Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas) (4 page)

He grinned around his beer neck. “I’m keeping my options open.”

“Ah, well I better not cramp your style then.” She started to stand up and was surprised when he reached out and held her wrist in his hand.

“You’re not. Really.” He tugged her arm until she sat down again and added, “I’m sorry about Sunday. I was a jerk.”

“No, it was my fault. I overreacted,” she said, trying not to dwell on the fact that he still held her wrist in his hand.

“Can we just forget about it? Wipe the slate clean and hang out like nothing happened,” he asked.

A roller coaster feeling had her stomach flopping to her knees. Why was she disappointed that the kiss hadn’t meant anything? “Are you sure?”

He downed the rest of his beer and said, “Hell yeah. Let’s forget about it, and get obnoxiously drunk.”

Good to know I’m so forgettable
.
  “In that case, I better get another round.”

This was a bad idea.

Jake had been thinking that for the last half hour, having never seen Rand this drunk before. Normally, they’d hang out at her house, have a couple beers and then he’d go home. Rand didn’t really do the drunk thing, hating when people acted like morons in public. He’d been this drunk. Red had been this drunk. But Rand?

She took another shot and yelled, “Yeah!” A group of men were crowded around her, watching her with mixed variations of awe and fascination. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had never seen Rand act so out of character.

Someone put on Jason Aldean’s “Take a Little Ride”, and she yelled, “I love this song.” She reached up and took out her pony tail, letting the long brown waves fan out over her shoulders. She grabbed the first man next to her as she jumped off the bar and yanked him behind her. “Come on, let’s dance!”

Bubba Phillip’s eyes were big as saucers, but he let her lead him out to the honkey tonk’s wooden dance floor. Jake should have been amused at seeing Rand letting loose, but he was distracted by the way the men’s eyes were following her and Bubba on the floor.

Her hands went to the zipper of her sweatshirt and she threw the black hoodie into the crowd. Clad in a t-shirt and jeans, she started to shake her ass and hold her hair up off her neck.

Holy hell! Every move she made was sexier than the next and his dick hardened painfully as he watched her.

Bubba reached out and pulled her against him, probably assuming she wouldn’t punch his lights out for touching her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moved suggestively and Jake’s hands clenched into fists. He didn’t like the way Bubba’s hands started to travel.

He should get her out of there and let her sleep it off.

Fred Meyer stepped out and spun Rand out of Bubba’s arms and started two stepping with her across the floor. Several men drifted off to dance with other women, but several remained, taking turns spinning Rand around, and her bright laughter traveled over the music. It was carefree, charming, and so not like her. Even the look she shot her dance partner was flirtatious and welcoming.

Wait, when had that happened? Rand didn’t have a flirtatious bone in her body.

“Oh how the mighty have fallen,” a mocking voice said next to Jake.

Jake looked over at Branson’s smirking face and scowled. “I thought you left.”

“I got a text that Princess Miranda was making an ass of herself and decided to come watch.”

Jake had never liked the guy and, right now, he was tempted to take one of his tight fists and wipe that smirk off the asshole’s face.
  “You do realize that she’s a friend of mine.”

Branson didn’t respond but kept watching Rand in a way Jake didn’t like. He wanted to walk out onto the dance floor and block Rand from Branson’s leering. Before he could say more though, Branson moved away from him and cut in for a dance with Rand, who made a face at him. When he said something to her, she laughed and let him put his hands on her waist.

Jake’s jaw clenched as he watched her sway along with Branson. Whatever the arrogant son of a bitch had said to her must have been damn charming with the way she was smiling. Jake’s expression darkened when Branson dropped his head like he was going to kiss her.

Rand turned her face away and pushed against Branson’s chest. Jake could hear her angry, “Let go of me” as she struggled against the bigger man.

Several men in front of Jake stepped forward, but Jake was already across the floor. “Let her go.”

Branson dropped his hands in disgust. “She’s a tease anyway.”

Rand tried to lunge past Jake and hit Branson, but Jake wrapped his arms around her slim waist, holding her back. “I wouldn’t kiss you to save my life, you no good son of a bitch!”

Jake held on to Rand as she struggled to get to Branson and finally said, “Damn it, Rand, I’m taking you home!”

She opened her mouth to say something but he caught the greenish pallor to her skin seconds before she jerked away from him. With a gag, she pushed past the crowd of people at a run, fleeing toward the door.

