Chapter 39
EMMA
Before you were mine.
Something hot slides through my chest at those words. I want to be furious—I’m not a thing to own. I’m my own person, and I’m not giving up my life to accommodate anyone.
That was one of the reasons Mark and I broke up—at least in his opinion. I thought it was all the women he was seeing on the side.
Jake is different, and I want to be his, but I don’t want him to think I’m just going to do whatever he says.
I put my hands on my hips, studying him. "So that's how this works? You declare ownership, and I just comply?"
"No.” He tilts my chin up to meet his eyes. "You comply because you want to. Because you know I'll make sure you’re safe."
"I won’t be a prisoner, Jake." I put my hand on his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart.
"I didn't say you were."
But his jaw's tight, and I can see the battle happening behind his eyes. I shake my head. "Then why does it feel like you're trying to keep me locked up?"
He cups my chin, his thumb stroking my jaw. "It’s just until I have an alarm system installed at Circle H."
I sigh, exhausted. "Isn't that overkill?"
"No. Cole Turner is a wildcard." His voice is low, controlled—which somehow makes it more dangerous. "Until I know what he's about, we can't discount him as another threat."
I get it. I do. But I didn't survive eighteen years without Jake Callahan by being helpless. "Fine. Install the alarm system. But just a basic one that won’t go off every time I move. And Cole Turner isn’t here, so I'm still going home today, and I'm still having dinner with Harper."
"I'll follow you—"
"No." I poke my finger into his chest, meeting his eyes dead-on.
"You're not following me anywhere, Jake, especially to dinner with my friend.
I'm not something you get to own, or someone you get to control every second of every day.
I'm not going to brainlessly follow your orders like I'm broken or stupid. That's not how this works."
For a second, something flashes across his face—surprise, maybe. Or challenge.
It looks like it costs him everything to say, "Text me when you get to Circle H, when you leave for dinner, and when you get home. Nonnegotiable."
I study him, deciding whether to push back. But the way he's trying to negotiate instead of demand... He's actually listening, so I concede with a roll of my eyes. "Okay, Dad."
He leans in, his nose brushing my ear. "Are you asking for it?"
“Ace, Jake wants to borrow your wooden spoon,” Luke calls out.
Mason snorts.
Ignoring the peanut gallery, I get on my toes and kiss Jake softly. Then I shove his chest. "I'm going to get dressed," I call over my shoulder as I sashay out.