Rules of Protection (Tangled in Texas) (Volume 1) (18 page)

“Your hour is almost up,” Jake said, checking his watch.

“What do you care? Don’t you have your hands full?” I said, blatantly staring at Bobbie Jo’s large breasts, barely covered by her white top. “Or are you bored with her…again?”

Bobbie Jo swung her head toward me. “Wow. You can be a bitter pill to swallow.”

Some of it may have been the booze, but her sheer presence grated my nerves. The model behavior I promised Cowboy flew right out the window. “Somehow I doubt that’s the only thing you’ve ever swallowed.”

“Emily!” Jake grabbed my arm. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

“Sure, Jake, take up for your ex-girlfriend. If she doesn’t want anybody to think she’s a slut, maybe she shouldn’t be sneaking off with someone else’s boyfriend.”

Bobbie Jo came off mousy, but she struck back with the accuracy of a snake. “It’s okay, Jake. When little Miss Know-It-All gets through divvying up her time among all of my boys, maybe she’ll have some left over for you.” She got up to leave, but turned once more. “And if I’m the slut, then how come you’re the one not wearing panties?” She smirked as she walked away.

I tried to go after her and grab her by the back of her fake-ass blond hair, but Jake wouldn’t let go.

Cowboy positioned himself in my path. “No catfights.”

“Oh, now she needs both of you to protect her?”

“It’s not
her
we’re protecting. She would’ve wiped the floor with your ass. You’re lucky she walked away when she did, or we’d be pulling her off you right now.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right! What’s she going to do? Steamroll me with her tits?”

“Enough, damn it!” Jake squeezed my arm tighter, showing me he was serious. “She knows people in here and you’re not going to embarrass her, or yourself, by acting like this.”

I wrenched myself from his grip and walked away, ignoring him when he called after me. I sat at the bar. I hadn’t meant to take my anger out on Bobbie Jo, but my tolerance level for being around Jake without bringing up what I overheard him say to Cowboy had peaked the moment I came face-to-face with him. He didn’t care about me, just his stupid case. That was why he kept me at a distance. It all made sense now. I didn’t have anything else to say to Jake. If he wanted me to talk to him, then he’d have to break the silence.

After about ten minutes, Jake strode briskly toward me. I held my composure, pretending not to notice him. He stopped next to my seat. My eyes hovered somewhere around knee-level, waiting for him to speak. Instead, he snagged me by my elbow, ripped me out of my seat, and manhandled me across the room. I got a reaction out of him, but it wasn’t the one I wanted. Guess I’m not the budding genius I thought.

“Where are you taking me?” I demanded, unable to pry his fingers loose.

He shoved me into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind us. “All that because you were jealous?”

Knowing Cowboy opened his big mouth, I crossed my arms and turned away from him.

“Emily, I can’t read your mind by looking at your ass. Bobbie Jo is my friend, nothing more. I’ve told you already. I don’t understand why—”

I whipped around to face him, my eyes burning with heated fury. “I’m just one of your cases, right?”

“What?”

“It’s what you told Cowboy…that I was one of your cases.”

“I don’t know what you think you heard, but—”

“Don’t embarrass yourself by denying it. I know what I heard.” Then I tried to master Cowboy’s tone as I said,
“You two should bang it out.”

“You didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, did you?”

“I heard enough—”

“Woman, get your head out of your ass,” he yelled in a holier-than-thou voice. “You don’t ever shut up and listen. Your mouth is like a runaway train—no fucking brakes.”

“Up yours, Jake! Who do you think you—”

He grabbed my waist and covered my mouth with his. My hands went straight to his chest to force him away, but I might as well have been pushing against a statue. When his tongue nudged its way into my mouth, I couldn’t deny him access. Wasn’t much coaxing involved, anyway. It was an unguarded moment. I wasn’t prepared for the warmth of his lips or the heat of his hands.

Jake kissed me deeply, tracing my lips with his. He pressed his body into mine until he had me aching for him. I ran my fingers through the back of his hair, then down to his sleek shoulders, as he pulled his mouth from mine.

