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Jake was grumpy, but he was her grumpy, and he was always so sweet with her, softer and gentler.

She liked that and didn't want it to change.

The fact that it was changing told her that he was already shifting into Delta Force Jake and that meant he had stopped seeing her as his best friend and started seeing her as a problem that needed to be solved.

Only the last thing she needed was to be treated like a problem that had to be solved rather than a human being, his best friend, who had been through hell, was scared out of her mind, struggling to hold it together, and could do with comfort and reassurance.

Because she couldn’t wait a second longer, as soon as Jake finished talking to the man standing on the doorstep and closed and locked the door behind them, she blurted out the words that had been weighing heavily upon her since this last fire.

“Are you sending me away?” Alannah demanded.

There was a brief moment of shock on his face before he schooled his features into one of distance and borderline disinterest.

It was an expression she was used to.

One she’d seen a thousand times growing up.

The same expression her parents always gave her when they were forced to acknowledge that even though they hadn't planned on having her, and even though they hadn't wanted her and never missed an opportunity to make sure she was aware of that, they were legally required by law to provide for her basic needs.

That was how Jake looked at her now.

Like she was an unwanted responsibility.

Even though she knew he was doing it to protect his feelings it still hurt.

For once she wanted someone to put her feelings above their own.

She got that he felt guilty, but he didn't have to take that out on her.

She was his best friend, and she didn't blame him.

Together they could work out a plan that meant she was safe so he could focus on getting the answers she was well aware he and his family needed.

“Don’t do that to me, Jake. Don’t make me feel like a burden, you know how much I hate that.”

There was a flare of guilt in his dark eyes, but he shut it down quickly. “I brought this mess to your doorstep, made my problems your problems, I absolutely will do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t wind up paying the ultimate price for my mistakes.”

There was something in his tone she didn't like in the least. “What does that mean exactly?”

“It means I need you safe.”

Like that answer was going to pacify her.

Safe how?

Like hiring her a bodyguard or like locking her away somewhere?

Neither were particularly appealing options, but she would for sure go for the former rather than the latter.

“Explain,” she ordered. If she didn't know where his head was at and what he had planned, she couldn’t counter any outrageous ideas.

It wasn't like she was intending to plant herself in the middle of a park again and wait for this pyromaniac to come for her, but she also wanted to be reasonable. This might be Jake’s area of expertise and not hers, but she wasn't some stranger.

She was his best friend, and she didn't want that to get forgotten as he scrambled to put together what he thought was the best plan.

“You know Cassandra went to stay with Delta Team after we found out she was the product of our mom’s rape.

That was the safest place for her, and she’s the only living proof of what happened.

We couldn’t let those men get to her. After what happened to Essie and Gabriella, we thought it would be best for all the girls to go and stay there.

Then these last few days with fire after fire aimed at you, the guys and I talked and all of us are going to go there. ”

A part of her actually liked that plan because it meant Jake was treating her like family and that soothed the torn edges of her heart that her parents’ neglect had caused.

But another part of her couldn’t agree to that.

Playing it safe was sensible, but she couldn’t be so far away from her business right now. She had to stay alive, but she also had to have a way to pay her bills when this was all over. And the gym was her livelihood as well as her passion.

“Where do they live?” she asked, willing to have a reasonable discussion on the topic. If they were close by, maybe she could make that work.

“Nobody knows. Well, I'm sure Eagle does but no one else. Those guys … they’re not like everybody else.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“It means they have secrets. Big ones. But they’re good men, and they’ve been taking good care of Cassandra. They’ll take care of you guys as well.”

“I can't just disappear, Jake. I'm already losing money every day that my business is closed. I can go away for a bit, but I have to be close by for me to come back for meetings and such.”

“You can do meetings over the phone.”

“For most things, sure. But not for everything, and definitely not when I reopen if I want people to trust me enough not to take their business elsewhere.”

“You care more about your business than your life?” he snapped.

“Of course not,” she said soothingly, refusing to lose her cool and be drawn into an argument. “But I also have to be practical. Once my gym is open, if I want to minimize damage and get things going again, I have to be there.”

“Alannah, this isn’t up for discussion. In the morning, we’re all leaving and you're coming with us.”

“What does that mean, not up for discussion? What are you going to do if I refuse?”

“Whatever I have to.”

“And that means …?”

“It means I’ll drug you and tie you up if I have to in order to get you on that plane.”

Alannah gasped. “And when we get there? How would you make sure I didn't leave? Would you keep me locked up like a prisoner?” He wouldn't really do that. Would he? Yet the answer was written clearly on his face.

He would.

He’d do anything it took, just like he said he would.

“Jake, right now, I'm the one being targeted. I don’t think I should be anywhere near the others.”

“And these people could just as easily switch back to one of the others. You're coming, Alannah. It’s not a discussion. I'm telling you what's going to happen. You can either come along nicely without causing trouble, or we can do it the hard way. Your choice.”

“Why are you being so unreasonable?” Seeing Jake like this was unnerving. This wasn't the sweet to her best friend who was grumpy to everyone else she knew and loved. This man was … scary. Intimidating. Would be terrifying if she didn't know he was doing this out of fear and not to hurt her.

“Because I promised to protect you,” he roared, like the words he’d spoken as a five-year-old were a binding-for-life vow.

“And you’ve always done your best to do that,” she reminded him, reaching out to rest a hand on his forearm.

“I've failed. So many times.”

“You haven’t.”

“Have so. How many times have you cried over your parents over the years?”

“Oh, Jake.” Stepping closer, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed herself against his large body.

She could feel ripples of fear trembling in his chest and held on tighter.

They were both afraid, and arguing wasn't going to make things better or make them safer. “What about a compromise?”

“A compromise?”

“I agree that I'm not safe, and I don’t want to die in a fire. But I have to consider my future because I don’t intend to die. I need my gym, and I have to be somewhat close to it.”

“Doesn’t sound like a compromise is coming anytime soon, sunshine.”

She smiled at his surly tone. “I was getting to that. What if I took out my boat? That way these men wouldn't know where I was, so they couldn’t get to me, but I could still be close enough if I had to come back. If you give me the names of some people you trust, if I have to come back, I can call them to come and protect me while I attend to the gym.”

A large hand palmed the back of her head, guiding it backward until she was looking up at him. “You're crazy, sunshine, if you think it will be anybody but me protecting you.”

“But you’ll be with your family, staying with Delta Team,” she reminded him.

One of his fingers tapped the end of her nose. “You're cute when you're confused. If you're dead set on going away on your boat, I’ll go with you.”

Her heart warmed at how seriously he made his declaration. “But your family, Jake. They need you.”

“And I promised to protect you . The others will be safe enough without me. There is no way I’d let you go off on your own, sunshine, you should know that.”

There was warmth in his dark eyes that she hadn't seen before, and as they stared at one another, it was like a string materialized out of nowhere, drawing them together.

Maybe she should have fought it, but she didn't.

Her head tilted back further, and she lifted onto her tiptoes, her lips already tingling in anticipation as Jake’s head dipped.

Somehow, this was wrong and yet right.

Because one thing Alannah was sure of was that she wanted this kiss and the consequences of what could happen could just be damned.