Rules of Protection(42)

My mouth twisted with sarcasm. “Do women agree with that statement, or is that just your perception?”

“Holy shit!” Ox said, laughing. “Where’d you find this girl, Jake?”

Cowboy’s jaw tightened, as if I had issued a challenge. He lowered his head to my ear and whispered, “Why don’t you take a test drive and find out for yourself?” He didn’t wait for an answer before walking over to grab a beer from the cooler.

I doubted many women turned him down. If ever. He had a confident, loose-hipped gait and was the most genetically perfect specimen I’d ever laid eyes on. But I decided right then he had a flaw. He was too perfect. No one is that handsome, that confident, or that charming. Definitely something wrong with him. I mentally giggled to myself as I considered he had a small endowment. The universe does have to keep a certain balance in the world, after all.

“Jake,” Bobbie Jo said, “I need to get going, or I’m going to be late picking up my mama. Can you give my guys a ride home? I’m sure they all want to stay awhile longer.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Jake reached over and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Stop by again when you get a chance. We’ll catch up.”

“I will. You don’t know how much I’ve missed you,” she said, her eyes glimmering.

Oh, jeez. I think I just threw up in my mouth.

By the time she drove away, the sun dipped behind the trees and mosquitoes invaded the backyard. We took refuge near the burn pit.

“So what are you boys doing here?” Jake asked.

“Had to see if the rumor was true,” Judd replied.

“What rumor?”

Judd grinned widely. “The rumor about you being engaged.”

Jake’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “What? Who told y’all that?”

“Ran into Junior at the hardware store. He said you were going to marry this one.”

I couldn’t help but smile since I figured Bobbie Jo probably heard the same rumor.

Jake’s eyes flitted to me and back to Judd. “She’s my…girlfriend. That’s it.” He wasn’t a good liar. Even I sensed his hesitation to answer.

Cowboy leaned over toward me. “Pregnant?”

“Of course not,” I replied, shocked by his assumption.

The corner of his lips curled upward, and his voice grew huskier. “Want to be?”

“Does that approach render most females helpless?”

“It’s been known to light a few fires,” he said, winking. “Lucky for you, I’m a fireman.”

“You’re a fire fighter?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He waited for me to be impressed.

“Well, Cowboy, if my * is ever in need of being rescued, then I’ll be sure to give you a call. Until then, you’ll just have to play with your own hose.”

Jake’s three friends stared, slack-jawed and silent, as he shook his head. “You’ll get used to it,” Jake told them. “Emily has a bad habit of using colorful language.”

“Fuckin’ A,” Ox said with surprise. Then he turned to me and said, “We don’t normally hear that kind of talk from women. They tend to mind their Ps and Qs around here.”

“She isn’t a southern belle,” Judd said, smiling. “That’s for damn sure.”

“I like it,” Cowboy said, shrugging his brows at me. As if that surprised me.

I rolled my eyes. “You mean to tell me Bobbie Jo doesn’t use bad language? Ever?”

“Bobbie Jo was head cheerleader, as well as valedictorian,” Jake said in her defense. “She always set a great example of a lady, and the other girls admired her for it.”

Damn. Miss Perfect was getting on my nerves, and she wasn’t even there. “Yeah right, and I bet all the guys admired her oversized pom-poms.”

“Emily, don’t be crude,” Jake said, scrunching his nose. “She hasn’t done anything to you. She’s a good person, and you’d like her if you gave her half a chance.” He stood and walked away, mumbling something about getting more beer.

Ox and Judd set off after him, leaving Cowboy alone with me. Great. Smart move, guys. Then again, I was being a little bitchy. Bobbie Jo didn’t seem so bad. Maybe I should spend some time getting to know her. And who knows? We might even end up friends.

“Don’t worry,” Cowboy said. “He’ll get over it. Jake’s a little overprotective when it comes to her.”

“And why’s that?”

Cowboy leaned back in his chair and stretched out his long legs, kicking one scarred boot over the other. “Jake dated Bobbie Jo in high school. They took each other’s virginity.”

Now, I had to compete with the virgin he deflowered in high school?

Fucking great.





Chapter Nine

Floss invited Jake’s friends to stay for dinner and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She tempted them with promise of roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and fresh green beans from the garden. Homemade apple pie was the clincher, though.

After dinner, Hank and Floss decided to turn in early. We said our good nights and the five of us headed back down to the burn pit with the intention of polishing off the rest of the beer. After all, there were only two things to do out in the middle of the sticks—have sex and get drunk. Since Jake continued holding out on the first thing, I accompanied the boys on the other.