Read Online A Deal With the Devil by Abby Matisse - Free Book Online

and sprinted up the stairs to retrieve her phone. He handed it to her and said, “Will there be anything else, my queen?”
    She tossed her hair over a shoulder and avoided his gaze. “I’ll let you know.”
    Jake turned away, whistling as he headed toward the kitchen.
    She glared at the TV, trying to figure out what she’d done to deserve an injury. He’s the one who’d been collecting bad karma.
    A few minutes later, Jake returned and handed her a mug of piping-hot coffee. Then he moved to the fireplace and starting stoking the logs.
    “Thank you.” She blew on the steaming beverage while eyeing him with suspicion. She took a sip and her lips curved up as the coffee slid down her throat, warming her from the inside. He’d gotten the mix just right—no small feat since she’d elevated her coffee doctoring skills to the level of fine art. She cast a sideways glance at Jake. “You remembered,” she murmured. She wasn’t sure if she’d said it loudly enough for him to hear and didn’t care.
    Jake threw more logs onto the fire and stared straight ahead for a long moment, his expression stoic. Then he said, “One scoop of sugar, one and a quarter shots of milk and a sprinkle of mocha.”
    His words warmed her even more than the coffee had, but she checked herself. The perfectly-mixed concoction amounted to little more than attempted bribery; an attempt to seduce her into going along with his fake engagement idea. Well she had news for him. It would take a lot more than a bag of frozen peas and a cup of perfectly mixed coffee to get her to agree to that .
    Jake threw a last log onto the fire and jabbed at the stack with the iron poker. Sparks shot high into the chimney and with a look of satisfaction; he returned the tool to the stand. “I better get a shower in while there’s still hot water left.” He headed for the stairs. “Hopefully Sam left some clothes. I didn’t exactly come prepared to stay.”
    “Save some hot water for me,” she called over her shoulder as he bounded up the stairs, two at a time. She eyed the stairs with concern, wondering how she’d hobble up the stairs with her ankle in such sorry shape. But she’d worry about that later.
    When he got to the top, he glanced down at her. “You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.”
    She shot a dark glance over her shoulder.
    “What?” Jake shrugged, his face composed into a mask of faux innocence. “Who knows how long we’ll be here. We need to conserve hot water.”
    Amanda rolled her eyes.
    Her cell phone buzzed.
    She picked it up and glanced at the display. Rob. Crap . She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder. Given their bitter fights about her parenting skills, or lack thereof, the last thing she needed was for Jake to overhear her conversation. So she waited until he closed the bedroom door before she answered.
    “Hey,” she said, trying to forget that Rob only called when he wanted something and lately, the something tended to be money.
    “I stopped by your place. Where are you?”
    “I’m at Sam and Kate’s cabin in Lake Geneva.”
    “What’re you doing all the way up there?”
    The frown in his voice caused her to tighten her grip on the phone and she tried not to speculate about what he might want. “I needed to get away. We discussed my trip last week, remember?”
    “I forgot.” He sounded distracted. “Great timing since we’re about to get dumped with a mountain of snow. Was that the plan?”
    “No. Kate convinced me to use the cabin and the snow is worse than I anticipated. Now I’m stuck here.” She didn’t mention Jake. Rob idolized Jake and if he knew he was here, it would lead to too many questions. Questions she didn’t feel like answering.
    Rob chuckled. “You should know better than to listen to her. Kate’s always getting you into hot water.”
    He’d done a pretty good job with the hot water thing himself the past few months, but she kept the sentiment to herself. She slid a pillow under