Read Jake (Men of Clifton Montana Book 1) for Free Online

night.”
    He stood and put
his cup in the sink then headed out the door. Was he leaving?
    She was about to
walk over to the door to check when it flew back open and he walked in carrying
an armful of logs. Without a word or a glance her way, he headed for the living
room with Becca following right in behind him. She watched as he dropped the
logs on the hearth, and then proceeded to make a fire for her. He crouched
down, added some kindling, lit the pile, and almost like magic flames came to
life. The blue and orange licks of fire crackled as they grew in strength.
    Jake used the poker
to move the logs. The smell of burning wood filled the room.
    “Once this is going
pretty well, I’ll take off before it gets worse out there,” he said.
    “I thought you were
spending the night.” Becca slapped her hand over her mouth. Why had she said
that?
    “Is that an
invitation, Red?” he asked without turning around, his voice a slow,
toe-curling drawl.
    “No, it is not an
invitation. And stop calling me Red,” she exclaimed. Her heart had sunk.
Surely, it wasn’t from disappointment.
    Becca watched as he
stood and turned around. He slowly moved toward her, stopping right in front of
her. He reached his hand out to pick up a few strands of her hair. He rubbed it
between his fingers as he looked into her eyes.
    “You really are
beautiful,” he said in a low, husky murmur.
    Becca couldn’t look
away as his eyes roved over her face landing on her lips. Was he going to kiss
her? She ran her tongue over her bottom lip and saw him close his eyes as he
stepped back from her. His expression had almost looked like he had been in
pain.
    “Make sure you keep
the fire going. If the power goes out, stay in here with the doors closed, and
if you need anything…anything at all, call me. I’ll even come over and tuck you
in. I have four-wheel drive so I can get here if I need to.” Then as if he did
this kind of thing every day, he turned and left the room.
    Less than a minute
later, she heard the back door close, his truck roar to life and drive away.
She let the breath out she hadn’t realized she was holding. The man was too
sexy for her peace of mind. He seemed to ooze sex. She’d never met a man like
him. Under different circumstances, she would have gone for it. He was interested
in her. Even she couldn’t miss the way he reacted to her. Becca could even
admit they were attracted to one another, but once he found out about her lack
of sexual experience, she knew he wouldn’t want her. She was positive Jake
Stone had a lot of experience with the opposite sex. A man who looked like he
did probably had women running after him all the time.
    God! He was hot but she was going back
to Maryland in six months, so there was no sense in starting anything with him.
Becca wasn’t sure why that thought made her think about her best friend, but
she decided to call Olivia.
    “Hey girl, how’re
things in the wild west?” Olivia asked when she answered.
    Becca smiled at the
sound of her best friend’s sarcastic voice. “You and that damn caller ID, Liv. Things
are wild, to say the least. How are things at the shop?”
    “Other than Steve
driving me up a damn wall, it’s all okay. We’ve done better.”
    “Why? What’s he
doing?”
    “He’s in here every
damn day. He asks if I’ve talked to you and when I tell him no, I don’t think
he believes me. Like I give a rat’s ass what he believes. Christ, all he has to
do is call you.”
    Becca laughed
suspecting Olivia had rolled her eyes as she spoke.
    “I guess since I
said we should take a break, he doesn’t think he should call.”
    “Well call him,
please. That way, he’ll stop bothering me. Just be nice and tell him to fuck
off.”
    Becca had no idea
what she would do without Olivia in her life. They were closer than many
sisters were. They’d been together since they were thirteen, fifteen years now
and loved each other very much. Becca missed her desperately.
    “I wish