Page 4 of Desperate Temptations

C ain watched her drive away from the shadows.

He held his hands out in front of him. He was shaking, actually shaking.

He’d been in every shithole in the world at Uncle Sam’s orders and never had he lost control, or God forbid gotten the shakes.

He always stayed in control. Nothing ever got to him.

Except for her. She was more beautiful than any picture he’d seen of her.

With her long, dark hair and green eyes.

They reminded him of a place he’d been in South America, where the beaches were white and the water an incredible shade of green.

Jessa was such a loving, gentle person. He remembered one of the pictures he’d seen showed her laughing up at Drew, while Drew fondly smiled down at her.

As dorky as it sounded, you could feel their love for each other, just from the picture.

He used to be so jealous of his friend, finding a woman like her.

Something he thought would never happen for himself.

Cain knew he didn’t attract women like her.

He was too big, too worn, too hard. She was too soft and too sweet.

The women he dated were tough, only wanting a good time and knowing the score.

She and Drew had been a match. A set. They fit perfectly together.

Cain rubbed a hand over his face. He and Jessa were as opposite of each other as two people could be.

Cain shook his head. Even knowing why he pulled her away from the warehouse, and that it was for her own good, he knew he scared her so bad that night she’d never let him close to her again.

It didn’t stop the minuscule hope that she would be his someday.

At night, when he dreamed about her, it always felt right when she was in his arms, like she belonged there. Although night and day, dark and light, Cain always fantasized they would look just as good together as she and Drew had.

He would have felt guilty about his thoughts if not for Drew.

Cain smiled fondly as he remembered the conversations they’d had.

Drew knew Cain had fallen for his wife. Had made jokes and teased him about it.

Teased him like few people in his life dared.

It was usually dangerous to mess with him, and just his looks alone dissuaded people from getting too close.

But because Drew and he had grown up together, he knew he could get away with it.

Also, the fact that Drew was very secure in the knowledge that he had his wife’s whole heart.

Cain had secretly thought that, given a chance, she would never choose to be with someone like him.

Where Drew was class, smooth, easy to be with, Cain had seen too much of the wrong side of humanity and was too rough for someone as soft as Jessa.

No one besides Drew had known the old Cain, the one behind the mask, the man he was before the military changed him.

God, he missed Drew, and would always miss him. He’d been like a brother to him.

He probably never would’ve gone to her if not for Gary, Drew’s friend. The detective had been worried enough about her to call him, wanting him to scare her enough to leave Martinez alone. Gary told him he couldn’t think of another way. He’d tried everything he could, short of arresting her.

Cain didn’t like the thought of scaring her, but he wanted it a lot less than her being anywhere near that bastard Martinez. He was the slime of the earth. The type that liked to hurt people for his own amusement.

Cain rubbed a hand across his chest where a dull ache existed. The problem was that he’d heard her sweet voice, touched her softness, smelled her unique womanly scent, and it would take all his strength to stay away from her now. The strength he didn’t think he had.