Rules of Protection (Tangled in Texas) (Volume 1)

by Alison Bliss

  “All right. Well, some people around here believe in voodoo.”

  Just what I need. Something else that gives me nightmares. “Never mind. You’re right. I don’t want to know.”

  We drove silently while I tried to erase the disgusting skeletal creatures from my mind. Darkness crept forward and encompassed everything around us. I had no idea where we were until Jake pulled out onto the highway. Junior’s Diner was on this same highway, so chances were good that Jake was taking me to dinner. Junior would love that since I made such a lovely scene in the bathroom the last time I visited his place.

  Jake slowed and turned his blinker on, but he passed the diner, pulled into the Dairy Queen parking lot, and got in line at the drive-through. I didn’t understand what he was doing, so I held off on reacting. Something must’ve got lost in translation. I was still trying to connect the dots when we arrived at the microphone.

  Jake leaned out his window. “Two small vanilla cones,” he said into the speaker.

  Too stumped for words, my lips couldn’t form any clear communication. My face began to feel hot. I rolled down the passenger window to let the cool night air in and closed my eyes. This couldn’t be real. Somehow, I had convinced myself Jake was taking me on a romantic outing, but all he had planned was ice cream at the Dairy Queen drive-through. Talk about an insulting buzzkill.

  As if that wasn’t bad enough, he didn’t even ask me which flavor I wanted. He assumed I’d take whatever he’d give me and be happy with it. Don’t know why I was surprised. He’d been doing it since I met him.

  Jake pulled around to the other side of the building where the window was. The car in front must’ve gotten ice cream as well because they’d already pulled away. The freckle-faced teenage girl at the window smiled flirtatiously at Jake as he handed her a ten-dollar bill. She handed him his change and some extra napkins. A plump, older woman walked over with two vanilla cones and handed them to the teen.

  She passed the first ice cream cone out the window to Jake. Then Jake passed it to me. And, with no hesitation, I passed it right out my passenger window. It splattered on the pavement, cone and all.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Jake asked.

  “Maybe I preferred chocolate, you prick!”

  “If you wanted chocolate, all you had to do was say something.”

  “I didn’t want…never mind. Just forget it.” With that, I opened my door and got out of the Explorer, noticing two other vehicles had pulled up in line behind us.

  Jake was genuinely confused. “What’s your problem?”

  “This is where you chose to take me? Seriously?”

  “What’s wrong with Dairy Queen?”

  “Nothing!” I marched toward Junior’s Diner with my feathers more ruffled than before.

  I could hear the people in the other cars laughing as Jake pulled out of the drive-through line, parked, and got out. “What are you whining about now?” he asked.

  “Whining about?” I said, spinning on my heels and pacing back in his direction. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Emily, you’re making a scene.”

  “Well, you might be in for one hell of a shock, but I don’t fucking care!”

  “I don’t get it. You didn’t throw a tantrum last night.”

  “Because I didn’t know where you were taking me last night!”

  “I didn’t, either,” Jake said. “Is that why you’re so pissed?”

  “God. All you men are liars!”

  A trashy-looking woman from one of the drive-through cars hung out her window and shouted, “You tell him, girl!”

  “Hey, women lie, too, and not always on their backs,” a young man yelled from the other car in the drive-through, then followed it with animated laugh.

  Jake’s steely gaze bore into mine. “Are you done being hysterical yet?” he asked in a low, rough voice.

  “Not. Even. Close.” I squeezed past him and walked between two parked cars.

  Jake followed, not allowing me to escape his field of vision. He was thoroughly pissed off. “You know, I wondered when the next storm would hit,” he said angrily. “We should have named you Hurricane Emily. It’s more fitting.”

  “Sure, Jake. Throw more gas on the fire.”

  “You know what your problem is? I’ll tell you. You’re an overindulged, entitled baby who is prone to outbursts and too wrapped up in yourself to care about anybody else.”

  The woman from the drive-through car yelled, “Honey, I wouldn’t take that shit.”

