Jake pulled two mugs from the cupboard. “He is a good kid. Thank you for what you are doing for him. I didn’t realize how bad his problem had become until he came home with his broken leg. Whenever I tried to talk to him about it, he got defensive. I’m impressed that you got him to open up to you so fast.”
“Apparently, I’ve had a little practice. Don’t get too excited. Daniel’s got a long, hard road ahead of him. He agreed to let me help him, but he hasn’t fully confided in me yet. Hopefully, with time, he’ll come to trust me.”
Jake rubbed his neck. “I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone what happened that caused him to start drinking, but I’d tell you if I thought it would help him.”
“If you tell me, it won’t help him. It needs to come from him.”
Jake placed a steaming mug of hot cocoa in front of her. “Be careful. It’s hot.”
Emily blew on her cocoa then took a sip. “Delicious. I’m impressed.”
“I’m glad you like it.” His chest swelled as relief filled him.
Why am I trying so hard to impress her?
Emily winked and flashed her dimples at him. “It could do with a bit more chocolate.”
“Right, you like chocolate with chocolate.”
He stood and looked through the cabinets. Finding what he searched for, he returned to the counter and sprinkled a few chocolate chips into her mug. Grabbing a spoon, he stirred it until the morsels melted.
“You will make a wonderful husband for some lucky woman someday.” Emily said, a twinkle in her eyes.
Jake held her gaze. Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of green, like fresh cut grass. She licked her lips, and his eyes dropped to her mouth. He wanted a taste of those strawberry-red lips.
Whoa. Where did that come from?
Emily cleared her throat. “Provided she likes chocolate.”
Jake chuckled and took a sip of his own cocoa, tearing his gaze away from her lips.
“So, your mom used to make hot cocoa for you when you couldn’t sleep? Did that happen often?”
Nice. Change the topic.Now maybe he could concentrate on something other than her beautiful emerald eyes and enticing red lips.
Jake shrugged. “Sometimes, I had difficulty sleeping. I had some ADHD tendencies, which working on the ranch helped with, but I had anxiety too. I’d often get stressed out over things. Usually, things I could do little about, like world hunger and social injustices.”
“Things like abandoned mountain lion cubs?”
“She told you about that?” Then before she could answer, he continued. “I hate to think what all she told you about me.”
“Don’t worry, it was all good.” Emily took a sip of her cocoa. “I imagine being cooped up all day doing paperwork and keeping an eye on an invalid creates plenty of anxiety and pent-up energy.” Emily gave him a knowing look.
He took a sip of cocoa while debating how honest he should be. “Maybe a little.”
He considered adding how distracting the beautiful invalid was but figured he’d better keep that thought to himself. No need to make things awkward again.
His cheeks warmed as he admitted, “I heard my mom tell my fifth-grade teacher I was tender-hearted. I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t like how it sounded. I looked it up, and I didn’t like the definition either. It made me sound like a wuss.” He chuckled. “I picked a fight with the school bully to prove her wrong. I busted his front tooth, and I felt so bad about it I was extra nice to him after that. He became one of my best friends.”
Emily chuckled. “And as an adult, how do you feel about being called tender-hearted?”
Not much had changed about his personality. He couldn’t help caring about people, but it was the least masculine adjective to describe a man.
Ignoring her question, he raised his mug. “Hot cocoa always did the trick when I couldn’t sleep.”
“You sure it wasn’t talking things out with your mom?”
“Nope. It was the cocoa.” Jake put his mug to his lips.