I swayed to the left, intoxicated more by his kiss than the alcohol. He steadied me, resting his velvety fingers against the pulse on my neck. I tilted my head back to look at him, reveling in my guilty pleasure and the intensity of his gaze.

He smiled lightly. “Do me a favor?”

“Mmmm,” I murmured, my head flopping lazily onto his shoulder.

“Apologize to Bobbie Jo.”

Moments before, my heart was in freefall with sixty seconds of pure bliss, but his words snapped me back to reality like a bungee cord. “Do what?”

“She’s forgiving,” he said.

“Screw her and her forgiveness. That’s why you kissed me? Because you wanted me to say sorry to your old flame? You’re crazy if you think that’s going to happen.”

I unlocked the door to the bathroom and marched out. Jake didn’t try to stop me, which bothered me more. Tears sprung from my eyes as I made it to the bar. I wiped them away, but more surfaced in their place.

Ox sat beside me and handed me a napkin. “Here, dry your eyes,” he said softly. “Want to talk about it?”

“No, I just…I cry when I drink.”

“Don’t we all,” he said, smiling, rubbing his hand on my back. “How about a dance? I haven’t got you out on the floor yet.”

I wanted to decline, but he didn’t give me a chance before he hauled me to the dance floor. I didn’t know how to two-step, but within minutes, Ox had me two-stepping almost as well as him. It wasn’t as hard as I thought, and after a moment, I wasn’t required to concentrate on my movements anymore.

“I’m a mess, aren’t I?” I asked him as he wiped mascara out from under my eyes.

Ox smiled at me as he pulled me closer, rubbing my hair to console me. “I think you’re cute.” Something hard in his pants brushed across my thigh, making me pull away from him. “Calm down, it’s a roll of quarters,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s what they all say.”

To prove me wrong, Ox dug in his bulging pocket and pulled it out. “It’s for the pool table.”

“Oh, shit, it
is
a roll of quarters,” I said, laughing.

“I like you, Emily, but I’m not the least bit attracted to you,” Ox admitted gently. “Sorry, honey, but you’re not my type. You’re cute, but you ain’t that cute.”

“Most guys won’t say something is cute,” I told him. “In fact, I’ve only known one guy who ever—” Jake walked past us outside the dance floor. He glanced over at me as he took a seat at the bar next to Cowboy. “God, I’m starting to feel like I have leprosy or something. What’s wrong with me?”

“What’s the problem with you and Jake?” Ox asked. “He has it bad for you.”

“I think you’re wrong. Every time we start to get…uh…close, we end up throwing sparks.”

“Shit, girl, even electric eels can mate without stunning each other.”

“Yeah, but how?”

“That’s for you to figure out. If I were you, I’d take a more proactive approach with Jake. He can be a little slow out of the starting gate on a relationship, but you’re one of them high-spirited fillies that jumps the gun. You have to find something that’ll elicit a reaction from him. You know, make him catch up. I’d tell you to slow down, but that’d be like trying to stop a fast-moving train with my bare hands, and I’m no Superman.”

I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “With you, Ox, who needs a therapist?”

A guy wearing a Mossy Oak camouflage hat bumped into Ox’s shoulder as he passed by. “Sorry about that, shrimp. Didn’t see you standing there,” he said, laughing as he walked away.

“He did it on purpose, didn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Ox said. “He’s a spineless dick. Steer clear of him.”

“Who is he?”

“That’s Germy.”

“Germy? You mean Jeremy?”

“No, I mean Germy. That guy dips his stick into any available mud hole. Probably thinks the clap is a round of applause.”

I made a face. “Eww.”

“Yeah, none of us can stand the asshole. He and Jake played football on opposing teams. They’ve hated each other for as long as I can remember.”

“Really?” I smiled, feeling inspired.

Hmm. The jealousy thing didn’t work when I danced with Jake’s friends. He wasn’t concerned because he knew none of them were trying to pole-vault into my pants. But I might have set the bar too high. Maybe I need to rethink my approach.

