Her Desert Treasure (Entangled Ignite) (13 page)

“Of course. Just give me a minute to lock everything up.”

Jake followed her into the darkened cabin and helped her close the windows and pick up the bags from their dinner. She locked the door, and together, they headed back into town.

They swung by the house first to drop Meg off, and Jake grabbed his bag from the clinic. He gave her a quick, hard kiss and then sped away. The rental car was gone, leaving her to assume they’d gone to town for dinner after all. She let herself in the front door to find the only light in the place came from the kitchen where the phone was ringing. She hesitated, not sure if she should answer, but the answering machine picked up.

A man’s voice boomed over the speaker. “Jake? It’s Danny at The Branding Iron. Man, pick up if you’re there. There’s a tall, blond gal here that’s had too much to drink, and she said you would drive her home.”

Great. He had to be talking about Kristen. She picked up. “This is Jake’s phone.”

“Thank God. Is Jake around?”

“No. He had to go out on a call. Can I help you?”

“I sure as hell hope so. I’m the bouncer down at The Branding Iron, and we have a little problem.”

“Is it Kristen?”

“I think that’s what she said her name was. Anyway, she’s three sheets to the wind, and there’s no way she can drive. She said she was staying with Jake. When will he be back?”

“I’m not sure.” Meg chewed on her bottom lip. “I can come pick her up.”

“Awesome. Can you make it fast? I’ve already had to break up two fights because of her.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Chapter Thirteen

There was quite a crowd at
The Branding Iron
. Meg guessed between the live music and the extra tourists from the Summer Festival, the local honky-tonk was especially busy. Her skin crawled as she made her way through the throng of people, forcing herself not to cringe when she noticed several men giving her lecherous looks. Kristen sat at the bar with a small group of male admirers. The other woman didn’t appear to be in any distress at the moment. Probably another attempt to get Jake’s attention. Sighing, she walked to the bar.

One of the men had just whispered something in Kristen’s ear, and she threw her head back, laughing. Meg waved to get her attention, and the instant Kristen saw her, her laughter turned to a frown. “Where’s Jake?”

“He’s out on an emergency call. Are you ready to go?”

“Go? Now? My new friends and I are just getting acquainted. I can’t go now.” She pouted.

Meg’s patience was wearing thin. “That’s not what you told the bouncer. Say goodnight and let’s go.”

One of her new ‘friends’ stood and sidled up to Meg. “Hey, darlin’. There’s no need to leave so soon. We could have a good time. Sit down here and let us buy you a drink.”

Meg reeled at the stench of alcohol coming off the guy. “No thanks. And I think she’s had enough. Come on, Kristen.”

One of the other men stood then. “Aw, come on. We’ll make sure she gets home, no big deal.”

“It doesn’t sound like either one of you are in any shape to get yourselves home, let alone anyone else.” She reached for Kristen’s arm. “You can ride with me, and we’ll leave the rental here ’til morning.”

Something in Meg’s voice must have gotten through to her. Kristen slinked off the bar stool and swayed unsteadily until she got her balance and trying, unsuccessfully Meg thought, to sashay across the floor. “Fine. There’s no need to get snippy.”

God help her. Meg grasped Kristen’s upper arm, steadying her as they walked back through the bar. The two men grumbled something about the women leaving together, but they went back to their drinks and soon spotted other women to work on.

Out in the parking lot, Kristen pointed to where she’d left the car. “I’m fine to drive. I’ll just follow you back to Jake’s.”

Meg held her hand out to Kristen. “Give me the keys.”

“I said I’m
fine
. I only had a couple.”

“I don’t want to stand out here arguing.”

Clearly, Kristen wanted to do just that, but then appeared to think better of it when she realized Meg was serious. Finally, she dug around in her purse and pulled out the keys to the rental car. Meg took them and ushered her to the station wagon.

“What the hell is this? I’m not riding in your rust bucket.”

Meg should have guessed the Falcon wouldn’t be up to Kristen’s standards. “This car runs better than most brand new ones, and it’s as safe as a tank. Get in.”

Kristen reluctantly poured herself into the seat and leaned back on the headrest.

It didn’t take Meg long to get through town and out to Jake’s. She had the passenger door open when his pickup pulled into the drive. He jumped out and was at Meg’s side in two steps, his concern for her obvious. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Can you give me a hand? She passed out halfway through town.”

