To Protect the Heart of a Brazen Woman [Brazen Sisters 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Rita Sawyer Page B

when he handed her a dish. He was relieved that some of the negative tension between them seemed to dissipate.
    “Oh my gosh.” She popped a few chips in her mouth and made a funny pucker. “I haven’t had any since I left.”
    “Did you have a good time?”
    She shrugged. “I learned a lot, but I couldn’t wait to come home.”
    “Come on, you were gone for six weeks. You must have found something to do. Knowing you I bet you made a dozen new friends.” He could just imagine the amount of guys who would have attempted to become friends with her.
    “Georgie’s friends Bethany and Frank were great. The B&B guests were all pretty old, like in their seventies, but they were a lively bunch. There was a couple on their honeymoon, but we barely saw them unless it was for food.” They both laughed and Jake leaned back against the cushions, letting her have complete control of the conversation.
    It was a perverse form of torture as he sat there and waited for her to tell him she’d met a guy who struck her fancy. The whole time she’d been away, he told himself if it happened he’d let her go and wish her all the happiness she could find. Now, sitting next to her, he knew he’d been lying to himself.
    He smiled as Bobbie told him about the hiking trips she’d gone on, all the while wishing he’d been with her. She swore nothing compared to the clean, fresh air they had right here. Of course, he agreed with her judgment that even the fanciest restaurant couldn’t compare to her sister Sam’s delicious cooking.
    Jake was surprised how quickly time passed. Soon Bobbie was yawning, and he realized he should let her get to bed. A bed they’d be sharing for the first time. He still wasn’t convinced it was a wise decision, but he’d already agreed, so he couldn’t back out now. Lucky for him, before he could turn in, he had a few things he needed to check on outside. If he stalled long enough, hopefully she would be sound asleep by the time he returned.

Chapter Eight
     
    Jake had spent the entire next day trying to ignore the way he was drawn to Bobbie. He wanted to spend every minute by her side. Bobbie hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. She’d just been her normal cheery self. Just being there with him was enough to drive him crazy, even though she didn’t mean to.
    She’d woken him up when she climbed from the bed. Not that he’d slept much. He hadn’t tossed and turned. No, instead he just lay there, staring at her for hours.
    Last night when he’d finally finished his tasks, he found Bobbie nestled under the cover sound asleep. Her light snoring made him smile. Not bothering to turn the light on and chance waking her, he ducked into the bathroom. He closed the door before flicking the light switch. Jake preferred to sleep in his boxers, but the thin cotton material wouldn’t provide much of a barrier, so he instantly ruled it out. As quietly as he could, he exchanged his jeans for a loose pair of sweatpants and tugged on a clean T-shirt.
    He shut the light off as he slipped back into the bedroom and just stood there staring at her. Jake didn’t dare test himself by joining her under the covers. Instead he lay on top of them and covered himself with one of the sleeping bags he’d brought. It was the tug of the blankets under him that woke him up.
    He opened his eyes in time to see Bobbie extend her arms over her head and stretch toward the ceiling. Jake couldn’t have closed his eyes if someone had demanded it at gunpoint. Her loose lounge pants had been replaced with a pair of tiny pink shorts that clung to her curves. Her shirt wasn’t much better. It was so tight he could see she wasn’t wearing a bra. He thanked his lucky stars she had her back to him.
    She didn’t look back as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Jake had jumped from the bed and almost ran out of the room. He busied himself getting a fire going in the wood cookstove. After scrounging for a few minutes, he