“Oh, Lord, she went and named him.” Cindy rolled her eyes.
Trisha ignored her burning feet to find her shoes. Jake quickly handed the animal to Tim.
“Are you hurt?” He watched her limp around the room searching.
“No,” Trisha lied. Finding her shoes, she sat on the end of her bed to put them on. Her lie was revealed when she hissed trying to put them on.
“Yes, you are.” Jake knelt, picking up her foot and giving it a hard look before turning the hard look on her. “Tim, take the raccoon. Hank, run up to the main house and get the first-aid kit.”
“I’m fine.” Trisha frowned, pulling her foot away.
“No, you’re not.” Jake grabbed it back. “You’re bleeding.”
Cindy bent over looking at her foot. “You ran out barefoot?”
“You’re lucky I grabbed my shorts.” Trisha snorted once again pulling her foot away from Jake.
“I wouldn’t say that.” Sam cocked an eyebrow staring at Trisha’s long legs.
Jake stood quickly, rounding on Sam. He towered over him a good three inches. “I suggest you find something to do that doesn’t involve being here.” Jake glared down at Sam and for the second time that day, he wanted to smash one of his employees.
“Hey, calm down.” Sam held his hands up wearing a cocky grin.
Jake didn’t say a word, his stance and stare said it all. Finally, Sam took the hint and walked outside.
“Cindy, get me a wet wash cloth, please,” Jake said, his focus back on Trisha.
“I can clean my own feet,” Trisha grumbled, getting up from the bed and hobbling to the bathroom. Shutting the door behind her, she sat on the toilet and lifted one foot up so she could look at it. There was a quick knock before the door opened. Jake filled the small bathroom.
“Sit on the edge of the tub and hang your feet over.” He sat a first-aid kit on the counter.
Trisha did as she was told, but grumbled some more. “Do you always boss everyone around?”
“Yes.”
“And does everyone do what you tell them?” She hissed when her cuts made contact with the warm water.
“Yes,” he again replied, focused on her feet.
He may be focused on her feet, but Trisha was focused on his smell, which was amazing, as well as the hard line of his muscles as they flexed while he worked on her feet. She finally snapped out of wanting to jump on him when he grabbed the Peroxide.
“This is going to sting.” His voice was deep and surrounded her completely in the small bathroom.
Yeah, no shit. She didn’t want to cry like a baby in front of him and she knew this was going to hurt badly. “I really don’t think I need any of that.” She lifted her feet out of the water, wiggling them back and forth. “They feel better already.”
Jake knelt on the bathroom floor next to her and looked her straight in the eyes, even with her perched on the bathtub. Without taking his eyes off her, he reached over, turned the water off, which brought his face closer to hers. She could see every golden speck in his dark brown eyes. Her head tilted without help from her brain; it just happened. His gaze broke, dropping to her lips. All the noises from outside the closed bathroom door, to the pain in her feet, were all forgotten when his lips met hers.
She had been kissed before, many times, but this was different. Jake McCabe could kiss like no other man had ever kissed her. The curl of her toes didn’t even hurt her injured feet, but it oddly made them cold. As the kiss deepened, her brain registered a dull stinging in her feet, but she ignored it as her arms went around his neck. The sound of a plastic bottle dropping against the porcelain barely fazed her as his arms wrapped around her, bringing her closer.
Pulling away from him to catch her breath was not easy. Both of them were breathing hard, his rough hands on her bare legs actually felt natural, as if they belonged there. Prying her eyes from his, she looked into the bathtub at the empty Peroxide bottle.
“Did you do that just to put Peroxide on my feet?” she whispered, glancing back at him.
“What Peroxide?” His grin tilted to one side in a sexy smile as he moved in for more.
A loud bang hit the bathroom door. “Shit,” Cindy said from the other side. “Who locked the damn door?”
Shocked, Trisha watched his grin grow as he winked at her. “Do you think she’ll go away?” he asked, hopefully. Trisha laughed with a shake of her head. With a sigh, he turned without getting up and unlocked the door. Cindy stood on the other side holding two cell phones.