She reached in to help Kristen out, and Jake swore. “What the hell?”

“Kristen decided to tie one on in town, and the bouncer called here to see if you could give her a ride. I’m not so sure someone didn’t slip something in her drink.”

Kristen chose that moment to treat them to a rather un-ladylike snore.

“Jesus. Hold the door. I’ll get her.” Jake eased her out of the seat then carried her to the house. Meg went with him to the guest room and folded back the blankets so he could place Kristen on the bed before he checked her pulse and pupils. “She’s gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow, but she’ll be fine.”

Meg went to the foot of the bed and removed Kristen’s sandals, then pulled the blanket over her. She shut off the light and tugged Jake through the door, closing it behind them. Pulling him along until they reached his bedroom, she urged him inside and closed the door.

“Are you sure she wasn’t drugged?” Her voice shook, and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. “You hear about that kind of thing happening all the time.”

Jake’s deep brown eyes pinned her to the wall. “Now do you see why I don’t like the idea of you staying by yourself? Do you understand what kind of shit you’re opening yourself up to being all alone out there?” His voice grew louder and started to shake as well. “Hell, we’re not talking about being in a barroom full of people, you’re talking about being alone, miles away from anyone who could help you. I know you think I’m being too possessive with you about this, but dammit, Meg—”

“What is with you?” Her hackles were up now. If Jake wanted a fight, she’d give him one. “This is not about me. I only went to the bar tonight to pick up Kristen. It’s not like I went there looking for trouble.”

“You don’t have to look for it. There are some fucking sick people out there, Meg. Believe me, I know.” He ran shaking fingers through his hair. His eyes still held hers.

The intensity of his gaze made her take a step back. His jaw was set, pain etched across his face. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

He blew out a breath and turned away from her, hands on his hips, head down. When he turned back around, his eyes were dark, and his voice was so low she had to strain to hear him.

“There was a girl. Carolyn. We were in veterinary school together.”

His ex-girlfriend. The one Kristen had talked about. Did she really want to hear this? Yes, she wanted to know what had put that tortured look on his face. “Go on.”

“She was a free spirit. Independent and fearless.” He raised his hand to brush the bangs off her forehead. “Like you.”

“You cared about her?”

His gave her a wry smile. “Yeah.”

“What happened?”

“It was finals week. We’d planned to go out after our last exams, but her classes got out before mine, so she decided to go without me. She called to tell me her plans, and I asked her to wait, but she said some friends were going with her and I shouldn’t worry.” His fist clenched at his side. “Her friends ended up going to a party, and she stayed at the bar by herself.”

Meg waited for him to continue. The anguished look in his eyes told her that this was tearing him apart.

“Two men approached her and invited themselves to sit at her table. She was naturally outgoing and friendly and, by all accounts, they were having a good time. The bartender remembered her leaving with them. What he didn’t know was that they’d spiked her drink and had basically kidnapped her.”

“My God.” The flesh on her arms crawled.

“They took her to a motel where they planned to do God knows what. She had a reaction to whatever they had slipped in her drink, and they got scared. The assholes scrambled, leaving her alone in a crappy motel room. Thankfully, she was able to call for help. She woke up in the hospital the next morning with no idea where she was or how she’d gotten there.

“I’d been frantic all night looking for her. Her sister called me from the hospital to let me know what happened. When I got there, her sister said Carolyn didn’t want to see me. Hell, who could blame her?”

“What do you mean?”

“I should have been there to protect her.”

“Jake, it wasn’t your fault.”

“She never should have been alone in that place.”

“It was her decision to make.”

He shook his head. “You don’t understand. I wasn’t there to save her.”

She tipped her head, studied him. “Why would you think you had to save her? What is it that makes you feel responsible for everyone?”

Jake’s eyes focused on Meg’s beautiful face. Of course she didn’t know. He didn’t like to talk about that time in his family’s life, but he’d opened the door now and knew Meg wouldn’t let it go. He ran both hands through his hair.

“Jake?”

“It’s who I am, Meg. It’s who I’ve always been. I’ve always taken care of…everything.”

“Your mom mentioned that you helped raise your sister. What did she mean?”

“Long story.”

“Not going anywhere.”

