Jake (Men of Clifton Montana Book 1) (5 page)

Jake used the poker
to move the logs. The smell of burning wood filled the room.

“Once this is going
pretty well, I’ll take off before it gets worse out there,” he said.

“I thought you were
spending the night.” Becca slapped her hand over her mouth. Why had she said
that?

“Is that an
invitation, Red?” he asked without turning around, his voice a slow,
toe-curling drawl.

“No, it is not an
invitation. And stop calling me Red,” she exclaimed. Her heart had sunk.
Surely, it wasn’t from disappointment.

Becca watched as he
stood and turned around. He slowly moved toward her, stopping right in front of
her. He reached his hand out to pick up a few strands of her hair. He rubbed it
between his fingers as he looked into her eyes.

“You really are
beautiful,” he said in a low, husky murmur.

Becca couldn’t look
away as his eyes roved over her face landing on her lips. Was he going to kiss
her? She ran her tongue over her bottom lip and saw him close his eyes as he
stepped back from her. His expression had almost looked like he had been in
pain.

“Make sure you keep
the fire going. If the power goes out, stay in here with the doors closed, and
if you need anything…anything at all, call me. I’ll even come over and tuck you
in. I have four-wheel drive so I can get here if I need to.” Then as if he did
this kind of thing every day, he turned and left the room.

Less than a minute
later, she heard the back door close, his truck roar to life and drive away.
She let the breath out she hadn’t realized she was holding. The man was too
sexy for her peace of mind. He seemed to ooze sex. She’d never met a man like
him. Under different circumstances, she would have gone for it. He was interested
in her. Even she couldn’t miss the way he reacted to her. Becca could even
admit they were attracted to one another, but once he found out about her lack
of sexual experience, she knew he wouldn’t want her. She was positive Jake
Stone had a lot of experience with the opposite sex. A man who looked like he
did probably had women running after him all the time.

God!
He was hot but she was going back
to Maryland in six months, so there was no sense in starting anything with him.
Becca wasn’t sure why that thought made her think about her best friend, but
she decided to call Olivia.

“Hey girl, how’re
things in the wild west?” Olivia asked when she answered.

Becca smiled at the
sound of her best friend’s sarcastic voice. “You and that damn caller ID, Liv. Things
are wild, to say the least. How are things at the shop?”

“Other than Steve
driving me up a damn wall, it’s all okay. We’ve done better.”

“Why? What’s he
doing?”

“He’s in here every
damn day. He asks if I’ve talked to you and when I tell him no, I don’t think
he believes me. Like I give a rat’s ass what he believes. Christ, all he has to
do is call you.”

Becca laughed
suspecting Olivia had rolled her eyes as she spoke.

“I guess since I
said we should take a break, he doesn’t think he should call.”

“Well call him,
please. That way, he’ll stop bothering me. Just be nice and tell him to fuck
off.”

Becca had no idea
what she would do without Olivia in her life. They were closer than many
sisters were. They’d been together since they were thirteen, fifteen years now
and loved each other very much. Becca missed her desperately.

“I wish you could
come out here, Liv. I miss you.” Becca could feel the tears building up.

“I miss you, too,
Becs. Have you met anyone?” Olivia laughed. “I sound like a scorned lover.”

Olivia never failed
to make Becca laugh. Since they met in junior high school, they’d been
inseparable. Becca had wonderful parents, whereas Olivia was from the wrong
side of the tracks. For some reason, the two girls had clicked. Olivia had gone
from foster home to foster home but was never adopted. Becca’s parents took
Olivia in and wanted to adopt her but never got around to it before time ran
out. Olivia had grieved alongside her when Becca’s parents died as if they were
her own. Becca wanted Olivia with her but at least for now, it wasn’t going to
happen.

“I’ll call Steve,”
Becca moaned. “I really, really don’t want to.”

Olivia laughed. “Hey,
I have to look at him every day and listen to him whine. All you have to do is
call him.”

Becca told her about
meeting Stan and the men of the ranch. How she’d met Emma, and Gabe Stone, but
it was when she talked about Jake that she felt her whole body going into
overdrive. She got hot just thinking about him.

