Page 14 of Love’s Silver Bullet

“Aunt Libby told me her father is almost eleven years older than her mother, and even Blaze is way older than Maggie.”

He steeled both his resolve and his jaw. “For crying out loud, Half-Pint, you’re like a little sister to me, so it’s just not right.”

She arched a beautiful blonde brow. “But that’s just it, Jake—I’m not your sister. That may be what your brain is saying, but your body said a whole ’nother thing, because that was no little-sister kiss, and you know it. So, you’re going to have to give me a better reason than that.”

“I give you my solemn word, sir, I’ll ward off any and all signs of romance till your niece comes home from college with a degree in her hand.”

Jake stalled, the tic in his jaw keeping time with the thud of his heart, wishing more than anything he could just tell Sheridan the truth—that her uncle made him promise to keep all men away.

Including me.

“Oh, and just one more thing,” Finn’s words came back to haunt, “You can never let her know about our agreement till she graduates college, Jake, because she’s already miffed that Blaze, Dash, and I guard her like a pack of coyotes over a nest of rabbits. She expects us to be vigilant, of course, but not so much you, son, which means she won’t be as careful around you. So, if she does try to go astray, more than likely, you’ll be the first to know.”

Jake gulped. No kidding. He quickly averted his gaze from Sheridan’s needle-thin stare, making him feel like one of those blasted coyotes.

“Well?” She tapped her toe, chin high and brows raised, looking so much like the schoolmarm she aspired to be, he had to squelch a smile. He buried a grunt. Not all that hard when his gaze dropped to the bare shoulders and deep V of that dad-burned blouse, which was anything but schoolmarm.

“Well …” Head down, he ruffled the back of his hair, straining his brain to come up with something—anything—that would satisfy Sheridan enough to keep her away.

Or someone? A silent sigh of relief slowly eased through his lips when pretty Megan Joy Burdzy came to mind. Daughter of the owner of Burdzy’s Emporium, Megan Joy always waited on him at her father’s mercantile whenever Jake purchased his weekly supply of lemon drops and peppermints.

With her flirtatious manner and extra lemon drops and peppermints she always slipped in his bags, it was no secret she’d like to step out with him. And heck, Jake had even toyed with the idea himself. After all, he liked Megan Joy a lot. She was smart and lively and a real lady who sure was easy on the eyes, so maybe now was the perfect time to explore a new relationship.

Besides, with Finn and Blaze newly married, Sheridan off limits, Shaylee in bed by nine, and Dash managing the Ponderosa Saloon most nights till he could afford to buy it, Jake had been downright lonely. Sure, the other ranch hands always wanted him to join in playing poker or drinking in town, but he’d learned a long time ago that those were two vices that only got a man in trouble.

Peering up beneath half-lidded lashes, he offered Sheridan his well-practiced big-brother smile, fine-tuned over the last two years to keep her at bay.

Yeah, sure worked today …

He cleared his throat, plunging his hands deep in his pockets. “Uh, I haven’t told this to anybody yet, Sher”—he swallowed hard. Especially Megan Joy—“but I’ve been kinda … sorta … seeing Megan Joy Burdzy …” He let that trail off, thinking it wasn’t exactly a lie because he was seeing her after all—weekly to buy his lemon drops and peppermints.

“Megan Joy?” She said the name so soft and pitiful, he wanted to scoop her up and make it all better like kissing all those skinned knees and elbows.

Only he couldn’t. Not this time.

“Do you”—that bare creamy throat bobbed several times, drawing his attention to porcelain shoulders and deadly décolletage no little girl should have—“like her?”

He nodded with a little too much force. “Oh, yeah, sure, she’s a fine girl—woman,” he quickly amended, grateful Megan Joy was at least older than Sheridan at the ripe, old age of twenty-two.

“Then why,” she whispered, catching that lush lower lip in her teeth so shyly he couldn’t look away, hypnotized by the fact that his mouth had just done the same mere moments before, “did you kiss me?”

“W-What?” Her question broke the trance of his wayward thoughts, causing him to blink in confusion as he forced his gaze up to her eyes.

“I said”—her shyness disappeared faster than the blink of a doe in the sight of a hunter—“if you’re seeing Megan Joy, why did you kiss me?” She slapped those beautiful bare arms into a tight fold that only lowered the neckline of that blasted blouse, tripping his temper all the more.

His jaw dropped. “Might I remind you, little girl,” he said, emphasizing the one phrase she hated as he aimed a stiff finger, “that you kissed me!”

She stepped into his space, fists parked on her hips while she stared up with fire in her eyes. “Yes, I did, because you’re too bloomin’ blind to see we were meant for each other, Jake Sullivan, so I had to do something to open up your eyes. But we both know a lot more than your eyes opened up, mister, because you devoured me like a bag of lemon drops.”

Heat blasted his face like a red barn afire, and all Jake wanted to do was to end this right here and now. Jaw stiff, he took a step back, his tone as cool as the sweat on his neck in a sudden gust of breeze. “Yes, I did, Sheridan, and you have my heartfelt apologies because I was wrong.”

“Jake, no—”

He held up a steeled palm. “Not only was it a betrayal of your uncle and brothers, but it was a betrayal of both you and my core values because this”—he waved a hand between them—“is neither something I want nor will ever allow.”

“Oh, Jake …”

As hard as it was, he ignored the sheen of saltwater that pooled in her eyes, determined to make up for his abysmal lack of restraint just moments before. Picking up the rifles, he placed them in the box at the back of the wagon as she watched with a stricken look. “I don’t plan to mention this to anyone, Sheridan, and I’m asking you to do the same.” He turned, voice solemn as he faced her with a stoic look. “And I think it’s best if we just end these lessons altogether—”