 
Jake turned to a smirking Branson and said, “I don’t want to see you bothering her again.”

Branson held up his hand in surrender. Satisfied, Jake grabbed Rand’s jacket from Bubba, and chased after her.

He found her puking on the driver’s side of his truck, one hand on her hair, the other on the truck for support. Jake reached out and took her hair in his hands. “I got it.”

He slid the long tresses into one hand and rubbed her back with his other, while she cried and wretched. “It’s okay, Rand, we’ve all been there.”

“I’m never drinking again.” She moaned in agony.

He smiled in spite of her misery. “Yeah, I’ve said that before too.”

When the retching ceased, she leaned against the side of his truck, and whispered, “I puked on the front of my shirt.”

He grimaced. “You have any attachment to it?”

 “No, why?” She asked tiredly.

He took out his pocket knife. “Because I’d rather not stink up my truck.”

She didn’t protest, which told him exactly how out of it she was. He cut through the back of the t-shirt, praying she wouldn’t move and noticed she was still wearing the wrap. “Okay I’m going to open the truck. Slide the shirt off and crawl inside.”

“What if someone sees me?” Her words were slurred and impatience took over.

“Rand, you’re wearing a sports bra and some kind of wrap thing. You’re more decent that most of the women in that bar.”

She didn’t say anything else, just slid the shirt off and opened the truck to crawl in.

 “Do you need anything from your truck?” He asked the question as he pulled his keys out of his pocket and climbed in behind her.

She shook her head and lay down across the seat, her head resting on his thigh. The little brain in his pants jumped to attention at the contact, and he cursed as he started the truck. Backing up slowly, he pulled out onto the highway, reaching down to run his hand over her hair, the strands soft as a rabbit’s fur against his palm. His fingers trailed over the contours of her face of their own volition, and she moved against him with a moan.

His erection danced again at the feel of her warm breath against his jean clad thigh. Damn it, he should not be having this reaction to Rand, especially after watching her puke her guts out. He heard her soft breathing over the sounds of the truck engine and almost turned the radio up, but her voice stopped him. “Thank you for taking me home.”

 
“Hey, you’ve taken care of my drunk ass enough times, it was about time I returned the favor,” he said, smiling in the dark as he rubbed her back.

There was quiet again briefly before she apologized, “I’m sorry for drinking so much.”

 “Its fine, Rand, just take a nap.”

The drive back to the Double C was quiet and when he parked the truck in front of her porch, she didn’t even stir. He tapped her arm lightly and said, “Hey, you’re home.”

She started to sit up, but grabbed her head about halfway up with a groan. “Shit, Jake, stop the truck please.”

“Is the world turning too quickly for you?” He asked, chuckling. Opening the door swiftly, he caught her wince as the dome light hit her. “You okay?”

“Ugh, bright.”

He laughed again and hopped out of the truck, coming around to the passenger side. He opened the door in time to catch her as she stumbled out of the truck. “Whoa,” he said, holding her up with an arm around her waist. “Come on drunky, let’s put you to bed.”

He took a few steps and just gave up helping her walk, finally resorting to picking her up into his arms. For a tall girl, she wasn’t as heavy as he was expecting and he marched across the drive and up the porch, reaching awkwardly for the door knob. He made a beeline for her room, ignoring Scout’s high pitched meows until the damn cat almost tripped him.

“Stupid cat, get out of the way,” he said as he kicked the door open lightly. He tried to lay her on the bed gently, slowly pulling his arms out from under her, and flexing them. She might not be that heavy, but dead weight was a killer to lug around.

 When she moaned again, he walked into the bathroom and dampened a wash cloth in warm water, hoping to clean her up a bit. He turned on the light in the bedroom and reached into her drawer for some pajamas, and came up with a flannel night shirt that snapped in the front.

Moving back to the bed, he sat down next to her, and started to remove her clothes. She stirred, but her eyes didn’t open as she quietly asked, “What are you doing?”

He dropped her boots to the ground and went to work on her socks. “I’m just going to clean you up and get you ready for bed.” Once the socks were gone, his hand reached up to unbuttoned the top of her jeans.

Her response was a soft snore, and he unzipped the rough denim, sliding the jeans down over hips and long, long legs. He tried not to look at her simple cotton briefs, or the soft skin of her thighs, as he pulled the jeans all the way off, but damn it, her legs were amazing. Shapely, pale limbs of hard muscle that he knew from experience could wrap around a man.