“Haven’t you checked your phone since we’ve been here?” Cindy frowned, holding it up.
“No.” Trisha let Jake help her stand and step out of the tub.
“Well, you have over a hundred missed calls and tons of text messages.” Cindy ignored Trisha’s ‘shut up’ look. “And now he’s calling me.” She held up her phone.
“Who?” Jake stood, moving out of Trisha’s way.
“Her ex.” Cindy hissed when her phone began ringing again. “He must have received the restraining order and is pissed.”
Trisha was glad that everyone had left, except for Hank who was gathering the flashlight and shotgun. She snatched her phone out of Cindy’s hand. Glancing down at the display, she cursed even as her stomach tightened in the familiar knot of dread. She knew once the restraining order was issued, all hell would break loose, that was why Cindy got her out of Cincinnati.
“Why did you get a restraining order against this guy?” Jake asked, his voice no longer friendly. “Did he hit you?” With that question, his voice became deadly.
“Yeah, he did and—” Cindy started.
“Cindy!” Trisha glared at her, and then looked at Jake and Hank who both looked pissed. “Only once. That’s when I left him. When he wouldn’t leave me alone, I filed the restraining order.”
“What’s his name?” Jake asked. His eyes narrowed as his shoulders flexed.
“Why?” Trisha looked confused.
“As I’m kicking someone’s ass, I’d like to know the man’s name,” Jake sneered. “Makes it more personal.”
“I don’t think you’ll get a chance to do that.” Trisha grinned at the thought of Doug getting his ass kicked by Jake. “Even though he has his connections, we’ll be back home before he finds out where we are, and hopefully, he’ll have calmed down.”
“I hope he does come here.” Hank nodded, his smile sinister. “We have something called Texas Justice against bastards like him. We don’t tolerate women being hit by men.”
Jake nodded in agreement as he headed for the door, but stopped, cupping her chin and lifting her face to his. “Especially you,” he whispered for her ears only.
Chapter Eight
Ever since the night of the raccoon fiasco and Jake finding out about Doug, she hadn’t seen much of him. They had been there for over a week and all she could think about was Jake. It was driving her insane. Tim informed them that morning that Jake had to take care of some rodeo business off the ranch all day, and for them to head to the main house to help their mother get things set up for the crowds coming next week for the rodeo. Maggie was a treat to be around and loved talking about her boys. She found out so much about Jake; she smiled at the memory. Her stomach flipped excitedly as another memory popped into her mind of Jake’s parting words to her that night. ‘Especially you.’ But since that time, he hadn’t acted on anything at all, puzzling her something crazy.
Despite her ruling out men, she knew she was only fooling herself. Jake was different. There was an immediate connection there. While Doug always made her nervous, making her afraid to do something wrong, Jake did not. With Jake, she felt comfortable, like anything she said or did would be okay with him. She’d already made a fool of herself in front of him and he was still talking to her, even kissed her. Once again, her stomach tightened as her heart fluttered at the memory.
Taking the steps two at a time to their cabin, she walked in. Cindy stood in front of the mirror admiring herself. S
he had left early to get ready for her date with Sam. She walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. “So you finally got your date with Sam, huh?”
“Yes. Jake has been keeping Sam off the ranch with a bunch of rodeo business, but he finally had a night free.” Cindy twirled this way and that. “Does this dress look okay?”
Trisha looked at the simple black summer dress and smiled with a snort. “Cindy, anything looks good on you. You could wear a brown sack and still look amazing.” Trisha gave her a teasing narrowed eye stare. “I should really hate you for that.”
“You could never hate me.” Cindy did the duck lip face in the mirror before spinning toward Trisha, getting a good look at her. “You are a dirty mess. Are you sure you’re going to be okay here all by yourself?”