“I don’t know what
it is about Jake Stone. I know he wants me to sell the ranch to him and instead
of agreeing with him, I told him he’d never get his hands on it,” Becca said
with a groan. “I can’t believe I did that. Then he comes in here and finds me
in the tub--”

“What? He found you
in the tub?”

Becca explained
about the bathtub, the fire building, how he’d touched her hair and even how
she wondered if he was going to kiss her.

“Did you want him
to kiss you?” Olivia asked softly.

“Pffft…no,” Becca answered
in a long sigh, and then admitted the truth to Olivia and herself. “Yes. Damn it,
I did. He’s gorgeous, Liv.”

Olivia laughed. “Who
would’ve ever thought you’d want a cowboy. They’re nasty.”

That made Becca
burst out laughing. Olivia joined in. They continued to talk for a while before
deciding to call it a night.

After hanging up,
she locked the doors. It was then she realized that Jake Stone still had a key
to her house.

“Oooh,
that man!”
 

She traipsed
upstairs to get a blanket and pillow so she could sleep on the couch in the
living room. She would close the pocket doors and stay warm, and pray the power
stayed on.

Chapter Three

An hour later,
Becca had to go to the back porch to get wood for the fire so she ran upstairs
and put her boots on. As she was coming down the stairs, her foot slipped when
she was half way from the bottom. It happened so fast, she couldn’t grab onto
the banister. She knew she was going to fall, but there wasn’t a damn thing she
could do about it. Becca landed on her butt, bounced down the stairs, one at a
time, and hit the floor hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.

“And that is why
your name isn’t Grace,” Becca grumbled as she sat on the floor stunned.

When she tried to
stand, her ankle hurt too badly to put any weight on it. With little gasps of
pain, she pulled herself up to the bottom step. What was she going to do? She
needed to get wood. At that very moment, the power went out. Becca screamed out
of frustration. This night could not get any worse.

With determination,
Becca hopped to the living room to get her purse to retrieve the small
flashlight she kept on her keychain, and then hopped to the kitchen to call
Stan. Biting her lips to take her mind off the pain, she picked up the phone. When
she found it was dead, a squeal of frustration escaped her lips. “Hell!” She
was wrong. This night could get worse. There was only one number for Stan and
it must be a landline, not a cellphone. Becca sat down at the kitchen table,
shaking with nerves. Her ankle ached like it was on fire. Then, her eyes landed
on the paper with Jake’s numbers on it.

No. No way!
She could not call him. Her
heart warred with her common sense.

Just what was she going
to do then, hop outside to get wood, and then hop back into the living room?
Taking a deep breath, Becca stood, picked up the paper, and hopped back to the
living room. She was out of breath by the time she reached the couch. Taking a
deep breath, she called his cellphone and waited.

“Jake Stone,” his
sexy male voice answered.

Oh dear Heavens, his voice is amazing.
“Jake,
this is Becca…Becca Daniels.”

“Hello, Becca
Daniels. So did you decide you want me to come over and tuck you in?”

“I, uh…oh, damn it!
I fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle, the power is out, and I need wood.
I can’t hop out there and hop back in, and…I don’t know what to do,” she
exclaimed as she choked back tears.

“You fell down? Are
you all right?”

She heard the
concern in his voice. She didn’t want him to be nice.

“Look, Stone, are
you going to help me or not?” She wanted to snap at him, but her voice came out
almost pleading instead.

He cleared his
throat. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Then, he hung up.

Becca collapsed on
the couch, shaking like a leaf. With her emotions a wreck and a throbbing ankle,
she was a mess. On the coffee table, her purse lay open. Inside, she spotted
the bottle of painkillers she’d gotten three months ago when she had a wisdom
tooth pulled. She took the bottle out and removed two pills. Throwing them into
her mouth, she took a drink of water to swallow them. Becca propped her foot on
a pillow and laid back. She didn’t want to take the boot off yet. She would
wait for Jake.

About that time,
the power came back on.
Wonderful!

