Page 70 of Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas 2)

She protested when he pulled back and said, “Rand, you have about three seconds to tell me no before I haul you up and into that bedroom.”

He didn’t even give her that before he was standing up and tossing her over his shoulder. Pushing herself up, she cried, “The animals!”

“They can wait.” He countered, giving her upwards facing rear a swift swat.

“Hey!” She yelled, slapping his butt with her open palm.

Placing her back on her feet inside the bedroom, his grin and eyes reflected an evil light. “So you want to play huh?”

With a squeak, she ran, trying to make it to the bathroom, but he caught her, pulling her back against him with the hard band of his arm. With his warm breath rustling her hair, he whispered, “Do you yield?”

“Never.” She said, tilting her head and closing her eyes as his lips moved over the exposed skin.

“Hmmm….I think you will.”

She figured he was probably right, but why not make him work for it anyway?

Jake came out of the bedroom after his shower to find Rand standing in front of the stove, her hair up in a pony tail that trailed down her back. He walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, laying his chin on her shoulder.

She turned away from the stove and ran her hands up and over his shoulders, and just the feel of those rough hands on the cotton of his shirt was driving him crazy. She stood on her tippy toes and leaned forward, kissing him sweetly. He didn’t even have time to react before she had turned back to the stove.

“What was that for?” He asked, staring at the back of her dark head.

She shrugged. “Just because.”

He grinned and smacked her butt. She let out a yip and turned to glare at him. “What was that for?”

“Just because.” He teased, running his finger across her jaw line.

Something mischievous crept into her eyes and she moved to the sink. He realized what she was about to do right as she turned on the water and grabbed the sprayer.

“Don’t you…” he got a face full of water and he put his hands up to fend off the stream. He kept walking forward with his face turned away.

“Stay back!” She cried, screaming and laughing.

He reached out and grabbed her, wrestling the nozzle from her and hosing her down in his arms. She screamed and begged and he stopped spraying to yell, “Do you give?”

She reached up to wipe her wet hair back and spluttered, “Yes.”

“Since I won, I get a prize.” His tone was sheepish and he watched her eyes narrow with suspicion.

“Like what,” she asked.

“How about another date? Since our first one didn’t go so well.” He asked, loving the way her cheeks darkened to a soft pink.

He was completely charmed by this side of Rand, the bashful, inexperienced woman who was the polar opposite of her normally brash and ballsy self.

He wiped his hand across her wet cheek, loving the feel of her soft skin.

She leaned her face into his hand and whether it was unconscious or not, he brought his other hand up to cup her cheek. He felt like he needed to be honest about the way he was feeling but he didn’t want to upset her. “Rand, I…”

The smoke alarm started going off and Rand’s eyes widened as she jerked away from him. “The bread!”

Jake went to go hit the button on the detector so it would stop its ear shattering shrillness, and watched Rand pull out a pan of black smoke.

“Son of a bitch! I forgot to set the timer for it.” She dropped the whole thing and turned to him with irritation written all over her face. “It’s all your fault for distracting me.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “How did I do that? You kissed me. You started the water fight.”

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