Intuition (10 page)

When she screamed “no!” and tears streamed down her temples and into her hair, he sat next to her and shook her awake, trying to drag her away from the monsters chasing her.

She sat up swinging, not fully awake from her nightmare. Her glazed, teary eyes fixed on him. Her face started to release from the scrunch when recognition hit her. She latched onto his neck in a tight grip and pulled him close. He didn’t budge. His heart beat faster as he took several deep breaths. All his muscles flexed as he thought about the attacks on her from earlier. He couldn’t wait to strangle the bastard she feared in her sleep. Emma sobbed into his shirt; tears soaked into the cotton making the material damp against his skin.

He rubbed her back in slow circles as he whispered in her ear. “It’s okay, Emma; it was just a dream.”

“They were dead…my sisters were dead. It seemed so real. The asshole had killed them. I thought I’d lost them.” She hiccupped as she tried to compose herself.

“Everyone’s safe, baby; it’s okay,” he assured her as he continued with the slow circles.

She slowly released his neck, wiped her tear-stained face, and laid her head back down. He wouldn’t let the psycho hurt her or her family.

“Get some more rest Emma. Everything is going to be okay.” Jake rose from the bed, heading toward the door.

“Jake,” she whispered. Her voice cracked.

He turned around with his hand on the door. “Yeah, baby?”

“Promise me… you won’t let him touch my family. They come first… Promise me,” she pleaded.

“We’ll protect them, Emma. You have my word.”

She let out a breath, closed her eyes, and he watched as exhaustion pulled her back into a now peaceful sleep.

****

Jake told Butch the promise he’d made as he walked him out the door. Butch was going to meet the rest of the team and fill them in with their new assignments.

“The threats are against Emma, right, not her family?” Butch asked, his arms crossed and brows furrowed.

“She’s right, Butch, think about it. She’s tight with her sisters. If this asshole is smart, he’ll use them as leverage to get to her. We need to keep them out of the equation.”

They were going to need Emma's help convincing her sisters the danger was as much of a threat to them as it was to her. If they were anything like Emma, the men were in for a hell of a fight. They planned to meet up in the morning to go over the situation. Jake locked the door behind Butch and dragged himself to his office. The day’s events had taken their toll on his body. On one of the nine monitors that hung on the wall, he watched as Butch loaded Maxine in the truck and headed down the drive. He flicked the perimeter switch active when Butch cleared the gate then turned on the rest of the house security so he could call it a night, well, actually the morning.

He glanced at the clock, and the red numbers read two in the morning. He needed a shower to ease the tensions in his shoulders. Satisfied the perimeter was secured, he staggered to his room. Even after only knowing Emma a few weeks, his heart had almost stopped beating when he saw her car and battered body inside. She’d come to mean a lot to him in such a short time, he refused to let anything else happen to her. He wouldn’t risk losing her again.

After his shower, Jake lay in bed, exhausted, unable to fall asleep. Thoughts of Emma’s bruised body plagued his mind every time he closed his eyes.
Damn it! I should have been more careful. She almost died because of me. Maybe she would be safer with Butch.

The way Emma had saved her sister with her quick thinking and determination impressed him. She was strong, smart, and beautiful and was willing to face her demons head on.

No other person from his past had ever been so fearless and determined fighting the things that scared her most.
Except Jane
. He let out a pent-up sigh and tried to push the thought from his head. He would have killed any man that threatened his baby sister. His heart ached as memories flooded back. If he had paid attention to the ten-year-old pipsqueak like his parents had told him to, he would have had time to save her from her icy death.

He’d been trying to impress a girl, a girl whose name he couldn’t even remember. Jane had wandered off toward the dock a few yards away, determined to overcome her fear of the water and swim with him the next summer. She’d fallen into the lake. Fear had squeezed his heart, and he’d run as fast as his feet would carry him, trying to reach her in time, but the freezing water played havoc with her body temperature.