Trisha agreed; she was a dirty mess. Planting flowers and carrying bags of potting soil wasn’t clean work, not that Cindy would know anything about that. She ignored Cindy’s assessment. “I’ll be fine, Mom.” Trisha rolled her eyes. “Is Sam picking you up here?”
Just as she asked, there was a knock at their door. Excited, Cindy headed toward the door, fixing her hair on the way. Taking a deep breath, she opened it. “Hey, Sam.” Cindy smiled, making room for him to step in. “Let me get my purse.”
“Damn, woman. I’ll be fighting the men off you.” Sam watched Cindy’s ass as she collected her purse, then spotted Trisha sitting on the bed. “Looks like you had a fight with dirt and lost.” He gazed up and down her body slowly. His heated perusal made her uncomfortable, putting her on edge.
“I’ll see you later.” Cindy went to hug Trisha, but stopped. “Girl, you are a mess.”
“I’ll shower.” Trisha chuckled. “Have a good time,” she called out, her increasing dislike of Sam growing.
After a long hot shower, Trisha sat in the middle of the bed, her phone in front of her. Despite being turned off, she knew not even that would stop Doug from calling. With a sigh, she snatched it up, turning it on. Before she could even look at the messages, someone knocked on her door. Tossing it on the bed, she went and opened it.
Jake stood there, leaning against the doorframe. “You shouldn’t just open your door without asking who it is.”
“Since it was unlocked, I don’t think that matters.” Trisha smiled.
“Keep your door locked,” he ordered, looking behind her. “Where’s Cindy?”
“She had a date with Sam.” Trisha wrinkled her nose.
Jake frowned and then straightened from the doorframe. “Would you like to have dinner?”
“Sure.” Trisha smiled, walking outside, shutting the door behind her. “I was just getting ready to head that way.”
“No, I mean with me.” Jake adjusted his cowboy hat.
“Oh, okay.” She nodded, pleasantly surprised. “I would love to.”
He settled his hat low over his eyes looking down at her. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, you’re going to ruin my plans for a nice dinner, and instead, I’m going to start with dessert.” He bent down, kissing her lips softly. Taking her hand, he led her around the side of the cabin where a beautiful black horse stood, munching on the flowers growing around the border.
“Spirit, you’re going to get me in trouble,” Jake scolded as the horse looked up and nickered loudly.
“Ah, are you tired?” Trisha eyed the huge horse. “I can meet you at the—”
Jake laughed loudly. “No, I’m not tired and that’s not where we’re going.”
“Don’t you have a truck or something?” Trisha watched as he expertly hopped on the horse, then he held his hand out to her.
“Yes, I have a truck.” He stared down at her, his lips tipped with a sexy grin. “But I would love to have you ride in front of me. Trust me.”
She looked at his hand, then back to his eyes. In that moment, she realized she really did trust him. While it shocked her, it also filled her with relief. Doug had not ruined her. Taking his hand without another thought, she let him pull her up in front of him. His strong arm wrapped around her stomach, pulling her back against him. She heard him take a deep breath.
“You smell good,” he whispered in her ear as he tugged the reins, leading the horse away from the cabin.
Trisha enjoyed the ride. Not only did she enjoy the beautiful scenery, but the man behind her felt right against her back. Her mind went quickly to her and Cindy’s departure from the ranch and knew this wouldn’t last, but dammit, she was going to enjoy every single minute. After a short while riding, he turned off the path and headed through a thick wooded area. Suddenly, they broke through into a beautiful field with a small pond. Jake dismounted with ease then reached up for her.
Trisha looked around in awe. “It’s beautiful.” She looked away from the scenery to him and then held out her arms for him to help her down.
“Yes, you are,” Jake answered as he pulled her off the horse and slowly slid her down his body to the ground.
Being held close to him was delicious. It had been so long since she had been held and looked at like this; it felt good. Memories of Doug started to shift into her mind, but she pushed them back. She would not let that bastard ruin this. She was going to live her life the way she wanted, not the way he wanted. Jake brought her out of her thoughts by cupping her chin with his large hand.