Ox read my mind. “Girl, you better banish that thought. Toss it out right now. That’s playing with fire.”

“You told me to elicit a reaction.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say cause an explosion. There’s bad blood between them. You’re going to incite a riot if you go there.”

“Oh, it won’t be that bad,” I said. “I’m just going to dance with him.”

“Jake hates that prick,” Ox said. “And…well…you know how a male dog marks his territory?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’re Jake’s smitten kitten,” Ox said, smiling. “And he can be territorial. I don’t want you to get pissed on.”

“Oh, come on. Jake didn’t consider my feelings when he danced with Bobbie Jo. It shouldn’t matter who I dance with.” The song ended, and I shuffled off toward Germy…uh, Jeremy.

Ox laughed and called out, “When you come back with crotch critters, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Jeremy stood talking to two other men at the bar. All three watched me approach. Silently, I squeezed in between them and sat on a barstool. Jeremy’s eyes traveled up my legs, reminding me to lock my knees together.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He motioned for the bartender. “Can I buy you a drink?”

The bartender smiled at me, probably recognizing a woman who’d never paid for a drink in her life. “Anything with a cherry,” I told him. Seconds later, he slid a drink toward me with a plump red cherry on top.

I picked it up by the stem, pulled it into my mouth with my teeth and ate it. Then I popped the stem in my mouth as Jeremy and his friends watched. Seconds later, I pulled the stem out and held it up, showing the neatly tied knot in the middle.

For some reason, forwardness always catches men off guard. That’s why Gina, Dale, and I once went through a whole jar of cherries practicing that move. I always beat them. They would’ve been proud at how fast I tied this cherry stem with my tongue. Worthy of a gold medal.

“Neat trick,” Jeremy said. “What else are you good at?”

I goaded him with a puckish look. “Lots of things.”

“Dancing?”

“Sure,” I said, knowing men can’t resist a challenge. “If you think you have the stamina to keep up.”

Jeremy grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd. We two-stepped to a country song, then the band played rock. Jeremy cinched my waist with his hands and pulled me to him. I slithered against him with slinky, sexually explicit moves that bordered on stripper. Jeremy wasn’t well behaved either, pawing at me with grabby hands and polishing the front of his jeans with the back of my dress. It did nothing for my ego.

I nonchalantly glanced over to Jake, whose brows lowered toward his eyes, and his mouth tightened into a hard line. He wasn’t enjoying the view. In fact, Cowboy, Ox, and Judd didn’t like it either. The rapid-fire succession of dirty looks they gave Jeremy made me nervous. They circulated the room, staying in my general vicinity, ready to pounce with the slightest signal from Jake.

“So you and Jake an item?” Jeremy asked, grinning smugly.

I shrugged. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s not rocket science. He’s watching both of us like a hawk, and he doesn’t look very happy I’m dancing with his girl.”

“He’ll get over it.”

“That’s the thing, honey. I don’t
want
him to get over it,” Jeremy said, planting his mouth over mine.

Chapter Fifteen

I tried to dodge Jeremy’s lips and whacked him in the chest. Unfazed, he tried to shove his tongue in my mouth. I pushed him away from me, and he flaunted a mischievous grin.

“You know, ever since you walked through that door, I wanted to make love to you really bad,” Jeremy said, winking.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Judging by the way you kiss, I wouldn’t doubt that’s
exactly
what would happen, you slimy—”

“What’s wrong, princess? Your tiara bent out of shape?”

“Why don’t you go tip a cow, you bastard?”

“Because teasing the bull is more my speed.” He peered over my shoulder. “Oh, look, here comes your boyfriend.”

His bull reference nailed it. Jake, red-faced with flaring nostrils, charged through the crowd with a powerful gait. He practically bucked Cowboy, Ox, and Judd off as they tried to stop his forward motion.

