it totally backfire. She couldn't wait to leave and return home—even if some crook was trying to break into her house. At the moment it seemed a better solution than staying here.
    Jake leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes still on the closed bedroom door. What had happened? Obviously she was still hurting from the man who had deserted her.
    He smiled mirthlessly. Hadn’t her brother Josh been able to salvage the relationship once Jake had stepped out of the picture? That must have been frustrating for Josh. Josh had nothing on him in the frustration department!
    She was as pretty as he remembered, maybe even prettier. He loved listening to her voice. How many nights had he laid in bed thinking about her? Even now, two years later, if he let himself, he'd storm in there and demand they try again.
    Except, it wouldn't work any more now than before.
    He turned and clicked off the lights. Sprawling out on the sofa, he watched the fire as it dwindled. He'd add some logs to last through the night before he went to sleep. But for now he listened to the quiet sounds from the bedroom and wished things had been different.
     
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    By the time Brianna was ready to face Jake the next morning, she had herself firmly in hand. She hadn't slept well, but that was becoming a habit since she’d started seeing Jake again. Trying to live down her behavior of the previous day would prove a challenge. She decided as soon as she awoke that she wouldn't let herself forget for a single moment that she was here only because the police thought it safer than staying home.
    There would be no more tossing a towel around Jake’s neck and pulling his face down for a kiss. No more suggestive remarks leading to comments about her fingers being sweet as sugar. If he wanted coffee, he could get it himself. She'd focus on the real reason for her presence in his house and behave accordingly.
    Brianna believed all the admonitions she’d given herself until she walked into the kitchen and saw Jake. Instantly, every thought flew from her head.
    He wore only jeans.
    She swallowed hard.
    It wasn’t fair. She'd had the best intentions in the world when she left the bedroom, but that was before she saw all that expanse of bare skin. His shoulders had always been broad. They gleamed, muscular and enticing, in the early sunlight that shone through the uncovered windows. The light dusting of dark hair on his chest looked silky. She longed to brush her fingers through it to ascertain exactly how soft it really was. The sleek muscles in his back bunched and flexed beneath his taut skin as he scooped coffee into the filter, stretched to fill the carafe with water.
    She swallowed hard again, her eyes tracing over every mouth-watering inch, her fingertips tingling, heat rising.
    “Aren’t you cold?” she asked abruptly.
    He needed to put on a shirt before she lost what tenuous control she held. When he turned, she knew she was done for.
    He was gorgeous in the only way a perfect man can be. His hair was tousled, sexy as could be. His cheeks and chin bristled with day-old beard.
    When had she developed this longing to rub against that stubborn jaw, to feel the scratchiness that covered the hard cheekbones? Such a compelling urge proved almost impossible to resist. She