  The young man in the other car didn’t appreciate the woman’s comment and honked his horn. “Hey, bitch, why don’t you shut your pie hole and mind your own business?”

  “Look who’s talking, jackass!” the woman hollered back.

  Jake shook his head. “Jesus Christ. Are you trying to start a riot?

  “Now it’s my fault the people in the drive-through are arguing? I guess everything’s my fault, right?”

  Jake grabbed my arm. “We need to go before someone calls the cops.”

  I shook him off and tilted my chin up. “Let them. I’d rather be arrested, handcuffed, and loaded in the back of a cruiser than to get in the vehicle with you again.”

  He glanced around and lowered his voice to a whisper. “If they run your fingerprints, you’ll be put in the system and Felts will find you.”

  His attempt at forcing me to maintain a healthy perspective didn’t work. I was too far gone and still lashing out. “What do you care, anyway? You’d be rid of my overindulged, entitled ass.”

  “Emily, get in the car.”

  “There you go, telling me what to do. What are you going to do if I don’t…kidnap me again?” I stood there with crossed arms, tapping my foot, and watching anger flicker like fire in his eyes.

  “Would you knock it off, you spoiled little…” He stopped himself from continuing his train of thought.

  I didn’t care. That got my blood pumping, coursing through my veins at the speed of light. I had to get away from him before I punched him. “Oh, I give up!” I tried to step around him, but he blocked me from leaving.

  “No, that’s exactly your problem,” Jake said, his nostrils flaring. “You don’t give up. Ever. In fact, you don’t ever shut up, either.”

  Don’t do it. Don’t say— “It’s not my fault the average intelligence level around here is a big whopping three. I didn’t ask to be held captive in Hicksville or for us to sit around playing Duck, Duck, Goose, either. If all of you want to sit around licking windows and eating crayons with googly eyes and missing teeth, then be my guest. My ass will be on the next bus back to Chicago.” Damn, I said it.

  Looking into Jake’s eyes, I knew our unpleasant battle of wills had become more personal than I meant it to. Me and my big mouth. His body swelled with rage as I pushed him to his breaking point.

  “Get back in the car,” he growled.

  I couldn’t move my feet. Regretting my words, I wanted to apologize, but didn’t know how. He regarded it as a sign of rebellion and snapped.

  Jake gripped my arm, making me yelp, and manhandled me toward the Explorer. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Junior standing under a security light in the parking lot of his diner, watching the entire scene. He grinned at me and stepped back into the shadows.

  “That’s right, bubba,” the young man in the drive-through yelled out. “You show that bitch who’s the boss!”

  Jake glared at him. “Shut up, dick!”

  …

  He was silent on the way home, spending half the drive gripping the steering wheel with such pressure I was sure he’d break his knuckles.

  A hard lump formed in my throat, forcing me to choke on any words of apology that wanted to make their presence known. I shouldn’t have let things get so out of hand. I felt terrible about implying his friends and family were uneducated hicks, especially since they’d been nothing but kind to me. He was never going to forgive me. It would serve me right if he abandoned me
on the side of the road.

  Jake pulled off onto the shoulder and stopped the car. Oh, shit. Was that what he was doing?

  “Stay here,” Jake ordered, his voice calmer than before.

  I nodded and stared out the window. Jake walked around the back of the Explorer, crossed the ditch, and disappeared into the forest. He probably planned on leaving me here alone and never coming back. I’d never be able to find my way back to his uncle’s house on my own. Hell, I’d be lucky if I made it back to the highway.

  A minute later, Jake stepped out of the trees and walked back to the car. Once he got back in, I asked him, “Checking to see if someone followed us?”

  “No, I took a leak.”

  “Oh.”

  He let his eyes rest on me for a moment. “I want to talk about what happened before we get home.”

  “Jake, I don’t want to fight.” I propped my head against the seat. “I’m sorry about what I said, all of it. I didn’t mean any of it, and I don’t know why I reacted poorly. I just thought—”

  “You thought this was a date.” He didn’t form it as a question.

