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the jug on before walking in to
join him.
    “Anything good on?” she asked.
    He looked up and gave her a smile that didn’t
reach his eyes. “Ah, not really.”
    She sighed. It was beyond obvious that
something was troubling him, and it wasn’t easy for her not to mention it. To
not ask him what the problem was.
    “Jake, I know I’ve already thanked you, but I
do really appreciate what you’ve done for us.”
    Jake shrugged, like it was no big deal. “Like I
said, I’m just happy to help out.”
    “If you don’t mind, I’ll borrow your truck
again tomorrow and find us somewhere more permanent to stay. The last thing I
want to do is outstay our welcome, and my keys will be ready to pick up by the
afternoon.”
    That
got his attention . Dark brown
eyes locked on hers, his expression so intense it was hard to read.
    “You don’t have to do that.”
    He was still staring at her, and she didn’t
know what to think. Did he actually want them here? Had she offended him? Heat
curled like a warm fist in her belly, sending goose pimples across her skin. It
had been a long time since she’d been with a man. After so long denying
herself, not letting any man close let alone into her bed, the fierce look that
Jake was giving her was enough to have her thinking things she’d tried her best
to forget.
    “I can see that us being here is hard for you,
Jake, and I understand.” Or at least she would if he opened up to her, if he
told her what was troubling him. “I have secrets too, Jake, things I don’t ever
want to talk about. So when I say I get it? That I don’t
expect you to spill your guts to a complete stranger? I mean it.”
    He stood up then, his jaw clenched tight. “You’re
right.”
    About what? She wanted to ask him, but she kept her mouth shut. She stayed standing,
didn’t move a muscle, eyes trained on his. Jake was tall and big, his frame
blocking the television screen and dwarfing her and everything else in the
room.  
    “I do have secrets, Faith, and I don’t want you
here almost as much as I do want you
here.”
    Faith took a deep breath, wishing she wasn’t
standing so close to him. He’d been kind to her and now her body was betraying
her, like metal to a magnet, drawing her closer. But he was a stranger and she
needed to remember that.
    “You want to know why I’m so fucked up, Faith? Why I can hardly stand the sight of you in my
kitchen? Of your son in my house?” His voice was a low
growl, a whisper.
    Faith bit down on her bottom lip, crossed her
arms like he was making her uncomfortable, but he couldn’t stop. Because he was
about to tell her something that he’d never admitted to anyone, never managed
to voice out loud before. These were the things that he’d had bottled up for
longer than he should have let them be repressed and he didn’t know why the
hell he was suddenly unleashing them on her. On a woman he’d known only 24
hours, who was making him think all kinds of things, have   the sort of feelings he’d fought for so
long.
    “I had a fiancée, Faith. She was pregnant with
my child. And one night some asshole ran her off the road, some lowlife who’d
drunk over three times the legal limit.”
    Faith’s eyes widened. “They were her clothes,
the ones you gave me, weren’t they? They belonged to her.”
    Jake looked up at the ceiling. Talking was even
worse than he’d imagined it would be – so hard that he was already wishing he’d
kept his mouth shut. “Yeah. They were Rachel’s.”
    She was nodding her head, crossing her arms and
shifting her weight like she had no idea what to say. “I’m sorry. I know it
doesn’t mean much or help, really, but I’m sorry for your loss.”
    “It was a long time ago now.” Jake’s voice was
rough, deep. It didn’t even sound like him, but the emotion choking his throat
was thick. “Having you here has kind of brought it all back. Seeing Tom? It’s
reminded me of what I could have had, of my own son that I never even