Jace Read online

  Once upon a time, a few months ago, she would have been too scared to even talk to a man like Jace Mathews. Now she was claiming the control back in her life and that included who she dated. She loved her job, her toys, and embraced it.

  “Yes, I get to try out all kinds of sex toys: dildos, strap-ons, vibrators, anal plugs, nipple clamps, Ben Wa balls, masturbators…the list is quite large.” She nearly chuckled aloud saying the word large to a man like him…as if she were some silly schoolgirl and he the big beefy football player. Well, he did look the part.

  “And today you got to try a vibrator?” His voice sounded deeper.

  Dang, she was having fun. “Sure did. Today I was testing a new butterfly design, as we call it. It’s bright pink, has three speeds, and a little antennae that’ll tickle the clit like you wouldn’t believe. The difference in this model compared to others is a more bulbous head on tip of the shaft. We’re trying that out. With some designs, the thick end is at the base, but this one is supposed to hit the G-spot better.”

  He looked so serious. Maybe it was residual anger from hitting his pretty truck. At least she seemed to be melting some of the ice to his armor. “And does it?”

  She grinned at him. “No, not for me, but one of the other testers, my friend Tia, said it worked for her. Sometimes that’s how these toys work; they fit in some vaginas better than others.”

  At that statement he pulled up in front of her house and killed the engine. She loved her house. It was only a one bedroom, one bath, but it was perfection to her. A little too old; it didn’t keep that cool in the summer or that hot in the winter, but it was her baby. It became her baby after she fled New York and Corey. That house in her mind stood for her accomplishment in leaving Corey. That house was a symbol of her strength, a symbol of defeating Corey.

  “Mara Colgen, sex toy tester. This has been a strange afternoon.” He looked at her and ever so slowly smiled. The first smile she’d seen on him. It downright curled her toes.

  She thought ahead ten minutes from now and pictured herself standing in her house alone and empty-handed. She would never see this man again unless she did something about that.

  “Give me your number!” A flush crept over her at her brash demand. She’d never been so forward with a man, but something inside her told her not to let this one go.

  He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You want my number?”

  “Yeah, err, yes. So I can…talk to you.”

  “Give me my card back.”

  “What?” She was suddenly fiercely protective of the business card he’d given her.

  That smile came again, even broader. Two dimples formed in his scruffy cheeks where he could probably use a shave but she liked the rugged look. “I’ll return it, promise.”

  Begrudgingly, she handed the card to him. He grabbed a pen from the middle console and scribbled some numbers on it.

  “Those are real numbers, right?” she asked.

  One corner of his mouth kicked up. “As opposed to?”

  “You know, a local pizzeria’s number or something.”

  He just looked at her. “Mara, this is my cell number and I want you to call me real soon…to talk.”

  “Okay.” She snatched the card. “Have a nice day, Jace. And watch your rear end.” She smiled at her cheeky double entendre.

  The smile he sent her made her dizzy. “I’d rather watch yours.”

  With that, he drove away from the curb leaving her alone at her coveted one-bedroom home. Her house looked extra spectacular tonight. Seeing as she didn’t currently have a running car, this night could have been a whole lot worse.

  Vvvrrrm. Vrrrrm.

  Not again.

  Mara pulled the god-forsaken cell phone out of her purse. “What?” she growled.

  “Tick tock, Mara. Tick tock.”

  The caller said his message and had already hung up before the phone slipped from her hand. She didn’t stop to pick her phone back up. That voice…his voice. She would recognize that one voice out of a thousand others. It was his. It was Corey’s.

  Chapter 2

  Mara tossed and turned that morning. Sweat soaked the sheets. Groaning and fumbling, her consciousness slowly came to as slick skin touched more slick skin. She squirmed through the unpleasant sensations. Blinking through the bright morning sunlight filtering through the window, Mara sat up and wiped the sleep from her face. Only something strange happened. She wiped beads of sweat from her brow, in her hair, and down her neck. She’d damn near soaked through the sleep T-shirt she wore.

