Chapter Ten Jake
Chapter Ten
Jake
Creeping down the hallway toward the noise, it’s quiet for a moment before it changes to what sounds like something being dragged along the floor.
Glancing over my shoulder, I whisper, “What room is that?”
“The kitchen.” Ashley glances back at me with a look of confusion.
I take a few more steps, and as I stand tall then turn into the room, what I see is nothing like I was expecting. I stare down the assailant and can’t help but start to laugh as Ash gasps from behind me.
“Daisy! What are you doing in here? Look what you’ve done,” Ash yells, and as she starts to step around me, I quickly jut my arm out to stop her.
“Don’t,” I tell her sternly while pushing her toward a small table and a couple of chairs. “Sit. We don’t want you with any more injuries.” Pulling the chair out, I place my hands on her shoulders and push her down into it.
“But I have to get her out of here.” I know Ash’s worry is more for Daisy’s safety than her kitchen, which looks like there has been a food explosion all over the floor.
“Let me handle her. It’s not like we haven’t had this discussion once before.” I turn back to look at Daisy, who couldn’t give a shit that I’m in the room. She’s already back to eating the box of Cheerios that she has chewed the corner out of, spilling them all over the place.
“Oh yeah, I remember that vividly.”
I can’t tell if Ashley is amused or thinking back to how pissed off she was with me the first time I had to handle this goat.
“Daisy, it’s time to vacate the premises.
” Moving toward her slowly, I try to guide her to the door, but then it occurs to me that the doors of all the other rooms in the hallway are also open.
So shooing Daisy out of the kitchen is only going to push her into another room and that will spread the mess.
The contemptuous way she looks up at me from her late-night snack and then goes right back to munching tells me that this might be harder than I initially thought. But I’ll be damned if I let a goat get the better of me.
“That’ll do it. She looks like she’s ready to obey.” Ashley sniggers beside me.
Daisy, I’m not letting you make a fool of me in front of Ashley. She might know I’m not an animal lover, but I’m not about to hand in my man card just yet.
“Right, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Daisy, do you want to pick?” I try to keep the calm voice that Ashley has been encouraging me to use when I’m around animals. But as soon as Daisy walks a few steps and turns her ass so it’s facing toward me, I know it’s game on.
“So that’s how you want to play it then. Right, let’s go.” Striding with purpose toward her, I try grabbing her with one hand on each side of her belly, but her back legs kick up at me, hitting me hard in the shins.
“Fuck, that hurt,” I exclaim as Daisy jumps a few times and then trots across the kitchen toward the fridge. She glares at me, as if to say, “Is that all you got, buddy?”
“Okay, don’t complain, because this is the way you chose to play this.” Walking while dodging the smashed eggs and bread on the floor, I hear Ashley belly laughing like this is some comedy skit, but I can assure her it’s far from funny.
I’m now three feet in front of the goat, and she starts backing up a little. Every step back she takes, I take another one forward. She’s playing straight into my hands and backing herself into a corner, surrounded on either side by cupboards.
“I’ve got you now.” Taking the last step, I reach out to grab her horns, but my foot slips on some mushed banana and I can feel myself falling sideways.
At the same time, the horns I was reaching for slam into my chest, changing my direction and pushing me backward until I’m lying on the floor where she jumps over me and runs out of the room.
Staring up at the ceiling, I can hear Daisy’s hooves on the floorboards heading in the direction of the front door, and feel the moisture seeping through the back of my shirt from the smashed eggs and who knows what else is on the floor.
“Great, just great,” I mumble as I try to sit up, but each time I put my hand down to push myself up, it slips, making an even bigger mess.
“Shit, do you need help, Jake?” Ashley is just out of my vision, and her giggle is muffled as though she’s trying to hold it in.
“No!” I grumble, just lying on the floor, annoyed and embarrassed.
When I finally manage to push myself up and turn around, Ash has the biggest smile I have seen all night plastered across her face, and I can’t help it.
A deep chortle rumbles from inside me, and I’m laughing with her.
“I must look ridiculous.” Standing and wiping my hands on my jeans, even the back of my head feels damp as I run my hands through my hair, and they come out with bits of eggshell.
“Ahhh . . . what makes you say that?”
I walk toward her ever so slowly with my sticky hands out in front of me, and a look of panic crosses her face.
