Unbroken (8 page)

“Thank you
Jake, that’s really sweet.”

“I mean it,”
he said earnestly.  “And there’s something else, something I should have told you long before now.”

“
Oh, what’s that?”

“
I know it couldn’t have been easy for you to just pick up and leave Minneapolis for two months and I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you being here.”

She felt her heart flutter. 
“Thanks,” she replied, her expression appreciative. “That means a lot.”

Jake nodded, and then turned his gaze back to the road.

“And Jake, just so you know,” she said after a moment, “I may have been hesitant at first, but the truth is, I really like being here.”

He turned back to her, smiling warmly.  “I’m glad.”

The next morning Britney was seated in front of the computer when Jake
entered the office and plopped down onto one of the two upholstered armchairs in the room.  She looked up from the email she was typing and regarded him curiously.

“You busy?”
he asked, his standard greeting whenever he walked into the office.

“Just responding to some emails.” 

“Is everything all set for the photo shoot on Friday?”

“Yep, we’re good to go,” she assured him.
  “I just hope the weather cooperates.  It’s supposed to be sunny, but you never know.”

“Yeah, the weather around here can be a little unpredictable.  I guess we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed.
”

She nodded. 
“So, what’s on your agenda for today?” she asked.

“
Rayanne called earlier.  I told her I’d take the girls to Sun Valley to go ice-skating this afternoon.”

“
Oh.  That sounds fun.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jake said with a grin.

Britney’s eyebrows rose questioningly.

“Rayanne’s going to be helping Aunt Rose with so
me stuff around the B and B today, so I was kind of hoping you might be willing to come along and help me out with the girls.  If you’re not too busy that is.”

She was fairly certain that Jake could handle the girls for one afternoon, but she was more than willing to tag along.  “Actually I’m pretty much caught up here, so sure, I’d love to go.”

“Great.  We’ll leave in about an hour, okay?”

“Sounds good.  I’ll be ready.”

“Thanks Brit,” he said, rising from the chair.  “I owe you one.”

Funny, Britney realized, that was exactly what
Ian had said to her less than two weeks ago when she’d reluctantly agreed to act as Jake’s assistant for the summer.  It was amazing how quickly her attitude had changed, because right now there wasn’t anywhere else she’d rather be.  As the sound of Jake’s footsteps faded, she wondered if he realized that he’d called her Brit.  It was the first time he’d used the nickname she’d had since childhood and she liked the easy familiarity.  She liked it a lot.

“Oh no!
  I’m just here to watch,” Britney insisted a little more than two hours later, as their foursome stood in front of the skate rental counter.

“Come
on, Britney.  Watching’s no fun,” Jake asserted.

“Seriously, I don’t mind at all.  Besides, I’ve never ice-skated before in my life.”

Jake was shocked.  “Really?  Never?”

“Nope, not even once.”

“Well then,” Jake said with an encouraging smile, “I think it’s about time you learned.  What do you say, girls, shall we teach Britney how to skate?”

“
Yeah, it’s okay, Britney, we’ll teach you,” ten-year-old Rachel responded eagerly.

“I don’t know,” Britney replied hesitantly
, glancing nervously at the long sheet of ice.  There were only about seven or eight other people skating, but she wasn’t really concerned about them.  It was the man standing next to her that she was worried about.  She was fairly certain that she’d be falling on her fanny as soon as she stepped onto the ice, and humiliating herself in front of Jake didn’t sound fun at all.

“Please
, Britney,” six-year-old Ruby pleaded.  “Please!”

“Come o
n, Brit.  Don’t be a spoilsport.” 

He’d called her Brit again, she noted,
and in spite of her apprehension she felt a small tingle of pleasure.  “Fine, I’ll give it a try.  Just don’t expect too much,” she warned, glancing uneasily at the sheet of ice once again.

A few minutes later she managed to lace up her skates, watching as Jake deftly tied his own
silver and black hockey skates and then laced each of the girls’ white figure skates, rentals like hers.