  Mara jolted, sucking in a sharp breath. A second later she bolted down the hallway to the thermostat, no longer feeling any of the excessive heat as she had a moment ago. Ice filled her veins making her movements stiff and unnatural. The thermostat was on the wall. It was white with simple buttons that she had to jab really hard to make them work. She and the thermostat did not get along. However, she’d never feared her thermostat…until now.

  Like a soldier turning to face his superior, Mara turned to the thermostat.

  The heat was turned on to ninety-three degrees.

  “Aha hahaha.” She made a sound between a laugh and crying.

  The sound came again, this time definitely a cry, a low wail of pain.

  She sucked in deep breaths. She had to search the rest of the house first. There would be time to think and cry later. Right now she knew she had to make sure she was safe. Mara bit her lip to stifle her cries. First thing she did was go to her nightstand drawer and grab the Taser. It was still there. That gave her some relief. She searched the bedroom first. Nothing looked amiss, just the typical—clothes strewn about on the floor, both clean and dirty. The bathroom was clear, the same for the living room, her dining room, and the kitchen. She checked the closets twice.

  “I will not let him control me,” she said to herself in a mantra.

  She checked the lock to the front door. “I will not let him control me.” The lock looked fine to her. If Corey had come through this way then she couldn’t tell. She found the same result at the back door and each of the windows.

  Mara found herself standing in her kitchen. She was wearing her slowly drying sleep T-shirt, on a workday, carrying a Taser in her hand, and completely terrified.

  “I will not let him control me.”

  But her voice wavered. Too many fears plagued her. Too many what-ifs. Each of those what-ifs led to should-dos for her. What if Corey had found her all the way from New York? Then I should leave town right away.

  He knew where she lived. He’d come into her house last night and she’d never even know it.

  Had he touched her? A shiver of disgust ran through her. He would. Of course he would. He loved controlling her, manipulating her. He’d probably arranged her hair or tucked the covers over her or pulled them off. Something. He’d do something to mess with her because he was sick like that.

  “I will not let him control me.”

  But she loved her job so much and she had a great best friend, Tia. Her mom lived only two hours away, close but not too close for her.

  He’d been in her house. This might not have even been the first time. Just the first time she noticed. Her heart broke and it took all her strength not to break down and cry.

  “I will not let him control me.” He can’t control her any longer. She wouldn’t cry for him, wouldn’t be scared of him. He was not stronger than her. She could beat him.

  Because she had a weapon. Jace Mathews.

  Finally ungluing her frozen feet from the floor, Mara set the Taser down. She scanned the table, searched inside her purse but couldn’t find it anywhere.

  “He took my phone.”

  Wait. She had to laugh at her own stupidity. She remembered where it was now—on her driveway and most likely broken into a bunch of expensive pieces.

  Mara looked out the peephole of her front door.

  “You will not control me.”

  She’d picked this house because of its location and ch
arm. Mostly the charm. It had a modest metal fence that lined her driveway with ivy and shrubs growing along the fence so it looked like she was pulling home to her cottage each time she came home. It was her own little castle. Big willows stood on either side of her house keeping it cooler and shaded by its leaves. Now the shrubbery looked menacing as the wind blew the little green leaves. What if he was waiting for her right now…hiding behind the bushes?

  Her gut was sickeningly clenched. “You will not control me, Corey.”

  She still struggled to say his name. He’d taken even that from her. The fear he’d held over her had been so powerful. She’d never go back to that.

  That’s why she opened the damn front door, stepped out into the morning air and picked up her phone at the end of the driveway. She kept her pace casual, unafraid, even if her heart raced enough for her to be sprinting.

  The phone wasn’t broken; so that was one good thing so far today. Mara went back into the house and began sweating again. It was actually warmer in the house than it was outside. She turned the A/C back on and cranked it nice and low. She’d deal with the big bill when it came. It’d be worth it after the morning she’d had.

