"It isn't Susan, Jake. You're legally Andraya's father. I'm not Kyle's mother. If something happened, I'd be the one to lose out, possibly on both of them."
He was on his feet, tall, enormously strong, towering over her, looking suddenly ruthless and a little cruel. Temper was riding him hard. "Okay, now you're just pissing me off on purpose. What the fuck does that mean, Emma? Tell me what you mean by that."
She held out a hand to ward him off, but he kept coming, wedging his hips between her legs and catching both of her upper arms to give her a little shake. His fingers dug deep. His eyes looked like glittering jewels, hot and angry, his body giving off a blazing heat.
"You're the one who's always telling me to think about the future instead of the past. It's not like we can stay here like this forever. And then what happens to me? Don't pretend you wouldn't demand your rights to visit with Andraya."
Without visibly moving, his hand snaked out, hard fingers spanning her throat, allowing her to feel his immense strength. His thumb tipped her chin up so she was forced to look up at him. He was enormously strong, and it showed in his well-defined, rippling muscles and the powerful grip of his hands.
"You aren't leaving me," he growled very softly. His gaze dropped to her trembling mouth and he made an effort to soften his voice. "If you're so damned worried about your rights, let's get John here tonight, now, and have him draw up adoption papers. You never brought it up, so I just assumed you knew you were his mother and that was the end of it. But if you need the legality of a formal adoption, then just do it."
"You still have the advantage, Jake. You know every judge."
A muscle ticked along his jaw. For a moment her heart nearly stopped. He looked more like a leopard than a man, a predator about to leap on and devour prey.
"If you fucking want to get married, just say so and we'll get it done along with the adoption. Whatever it takes to stop this bullshit about leaving. As my wife you'll have the same playing field and I can pretty much guarantee that judges will like you better than they will me. And don't give me crap about me finding someone else. If I was going to find someone, I would have already done it. For Christ's sake, Emma."
"Well, what if I find someone else?"
"How are you going to do that, locked in this house with two kids and still pining away for someone who's never coming back? You don't even look at men, Emma, so no, you're sure as hell not going to find someone else."
Fury swept through Emma, her temper rising up out of nowhere, something rare but lethal once she got going. She was tempted to slap his face, but it wasn't her style. She reached behind her to keep her itching palms away from him and came in contact with the sprayer on the sink. Without thought she turned on the faucet and blasted him with cold water right in his arrogant, handsome face.
"Maybe you ought to stop being such a hothead, Jake."
Emma released the trigger and dropped the sprayer in the sink, torn between horror at what she'd done, anger at his callous proposal and the implication that she might never find someone else, and laughter as water ran down his face over his shocked expression and dripped onto his very expensive soaked shirt.
There was complete silence. A heartbeat. Two. Hard hands seized her, swinging her smaller body over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes. One hand came down hard on her wriggling butt, a stinging blow that made her yelp as he strode to the door and carried her outside down the long drive.
Heat flashed across her bottom and spread deep inside, the swat triggering a different memory, or maybe it had been an erotic dream, lying across his lap, his hand coming down hard and then rubbing sensually as he was doing now.
Her heart jumped. Where had that come from? Lately she'd been having dreams of Jake, dreams of things she'd never consciously thought about. Emma drummed at his broad back with her fists, fuming, embarrassed, not at being upside down but at the heat rising in her body and the blood surging so hotly.
Jake delivered a second smack, this time a little harder than the first, and once again rubbed at her bottom to take the sting away, sending fire shooting through her veins. "Stop it, Emma. You so deserve this and you know it."
The deep growl of his voice sent an illicit thrill coursing through her bloodstream. She wished her jeans weren't so tight or her panties so skimpy. She could feel his hand burning right through the thin material as he rubbed to ease the sting.
She caught a glimpse of Joshua's startled face as Jake stalked past him. She looked around quickly, seeing the direction in which they were heading, and knew instantly what he intended. "Don't you dare, Jake." Emma caught at the back of his shirt with both fists, realizing what he planned. "I mean it. Don't you dare."
He kept walking at the same pace, with long, purposeful, ground-eating strides. Emma clutched him harder, trying desperately not to laugh at the ridiculous situation. She should have known Jake would retaliate. What ever had possessed her to spray him with the kitchen sprayer? She'd been too angry to think clearly, but it hadn't occurred to her that Jake might ever do this. "Stop. Don't do it." She couldn't help it that her voice turned to pleading. Or that laughter played around the edges. She'd always had the worst sense of humor.
Jake swung her from his shoulder, cradling her for a moment, then held her out from his body and dropped her unceremoniously into the large horse trough. She came up sputtering, splashing water ferociously at his face, laughing so hard she could barely stand.
Jake stood over the horse trough, water cascading over him as she used the flat of her hand to send a huge wave into the air. Time slowed down so that the droplets of water glistened like diamonds and the sun seemed to surround her head, turning her red hair into a bright halo of light and gleaming off her pearly teeth. Her laughter was infectious, melodic, irresistible, and he found himself laughing with her. Laughing. Deep inside, happiness blossomed and spread. He'd never thought much about being happy. Not like this--something simple. Something not revenge, or dark and ugly. Something not about making money. Just laughing at the absurdity of their argument.
He reached into the trough and hauled her out, swinging her easily to the ground, one arm locked around her waist, holding her wet body against his. The air was crisp and cold and she shivered, but her laughing face was turned up toward his and--God help him--he was tempted almost beyond all control. He was beginning to understand the story of Adam and Eve.
"You're crazy, Emma. You know that?" His voice was gruff. Husky. He could hear the need almost as much as he felt the ache, not in his groin--although he was as hard as a rock--but in his chest. He actually pressed a hand over his heart. "Let's get you back inside. I didn't realize it was so cold out here."
She slipped under his shoulder naturally, as if she belonged there, her arm curling around his waist, still laughing up at him.
Snickers broke out behind them and she ducked beneath Jake's arm to peer at the ranch hands. They stood with wide grins on their faces, doubled over laughing.
"Having a little trouble, boss?" Joshua called.
"Need a hand there?" Darrin, another hand, yelled.
"Hey!" Emma objected. "No cookies for either of you for a month."
The leopard in Jake scented genuine camaraderie, an honest shock at his out-of-character behavior and real laughter. He didn't know how to react. A part of him wanted to join in the laughter, to share in the moment the way Emma did, to have fun. Hell. This silliness was fun. He didn't know how to react, or even what to say, so he just grinned, waved them back to work and kept her walking toward the house, slightly uncomfortable that his work crew had seen him acting so childish, but still feeling a small glow.
"I'm never living that one down," Emma said, smacking his chest. "I can't believe you dumped me in the horse trough." She smacked him again. "And you spanked me. Sheesh, I'm not two, you know."
His palm immediately dropped to the enticing curve of her bottom, rubbing caresses. "I couldn't resist."
She made a face. "I don't think t
hat was an apology."
"No? Imagine that."
She reached behind her and removed his hand. "And now you're just being a perv."
He bent his head until his lips brushed her ear. "Not a perv, Emma, an opportunist."
Emma kept her head bent. He kissed her often, touched her often, but never with that lingering, possessive hint to his touch. Was it her imagination because she was suddenly so aware of him? Because he'd kissed her senseless with his birthday thank-you? She had to get a grip. She was so out of sorts, so restless and moody lately.