Page 34

Jake wipedthe sweat from his brow as he jogged up Dana’s front steps. He was winded after his run, but he’d needed an outlet to expel his pent-up energy after spending last night pretending it didn’t kill him to sit in Dana’s bedroom doing nothing but talking.

Concocting a plan to deal with Claire was necessary, but after getting Dana as close as she’d ever been to admitting her feelings, it wasn’t exactly the homecoming Jake had envisioned when he’d first hopped off his flight from Nevada. He certainly wouldn’t have predicted their first sleepless night together would’ve been so PG.

Well, there had been that one NC17 moment at the end.

Jake forced himself not to think about how good Dana tasted in that stolen moment last night. She’d told him good night and made it as far as the bedroom door before turning back and pinning him with those big brown eyes of hers. Jake didn’t know who crossed the room first, but Dana was in his arms, kissing him like she’d rather drown than come up for air.

When she finally pulled away, she grinned. “I figured I’d give you something to make the wait worthwhile.” Then she sauntered out the door ensuring Jake wouldn’t get a lick of sleep.

One minute the woman was shutting him down, the next she was curling his toes. Jake didn’t know when she’d be ready to hit the un-pause button, but he was sure as hell of one thing. Dana Gray was going to be the ride of his life.

He stopped his mind from wandering, knowing he’d need to tack on another mile to his already strenuous morning routine if he didn’t. He reminded himself Dana could’ve shut him down completely last night when he put her on the spot, so he was willing to take the win for the moment.

When he opened Dana’s door he couldn’t help grinning at the warm scene. The inviting aroma of coffee filled the air as Dana and Claire poured over a laptop at her kitchen counter. Claire wore Dana’s oversized Ghostbusters tee, her black hair plaited in two perfect braids, cat eye glasses perched on her nose. Dana was still in her clothes from last night, her wild mane of brown hair piled on top of her head, betraying her night had been at least as sleepless as Jake’s. She yawned, then took a sip from her favorite turquoise teacup as she looked over Claire’s shoulder.

Jake wanted to walk up behind her and wrap his arms around her, sexy bed head and all. But even from where he stood in the foyer, just being there, knowing the two people he cared about most in the world were safe and happy … it was enough to keep a man idling on pause forever.

“Morning,” Jake said, joining the happy scene in the kitchen.

“Morning,” Dana greeted, color creeping into her cheeks.

“I hear we’re stuck with you,” Claire teased when Jake pulled up a chair.

He raised his eyebrows and took a swig from his water bottle. “Says who?”

“I filled her in on our idea,” Dana added.

“Oh yeah? And you’re okay with that?” Jake asked.

Claire nodded. “It makes sense. It’ll make it easier for us to work together and compare notes on your father.”

Jake tried not to flinch at the nonchalant way Claire referenced the man who haunted his past. Changing the subject, he picked up where his conversation with Dana left off last night. “I’d still be more comfortable if I wasn’t kicking you out of your bedroom. I can stay in the office.”

“We’ve been over this,” she argued. “I’ll be at the Smithsonian during the day and will need my home office to work on our research at night. Besides, I’m pretty sure my bed is the only piece of furniture big enough to accommodate you.”

“When are you going to sleep?” Jake pressed.

“Vampires don’t need sleep,” Claire teased. “We come alive at night.”

“Oh yeah? I don’t see you giving up your bedroom, Princess.”

Claire smirked. “Not gonna happen, Secret Agent Man. I do have some ground rules for sharing our space though,” she added.

Dana and Jake exchanged a worried glance, but Claire didn’t seem to notice. “You have to shower after you run. You smell like a locker room!”

“What, this?” Jake lifted his arm and threatened to smother Claire in his sweaty armpit.

She squealed and rushed to hide behind Dana.

“I second that motion,” Dana added. “And no walking around the house half naked,” she amended. “This is my home, not the FBI locker room.”

“What do you think we do at the FBI? Catch bad guys then sit around naked in the sauna talking about it?”

Claire perked up. “You have a sauna?”

Jake shook his head. “No, Elvira. I was being sarcastic. Don’t you have a meeting to get ready for?”

She glanced at the clock, eyes widening. “Shoot!” Then she rushed toward her room to change.

Jake shared a look with Dana. “That went well.”

“Yeah, Claire’s been, well, Claire all morning.”

“See. Can we agree yesterday’s worries might’ve been an overreaction?”

“We’ll see how things go with Dr. Dvita today.”

Jake nodded. “Okay. Keep me posted.”

“You still going to the Bureau?”

“Yeah. I may be on leave, but if I keep showing up at HQ, maybe Jenkins will get the hint. Plus, I’ll have better luck catching wind of any new leads on this Reaper business if I stay in the mix of things.”

“Okay, be careful.”

“Always am,” he said with a wink.

They both stood there awkwardly for a moment, torn between how to part considering the new unspoken bond between them.

Jake was first to break the standoff. “I want to kiss you so bad right now,” he murmured.

Dana grinned smugly. “I know.” Then she whispered. “Me too.”

Jake leaned in but Dana shoved him away. “Claire’s right. You need to shower ASAP.”

Laughing, Jake headed down the hall toward Dana’s bathroom, all too happy to follow orders for a change.