Despite his best efforts, he hadn’t made it to her in time before she’d taken her last breath and inhaled the deadly water. Death took her because he had failed to save her. Later he learned the reports indicated she had slipped and hit her head before tumbling into the icy cold lake water. He didn’t know at the time she was unconscious. In the next week, he had stood over her grave. Through tears and grief at the age of sixteen, he whispered a vow to her—no matter what the cost, he would grow up to be a man she would have been proud of. A better man than the miserable brother he’d turned out to be.

She had been as fearless and determined as Emma. They each had a heart of gold and believed in him. Had Jane lived, he thought she’d be just like Emma, stubborn and beautiful, but he would never know. His grief got easier as the years passed, but she would always hold a special place in his heart. He pushed those thoughts out of his head. Staying focused was vital if he was going to be half the man he had vowed to be twenty years before.

Emma’s vulnerability made her that much more real. Jake knew she had swallowed her pride to accept his help, and he wouldn’t let her down. He would keep her safe; he was compelled to keep her safe. Twice now on his watch, she’d almost died and that was unacceptable.
Just like Jane
. Keeping a clear head would be difficult. All he had to do was get an eyeful of her curvy body, and he was ready to go caveman and throw her over his shoulder and carry her off to bed. When this was over, that was just what he planned on doing.

Jake grabbed his bed linens and found himself headed to the door. Destination set, he walked two doors down and lightly knocked. He put his ear to the door and strained for any hint of sound, but  no answer or noise from the other side would stop him from going in. He walked to the bed. Her sleep was quiet, and her breathing was steady. No more tossing and turning from the previous dream. It was the first good rest she’d had tonight. He kissed her forehead and rearranged the chairs next to the bed. He sat in one and propped his legs in the other. Jake settled in for the night, close enough to watch over her but far enough away to give her space.

He checked the alarms on his watch to make sure everything was set. The vibration and beeping would wake him in case of intruders. Proud of his own invention, he smiled. Emma’s room didn’t have the security setup like his room and office, so for now, the monitoring would be limited to the device on his wrist until he could have it changed.

He had never felt so protective of a woman before was his last thought as he drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER 13

Waking from her sleep, Emma blinked against the sun streaming through the window, the rays warm on her face. She stretched her sore arms above her head and arched her back when memories of the day before came crashing back. Her hand flew to cover her gaping mouth when images of grabbing Jake and, worse, crying on his shoulder appeared in her mind. She cringed and groaned, closing her eyes, wishing the images would disappear.
He must think I’m a big baby.

She slowly sat up, getting a better look at the room. At the foot of the bed, two chairs faced each other. A pillow and a folded blanket sat neatly placed in the chair.
Jake
. She smiled. Every tiny considerate gesture he showed managed to tear down another brick she had placed around her heart. A tear slid down her face, and she groaned once more as she swiped at the unwelcome tear.
God, I’m so freaking emotional... I must have PMS
.

Before she finished her thought, Jake was standing in the doorway, his muscular body perched against the frame. “Do you need me to hold you again, baby? I don’t mind.” A grin teased on his lips.

“Must you insist on calling me that?”

“Yes, but don’t worry, Emma; it will grow on you.”

He was teasing her, possibly to break the awkwardness from her mental breakdown she’d had last night. With cheeks on fire, she conjured up a smile and in a sweet southern accent replied, “I’m not so sure, honey bear.”

She winked as she rose from the bed and headed for the bathroom. With her hand on the knob, she let her smile slip, turned, and with a more somber voice, said, “Thanks.”

“Aw shucks, baby. It was all my pleasure.”

He straightened to his full height, and his eyes twinkled as he approached her. His tall frame hovered over her five-foot-six body. Her body wanted to lean into him. She forced herself to keep her ground. He leaned down and pressed his soft lips against hers as he pulled her into his embrace and tight against his body. Had she died and gone to heaven? After her pitiful display the night before, crying like a child still scared of monsters, he still wanted to kiss her? As he pulled away, she noticed the dimples she had come to love on his cheeks. He smiled.

