Rules of Protection(51)

He grabbed the gun from my hand and shoved it into the waistband of my shorts. “Keep this somewhere accessible in case you need it.”

I didn’t like the feeling of a loaded weapon pointed at my crotch. At least not one of the metal variety. “You think my pants are accessible?”

“For the gun, no. For me? Oh, yeah.” He grinned, then walked over and handed Hank fifty dollars from his back pocket.

Hank pocketed his money. “As lucky as that girl is, we should take her with us in the morning.”

Jake gave him a yeah, right look. “Emily? Hunting? You’re kidding, right?”

His comment bugged the crap out of me. It was bad enough he’d called me promiscuous. He was lucky I didn’t shoot him for that alone. Now, I had a good mind to pistol whip the bastard. No need, though. Jake had given me all the ammo I needed to get even. So he doesn’t want me to go hunting and thinks my pants are accessible, huh?

We’ll see about that.

…

Jake slid under the covers. “You’re not going. End of discussion.”

“I am going. Hank said I could.”

“And how did you talk him into that?”

“By winning him two hundred dollars in your stupid bet. Guess he felt like he owed me. What does it matter? You said yourself that you should be close by if something happens.”

“I’m not going to be far,” Jake said. “Floss will be here, and she knows how to shoot a gun. Besides, no one will find you here. It’s the last place they’d look. You’re safe here.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“You’re still not going,” Jake said, glaring at me.

“We’ll see what Hank says about that. Of course, it might hurt when he kicks the handle off your gun while it’s in your ass.”

Jake clenched his teeth. “Stop being pigheaded. Why would you want to go sit in a deer blind? It’s not going to be any fun.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said with a wicked grin. I was having lots of fun annoying the hell out of Jake right now. “Besides, it’ll break up the monotony.”

“Are you going just to irritate me?”

“Who, me?”

Jake looked exasperated. “You’re getting even with me about earlier today.”

Before he could catch me smiling, I rolled away from him and flipped off the bedside lamp, plunging us into total darkness. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You’re going to get cold and end up snuggled up to me in the middle of the night. Might as well come over here now.”

My heart skipped a beat, but I stayed put. “No thanks.”

“Want me to spoon with you instead?”

I held the mattress in a death grip, forcing myself to stay on my own side of the bed. My attempts at torturing Jake had mixed results. I needed to rewire my own brain to alter its responses to him if I was going to have any luck driving him crazy.

“That’s okay. I’m fine,” I lied.

Jake sat upright in bed. “Okay, what’s wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m waiting for one of your snide sexual remarks.”

“Too tired. Plus, we have to get up in a few hours. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll feel up to it.”

I couldn’t see him, but I imagined him glaring at the back of my head with brows furrowed into the bridge of his nose and his mouth tightened into a thin straight line. If anything, his silence reeked of confusion. It surprised me how fast he gave up and lay back down.

After admitting he cared for me, I was positive he’d become the sexual aggressor. I hadn’t counted on Jake’s resilience and patience, as well as my lack thereof. To drive him bonkers, I’d have to rethink my strategy and start baiting him to keep him involved, like a sexual game of tag.

“Oh, Jake…” I paused for a moment. “Did I ever tell you I don’t have a gag reflex?”

He groaned. “Damn it, Emily. You make it hard to be a gentleman sometimes.”

Gotcha! You’re it.





Chapter Eleven

Okay, maybe it wasn’t such a great idea after all. What moron gets up at five o’clock in the morning to go hunting? Me, that’s who. And I only did it to get Jake’s goat. If I was smart, I would’ve let him keep his damn goat and gone back to bed.

“That’s not camouflage,” Jake said.

I looked down at the T-shirt I got from Junior’s daughter. “What do you mean?”

“It’s pink.”

“So. It still has the same pattern as your shirt does.”

“Yeah, but mine is the color of dirt and leaves. Only thing you’re going to blend in with is a piece of bubble gum. Here, wear this.” Jake peeled off the long sleeve camouflage shirt he wore over a black T-shirt. He put it on me as his uncle came out of the house.

I pointed to Hank’s bright orange hat. “Why does he get to wear color, and I don’t?”

Jake glanced over at his uncle and shook his head. “Because his hat is that color for safety reasons. He won’t get mistaken for an animal and accidentally shot walking through the woods.”

I slid Jake’s shirt off and tossed it back to him. “Well, unless someone is hunting bubble gum, then I should be fairly safe.”