“You wouldn’t. I’m a poor injured woman just sitting here innocently watching you wrangle a harmless little goat.” She pushes her chair as far back as she can and reaches out her hands to fend me off, which is truly no use.
“Harmless my ass. That thing is a terror. And you wonder why I don’t like animals.” I wave my hands in the direction of the mess. “Maybe you should have Daisy on that town welcoming committee with you. There is no way anyone would move here if she was greeting them.”
“Oh my God, you are such a baby.” She coughs into her fist.
I crouch down to the floor and drag my finger through egg yolk. “Baby, huh? I’ll take that name.” An image flashes in my mind of her moaning my name while she begs me to take her. I shake my head to get that thought out of it.
“Okay, let’s see who complains louder.” I’m leaning over her and her backside slides down the chair as far as she can get, almost hanging off the edge, trying to get away from me. But I’m not letting her off that easy.
“Jake, stop.” She turns her head away from me.
“Oh, now it’s not so funny.” I don’t want her to fall off the chair, so instead of egging her, I wrap my other arm around her waist and pull her up against me. I’m careful to make sure I’m not going to slip and drop her, making myself look even more stupid than I already have tonight.
“Jake!” she cries out as I lift her and secure her against my chest.
“Yes, Ash? What’s wrong?” I look down into her darkened brown eyes that are sparkling with the electricity between us.
There is no fear or panic. Her whole demeanor has changed in a split second.
My egg-covered finger is hovering above her cheek, but smearing her with it is no longer something I care about doing.
Instead, I’m transfixed by the way she’s looking at me, and suddenly it hits me.
The longer I hold her this close, the more that look across her face becomes something I can’t ignore, because I’m feeling it too.
Longing.
Wiping my finger on the leg of my jeans, I carefully wrap my other arm around her back.
Our faces are being drawn toward each other. And in a way that we shouldn’t even be contemplating.
Her hands slowly slide up from my chest and hook around my neck. She wants this as much as I do. But if I kiss her again, I am not going to want to stop.
“We can’t do this,” I whisper as my lips are practically on hers, almost pleading for her to stop me.
“I know,” she concedes but doesn’t pull away.
“Why did you have to live next door?” Drawing her delectable scent through my nostrils, she’s so close I can almost taste her lips.
“Why did you have to rescue me?” she replies as though I’m at fault for our worlds colliding in such a way that we don’t know how to stop them.
“Maybe I’m the one that’s being rescued,” I murmur ever so softly as our lips finally touch, and it’s like I’m breathing in the most invigorating breath of fresh air again. Her lips are so soft against mine.
And the moment she starts to move like she wants more, a crashing sound down the hallway has us breaking apart slightly.
“Shit,” I snap.
“Daisy,” we both state at the same time and reluctantly pull apart.
“I should’ve made sure she was outside.” Cursing myself, just as I take the first two steps into the hallway, Daisy appears from one of the side rooms with something pale pink in her mouth.
Stopping and glaring at me, it feels like we are mortal enemies about to charge at each other in combat.
But before I can move, I hear Ash gasping behind me.
“No, Daisy, they are my favorite pair.”
Looking harder at what is hanging from her mouth, it’s clear why Ash is pushing past me to pull the piece of lace from Daisy’s teeth as she scolds her.
Turning her around and pushing her toward the front door, Ash is still telling her how naughty she is, while Daisy is bleating loudly to show how unimpressed she is at being treated this way.
Finally, the door bangs closed against the latch, and Ash slumps against the back of the door.
“How the hell did she get in through the door, anyway.” I look toward Ash now pushing herself upright, looking sheepish.
“Um, you’re probably not going to like the answer to that question.” She gives the door another shove with her hand behind her.
“Ash?” I ask again.
“I might have a sketchy lock on the door that I haven’t gotten around to fixing yet.” She eyes me, waiting for a reaction, and she’s about to get one.
“Are you telling me you can’t lock your door at night when you are here on your own, in the middle of nowhere, and now there’s the possibility of that prick turning up here too?” I can feel the hair on the back of my neck rising and my fists starting to clench.
“Of course I can. Don’t panic. I could lock the door if I had to, it’s just the latch doesn’t catch properly. It locks fine.” She smiles at me, no doubt hoping I won’t ask any more questions.
“Okay, let me rephrase that question, Ash. Do you lock the door at night?” I ask, staring her down.