Page 60 of Her Rugged Guardian

“You’re right.” It was so strange that even though Jake and I barely knew anything about each other, being with him forced me to feel things I’d locked tightly away. I suspected that’s exactly what he was going through. We were a catalyst to the other, upending the protection we’d woven tightly around us for fear of getting hurt again.

“Do I need to head to DC and kick his ass?”

“God, you have no idea how much I’d love to see you do that, but no. I managed to break the chains, something I’m proud of.”

“Who was he, childhood sweetheart?”

“Hardly. He was someone I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. In truth, Stephen turned out to be a big mistake, a selfish monster in expensive attire. I should have known we weren’t compatible.”

“Not all men are assholes.”

I shot him the same kind of look he’d given me. “I know that no matter how badly I behaved when we met. I entered the relationship of my own accord. What bothers me is that I’d always thought that bad men were easy to spot. You know. They wore leather and rode a Harley or drove a pickup truck with guns positioned on the back window. I never thought the ones who made hundreds of thousands of dollars and knew how to organize a romantic evening were the ones to watch out for. Now, I know better.” I shook my head, taking a gulp of my wine. It was funny how just thinking about Stephen could still take away from my life.

“I guess I won’t tell you I own a Harley then.”

At least we were both able to laugh. “Maybe I need for you to take me on a ride.”

“Anytime, Cinnamon Girl.”

“So, what about you, cowboy?”

Jake lifted both his bushy eyebrows, shaking his head. “You won’t stop until I tell you all the gory details of my life. Will ya?”

“That’s my current plan and I’m a big planner.” I gave him a mischievous smile even though I knew how difficult it was for him to open the wounds to anyone.

The larger-than-life man returned his gaze to the fire, his hand slowly falling away. “She was a puck bunny.”

“A what?”

He laughed. “You don’t know shit about hockey, do you?”

“Sticks used on ice with really huge aggressive guys trying to get a tiny round disc into a net?” I batted my eyelashes on purpose.

“Good enough,” he chuckled. “But just the tip of the iceberg. Just like with rockstars, there are woman who follow hockey teams because of sexual motivation. They couldn’t give a shit about the game.”

“Ah. Let me guess. You were the most popular, sexiest guy in the game of hockey.”

“Something like that. Anyway, Barbie was part of a group of six girls that came to every game, including a few that were hundreds of miles away.”

“Please do not tell me her name was Barbie or I might vomit a little in my mouth.”

“That’s one of the things I adore about you, Cinnamon Girl. You have a mouth on you. To answer your question, that’s what I started calling her in spite after everything that happened. Tammy is a pediatric nurse, very intelligent. Back then she had friends who liked the sport, so she went with them to games, hanging out at the after parties. She seemed different, not nearly as enamored with the players as the others.”

I lifted one of my eyebrows, something taught to me by my mother. “Let me guess. She had no interest in you so that attracted you more.”

“Yep. You know my type far too well. We gotta have the forbidden.”

“Is that what I am?”

“Yep. That’s why I’ve already claimed possession.” He threw me a sideways grin, but I could tell he wasn’t proud of his past behaviors. “Even though I threw the full court press with her, she wanted nothing to do with me for months. When I finally convinced her to go out on a date, we did nothing but talk the entire time. That wasn’t like me at all. Something clicked that night and we became a couple, our passion fierce. I had no desire for other women, only her.”

“Uh-oh. I feel a bad romance novel coming on.”

“Do you compare all romances to the novels you read?”

I hid behind my glass, half laughing. “Pretty much as of late.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. You’re right though. We were together for almost two years, including both during and after I was injured on the ice. She stood by me, taking care of me through surgery and the months of physical rehab. After it was obvious my beloved first career was over and I had an opportunity to join the fire department, she encouraged me. At least at first.”

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