Page 38 of Savage Rancher
He cups my chin, his thumb stroking my jaw. "It’s just until I have an alarm system installed at Circle H."
I sigh, exhausted. "Isn't that overkill?"
"No. Cole Turner is a wildcard." His voice is low, controlled—which somehow makes it more dangerous. "Until I know what he's about, we can't discount him as another threat."
I get it. I do. But I didn't survive eighteen years without Jake Callahan by being helpless. "Fine. Install the alarm system. But just a basic one that won’t go off every time I move. And Cole Turner isn’t here, so I'm still going home today, and I'm still having dinner with Harper."
"I'll follow you?—"
"No." I poke my finger into his chest, meeting his eyes dead-on. "You're not following me anywhere, Jake, especially to dinner with my friend. I'm not something you get to own, or someone you get to control every second of every day. I'm not going to brainlessly follow your orders like I'm broken or stupid. That's not how this works."
For a second, something flashes across his face—surprise, maybe. Or challenge.
It looks like it costs him everything to say, "Text me when you get to Circle H, when you leave for dinner, and when you get home. Nonnegotiable."
I study him, deciding whether to push back. But the way he's trying to negotiate instead of demand... He's actually listening, so I concede with a roll of my eyes. "Okay, Dad."
He leans in, his nose brushing my ear. "Are you asking for it?"
“Ace, Jake wants to borrow your wooden spoon,” Luke calls out.
Mason snorts.
Ignoring the peanut gallery, I get on my toes and kiss Jake softly. Then I shove his chest. "I'm going to get dressed," I call over my shoulder as I sashay out.
40
JAKE
Ilet her go, watching her bare legs as she leaves the kitchen.
"You're being a psycho," Luke says mildly the second she's out of earshot.
"Fuck off." I rinse the dishes and stick them in the dishwasher.
"He's not wrong." Mason sits back, crossing his arms. "You're spiraling."
“This isn’t a mission where you have to control every single detail,” Luke adds.
I drag a hand through my hair, the tension in my shoulders coiled so tight it's painful. "She's going back to that ranch. Alone. And we don’t know what Turner’s play was."
"So install the alarm system like you said," Mason replies. "Put tracking on her phone?—”
“Done.” I did that last night while she was sleeping.
“But you can't lock her down. She's not a prisoner."
Luke leans back in his chair, balancing on two legs. "You need to give her room to breathe, or she's going to bolt."
I roll my shoulders. "She's not going anywhere."
"You sure about that?" Luke grabs another strip of bacon and points it at me. "Because right now, you're acting like acontrolling asshole, and that's a good way to push her away. Women don’t like that shit."
I know they're right. I know I'm being irrational, but I can't stop. I can’t compartmentalize like I normally do. The thought of Emma being in danger makes my knees give. "I'll back off," I say even though I don't mean it.
Mason gets up to refill his coffee cup. "If you scare her off, you're going to lose her. And this time, it'll be your fault."
I don't answer. I just stand there, trying to get my head straight.