  Her purse sat on the dining room table. She emptied the bag expecting to find her wallet gone, but everything was there. This didn’t make any sense. If Corey had been here then he would take something of hers. Of course everything was a game with him. It wouldn’t be something big and obvious like her television. No, he’d take something small that she might not even notice. That was part of the fun to him.

  The thermostat and that call yesterday solidified the severity of her situation.

  Tick tock, Mara. Tick tock.

  What did that even mean? She knew the answer wouldn’t be good.

  He’d called and now she knew without a doubt who the caller was. Still, though it’d been difficult to fall asleep at first after hearing his voice, she hadn’t been that scared. After all, it was just a phone call and he lives in New York. Not for one single second last night did she think he was here in Florida. And that he knew where she lived.

  Mara needed help bad.

  The man from yesterday drifted through her mind, not for the first time since she met him. Jace Mathews with the compelling blue eyes. There was just something good about him. Something almost wholesome. Something masculine and warm. He was not like Corey.

  Maybe he could protect her. Not in some eye-rolling display of heroic machismo, but in a more realistic way. It looked like he made a living doing what she needed help with. She would need a security system because she refused to move.

  “You will not control me, Corey.”

  If she moved then that only gave him more power over her. She had to stay and fight, so to speak. So the first things she needed were new locks and some kind of alarm system.

  Her thumb swept over his phone number. His handwriting was made up of tall, black, slanted letters. He pressed down hard when he wrote. She could feel the mirrored numbers on the back of the card.

  “Oh boy.” She let out an unsteady sigh. “Here goes nothing.”

  Seven digits later and the phone was ringing at her ear. She bit down on her lip, nibbling it like a toy. Dang, but her belly tingled with nerves. What if he answered the phone? What if he didn’t? After several long rings the phone beeped and went to voicemail. Mara hung without leaving a message.

  Instead of playing phone tag, she’d go to see Jace. But she needed a ride to get there. Her best friend, Tia, arrived only twenty minutes later than she said she would.

  “Girl, you know that when I give you a time it’s more of an approximation. I’m like the weatherman. I have a fifty-percent chance of being right.” Tia was gorgeous and had a body that made men and little boys do a double-take. Only problem was…she was Tia. Or as Mara liked to called her, Ticket Into Anal. It might not sound complimentary, but it was in a way. Since Mara and Tia were both sex toy operators at Aphrodite’s Love they were naturally bound to discuss their own sexual preferences. This happened on many occasions. If fact, it’s how Mara and Tia became close since Mara moved here.

  Tia wasn’t called Ticket Into Anal because she abhorred anal sex. That’s all she was saying.

  “Just get me to this place, please; it’s been a hell of a morning.”

  Tia saluted her then peeled away. Mara probably shouldn’t have said anything. Tia’s driving foot was as heavy as a bowling ball.

  “So are you going to tell me why your car isn’t anywhere to be seen and you need a ride to some protective services place?” Tia asked.

  “Do I have to?”

  Tia arched a stern brow at Mara.

  “All right already. I think…” The next part was so much harder to say aloud. “I think Corey’s here. I think that he might have found me.” How on Earth her voice managed not to crack right there she did not know. Tia didn’t know Corey. She didn’t even know what he looked like, but she had heard Mara’s painful stories a few times. Usually after two pitchers of margaritas.

  “Damn.” The way Tia said it explained it all—like she’d just stepped in a pile of shit.

  “I still have the restraining order but that didn’t stop him before.”

  “What do you have to do now?” Tia asked.

  “Go to the police. I’m not sure. That’s what Jace is for, right?”

  “So this Jace fella…he’s a brother?” Tia tapped her bright red fingernails on the steering wheel.

  “Looks mixed to me. And no, you can’t have him.”

  Tia sighed with an eye roll. “I doubt he’s that fine anyway. We’ll see.”

  Mara laughed. Just being around her good friend again warmed her cold blood. It made the day seem much more normal.