“I want to erase that sadness from your eyes.” His masculine voice soothed her soul.
“I’m not sad,” she assured him, reaching up and cupping the hand holding her chin.
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Okay, let me rephrase that.” He kissed her lips gently. “I am going to erase him from your memories.”
Not knowing exactly how she felt about him knowing she was thinking of Doug at that moment, Trisha tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. “It’s just…”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Trisha.” Jake pulled her closer to him. “I don’t care about the son of a bitch, but I will tell you if I ever meet up with him, he’s a dead man.”
“I don’t have feelings for him,” Trisha said, wanting to make her emotions clear.
A grin tipped his lips. “Good to know.” Jake took off his hat and placed it behind her on Spirit’s saddle. “You want to swim first or eat?”
“Swim?” Her eyes widened as she looked around him to the small pond. “I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”
He cocked an eyebrow at that. “Neither did I.”
Oh, holy hell! After that statement, her appetite vanished, or at least her appetite for food. “Ah…” was the only thing she could muster.
He chuckled, taking her hand and leading her toward a large tree. “We’ll eat first and then if it’s still warm, we’ll go for a swim.”
All Trisha could do was nod as she sat on a large boulder before she crumbled at his feet. She watched as he worked quickly building a fire, spread a large quilt next to it and then brought a cooler out from behind a large bush. “What if I would have said no?” She grinned, amazed at how well thought out everything was.
Jake cocked an eyebrow at her over his shoulder. “I would have convinced you,” he replied with a wink.
Overly confident men usually turned her off, or so she thought. Jake seemed different with his confidence. As if it would have been worth her while to say no just so he could convince her otherwise. Shaking her head at that weird thought, she kept her mouth closed as he held her hand, leading her closer to the fire.
She sat on the quilt he’d spread as he sat across from her. Pulling a container out of the cooler, he lifted the lid and the aroma of fried chicken filled her senses.
“Beer or water?” he asked, pulling out a beer, but looked to her for an answer.
“Water.” She smiled, wishing she could have said beer, but she had a strong feeling she needed to keep her wits about her. Her eyes scanned down his handsome face to a body that promised many temptations. Maybe she should have said a beer, but before she could change her mind, he spoke.
“So, Trisha
Summers, tell me about yourself.” Jake handed her a piece of chicken before biting into a piece of his own.
Trisha shrugged. “Not much to tell. Nothing as exciting as being a rodeo star and running a ranch.”
Jake snorted. “I’m no rodeo star. Who you been talking to?”
“Jeb.” Trisha laughed.
Shaking his head, he grabbed another piece of chicken. “I swear he’s worse than a bunch of old women with all his gossiping.”
“He thinks the world of you and your brother,” Trisha added.
“But he talks too much,” Jake grumbled with a fond smile. “Enough with that. Now about you. What do you do when you’re not signing up to work on a dude ranch?”
“I teach high school history.” She picked at her chicken.
Jake whistled low. “Why in the hell didn’t I have teachers who looked like you when I was in high school?” His eyes roamed her face intimately, causing her to flush. “I would have paid better attention and gotten better grades, that’s for sure.”
“So you’re telling me you were a bad student?” she teased, trying to take the focus off herself.
“Let’s just say being stuck in a classroom all day wasn’t something I looked forward to.” He grinned then looked around. “I was made to be outdoors.”
Nodding, Trisha agreed. Even though she didn’t know him all that well, she knew he spoke the truth. “So are you participating in the rodeo?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Although he looked more relaxed as they sat talking, she could see the excitement in his eyes. “I’ll be bull riding. It holds the biggest purse.”
Trisha shivered. She had seen bull riding on television and wondered if she’d even be able to watch. She didn’t even know the guys riding the massive bulls on television and had to look away most of the time. Now personally knowing someone was a whole different story.
“What?” He laughed at her shiver. “Worried about me?”
“Well, of course I am.” She frowned. “It’s dangerous.”
“So is getting in my truck and driving down the road,” he replied, finishing off another piece of chicken.