He lifted her up to a sitting position and took the edge of her wrap, unraveling the fabric until the sports bra was all that was left. Trying to distract himself, he started listing everything he needed to order for the store as he reached out and lifted the white cotton bra up and over her breasts. He glanced down and his throat tightened as he got a look at what Rand had been hiding from the world.

Her breasts were perfect, just full enough to fill a man’s hand and firm, the pink nipples hard against the cool air. Looking away, he tried concentrating on the bra again. It was stuck on her arms and a sweat broke out over his skin as he pulled the bra all the way off and threw it with a curse. Keeping his eyes on anything but her chest, he took her arm and slipped it into the flannel shirt, then pulled her forward so he could wrap it around her back and slip her other arm through the sleeve. He quickly snapped the front closed and laid her back down, drawing a ragged breath of relief.

 Picking up the wash cloth, he gently cleaned her face. She weakly protested the coolness of the rag and when he finished he stood up to see what she had in the kitchen. Stopping by the cat’s bowl to dump some food inside, the ungrateful creature actually growled at him.

“See if I ever do anything nice for you again, fur-ball,” he said, opening the fridge. He pulled out a red Gatorade and went back down the hall.

He grabbed a couple of Tylenol from the medicine cabinet and set them and the Gatorade on her nightstand.

“Night Rand. Feel better,” he whispered, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

 Before he could stand back up, she grabbed his hand, her voice so soft he had to lean down to hear her. “Stay with me…”

Bad idea, bad bad bad idea. No. Do not.

He ignored his better judgment and lay down on top of the blanket next to her, kicking his boots off onto the floor. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling, trying not to think about the warm, womanly body breathing deeply next to him.

You’re only staying to make sure she’s okay. That she doesn’t get sick again. Any friend would do the same.

He kept telling himself the lie over and over, hoping if he said it enough times it would make it true.

Chapter Four

Hell and Damnation, I’m dying.

Rand tried to open her eyes but the early morning light sent shooting pain from her frontal lobe to the back of her skull. Her mouth tasted like a baked cow pie and her stomach was churning painfully. She moved a bit and felt something hard tighten around her waist. Her eyes popped open, despite her body’s protests and she stared into Jake’s sleeping face. She was spread over him like a blanket and it was his arm around her middle keeping her immobile.

Trying to be easy, she reached down to grab his hand, moving it off her waist as gently as she could so as to not wake him. As soon as she was free, she rolled off the bed and stood up, staring down at him in confusion. Jake Hansen, asleep in her bed. They hadn’t shared a bed since the concert trip to Dallas, when Red had refused to sleep with Jake and whined about sleeping on the floor. So Rand had crawled in with Jake and let Red have the second bed to himself. She hadn’t even been aware of Jake that night, just drifted off into a deep sleep, but boy was she aware of him now.

She walked around the bed, stumbling a bit as her stomach lurched. Damn, she was never going to drink again. She slipped into the bathroom, grabbed her tooth brush and brushed her teeth, feeling a little less disgusting as she ran the bristles through her mouth. She tried to remember what had happened the night before, but patches were missing. The last thing she remembered was Branson trying to kiss her, but after that, things got fuzzy. She realized that she was in her pajama top and froze in horror. Had Jake undressed her, and then redressed her? Did they do more than that? She put her tooth brush in the cup and looked out the door at her sleeping house guest.

He still slept soundly with his head turned towards her. He really was a beautiful man, all smooth cheeks, straight nose, and a square jaw with a dimple in his chin. Red always teased him about having a butt chin, but Rand had thought it was very nice; a strong, manly chin. His sandy hair shined in the sunlight and looked so soft and touchable…

What was she saying
?
Jake was probably just too tired to drive home and had crashed with her. That was it. Innocent. There was nothing to worry about. She came out of the bathroom quietly and grabbed fresh underwear, sports bra, t-shirt and jeans from her dresser and closed her drawers softly.

“Please tell me you aren’t going to wrap your boobs up anymore because honestly, it can’t be good for them.”

His voice behind her made her jump and she turned towards him, holding the clothes against her chest protectively. “They get in the way when I’m working.”

He sat up and ran a hand through his short hair before stretching his arms out. The muscles bunching and twisting under his shirt mesmerized her and she had the strange urge to reach out and run her hands along the ripply bulges.

“Have you ever tried a regular bra? I bet you’d be fine.” He said, breaking the spell.

Why was he so concerned about what kind of bra she wore?