By the time Jake trampled past me, the boys had a firm hold, not allowing him to get close to Jeremy, who had taken a few steps back. I worried what would’ve happened if Jake’s matadors had not intervened.

Jake must’ve realized everyone in the bar had stopped and watched. The feral, inhuman look left his eyes. His posture relaxed, as if he flipped a switch and forced himself to calm down.

“I’m fine,” he told his friends, wanting them to release their grip. They must’ve believed him since they let him go.

“Problem, Jake?” Jeremy asked smugly.

“You mean besides you not keeping your hands or mouth to yourself?” Jake replied in an even-tempered voice. “She’s with me. You keep your damn hands off her, or I’ll break them. Same goes for your mouth.”

Jeremy’s eyes lit up with the challenge. “My mistake. I thought she was a hooker.”

“You sonofabitch!” I reared back and punched him in his nose, which hurt my hand.

Jake grinned with only a small amount of satisfaction. “How’d that feel?”

Jeremy shook it off, though his eyes watered slightly. “She hits like a girl,” he mumbled.

“I
am
a girl, you douchebag!” I shouted, still rubbing my knuckles and shaking my hand in the air.

“You always let a woman do your fighting for you, Jake?”

“Hey, you called her a hooker,” Jake said with a shrug. “What’d you expect? You should apologize to the lady.” It was more a demand than a request, but I didn’t like how I got edged out of the conversation.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Jeremy laughed and said in a crass tone, “Lady, my ass. She isn’t even wearing any panties.”

Impulsively, I launched myself at him. Jake caught me around the waist with one arm. I wriggled out of his grip, but he yanked me back and handed me off to Cowboy. “Here, hold her for a second,” Jake told him.

Cowboy shoved me behind him, keeping one hand resting on my hip, making sure I stayed put. It was a defensive move rather than conflict management. Jake expected trouble and wanted me out of the way. Things were about to turn sour.

“You’re going to apologize to Emily right now, or I’m going to break your jaw,” Jake threatened, his fist already clenched at his side.

“I’ll do you one better,” Jeremy said, laughing. He tossed a wink over Jake’s shoulder directly at me. “Sweetheart, why don’t you come home with me? I’ll spend the entire night apologizing to that sweet little ass of yours. After all, another man’s trash…”

It was all Jake needed.

In an impressive display of male bravado, Jake’s fist struck Jeremy in the jaw with a cracking sound that made me cringe. Jeremy’s two friends jumped on Jake, double-teaming him, prompting Cowboy, Ox, and Judd to step in. Instead of stopping the fight, everyone in the room bum-rushed the dance floor and a riot broke out.

Caught in a snarl of flying fists and broken beer bottles, I scrambled to get off the dance floor. Not knowing where the others were, I grabbed the keys to the Explorer from our table. Then Jake and Cowboy elbowed their way through the crowd. As they reached me, I got a good look at their faces and gasped.

Jake’s cheek was red and already bruising, his right eye almost swollen shut, and his knuckles on both hands were bleeding. Cowboy looked worse. I’d swear his nose hadn’t been that flat before, and he had blood splatters on the front of his shirt.

“Are you okay? Hey, wait—”

Jake scooped me up and dragged me out, kicking and screaming. When we reached the parking lot, he dropped me—literally—on the ground. He jerked the Explorer keys from my hand and tossed them to Cowboy.

“Walk it off,” Cowboy said to Jake. “Tar and feathers are your best option.” Then Cowboy got into the Explorer and drove away.

Jake paced as I got up and dusted myself off. “What the hell is your problem?”

He stopped and leaned into my face, his crazed eyes chock-full of anger, his voice cold as ice. “Shut. Up.”

My eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

He put his hand over my mouth. “Stop talking.” With a bruising grip, Jake pulled me to the side of the building where he’d parked and crammed me into the old pickup, slamming the door. The window was down, so I heard his frustration as he grumbled and kicked the fender. I tried to get back out, but he pushed the door closed again. “Emily, you don’t want to test me right now. Keep your ass in the truck.”