  “I’ll call you when I’m ready to be picked up. Thanks for driving me, mom.”

  Tia played a straight face. She pulled a five-dollar bill out of her purse. “Do you need lunch money, dear?”

  Mara stuck her tongue out and waved goodbye. If she didn’t have a friend like Tia in her life right now Mara would be screwed.

  Superior Protective Services was a surprisingly small building. In her mind she’d pictured a gleaming skyscraper. This looked more like a dentist’s office. Inside was a round room with dark green carpet and dark wood paneling. It smelled like old carpet and stale coffee. A young woman stood waiting behind a desk. She looked startled and quite pretty with a real fresh-faced look about her.

  “May I help you?” she asked.

  “Yes, is Jace Mathews in?” Mara bit her lip to keep from giggling. Her giggle did not mean she thought something was funny. More often than not her giggles were signs of her nervousness.

  The woman nodded. She didn’t even need to use the computer or make a phone call or look in the office.

  “Do you want to see him or something?” the woman asked. She had bright blue eyes and light red hair.

  Um. “Yes, that’d be great. Thanks.”

  The woman acted like they’d never had a customer before. She pressed a button and a lock clicked on the door behind her. “Go on in. His office is down the hall, then go right and it’s at the end of the hall on the right.”

  Chapter 3

  “You shoulda seen the ass on this one, Jace.” Giorgio Vincinatti groaned in fake ecstasy. “Perfect heart-shaped ass; I’m telling you, she had legs that go all the way up. I wanted to grab her right there as she bent over the counter to grab her coffee.”

  Jace shook his head. “You think you wouldn’t have learned the first thing about sexual harassment, Gio.”

  Giorgio or Gio as the team all called him, collapsed back in his chair, dark eyes rolling upward. “I know, I know. Why do you think I didn’t? But damn, I’ve never wanted to grab a woman’s ass so bad in my life. In my life,” he added for good measure.

  “I’d have gotten her name and number and had her in the sack before week’s end. Possibly by day’s end.” This arrogant statement came from tech guru, Kyle Lassenby.

  Jac
e shrugged because the man had a point and was probably right. Kyle was considered ‘hot’ by most women. Women went to bed with him like he was some lucky prize. Jace didn’t get it. The man was as loud-mouthed as a punk teenager. Maybe worse. It didn’t matter to Jace if Kyle had a nice jaw line and six-pack abs, not when his arrogance outshined everything else.

  At the head of the table, Frank rubbed his temples. His grimace looked worse than usual. Stress from his recent divorce was weighing heavily on him. Over the past two years the number of gray hairs at his temple had more than doubled. Jace felt for the man, he did. Aside from getting him drunk, or possibly getting him laid, he didn’t know what to say to the guy. Jace had never been married. Didn’t really plan on it. Though he didn’t not plan it either. He preferred to let life come to him. Just because he didn’t see himself finding a woman and settling into some suburban house and having kids didn’t mean some woman wouldn’t stroll into his life and turn his world inside out.

  Speaking of crazy women…not for the first time, his thoughts moved to that intriguing woman. He couldn’t keep her off his mind. Mara Colgen had taken up way too much of his thoughts. At first it was just because she was weird and cute and he was quick to admit he wanted to see her naked. But some gut instinct told him there might be something more to it, to her.

  Stupid asshole. Gonna get your heart broken.

  She had ‘stay back’ stamped all across her unsure gaze. But, oh man, did he get to see a few bursts of that wicked side of her. She was like a package only partially unwrapped. He wanted to see the package unfolded and wide open.

  Someone coughed.

  “What was that? I drifted off for a second there,” Jace said.

  Kyle grinned and combed a hand through his blond hair. “I see that. We were all placing bets; well, everyone but old man, Frank, there.”

  “Bets on what?” Jace asked.

  “Forty-two isn’t old,” Frank retorted.

  “Bets on the hottie who just walked by looking lost.”