She reached in for her only regular bra; simple white cups with a thin lace layer over them and held it up. “There you go, just for you.”

His laughter and shout of “Thank you” was cut off when she stalked back into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Why did she care what Jake thought about her underwear? When had she become this gaga girl that drools at the sight of sinewy arms?

 
She showered quickly, scrubbing her hair and body vigorously so the feeling of nastiness would go away. When she finally felt a little better, she climbed out, drying herself and slipping her clothes on. She adjusted the cups of the bra and pulled the t-shirt on, a little uncomfortable by the way they stretched the fabric across her chest.

When she came out of the bathroom, Jake wasn’t in the bedroom and she moved down the hallway to find him pouring pancake mix into a bowl. He looked over his shoulder at her approach and asked, “Want pancakes?”

Her stomach protested the mere mention of food with a gut wrenching twist.  “Ugh, no thanks. I’m going to catch up with the guys and check on the animals. I’ll be back in a bit.”

 
“Sure, take your time,” he said, a smile stretched across his lips that held a teasing note to it.

She didn’t even want to know what was so amusing. Without another word, she turned to walk out the door and out to the barn, the early morning sun shining bright and she squinted her eyes as her head started pounding again.

The hard gravel gave way to dying grass and the nip in the autumn air helped clear her head. Fall was her favorite time of year; the holidays just around the corner, the change in the weather and the trees had almost a calming effect on her. Of course this year she would be spending those same holidays without her granddaddy, which brought on a new sadness. Usually they went to either Jake’s or Red’s for Thanksgiving, but Christmas had always been the two of them. She would invite Earl to join them usually, but the old goat liked his solitude.

This year, she would most likely be spending them with a husband. Things were changing fast for Rand and she wished she could freeze time. The last thing she wanted was to cater to someone else.

Another thing to add to the husband list; Beliefs and traditions. Just because it was only a temporary arrangement didn’t mean she would marry someone who didn’t do Christmas and Thanksgiving right.

She walked into the barn, and found Jesse and Rick
 already grooming the horses. “Everything going good?”

Jesse and Rick looked over at her and Rick’s eyes drifted downward, locking on her chest. His eyebrows rose up and she crossed her arms over her breasts, glaring at him.

Jesse was subtler. His eyes shifted down and up quickly, and catching Rick’s look, elbowed him hard.

 
“Sure boss, I think everything’s done. Andy is back at his place.”

“Thanks,” Rand said, a scowl still firmly fixed on her face. As she turned to leave, she heard Rick whisper, “Did you see that? Did you see her…”

 She could only imagine the gestures he was making and wanted to spin around and fire his ass right there. The only thing stopping her was he was a hard worker that had been with the ranch for five years, and she didn’t want to draw more attention to her body. However, tomorrow he might find himself mucking every stall for week and that made her feel a little better about his blatant idiocy.

She walked past the large red barn to the old bunk house at the edge of the property. Andy, her foreman, had been her granddaddy’s best friend their whole lives and had inherited his little house and Digger, her granddaddy’s cattle dog in the will.

Andy was putting on his tool belt when she found him. “Hey, morning. Everything okay?”

Andy looked up and his craggy face split into a grin. “Sure Rand, just got to fix a couple holes in the fence. Took care of all the animals already.”

She could feel her face heat up. “I’m sorry I overslept. I had quite a night last night and couldn’t drag myself out of bed.”

He tried to cover his grin, but she caught it. “Yeah, I heard about it from a couple of the guys this morning. Apparently word spread about you being three sheets to the wind and threatening to kick Branson Alexander’s sorry ass.”

Rand groaned. “Great. So much for having their respect.”

 
“It’s not like any of them good old boys ain’t acted a fool once or twice. They respect you fine,” Andy said, patting her arm. “Why don’t you sleep it off some more? You’ve got a lot to handle right now, and you need to keep up your strength.”

“Thanks Andy.” She started to leave and he stopped her.

“Rand, just so you know, the boys have been talking. About R.E.’s will…”

“I won’t be marrying anyone currently employed at the Double C,” Rand said firmly.

She wasn’t trying to be a bitch, and she regretted her harsh tone. All of the men on the ranch were good men, and she wasn’t a snob by any means, but if she married someone that worked for her, it would be a major conflict and the Double C would suffer.