Okay, fine. He clasped her hand in his and pulled her close. “My folks wanted a big family. I think they would have had ten kids if they’d been able. My brother was born nine months and ten minutes after their wedding.” He coughed out a laugh. “Anyway, it took five years for me to come along and another six went by before they had Jenny. Four years later, during her last pregnancy, mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer.”

“Oh Jake.”

“She of course refused any treatment while she was pregnant. But nature took the decision out of her hands. She miscarried, and they went after the cancer aggressively. She was in the hospital on and off, and Dad worked a lot to make up for all the time he had to take off. Jared and I did our best to care for the house and even Mom, but Jenny latched on to me, and she became my responsibility.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret helping my family, but I’ve spent my entire life taking care of people I care about. It’s hard for me to see myself any other way. I had never failed anyone—until Carolyn.” And if that hadn’t been an epic fail, he didn’t know what was.

Meg cupped his face in her palms. “Jake, you are a good guy. A remarkable man with the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. But you aren’t responsible for anyone but yourself.”

“But, Carolyn—”

“You weren’t responsible. Nobody could expect you to save her from herself.” Meg slid her hands to his shoulders, her touch warmed him. “Did her sister give you a reason?”

He stroked her cheek with his thumb. Hesitated. “She told me Carolyn felt bad for worrying me, and she was fine, but she thought it would be too awkward to see me. I guess she was embarrassed.”

“So she took responsibility for her actions.”

What could he say? She was right. But there was more he had to get off his chest. “I said Carolyn was like you. I cared about her. But not the way I care about
you
. I don’t think I could bear it if anything happened to you, Meg.”

His touch was light, but his voice was filled with passion.

The look of trust in her eyes did Jake in. He dipped his head and took her mouth in a rough kiss. All the emotion of the day and the pent up sexual frustration he’d been feeling was finally too much, and he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Meg kissed him back, her small hands roamed over his chest and down to his abdomen. She pulled at his shirt, freeing it from his jeans, and pushed it up to bare his skin. The heat of her hands sent ripples of pleasure through his belly. When she scraped her fingernails across his hardened nipples, Jake growled into her mouth and lowered his hands to cup her ass. He pulled her closer, pressing the ridge of his erection against her belly as he ground into her. Reaching for the hem of her dress, he pulled it up, moving away from her long enough to tug it over her head. He tossed the dress aside and stood still for a moment, taking in the sight of her in her bra and lacy panties.

His breath caught in his throat when he tried to speak. He swallowed. “God, you’re so beautiful.” He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her panties and worked them down, letting them fall to the floor. His hands caressed her waist and moved to her hips. Meg sucked in a breath, and her body tensed when his fingers touched the scar that started a couple inches above the hip bone and ran downward at an angle about six inches.

“What happened here, honey?” He saw the flash of apprehension before she answered.

“I told you I went to California with a friend after school.”

He nodded.

“Troy was my boyfriend. He pursued me all through college, and we finally started dating senior year. I thought he was The One. He was so attentive, so interested in what I was doing.” She shook her head. “What I mistook for devotion was actually obsession. Over time, he managed to draw me away from my friends and convinced me that my grandparents were smothering me.”

Jake’s stomach clenched with dread. His fingers continued to stroke her hips softly, trying to reassure her with his touch.

“Once we’d moved and were living together, his behavior changed dramatically. He handled all the money, kept the only cell phone with him. If I didn’t wear what he approved of, he’d criticize my clothes, accuse me of being promiscuous. He even returned any mail I got from my family or friends. I felt completely isolated.”

“Oh, babe.” She was shaking in his arms now, and Jake pulled her a little closer.

“My grandpa called the school where I was teaching to let me know about Gram. Troy didn’t want me to come back for the funeral, but he knew I was devastated, so he came with me. He didn’t let me out of his sight the entire time. When we got back to San Diego, things got worse, and I knew I had to get out. One night, I finally found the courage to tell him I was leaving, and he went ballistic, started throwing things and yelling. I was terrified but also angry. I stepped between him and the china cabinet, and he knocked me down. I landed on a piece of a broken crystal bowl. I had to have surgery and ended up with a nasty infection.” Though she’d stopped shaking, her voice gave away her sadness and—fear. “The school where I worked went through some changes, and they found they could get by without me.” She drew a deep breath. “I think that hurt more than the actual injury.” She raised her head. “But the scar is a reminder for me to be brave. A symbol to prove that I can take care of myself.”