“Good Morning, Em.” He leaned over and planted another quick kiss on her cheek. “Breakfast is in fifteen minutes. Don’t be late or there won’t be any left.” He smacked her on the butt and headed out the door.

He must not have a lot of food in the house if it’s going to be all gone before I get down there...
She hurried through the process of getting cleaned and emerged dressed twenty minutes later. Her stomach grumbled as she opened the bedroom door.

She bounded down the stairs with a bounce in her step, fresh from getting some sleep and her shower, toward the sound of male voices coming from the kitchen. She stopped at the doors, drew in a deep breath, and pushed through to greet the unexpected company.

Her brother rushed to her, grabbed her up in a bear hug, and twirled her. “Mike, put me down!”

“Awe, Em, what did you expect? I almost lost you last night.”

“Hurting more of my ribs isn’t helping.” She screeched as he continued to squeeze.

Mike placed her feet on the floor and held on to her for a minute, getting his own personal updates since he’d left her at the hospital. He must have been satisfied with the outcome. He sat back down and started in on the plate full of food in front of him.

“You weren’t down in fifteen minutes, Emma, but I managed to save you a plate before these pigs ate everything.”

Mike and Butch were the only familiar faces at the table. She smiled at the newcomers as Jake walked to her, leaned down, and planted another soft kiss on her lips.

“I suggest you take your hands off my baby sister,” Mike said, interrupting their kiss.

Emma rolled her eyes. “I’ll deal with you later.”

She grabbed Jake by the collar of his shirt and pulled him toward the French doors out on the deck. ”You! Come with me now!”

Outside, and out of earshot, Emma turned to Jake. “Why did you do that?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Jake, be serious. Not that I didn’t like it, but why would you do that in front of Mike?”

“I wanted the other guys to know you’re off limits.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want the other guys to lose focus. If they think you’re with me, then I don’t have to worry about it. They’d never make a move on my girl.”

Emma was sure in his warped male mind he thought he was helping her cause. “Okay, let’s say I buy your excuse. How are we going to play this?”

“That’s the easy part. We act like a couple. Everywhere you go, I go, until Mike and I figure this out.”

Pretending to be a couple was a potential for disaster. She wasn’t sure her heart could handle the games, but really, what options did she have? He was right, and she knew it.

“Okay, but you get to tell Mike.” She smiled, walking back inside, and left him standing on the deck with a stunned expression. Well, it was his idea, so he got the pleasure of dealing with her overprotective older brother. She smirked as she made her coffee then sat down in one of the few empty chairs at the table.

Mike's gaze caught hers when she took her first sip of the breakfast morning blend. The steaming liquid felt like paradise on her parched throat.

Mike planted his arms across his chest, his left eyebrow raised. “Did you forget to tell me something?”

“Nope, but Jake did.”

He got up from the table, sent his chair screeching backwards, and headed outside where Jake waited.

The yelling that came from outside couldn’t stop her smile. She glanced at the newcomers and introduced herself.

Butch slid his chair closer to her. “Where are my manners? Emma, this is Jacobs, and this is Briggs; they’re a part of our team.”

Jacobs stood and rounded the table. She craned her neck to look at him as his six-foot frame towered over her. He stood out from this bunch; he was dressed in a black suit that looked tailored to fit his scrumptious body. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. Heat rushed up her cheeks. Emma could tell this one was a heartbreaker. Jacobs was handsome. His green eyes glinted from the sun shining in the window. She bet his smile made a lot of woman weak in the knees and he left broken hearts wherever he went. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emma.”

“Oh, the pleasure is mine,” she rasped out, and fanned her face.

All of these men were eye candy, but they didn’t hold a candle to Jake. He made her heart skip a beat and sent her hormones into a frenzy.

Butch put his arm around her shoulders and glared at the tall man. “She’s off limits.”

“I’ll let the lady be the judge of that.”

Jake and Mike, no worse for wear, walked back inside at that exact moment. Each approached Jacobs from behind with their arms crossed and glared at Emma.