Page 7 of Fearless Protector
Her eyes flash up at me.“I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing when one of my friends was in trouble.I was trying to help.You could say thank you.”
My eyes narrow at the sassy little miss, who at least has sobered up for the most part since leaving the bar.“You, I’ll deal with later.Right now, help me get Jules untied.”I find a pair of scissors in the kitchen drawer and work through the bulky rope, while PJ rubs her wrists as we get her out of the binds that were digging into her skin.
I put the scissors back where I found them in case Bobby Ray gets any ideas, because like it or not, we’re all here to stay for a while.At least, until mother nature is done storming outside.I kick Bobby Ray’s black boot.“What did you give Jules; the truth?”
His eyes dart around the room.He knows that none of his friends are coming to help him.It’s just him and me now.“Date rape drug.”
PJ throws her arms around Jules and holds her tight.I connect with Garrett while keeping an eye on the big, bearded dude who sits glaring at me as though he didn’t have everything he got coming or that he’s not deserving of so damn much more after what he did.
Garret answers on the first ring.“You have Jules?”
“We’ve got her.Bobby Ray had her tied up, but she wasn’t hurt.He used the date rape drug to knock her out.Fortunately, the side effects aren’t long lasting.”
Nothing that a little sleep and steady hydration won’t fix.The weather’s gotten worse, though.There’s no way we’re getting out of here for a while.The roads were like an ice rink the last couple miles here, and it’s way worse now.The windows on the cabin are solid sheets of ice.We’re going to have to wait it out.We’ll do our best to get to town first thing in the morning.Hopefully the salt trucks have been out by then.Hope to see you tomorrow, buddy.”
Chapter6
PJ
Mason gets off the phone and looks at the two of us.“We’ll stay here tonight.Why don’t you ladies get freshened up.I’ll see what’s in the refrigerator and start cooking.You need something to soak up the rest of the alcohol and drugs that were put in your system,” he says, glaring at Bobby Ray.
He points out of the dining room and down the hall, gesturing for us to go.
I give Jules a wink and roll my eyes skyward.“Yes, sir,” I mock, heading down the small hall to check out the rest of the house.“He’s so bossy, arrogant, and what’s the word I’m looking for?”I ask Jules.
“Hot as a long day in Texas,” she drawls, as we make our way down the hall.I know Jules; she’ll try to make light of it to make sure everyone else feels okay, but I don’t feel okay.The enormity of everything that could have happened keeps swirling in my still alcohol-dazed mind.Things could have turned out way differently for her tonight if it were not for Mason.
Jules puts her hand on my shoulder.“Are you okay?”
I turn and give my friend a hug.“No, nothing’s right.I feel horrible about drinking so much and leaving you at the bar, like the worst friend ever.I’m just glad nothing else happened.It didn’t, right?”I ask, all of a sudden seized with a moment of fear.
Jules face turns somber, and she shakes my shoulder.“You listen to me.I am a big girl.I was drinking.I am responsible for me, not you.And it’s not either of our faults that Bobby Ray hooked up with Jake Eldridge, and would do such a crappy thing to me, understand?Sherriff Cates is going to have a hell of a lot to say to him tomorrow.”
She’s right, we’re both adults, but this feeling of guilt is not going to go away quickly.“I’m just so glad that you’re okay.And, more than a little ashamed of myself for thinking so poorly of Mason at first.He really came through tonight.I mean, seriously came through for us.I don’t know if we would have found you without him.I bet by now even the emergency vehicles can’t make it out on the ice.”
Jules, ever the matchmaker, gives me a wink.“Yes, he did.You should have seen him marching Bobby Ray over to that chair with that gun of his at the base of his neck.He was a man in charge; I’ll tell you that much.”
The longer we’re away, the guiltier I feel about how badly I’ve completely and unfairly treated Mason from the very start because of baggage I’ve never let go of from the past.“Let’s take a look at the sleeping arrangements and head back.I’ll help Mason cook us something to eat.”
Jules makes her eyes go wide dramatically.“You, cook, and with an out of towner?Oh, this can only mean one thing.Don’t tell me you’ve gone and fallen for the bodyguard?We have to quit letting them come to town.These handsome devils waltz into town, and my friends get all googly eyed and lose all of their common sense.”
My face heats with embarrassment.No one knows me better than Lacy and Jules, because that’s exactly what this man has done.“Stop it.I’m just trying to be nice.The devil’s probably hungry after all that … you know … with all that macho shit he does.”
Jules laughs.“Fine, let’s go be nice to the tall, dark, out of towner who has your panties in a twist.”I don’t tell her that he almost had them in his pocket too.My overactive hormones and attraction for the hot bodyguard is what got us into the situation in the first place, no matter what she says.
Thank goodness he was able to get the situation under control.I may not be the damsel in distress type, but there’s no denying he was the hero to the rescue tonight and didn’t take advantage when he could have done just that.
Jules points to the kitchen.“Go, cook with Mason.I’ll get the bedroom situation sorted and see if I can find some clean sheets or wash some for the beds.”
I head back to the kitchen.Clean sheets.Very, very good idea.Mason is boiling water in a pot on the stove and puts a pound of spaghetti noodles into the water.He pulls out a bowl of ground beef from the microwave above the stove and separates the little frozen bits as he puts it into a fry pan.“It’s not quite dethawed, but it’s close,” he says, breaking the rest of it apart with the edge of the wooden spoon.“The kitchen is pretty well stocked except for fruits and vegetables.Spaghetti and garlic rolls with no salad will have to do.”
Bobby Ray clears his throat.“I don’t eat rabbit food.And I need to take a leak.”
Mason ignores him and looks at me.“You want to finish the hamburger?I saw some canned mushrooms and some onion in the fridge.It’s not exactly Mamma’s sauce, but it’ll work for a night like this.I’ll untie him, run him to the bathroom, and then pop in some dinner rolls when I get back.”
I take the spoon from his hand, and his fingers brush against mine, sending that tingling charge right to the very end of me.My cheeks heat, remembering his rebuff of my earlier advances.Well, that’s not going to happen again, that’s for damn sure, no matter how attracted I am to the sexy as sin devil and his snug fitting jeans.
He unties Bobby Ray and walks him to the bathroom, but he’s careful about where and how he holds that gun of his.Mason isn’t taking any chances with being overpowered by the heavier man who would like nothing better than to get out of the trouble he’s undoubtedly going to be in come tomorrow.
