Rules of Protection(49)

Jake shook his head in disgust. “Just to have him ripped away, too. Jesus. No wonder you have a hard time trusting people.”

“I didn’t want to ever let anybody else get close to me again. Somehow, Dale and Gina snuck under my radar. Still, I kept them at arm’s length. They asked me to move in with them, but I couldn’t. I’m afraid to let them in, though they’re my best friends. It’s why I couldn’t say good-bye. I can’t stand the thought of losing anybody else, including you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

It was now time to fess up to the embarrassing part, the part I never thought I’d have to explain to anybody. “I know it’s going to sound stupid, but there’s a reason I keep forcing the sex issue.”

Jake looked at me with an intrigued expression.

“I wanted it to be sex, and only sex, between us. Keeps it impersonal, allows me to stay detached, and…”

“Easier to walk away?” Jake guessed.

I nodded. “I don’t sleep with just anyone. In fact, there haven’t been many. I can still count them on one hand,” I said, giving him a weak smile.

Jake smiled back. “That doesn’t matter to me.”

“Well, it matters to me,” I said, sitting up straighter in his lap, with a tight laugh. “I bet you can’t count your partners on one hand.”

Jake raised an eyebrow.

“Two hands?”

“How about I see your two hands and raise you a foot?”

“Why so many?”

He shrugged. “Men are despicable creatures.”

I managed to laugh. “Trying to make me feel better?”

“Is it working?”

“Yes,” I said, yawning. “I’m tired. We should get ready for bed.” I climbed off his lap and walked toward the cottage.

“Hey, Emily,” Jake called. “So about this whole promiscuous act…”

“You thought I was promiscuous?”

He shuffled his feet nervously. “Well, yeah…uh, no…shit. Forget it.”

“Jake, I’m not a slut because once in my life I wanted to shag a hot stranger. Jesus. I do have morals.”

He smiled wide. “You think I’m hot?”

That’s all he got from what I said? Guess I’m not the only one with selective hearing.

…

Jake stood behind me, trailing his hands slowly down my arms as his stubble scoured my shoulder. His warm breath blew onto my neck. I felt his hard-on pressing into me from behind.

My hands shook, and though I closed my eyes, I was unable to concentrate. With his every touch, I vied for control of my senses. His hand-eye coordination was much better than mine, but that only comes with experience. And I didn’t have much.

“Maybe we should wait,” I whispered to Jake.

“Grab it, Emily.”

I wrapped my hand around it, feeling the textured ridges under my fingertips as my pulse raced. “Now what?”

“Open your eyes.”

Laughter escalated from behind us. I opened my eyes to toss Cowboy, Ox, and Judd a go-to-hell look.

“Ignore them,” Jake said. “Concentrate on the target.”

“I can’t concentrate when you’re this close.”

Jake’s cheek rose against mine. The jerk was smiling. I guess no one deemed this serious, except me. I stepped away, lowered the small .22 caliber pistol he had given me from his ankle holster, and gave him a withering stare.

Jake pulled out the 9mm semi-automatic pistol resting in his shoulder holster. “Want me to demonstrate again?” He pointed it at the hay-stuffed scarecrow he nailed up on the tree thirty-five yards away. I prepared for my body to flinch the way it did every time he pulled the trigger. For me, gunfire didn’t hold pleasant memories.

“Hold on, Jake.” Hank walked up and leaned against the wooden fence post. “I need you to drive to the feed store and pick up the order I called in.”

Jake stepped over to him and lowered his voice. “I can’t leave her alone that long. I’ll be too far away if something happens.”

Hank looked insulted. “What am I, chopped liver?”

“I’ll send the boys in my place. It’s going to take me all day to teach Emily how to shoot. We’ve been out here half an hour already, and I just now got her to hold the gun.”

“I’ll work with her while you’re gone,” Hank offered. “It’ll take an hour for you to get back. She’ll be shooting like a professional by then.”

“The boys won’t mind. They have nothing better to do.”

“I didn’t ask your opinion, Jake. That was an order.”

“But I—”

“Son, unless you want me to jam that 9mm of yours up your ass and kick off the handle, I suggest you get going.”

Jake knew better than to hang around any longer. He and the boys loaded into the pickup truck and shot down the driveway without another word. When Hank says jump, you shut your mouth and put your parachute on.

“Was there any particular reason you didn’t want Jake teaching me how to use a weapon?”

“Yep.”

I scowled at him. “It’s not one of those male bravado things about women shooting guns, is it?”