  My cheeks felt feverish as the embarrassment and fear of rejection pressed forward, but I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t bring myself to admit I read into it more than he did.

  “I didn’t understand why you were mad, but it’s because you weren’t mad,” Jake said sympathetically. “You were hurt.”

  I didn’t want him to know how foolish I felt. “No, I was mad.”

  “No, Emily, you got hurt and that is what made you mad. There’s a difference. You don’t lie down and die when you get hurt like most people. You come out swinging.” He smiled and his eyes glittered in the darkness. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I care about—”

  My head snapped toward him. “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

  He reached for my hand and pulled it into his. “Damn it, Emily, I do care. As much as I don’t want to, I do.” He gazed deeply into my eyes. “You infuriate me more than anyone ever has, but for some strange reason, I keep coming back for more.”

  I shook my head. “Jake, do you expect me to believe that? You left me in the pond to get eaten by Charlie.”

  “He wasn’t going to eat you. I wouldn’t have let it happen. If I thought for one second you were in any danger, I would’ve gotten you out.”

  Jake sounded sincere, but I still had to wonder. “You also said it didn’t bother you that Cowboy hit on me.”

  “It doesn’t.” Jake chuckled at my puzzled expression. “Look, it’s the way he is. I’m used to it. He’s a womanizer, but he’s one of my best friends. I trust him. Even if I didn’t, he doesn’t want to get into a pissing match with me because he knows he’d lose. Besides, I trust you. Though we haven’t labeled this thing between us, I think our intentions are clear.”

  “And Bobbie Jo?”

  Now it was his turn to look puzzled. “What about her?”

  “Cowboy said you two dated in high school.”

  “That was a long time ago. We’re just friends now.”

  “But you took her virginity.”

  His head snapped back to me, surprised I knew as much. “Yes. And she took mine. So what?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not a virgin, Jake.”

  He lifted his eyebrows at me. “Good thing, because I’m not either.”

  “Very funny. I’m being serious here. She gave you something…well, I can’t give you that. I’m sure it still means something.”

  Jake coiled his fingers around mine and squeezed. “Look, two virgins having sex—when neither knew what they were doing—was awkward and clumsy, not romantic. Trust me, it’s an experience I’d love to forget, not repeat.”

  “I think some people have a different view on those things,” I said. “Women, especially. They don’t forget their first time.”

  “So should I worry about the guy who took your virginity?”

  “Oh God, no,” I said with disgust. “Don’t be silly.”

  He ruffled my hair on top of my head, like I was a child. “We’ll talk more later. We need to get back to the house. Floss is saving dinner for us.”

  Jake let go of my hand and shifted the car into drive. I rested my hand in my lap, but he reached for it again. He held it as he drove us home.

  “I’m going to go to bed earlier from now on,” Jake said, grinning. “Fighting with you is exhausting.”

  Chapter Ten

  After dinner, Hank and Floss invited us to sit with them downstairs around the fire. I thought they had more trash to burn, but was pleasantly surprised when Hank lit a fire using actual logs from a dead tree Jake had cut down earlier in the day.

  “So, Emily,” Hank began, “What’d you think of dinner?”

  I smiled. “It was…interesting. When Jake said we were having pie for dinner, I thought I’d died and went to heaven.”

  “I didn’t say pie, I said Frito pie. You have selective hearing,” Jake said.

  The memory of Floss slicing down the side of a grab bag of corn chips, then adding canned chili, grated cheese, and diced onions was comical. Jake had handed me a spoon and the meal-in-a-bag and said, “Don’t make that face. Try it. You’ll see.” He’s lucky I’m adventurous, and I’m lucky it tasted better than it looked.

  “I’ll never look at a bag of Fritos the same way,” I told them.

  Floss reached into a paper bag she had brought with her from the house. “Ready for dessert?”

  “Is it pie?” I asked, making them chuckle.

  “Roasted marshmallows,” Floss said, turning her attention to her husband. “Hank, we need some utensils.”

  “I’m on it,” he responded.

