Rules of Protection (Tangled in Texas #1)(90)

“Emily, stop—”

“Well, I have news for you, Agent Ward, or whatever the hell your name is.” My finger pushed into his chest, my tone all snark. “I’m not the joke here. All of you are. With your neglected lawns that look more like junkyards and your stupid southern accents.”

Jake pushed my finger from his chest. “Emily, you’re starting to try my patience.”

“Well, it’s about damn time! You’re as slow as the rest of them. God knows no one out here has any sense.”

He wasn’t shocked by my outburst, but he was mad. “You can think we’re all small-minded, if you want, but there aren’t any ghettos out here, sweetheart.”

“Only because everyone here already lives in the ghetto.”

Once again, I had lashed out by attacking not only him, but his family and friends. I regretted the words the moment they flew from my lips, but I refused to take them back.

Jake flew into a fit, waving his hands in the air before grabbing his boots and talking with a mock hillbilly accent. “Well, hell, darlin’, I better get goin’ then. My uneducated ass has to drive some cattle to market in the mornin’. Reckon I better get a move on.”

He walked out and slammed the door as I yelled, “By the way, this fake relationship is off!”

Then I crumpled to the floor and burst into tears.



Chapter Twenty

I didn’t have to face Jake again until I went over to the main house during lunchtime. I hoped I’d missed him, but leave it to me to judge something wrong. Like I didn’t do enough of that already?

He had nothing to say. After verbally vomiting on each other earlier in the morning, we couldn’t even stand to look at each other. Still upset over our argument, I would’ve skipped lunch to avoid him if I hadn’t already skipped breakfast.

Hank and Jake had eaten, but were soaking up some air conditioning before venturing back out into the heat. The room was thick with tension, but Hank and Floss ignored it, talking casually about the Trinity River water levels.

It wasn’t what I’d consider riveting conversation, but it held enough interest to keep me entertained without having to speak myself. I grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table and quietly listened to them talk.

We all heard the truck pull up, and Floss peered out the window. “It’s Bobbie Jo and her mother, Connie,” she said, tossing a look my way. “I’ll go meet them downstairs in the driveway.”

Jake didn’t look at me, but wore a smirk. “I’ll go with you.”

I stifled the eye roll and the groan.

“Emily, there’s some chicken salad in the fridge from yesterday,” Floss offered. “Help yourself.”

“That’s okay, Floss. I’m not in the mood for leftovers.”

It was my turn to smirk at Jake, though I should’ve known better than to provoke him. It was like tapping the glass on a poisonous snake’s aquarium. No matter how many times he struck at me, he couldn’t get to me as long as the glass barriers were in place. Hank and Floss were obviously the barriers. But I wouldn’t dare taunt a snake on the loose.

“Oh, Lordy, I don’t want to know what that’s all about,” Floss said, heading outside.

Jake gritted his teeth with irritation while Hank grinned.

“Maybe I’ll ask Bobbie Jo if she wants some leftovers,” Jake said, to no one in particular. He lifted the brows on his smug face.

Uh-oh. The snake must have freed himself.

“She always liked what I had to offer,” he added. Jake turned to leave, but stopped when an apple pegged him in his back. “Oh, real mature, Emily.”

He picked the apple up off the floor, turned to face me, and saw I was still eating mine. I held my hands up, showing my innocence. He glared at Hank, who shrugged, grinning happily at his good aim.

Jake stared open-mouthed. “Traitor,” he said, spinning on his heels and storming out the door.

Hank and I burst into hysterics. After a moment, I became overly emotional, and my laughing turned more to sobbing. Immediately, Hank pulled his chair over. He didn’t say anything at first, just rubbed my shoulder, allowing me to get a handle on myself.

“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping my eyes with a napkin Hank handed me. “I didn’t mean to get upset.”

“It’s okay, honey. Everyone needs to have a good cry now and then. If I’d known Jake hurt your feelings this much, I’d have thrown the apple harder and aimed for his noggin.”

“It’s not that,” I said, offering a trembling grin. “Jake and I had an argument this morning.”

“So that’s why he’s in such a foul mood today,” Hank said with a chuckle. “Jake’s already hit his thumb with a hammer three times, thrown a shovel across the barn, and said more curse words than I thought he knew. And that was all in the last two hours. You must’ve really gotten under his skin this time,” he said, still hooting.

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” I grumbled. “We keep getting under each other’s skin. I don’t know how the others believed Jake and I are supposed to be a couple.”

“Honey, they all knew you two weren’t a couple.”

“You mean aren’t a couple.”

“Now, don’t go telling me what I mean,” Hank said. “I know what I’m saying. I meant weren’t. Past tense. You two are practically married now.”