Page 16 of Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas 2)

“See if I ever do anything nice for you again, fur-ball,” he said, opening the fridge. He pulled out a red Gatorade and went back down the hall.

He grabbed a couple of Tylenol from the medicine cabinet and set them and the Gatorade on her nightstand.

“Night Rand. Feel better,” he whispered, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

Before he could stand back up, she grabbed his hand, her voice so soft he had to lean down to hear her. “Stay with me…”

Bad idea, bad bad bad idea. No. Do not.

He ignored his better judgment and lay down on top of the blanket next to her, kicking his boots off onto the floor. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling, trying not to think about the warm, womanly body breathing deeply next to him.

You’re only staying to make sure she’s okay. That she doesn’t get sick again. Any friend would do the same.

He kept telling himself the lie over and over, hoping if he said it enough times it would make it true.

Chapter Four

Hell and Damnation, I’m dying.

Rand tried to open her eyes but the early morning light sent shooting pain from her frontal lobe to the back of her skull. Her mouth tasted like a baked cow pie and her stomach was churning painfully. She moved a bit and felt something hard tighten around her waist. Her eyes popped open, despite her body’s protests and she stared into Jake’s sleeping face. She was spread over him like a blanket and it was his arm around her middle keeping her immobile.

Trying to be easy, she reached down to grab his hand, moving it off her waist as gently as she could so as to not wake him. As soon as she was free, she rolled off the bed and stood up, staring down at him in confusion. Jake Hansen, asleep in her bed. They hadn’t shared a bed since the concert trip to Dallas, when Red had refused to sleep with Jake and whined about sleeping on the floor. So Rand had crawled in with Jake and let Red have the second bed to himself. She hadn’t even been aware of Jake that night, just drifted off into a deep sleep, but boy was she aware of him now.

She walked around the bed, stumbling a bit as her stomach lurched. Damn, she was never going to drink again. She slipped into the bathroom, grabbed her tooth brush and brushed her teeth, feeling a little less disgusting as she ran the bristles through her mouth. She tried to remember what had happened the night before, but patches were missing. The last thing she remembered was Branson trying to kiss her, but after that, things got fuzzy. She realized that she was in her pajama top and froze in horror. Had Jake undressed her, and then redressed her? Did they do more than that? She put her tooth brush in the cup and looked out the door at her sleeping house guest.

He still slept soundly with his head turned towards her. He really was a beautiful man, all smooth cheeks, straight nose, and a square jaw with a dimple in his chin. Red always teased him about having a butt chin, but Rand had thought it was very nice; a strong, manly chin. His sandy hair shined in the sunlight and looked so soft and touchable…

What was she saying? Jake was probably just too tired to drive home and had crashed with her. That was it. Innocent. There was nothing to worry about. She came out of the bathroom quietly and grabbed fresh underwear, sports bra, t-shirt and jeans from her dresser and closed her drawers softly.

“Please tell me you aren’t going to wrap your boobs up anymore because honestly, it can’t be good for them.”

His voice behind her made her jump and she turned towards him, holding the clothes against her chest protectively. “They get in the way when I’m working.”

He sat up and ran a hand through his short hair before stretching his arms out. The muscles bunching and twisting under his shirt mesmerized her and she had the strange urge to reach out and run her hands along the ripply bulges.

“Have you ever tried a regular bra? I bet you’d be fine.” He said, breaking the spell.

Why was he so concerned about what kind of bra she wore?

She reached in for her only regular bra; simple white cups with a thin lace layer over them and held it up. “There you go, just for you.”

His laughter and shout of “Thank you” was cut off when she stalked back into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Why did she care what Jake thought about her underwear? When had she become this gaga girl that drools at the sight of sinewy arms?

She showered quickly, scrubbing her hair and body vigorously so the feeling of nastiness would go away. When she finally felt a little better, she climbed out, drying herself and slipping her clothes on. She adjusted the cups of the bra and pulled the t-shirt on, a little uncomfortable by the way they stretched the fabric across her chest.

When she came out of the bathroom, Jake wasn’t in the bedroom and she moved down the hallway to find him pouring pancake mix into a bowl. He looked over his shoulder at her approach and asked, “Want pancakes?”

Her stomach protested the mere mention of food with a gut wrenching twist. “Ugh, no thanks. I’m going to catch up with the guys and check on the animals. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Sure, take your time,” he said, a smile stretched across his lips that held a teasing note to it.

She didn’t even want to know what was so amusing. Without another word, she turned to walk out the door and out to the barn, the early morning sun shining bright and she squinted her eyes as her head started pounding again.

The hard gravel gave way to dying grass and the nip in the autumn air helped clear her head. Fall was her favorite time of year; the holidays just around the corner, the change in the weather and the trees had almost a calming effect on her. Of course this year she would be spending those same holidays without her granddaddy, which brought on a new sadness. Usually they went to either Jake’s or Red’s for Thanksgiving, but Christmas had always been the two of them. She would invite Earl to join them usually, but the old goat liked his solitude.

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