Page 20 of Her Rugged Guardian

“Oh, heavens no, at least not at first.” She laughed as if I should know all this.

Okay, I’d continue biting. “Then what did he do?”

“Became a firefighter. Did all the training and everything and let me tell you the odds were against him since his leg was like a dead stick for a long time. But he persevered, determined to make the cut. Best thing for him, at least at the time. It’s funny how karma always comes back to bite the poor guy.” She sighed, looking all pitiful.

“He’s a firefighter too?”

The shadow crossing her face was in direct contrast to her expressions from before. “No, sugar, and don’t you dare talk about what happened the night of the big fire to the man. Such a tragedy. So sad. He’ll blow up if you do and you don’t want to see him angry. Lordy, no, you don’t. The last time someone asked, Jake almost landed in jail. It’s a good thing one of his buddies is the sheriff. Anyway, the poor thing lost almost everything these past few years. Started when he was a kid too. Who knew someone so talented could have a black cloud hanging over his head. Such a shame. Now his baby brother has taken Jake’s glory. I’m sure he’s not happy about that.”

O-kay. Wow. Now I didn’t want to hear anything else. And I certainly had no plans on telling her the real reason I’d left DC. I’d be on a most wanted bulletin if I did. “Well, I need to get back to my fur baby. He’s not used to staying alone in a strange place for too long.”

“You have a dog?”

“Yep, Moose. He’s my baby.”

“Well, you’re welcome to bring him to the diner anytime. We love our animals around here. Just tell Becca, that’s my daughter, I sent you. And the first meal is on the house as a welcome to the neighborhood.”

“That’s very sweet of you. I’ll stop by when I get a chance.”

“You do that, sugar. Just so you know. If you want to get on Jake’s good side, he loved your mama’s chocolate cupcakes. He’s a sucker for anything chocolate.” She winked as if knowing I needed to extend some kind of olive branch.

As she walked away, I bit my lower lip. I wasn’t the kind of girl to issue apologies. That’s something I’d never been good at, which my mother had reminded me of often. Maybe I could do so with bakery goods.

Of course, that would be if I didn’t poison him by doing so. Maybe I’d grab a few more items just in case I gathered the courage to turn on the oven.

After paying for the groceries, I headed outside to my car. And in those fleeting moments as I unpacked the cart, the skin on the back of my neck began to crawl. Very slowly, I turned my head from one side to the other, half expecting Jake to be standing twenty feet away, ready to accuse me of following himor something. There was nothing other than shoppers coming and going, a few chatting with friends and family members.

I licked my lips, closing the back door and gripping the handles of the cart, telling myself I was being silly. Yet as I pushed it into the cart corral, I couldn’t get over the feeling I was being watched.

And it scared me to death.

CHAPTER 6

Jake

A beautiful blizzard.

That’s what it felt like as the fiery vixen took long strides in tall heels toward me, hissing the moment she was forced to step onto the soft grass. With the wind blowing through her hair, she reminded me of a siren, and tall tales of sailors in the Pacific being lured to their deaths.

Of course, the analogy was ridiculous, but I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off her, forced to admit that she’d grabbed my attention more than any woman had in a very long time. The girl was way overdressed, but that also was a breath of fresh air.

I’d tried to get her out of my mind, but it had been next to impossible. She’d peeled away a layer than had been securely driven into place years before. I didn’t like it one bit, which yanked further at my resolve. God knew I didn’t need any complications from hungering for a woman. I’d fucked a stranger or two in my life, but being she lived next door, I’d beforced to see her far too often. That would lead to issues that I didn’t need in my life.

It was best to make her hate me.

She stormed in my direction and I wiped my hands on my jeans, waiting for the firestorm to hit. It took about two seconds.

“You changed my fucking locks?” Cassandra demanded.

“Yep.” The sound of her angry voice brought another wave of amusement. She was the kind of woman I didn’t mind fucking with. However, changing the locks was all about the fact the protector side in me had been dragged to the surface. I’d tried to discover additional details about the murder Bart had mentioned, but there was nothing in the news. I knelt on the edge of the roof, peering down at her. Jesus. I should have guessed she’d be wearing a skirt and heels, which didn’t fit Depoe Bay in the least.

She was definitely a city slicker.

“Why?”

“Because they needed to be. Someone could easily break in.”

She stomped her feet, staring up at me as if ready to climb the ladder, slapping the other side of my face. I kind of wanted to watch her make an attempt to do that in her tall heels, shoes that accentuated every curve of her long legs. Images of the pencil thin skirt riding up her legs made my mouth water. I could envision sliding her lacy thong to the side, thrusting all four fingers deep into her wet pussy. What the hell was I doing? I couldn’t be attracted to the woman. She was bad news all the way around. We’d never be able to get along and that was just fine by me.

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