“Jake, this is stupid—”

“Damn you, Emily! I’ve never put my hands on a woman before, but you have me very close to doing it. Stay in the truck and shut your fucking mouth!”

The enforcement in his coarse voice shocked me. I guess now I know what Cowboy meant by tar and feather being Jake’s best option. I crossed my arms as he paced some more. Okay, so I pushed him too far this time. I hadn’t meant to, but I had a hard time controlling myself where Jake was concerned. No matter how good my intentions were, I always seemed to screw everything up.

Ten long minutes later, he decided to get in the truck. I sat in silence, thinking he’d apologize for the way he spoke to me. All he said was, “Buckle up.”

It was probably the alcohol talking, but my irritation came out full force. “Are aliens going to snatch me if I don’t?”

Though I wasn’t sure he would, he kept his cool. “It’s the law.”

“You going to arrest me?”

He gritted his teeth. “Goddamnit. You should’ve come with an instruction manual. For once, take responsibility for your actions, stop being difficult, and buckle the damn seatbelt.”

“If you want it buckled, do it yourself.”

Jake catapulted across the seat, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me. His lightning fast reflexes and the strength of his hands made my body tremble violently. He focused on me with eyes of a predator. I froze in place, like a skittish bunny, not sure if I should run like hell. He was dealing with his demons, and this was a side of Jake I hadn’t seen before.

Slowly, he loosened his grip and his mouth softened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

His words had softened, but the intensity of his gaze confused me. It wasn’t guilt, but something else. I was clueless to know what Jake was thinking, but the visual cues were there. He wasn’t trying to defuse the situation any longer. His eyes were those of an aggressor.

A sexual charge pressed into the air around us, making it harder for me to breathe. I gulped shallow breaths, savoring them as if they were the last bits of oxygen I’d receive before Jake smothered me with his overwhelming male presence.

He gave no warning. Jake captured my waist, pulling me closer, only to shove me onto my back before positioning himself between my legs. I should’ve been frightened, but how he handled me was wickedly sexy. Instead of fear, my stomach fluttered with anticipation.

He took my lips forcefully, bruising them. With intense carnal gratification in mind, he yanked the front of my dress down to my waist and cupped my breasts with rough hands. Jake moved lower, my nipples hardening in his mouth. My body responded in a frenzy, arching under him, twitching with pleasure.

Jake sensed what I wanted, giving it before I asked. No words of passion, no gentleness in his eyes, no softness in his touch. Like being tickled too hard—it might hurt a little, but you can’t stop laughing with enjoyment. Even if I had wanted to, it would’ve been impossible to resist.

A low moan escaped my lips, pushing him over the edge. Grunting, Jake fumbled to loosen his zipper with quivering, unsteady hands. He was ready to unleash the primal urge building inside him. The stingy, inadequate foreplay didn’t matter. To him, or to me. I wanted him to take what he needed and would ask nothing in return.

Fully aware of the alignment issues, Jake pulled off my heels and threw them onto the floorboard. He sat upright and repositioned, pulling me astride. Having sex in the front seat of a pickup is like trying to get a cushion cover back on the couch pillow after it’s been laundered. It’s a tight squeeze with a lot of grunting, but not impossible.

His fingers dug into my back with need and fervor. His rock solid erection pressed into my inner thigh, throbbing and hot. His tongue found its way back into my mouth with unstoppable passion.

So you can imagine my surprise when he did stop.

People were talking as they came out of the bar, but I was the only one who ignored them. Jake let his head rest on the back of the seat and blew out a breath. “Emily…”

“You’re thinking,” I breathed into his ear. “Stop it.”

Jake’s bottom half was definitely there, but his top half was only semi-present and still contemplating. Eager to finish what he started, I trailed my tongue down his neck and kissed him. His hands worked their way under my dress and up the back of my thighs.

Then I heard a sound bordering on a laugh. “You liar.”

“It’s a thong,” I said, still kissing his neck. “I never said I wasn’t wearing any panties. I only
suggested
I might not be.”

