Page 23 of Her Rugged Guardian

Great. I’d been reduced to making ridiculous and very corny analogies. Maybe it was the salt air making me crazy.

“I don’t know, baby. What do you think?” After icing the last cupcake, I glared down at the plate trying to remember the last time I’d dared attempt making anything in the kitchen other than boxed meals. I was damn good at setting the oven temperature right. Sadly, that was about it.

While Moose’s tail thumped against the floor, the way he was peering up at me with his huge chocolate brown eyes was telling, his whine forcing me to roll my eyes.

“I know. You’re right. They suck.”

He looked down, covering his face with one paw. Great.

“Where’s your support when I need it?”

The cupcakes would never win a baking contest. However, I’d followed the recipe to the letter. Then why did they look a little sunken in the middle? It was nothing additional icing couldn’t cure. I grabbed the spatula, noticing I had more icing on my hands than on the kitchen implement. I slapped another scoop of icing on the last and worst-looking one then pushed the plate aside.

After rinsing my hands, I yanked the kitchen towel I’d found in one of the drawers, making faces from the stickiness remaining on my hands.

A huge and very loud rumble of thunder made Moose whimper and I jumped. The rain was coming down in torrents, pelting against the windows. When I noticed a huge flash of lightning, I thought about Jake. There was no way he was still on the roof. If so, he was a crazy man.

“Let’s go see, buddy.” I barely made it out of the kitchen when I heard a loud pounding on the front door. While I wanted tomake peace with the man, he had to understand that I simply couldn’t afford his services. Plus, we would never get along. He was surly and didn’t like me very much.

Okay, so the feeling was mutual. Well, kind of. No one had ever made me so infuriated in my life.

Exhaling, I smoothed my hands down the red apron I’d found, padding toward the front door. I threw open the door, ready to launch into the man again.

But seeing him standing on my front porch completely drenched pulled at something other than anger. I couldn’t help allowing my eyes to fall down his muscular chest, the wet material clinging to his six-pack abs and carved lines. Holy shit, the man was built.

“Can I help you?” Okay, being tongue tied around him was getting ridiculous.

“You wanted to talk, so talk,” Jake stated in his usual commanding way. He stood with his arms to the sides, his hands fisted as if furious I’d interrupted his schedule. But it wasn’t his stance that bothered me at all. No, it was the way his eyes had locked onto mine, as if searching for and finding my soul. Now he was ready to rip it apart. His anger was overblown, as if I’d pissed in his Wheaties instead of challenging his handiwork. For several reasons, I was uncertain I wanted him inside my house.

He might render me unconscious or worse. Not that I blamed him given the constant battles between us.

“You’re wet.”

“Good observation skills.”

Woof. Woof!

Moose bounded from the kitchen, running so fast he skidded as he reached the front door. My pup never acted this way. Not with any UPS man or even the delivery person from my old local Chinese restaurant where I knew they’d placed my picture on their wall denoting I was their number one customer.

What I witnessed was touching, yet irritating, but something miraculous happened. The man melted, and not from rainwater. He crouched down, a huge smile crossing his face. “I got something for you, buddy. You ready?”

I was blown away when he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a now soggy dog treat. You would have thought the sun rose and set on the man according to my pup by the intensity of my dog’s whine of happiness. Mr. Grinch teased him, pulling the bone away then laughing. He repeated the action until Moose planted his huge front paws on Jake’s knees, pushing the man onto his ass.

His perfectly chiseled ass, the tight blue jeans showcasing all the goodies God had given him.

And all the while, the rugged man kept a huge smile on his face, a twinkle in his eyes. His expression was totally different than when he looked at me. If I had to admit it, which I wouldn’t, I was jealous. Of my dog. Jesus. What was wrong with me?

Moose finally snatched the treat from Jake’s hand, trotting away with his tail wagging like a helicopter.

I sucked in my breath, trying to keep my cool as the huge man rose to his full height. And damn if my eyes didn’t shift to the thick bulge between his legs. He wasn’t even hard, yet it was obvious how well-endowed he was. Oh, I so needed to get my mind out of the gutter.

The few seconds of tension passing between us could have been cut with a knife.

“Do you want to come out in the rain and talk, Cinnamon Girl, or would you prefer I come in and leak all over your nice, chipped floor?”

There it was. The reason I couldn’t stand the man. “I’ll get you a towel. Come in.” As I opened the door wide, I refused to watch him walk inside. If I did, I might say something I regretted. He took two long strides into the foyer, his body as tense as I felt.

My nipples tightened under his heated gaze, and it took everything I had not to cross my arms over my chest. That would provide him with far too much satisfaction.

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