As polite as she could be, without leaving any doubts to her wishes, she amended, “I just don’t want there to be any question who is running this outfit. I’ve already got a few good candidates in mind. Please let the men know that my marriage will have no effect on their job or the Double C.”

Andy nodded solemnly. “That’s what I told them, but it might be better coming from you.”

“I’ll talk to them.” She said, heading back to the house with a heavy sigh.

 She came back around the side of the barn and saw a white van parked next to Jake’s truck. As she got closer, she recognized Doctor Jay’s stamp on the side, and her gaze found the handsome Veterinarian standing on her front porch talking to Jake.

I wonder what he’s doing here
.
Taking the steps of the porch quickly, she smiled self-consciously at both men.

“Hey Doctor Jay, what brings you out here?”

He smiled and stepped away from Jake towards her. “You do Rand. And you can just call me Jay.”

 
“Okay, Jay. What can I do you for,” she asked, trying not to hunch her shoulders when Jay looked her over, a clear “something’s different” look on his face.

“Well, I was actually coming by to see if you would be interested in buying tickets to the “Pasta for Paws” spaghetti feed we’re putting together. It’s to raise money for strays who come in injured or people who can’t afford lifesaving surgery for their pets.” His gazed shifted towards Jake and he continued, “But it looks like I came at a bad time.”

Jake’s mouth opened like he was going to say something, but she broke in, “No, now’s fine. Jake was just nice enough to drive me home last night when I drank a little too much.” Not wanting him to get a bad impression, she quickly added, “Not that I drink to excess often; it was a weird anomaly that will not be repeated. Ever. Not that I mind people that drink, I just usually have a few beers…”

Jakes stepped out of the house and rescued her.“What Rand is trying to explain, a little unsuccessfully, is that we’re just good friends.”

 “Exactly,” Rand said, wanting to kick herself for being such a ninny and him for finding it funny.

Jay smiled. “Well good. So, are you interested?”

“Sure, just let me get my checkbook and I’ll by a ticket for all the guys.”

“That’s okay, you can bring it by the clinic. I just realized I actually don’t have any tickets on me,” Jay said, his face turning a deep red.

“Okay, sure Jay. Thanks for coming by,” Rand said, puzzled. Why would he come out to sell her tickets if he didn’t even have them?

“I’ll see you next week,” Jay said, nodding at Jake before turning around and heading back to his van.

Rand looked at Jake as Jay backed the van up. “Was that weird?”

Jake moved closer and patted her cheek. “I think he likes you.”

“Really? You think?” She asked, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. Jay was smart, nice, and loved animals, a perfect candidate for her temporary husband.

 
“Let’s get you some pancakes, okay?”

She nodded and followed him inside, worrying her bottom lip. She thought she knew what her problem might be, but it was terrifying to say it out loud. Jay was attractive and if what Jake said was true, probably would want a “physical” relationship. What if she decided to have sex with him and she was bad at it?

She sat down at the table, while Jake loaded her plate up. “If you keep gnawing on your lip, you’re going to poke a hole in it,” he said, setting her plate down in front of her.

She released her lip and played a bit with the pancake, stabbing it with her fork. “How do you know if you’re good at…kissing and stuff?”

Jake spluttered. “Stuff?”

 
“Never mind,” she said, looking down to hide her red cheeks as she stood up. “I’ve got things to do today. Thanks for breakfast

“You’ve haven’t even had a bite. And don’t get all uppity, I was just surprised is all,” he said, setting his plate down next to her and putting his hand on her shoulder. “Sit.”

She sat back down, and felt the feathery light brush of his hand as it slid from her shoulder to the bare skin of her arm. The caress had been so fleeting, she didn’t even know if he realized he’d done it but the goose bumps on her arm popped up anyway. What was this crazy reaction she kept having to Jake?

She took a small bite of her pancakes, chewing slowly before swallowing it down, waiting for the nausea to send her running for the toilet. Thankfully, it stayed down.

“You’ll be fine,” he said, surprising her that he even bothered to answer.

 
“I don’t think so. I have no idea how to do all this dating shit. I don’t even know how to flirt and play coy,” she said, stabbing her next bite in irritation.

“Really? Cause when you get a few drinks in you, you are surprisingly good at it,” he teased.

Her scowl was swift and deadly.

 
“Oh, if looks could eviscerate,” Jake said, shoving a forkful of pancakes into his mouth and giving her a mouth-closed-cheeks-stuffed-goofy-ass-grin, and she felt her mouth twitch, fighting a smile.