His hands stopped moving as he swore under his breath. “Emily, I…”

I pulled back to look at him. “God, Jake, don’t do this again. I’m horny and shitfaced and—”

“That’s why we can’t. I feel like I’m taking advantage.”

“By all means, take advantage!”

“You know what I mean. I feel like I’m in a wading pool, and it’s getting deeper and deeper.”

I nipped his bottom lip with my teeth and whispered into his mouth, “Isn’t that the point…to go deeper?”

The seconds stretched on indefinitely.

“Not when you’re drunk,” he said. “Alcohol fuels bad judgment. I don’t want you to regret this.”

“What are you…a human Breathalyzer? Jesus, Jake. We’ve nearly had sex dozens of times in the past week and I was sober each time. Why do you think I’d regret it now?”

“Emily, I told you before…I don’t do meaningless sex.”

“It won’t ever mean anything as long as you keep stopping it from happening. My God, Jake, virgins safeguard themselves less than you do.”

“Cue the violins. Poor Emily didn’t get laid,” he said sarcastically.

“Don’t turn this around on me. Maybe you shouldn’t start something you obviously can’t finish.”

“This
is
about you. You have a habit of making bad choices. I can’t help it if I don’t want to be one of them.”

“Oh, fuck me.” I pulled my dress up to cover my breasts and climbed back into the passenger seat.

“Sweetheart, if a frolic is all you’re wanting, then you should have ridden home with Cowboy,” Jake said, buttoning his pants. A brief but tangible silence followed. “You actually considered it for a moment, didn’t you?”

I propped my arm on the door and looked at him, realizing he was serious. “You think all I care about is sex?”

“If the shoe fits,” Jake said, shrugging as he cranked the old truck.

For a moment, I sat in stunned silence, then my temper flared. “If that’s what you think of me, then you’re the biggest jackass I’ve ever met.”

“Guess I’m a jackass.”

The drive to the house was excruciatingly quiet. My desire for intimacy and Jake’s lack of providing wasn’t the problem, no matter what he believed. I had a hard time swallowing his unsavory opinion of me. As far as he was concerned, I wanted to be with someone, and that someone could’ve been anyone. He was wrong.

Jake had been loitering in my heart—and occasionally on my body—since the first night I laid eyes on him. Whenever he was near, I had a hard time regulating my emotions. My heart was ripe for picking, but Jake refused to harvest my crop…in more ways than one.

Sure, the hot and cold thing bothered me. It’s simple. Don’t start something you don’t intend to finish. It wasn’t about sex, though. I would’ve been angry if we’d been playing Monopoly and he’d quit in the middle of the game.

As we pulled up to the house, Jake said, “Let’s go inside.”

“I need a minute,” I said, my voice wavering slightly.

He started to argue, but stopped himself. “Okay, I’ll give you a few minutes alone.” He knew I wasn’t going anywhere since he pocketed the truck keys.

Once he went inside the cottage, I sighed in frustration. Maybe we were too different. I liked being reckless and carefree, foregoing all the rules. But I was in love with a frustratingly precise man of the law, one who adhered to responsibility and respected rules.

We weren’t an ideal couple, and chances are, it’d never work. Probably the equivalent of trying to breed a duck to a chicken. I, of course, would consider myself the duck, since they’re cuter. And everyone knows chickens have peckers. I knew I was drunk when the vision of a chicken’s pecker made me giggle.

The more I thought about Jake, the more muddled my feelings became. The last week had taken a heavy toll on my heart. After Jake saved my life several times, most people would consider it White Knight Syndrome, but that wasn’t it. I was in love with him. I’d never felt this sure of anything in my life.

Eventually, this whole ordeal would be over, and Jake wouldn’t feel obligated to protect me anymore. But would he still care? After all, it’s not like he said he loved me. Even I knew to care and to love are two very different things. I cared enough about the birds to not want Hank to pull off their heads, but I wasn’t in love with them. And if Hank wanted to pull the head off something, why didn’t he take care of the dreadful rooster?