“
Just let me get the girls going and then I’ll come back for you,” Jake said as he led the two girls out onto the ice.

“Jake
, watch,” Ruby said as she took off.  “I’ve been practicing.”

“Hey, you sure have
, Ruby, good job.  Not too fast though,” he cautioned as she skated away, her blonde ponytail swaying behind her.

“Watch me
, Jake.  I can do a spin,” Rachel called, as she moved toward the center of the ice.

Jake watched
attentively as Rachel spun in a wobbly circle, her arms stretched out at her sides for balance.

“Wow, nice job
, Rachel.  You guys have improved a lot since Christmas.”  After a couple more spins and another bout of enthusiastic praise from Jake, Rachel moved off to join Ruby at the other side of the rink.  Jake watched them for a minute, made sure they were doing fine on their own and then turned his attention to Britney.

“Okay.  Now it’s your turn,”
he said, skating over to where Britney stood by the open door on the opposite side of the waist-high wall.

“Really, I
honestly don’t mind watching.”

“Nice try, but you’re skating.”  Reaching out, he took hold of her hand and pulled her th
rough the door and out onto the ice.

Stepping onto the
slick frozen surface, Britney tried to focus on keeping herself upright, rather than the feel of Jake’s fingers wrapped around her own.  His hand was big and warm and it suddenly reminded her of junior high school, when she’d held Travis Walters’ hand for the first time.  For a moment she felt almost giddy.  Then, as Jake pulled her slowly forward she swayed and her attention immediately refocused to the matter at hand, not falling on her butt.  She automatically reached toward Jake and he took her other hand into his.

“Al
right, just hold onto my hands and let me guide you.” 

She glanced up nervously, her eyes wide as he started to skate backwards, slowly pulling her along.
  She gripped his hands tighter, holding on for dear life.

Jake noted her terrified
expression and chuckled.  “Relax, Britney.  I won’t let you fall, I promise.”

Seeing that
lady-killer smile up close made Britney catch her breath for a whole different reason, and for a moment she almost forgot where she was and what she was doing. 
Oh
for Pete’s sake, focus!
she mentally scolded herself.  Forcing herself to concentrate on what she was doing, she gave him a slight smile in return and then simply let Jake lead her slowly around the rink.

“You’re doing great
, Britney,” Rachel said with an encouraging smile as she skated past a couple of minutes later, waving one pink-mittened hand.

“Way to go
, Britney,” Ruby seconded, as she followed a few feet behind her older sister.

“
Thanks, girls.”

“Okay, now watch my feet,” Jake told her.  “And try to push yourself forward.”

She looked down.  “Like this?”

“Yep, just like that.” 
Looking far more comfortable than she had been five minutes ago, Jake was pleased to see Britney’s expression begin to relax.  With her hands still held firmly within his own, he pulled her a little faster.  “There you go,” he encouraged. 

Once they’d made two more laps around the rink, Britney seemed to be getting the hang of it.  “See, you’re a natural,”
Jake said, eyeing her proudly.  “Let’s try this now.”  He let go of her left hand and swung around to her side, still holding her right hand in his left. 

Britney wobbled a bit
, but then steadied herself, tightening her grip on Jake’s hand.  Oh well, even if she did fall, it would be worth it.  Holding hands with Jake McCoy, even if it was only for balance, was pretty awesome. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

Just then the girls made another pass, Rachel grinning widely and giving Britney a big thumbs up.

Lifting her hand to wave, Britney
immediately lost her focus
and
her balance.  With a tiny shriek, she felt her feet start to go out from under her.  Thankfully she felt Jake’s strong arms encircle her waist in a lightning quick move as she grabbed onto him to keep from falling.

