Rules of Protection (Tangled in Texas #1)(41)

A hard hand bit into my arm, turning me around. All I saw was Jake’s intense glare. He didn’t say anything, but dragged me off toward the cottage.

He wrangled me into the bathroom, turned the water in the shower on, and yelled at me. “What the hell was that?”

“What?” I asked innocently.

“You’re supposed to be my girlfriend, remember? Do you always hug up on strange men like that?”

“The water was freezing, and I was covered in slime.” I stepped into the shower, closed the stall door, and stripped out of my wet, nasty clothes. “No thanks to you, of course.”

“It’s not like I pushed you in.”

“Well, you sure the hell didn’t pull me out. You left me in there with an alligator. A f*cking alligator! I could kill you.”

“You know, it’s against the law to threaten a federal agent,” Jake warned, his tone lightening with amusement.

“Are you going to arrest me?” I asked, my tone bordering on a dare.

“No.”

“Good. F*ck you, then!” I threw my bra and panties over the rail, hoping they smacked him in the face, but he just laughed. I stepped under the spray, splashing warm water on my face and letting it run over my hair, warming my cold body as it trailed down. “Who’s your friend?” I asked, trying to lighten my harsh tone.

Jake paused before answering. “Look, Cowboy may be a friend of mine, but I don’t want you to—”

“Not him. I’m talking about the blond chick.”

“Oh, you mean Bobbie Jo?”

“Bobbie Jo? Isn’t that a boy’s name?”

Jake chuckled. “Not around here it’s not. It’s her name. She and I go way back. You’ll like her. Sweet girl.”

My eye roll was lost on him through the steamed up shower door. “Oh, yeah. I’m sure we’ll be besties.”

“Finish up in here. Then I’ll give you a proper introduction—one where you shake hands instead of rubbing against each other’s body parts.”

“Funny,” I said, though I heard the door shut and realized he was already gone.

I got dressed, blow-dried my hair, and dabbed a little makeup on before returning outside. It wasn’t hard to find them, since I could hear the sounds of them clowning around in the backyard. When I walked up, they were throwing back beers and laughing, though Cowboy was no longer with them. That was probably a good thing.

Jake motioned to the others one at a time. “Emily, this is Bobbie Jo.” The thin, pretty blonde with the perfect glowing complexion and large boobs smiled and waved politely, as Jake motioned to a little guy next to her. “And this is Ox.”

“Ox? Does anybody here have a normal name?” The dig was meant for Bobbie Jugs. I mean, Jo. God, why do I do that? I don’t even know the poor girl. It’s not her fault Jake has me so tied up in knots.

Laughing, Ox stepped over and shook my hand. His earsplitting, boisterous laugh seemed out of place with his little body. “Judd does,” Ox said. “And Jake, of course.”

I looked over to Judd, who was squeezing superglue into a cut on his leg, and reveled at his size. He was a big boy—not fat, but big. Everywhere. He had a large barrel head, broad shoulders close to three feet wide, and bulges in places that were unnatural. He gave a quick nod and went back to what he was doing.

“What happened, Judd?”

“It’s no big deal. I banged my knee against a root or something when I jumped into the pond. Must’ve gashed my leg open.”

I stepped closer for a better look. “It looks like it needs stitches,” I said, appalled by the angry-looking laceration. “And the pond water is probably crawling with bacteria. You might want to get it checked out.”

Everyone around me burst into laughter.

Jake shook his head at me. “He’ll be fine. Each of us has stepped out of the pond at some point with a knick on us.”

A knick? Was he kidding? That’s like saying the scar left after open-heart surgery resembled a cat scratch. Jesus. They were all f*cking nuts.

“Good thing you didn’t get hurt, Emily. You probably would’ve cost me a trip to the emergency room,” Jake said, suggesting to everyone I was a wuss.

“Actually, I hurt my finger when I tried to climb out. I think I broke it.”

“No you didn’t,” Jake said, resting his arm on the bench behind Bobbie Jo. “You probably jammed it.”

I gritted my teeth but held my ground. “No, I think I broke it. Besides, how would you know? You haven’t even seen it. My finger could be mangled and twisted into some weird shape.”

Jake sighed. “All right, you big baby, let me have a look at your finger.” After a silent pause, his friends chuckled. “Not that one, smartass.”

Somebody approached me from behind, and I turned to get a better look. Cowboy stood there in all his handsome perfection with an incredible smile flattering his already-gorgeous face.

“Emily, this is—”

“We’ve already met,” Cowboy said, interrupting Jake as he lifted my hand to his lips, kissing it lightly. “Intimately,” he added, his smile widening.

“Briefly,” I corrected, pulling my hand from his.

“Jake takes all the fun out of everything.” Cowboy’s glittering green eyes playfully probed mine. “Most of my encounters with women are not nearly as short-lived.”