  Hank walked around, his eyes searching the ground, until he found four long, thin branches. He returned to his chair, flipped open his pocketknife, and scraped the bark off the end of each stick. Then he passed them out.

  Jake put a large marshmallow on the end of my stick for me. “You know how to do it?”

  “Is there a trick to it?”

  “Depends on how you want it. Slightly warm or scorching hot?”

  I leaned toward him and whispered, “Are we still talking about marshmallows?”

  He grinned as he turned his marshmallow in the flame, caught it on fire, then brought it to his lips to blow it out. “With you? Somehow I doubt it.”

  A while later, Hank and Floss retreated upstairs, leaving Jake and I to finish off the bag of marshmallows.

  I held my stick out over the fire and watched the flames lick the underside until a hot flash caught hold and wilted my marshmallow into a black, boiling blob. Quickly, I vanquished the flame with my breath, but continued to blow on it to cool it down. Jake watched as I pulled the blackened marshmallow off the end of my stick, held it between two fingers, and took a bite. It was hot and gooey on the inside and melted onto my fingers. I licked the white ooze from my sticky lips.

  He watched. He waited. Hell, I think he jotted down mental notes. “Are you enjoying yourself?” Jake asked, uncomfortably readjusting his sitting position.

  “Mmmm.” The sound effect was more for him than the marshmallow. “Uh-huh.”

  His smile melted me, as if he had skewered me and held me over an open flame. “Keep poking the bear, and one day the bear is going to poke back,” he warned.

  “I’m counting on it.”

  With a giggle, I rose to throw my stick into the fire and caught a glimpse of something in the back pasture. Hundreds of emerald-green twinkling lights danced around a wooded-themed ballroom made up of shadowy trees and glistening pond algae. I watched in amazement as the uninvited guests danced around the forest floor uninterrupted.

  “Ready to go inside?” Jake asked.

  “Not yet. Just a few more minutes. I’m watching the fireflies light up the pasture. They’re different from the ones in the Midwest.”

  “Southerners usually call them lightning bugs.”

  “Well, it comes to my attention your lig
htning bugs have asses that glow green, whereas our fireflies glow yellow. Strange, huh?”

  “I’d rather have your attention elsewhere at the moment.” Jake grabbed my waist and pulled me into his lap.

  “Well, well. What brought this on? You’re awfully playful tonight. I should fight with you more often.”

  He tightened his grip and rested his head against mine. “I’ve wanted to hold you like this for a while now. Is that all right?”

  “Just an observation. I’m not complaining.”

  The fire dwindled on its own, though I barely noticed anything other than Jake holding me in his arms, stroking my hair lightly between his fingers. It should’ve been pleasant. It was pleasant. But part of me wanted him to stop, and I didn’t know why. Then it hit me.

  My vision blurred, misting over with sorrow. I turned my head away to keep him from seeing the tears, but it was too late. He placed one finger under my chin, gently coaxing my face back to his. “What’s wrong?”

  I couldn’t talk. I didn’t even try to, which worried Jake more. I buried my face into his shoulder. Sobs exploded from my chest, shaking me from the inside out.

  Alarmed by my sudden crying jag, Jake’s body tensed under mine. He held me, rubbing my back with gentle, soothing hands. “Emily…?”

  I clutched at his shoulders, holding myself closer, as I got myself under control. “I-I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Jake pushed a strand of my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. “Tell me why you’re upset. Is it about earlier?”

  If I could’ve folded myself up small enough, I would’ve crawled into his pocket to hide from the embarrassment. I blew out a deep breath. “No. It’s…how you’re holding me. It reminded me of…someone else.”

  Hurt and anger flashed in his eyes. “Who?”

  “The last man who held me…” I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice even. “He wrapped me in his arms and had these big hands that stroked across the back of my hair…”

  “I don’t want to hear about you with some other guy.”

  “No, you don’t understand, Jake. He was a grown man, and I was only fourteen.”

  “Fourteen? Are you saying he raped—”

  “Oh God, no! Nothing like that. Nothing sexual about it.”