“Whoa, careful now,” Jake
chuckled, his lips only inches from Britney’s ear as she clung to him in a sudden death grip.  He’d never noticed before, but her hair smelled like a subtle combination of vanilla and honey.  Must be her shampoo, he thought.  Whatever it was, he liked it.  She didn’t wear perfume either.  He liked that too.  His last girlfriend, Victoria, had always smelled like one of those unnatural and at times overpowering fragrances that came out of an expensive glass bottle.  He didn’t mind it every once in a while, but there was just something he liked about the clean, natural scent of a woman.

Once she was no longer in danger of falling, Britney
’s attention quickly turned to the realization that her cheek was pressed up tight against Jake’s well-muscled chest, her arms were wrapped firmly around his toned biceps and that nearly her entire body was plastered against his from head to toe.  Holy cow, the only thing separating her from the feel of his naked flesh was the light cotton fabric of his white, button-down shirt and his faded denim jeans.  “Thanks,” she murmured, as she reluctantly loosened her grip and pushed herself back a few inches, her gaze straying to the enticing glimpse of golden skin revealed by the two buttons he’d left undone at the top of his shirt.  “That was a close one.”  Her cheeks felt warm, and she feared that she was blushing. 

Grinning, Jake steadied her as she pushed herself back.  “You lost your focus,” he chided
good-humoredly.  When she looked up and met his gaze, he was confronted once again with the incredible beauty of her wide blue eyes.  He knew it shouldn’t matter to him in the slightest, but for some reason he was really starting to hate those damned glasses of hers.

“Maybe I’d better take a little
breather.”

“Alright,” Jake agreed.
  “I think you’ve earned a break.”  Leading her to the door, he held her hand until she was safely off the ice.

With her feet once again on stable ground, Britney
stood near the glass for a moment, watching as Jake skated over to join the girls.  She already missed the feel of his warm hands.

Fifteen minutes later, seated on a wooden bench that allowed her to just see over the top of the rink wall, Britney’s attention was drawn toward a trio of attractive young women moving in her direction.  Glancing at them from the corner of her eye, she watched unobtrusively as the two blondes and one brunette sat down on the next bench over. Talking and laughing amongst themselves as they donned their skates, they looked to be in their late teens or early twenties.

“Hurry up you guys,” the brunette said a
couple of minutes later, as she stood up and walked over to look through the plexiglas, her casual gaze sweeping the ice.  “Oh - my - God!”

“Geeze
Kristen, we’re hurrying,” one of the blondes said, looking up in mild irritation.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” the brunette
named Kristen shrieked, spinning around and motioning wildly to the other two girls.  “Tell me that’s not who I think it is?”

Noting their friend’s excitement, the other two girls jumped
quickly to their feet.  “Who?” they both said at once, moving swiftly toward the glass.

“Oh my God,” the taller of the two
blondes repeated in a shocked voice.  “Is that Jake McCoy?”

“No way,” the other one said in disbelief, leaning forward until her nose was
practically touching the glass.

“It is.  It is Jake McCoy,”
Kristen squeaked, practically jumping up and down on her skates now.  “I swear I read something on the internet once about him owning a cabin near here.”

Listening to their animated chatter, Britney tried to hide her amused smile as she wondered if they’d have the courage to approach him.  Her amusement quickly faded however, when
she overheard the taller blonde call
dibs
a moment later.

“No way, Heather,” the brunette exclaimed with a wicked grin.  “He’s s
ooo mine.”

“Not so fast
, girls,” the other one chimed in, dramatically fluffing her long blonde hair.

Seconds later
, as Britney watched fixedly from her seat on the bench, the three of them were on the ice and headed purposefully in Jake’s direction. 

With his attention focused upon Ruby and Rachel a short distance ahead, Jake didn’t notice the young women moving towards him from the other side of the rink until they were just a few yards away.

“Excuse me,”
one of them said, as the trio drew closer.  “Are you Jake McCoy?”

He slowed and turned to face them, nodding
politely in response.  He was accustomed to being recognized and always did his best to act graciously when he was approached by people looking to make his acquaintance or perhaps ask for an autograph or photo.  “You ladies must be hockey fans,” he said, smiling amiably.