* * * *

Jake stood in the
doorway of the living room and looked at the woman lying on the couch. She appeared
to be asleep. Her booted foot was on a pillow and the fire was almost out. He’d
brought wood in when he got here but she hadn’t stirred, and he’d made several
trips out and back. Shaking his head, he walked over to her and gently shook
her shoulder.

“Becca.”

He shook her again.
She moaned and Jake groaned in response. He did not need this. She was too
beautiful. He wanted to lay down on the couch with her, hold her, and kiss
those soft Cupid’s bow lips. When she opened those green eyes, looked up at him
and smiled, his heart hit his stomach.

“Hi Jake,” she
murmured. “I fell down the stairs and hurt my butt.” She giggled.

Jake jerked back. “Have
you been drinking?”

She shook her head.
“Nope, took painkillers so my ankle would stop hurting.”

“Painkillers …well,
just great.”

Jake lifted her
foot from the pillow, took a seat on the couch, and laid her foot in his lap.

“You know I have to
take your boot off. I need to wrap it for you. I’ll be careful not to hurt you,
but it will hurt.” He frowned at her when she giggled again and waved her hand
around.

He untied the boot
and started to slip it off when she hissed in a breath. Jake stopped, glancing at
her. She nodded for him to go on. He took her boot and sock off then swore
aloud when he saw the bruises already forming. Gently, he put her foot back on
the pillow as he stood and went to the kitchen. Jake came back a few minutes
later with an elastic bandage. When he lifted her foot to sit down, she jerked
her foot back, and gasped as pain shot through it.

Seeing she was in
pain, he grimaced. “Sorry, Red.” Touching her skin was going to be delightful
torture. “This will help you feel better, and make it heal quicker. But you
need to rest your foot and keep it elevated too.” Jake began gently wrapping
her ankle.

“Okie dokie,” Becca
said with a snort followed by another giggle. “Those painkillers are making me
goofy.”

“Is that what’s
doing it?” Jake replied with irony. “I’ll get going. Sleep it off.”

He stood and turned
to go. Getting away from her right now seemed the smart thing to do. If he
didn’t, he was going to take advantage of the situation. Jake wanted to kiss
her more than he wanted to breathe.
 

“Wait!”

He turned slowly back
toward her.

“What if I have
to…you know…pee?” She put her hand over her mouth but the laughter bubbled out.

Jake put his hands
on his hips and hung his head. “Do you have to go now?”

“Go where?” She
puckered her brow at him.

He blew out an
impatient breath.
“To the bathroom?”

She nodded to him.

He walked back to
the couch, picked her up, and headed toward the stairs. Her arms were around
his neck and her fingers were playing with his hair at his nape. Jake stopped
on the stairs. “Stop it, Becca,” he said through clenched teeth.

Becca dropped her
hands away and sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder. “Okay. Sorry.”

Barely keeping
himself under control, Jake carried her up to the bathroom, set her inside, and
pulled the door closed while he waited in the hall. When she was done, she
opened the door and looked up at him. “Could you get my pjs for me? They’re on
my bed.” She pointed toward her bedroom.

* * * *

Becca could hear
Jake muttering and grumbling as he walked to her room. He disappeared for a
minute then came back carrying her pajamas. He was still muttering when he reached
the bathroom. He handed her the pajamas and pulled the door closed again. She
couldn’t stop laughing while trying to put the pajamas on. But when he pounded
on the door, she jumped.

“Do I need to come
in there?” Jake yelled.

“No.” Becca opened
the door and looked up at him. Without saying a word, Jake picked her up,
carried her back downstairs to the couch, and laid her on it.

“I brought in
plenty of wood, so you should be set for the night,” Jake gave her a terse nod,
put his hat and coat on, and moved to leave.

“You’re just going
to leave me here, alone? What do I do if I have to go back upstairs? I can’t
get up there by myself.” Her voice trembled.

“Do you want me to
stay?” As if Jake dreaded the answer, he swore softly when she nodded.

“I feel kind of
funky. Those pills are strong. Maybe I should have only taken one.”

“One?
How many did you take?”