Jake’s stomach dropped. She didn’t want to talk to him. She wanted to talk to Joe, like she had every day since regaining her memory.
With a sigh of disgust, Jake raised his hand toward his office. “Be my guest. Go call your precious Joe. I don’t understand why you’ll let him help you through this and not me. I’m right here, Em. Flesh and blood, and I want to help you. Why won’t you let me?”
“Because...” Her voice shook. “Because... you’re part of the problem.” She turned away as she said the words.
Emily may as well have slapped him. Shocked, he turned and walked out the door.How did I become part of the problem?He’d tried to keep things platonic. Sure, he’d gotten a little carried away with that kiss yesterday, but she’d kissed him back without complaint.
The knot in his stomach blossomed as he admitted he was insanely jealous of Joe. What was Joe to Emily, anyway? He wasn’t a boyfriend, so why was Emily always turning to him?
He strode to the corral and grabbed the fastest horse he owned, an all-black Friesian stallion. Normally, when he needed to rid himself of frustration, he rode Thor. But Zeus was stronger and faster. Jake needed more than speed and power right now. He needed the challenge of keeping this headstrong stallion in control.
The similarity between Emily and Zeus was not lost on him. Except where his relationship with Emily was concerned, Jake felt like he’d lost any control he may have had.
Questions continued to race through his mind as he saddled the anxious stallion. Where had he gone wrong? What was Emily so upset about doing again? What man had she hurt before?
Once he had the horse saddled, he set off at a thundering pace, hoping he hadn’t made a mistake in taking Zeus. It would serve him right if the horse dumped him off and left him stranded miles from the house.
Wouldn’t that please Emily.
Chapter 28
Emily sat in Jake’s office chair. Her mind on the man. A heaviness settled in her chest. She’d seen the hurt in Jake’s eyes, before he stomped out the back door.
She hadn’t meant to hurt him.So why did I?
Jake had been wonderful, but she couldn’t deny how she felt about him. Every thought, every emotion, it all led her to Jake. She hadn’t even been able to talk with Ben without thinking about Jake.
She didn’t make rational decisions when she was mourning, she knew that from experience. Punching in the familiar number, she waited for Joe to pick up.
“Joe—” her voice cracked as soon as she heard her dear friend’s voice. “It’s happening again.”
“Emily, tell me what’s going on,” came Joe’s confident and gentle voice over the phone.
“I’m falling in love with him.”
“I assume you’re talking about the rancher?” Joe asked when she didn’t elaborate.
“Yes.”
“And you feel like this is the same thing that happened with Trent?”
“Yes, but it’s worse this time. Why do I keep doing this?” She groaned into the phone.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you told me you were never in love with Trent.”
“No. I liked how having someone care for me made me feel. I confused it with love, but I was never in love with Trent.
“Why do you think what you are experiencing with Jake is really love?”
Emily let out a sigh as she thought about how her pulse raced every time Jake looked at her with those warm brown eyes. How comfortable she felt in his strong arms, and how breathless she became every time he kissed her. The constant desire to be near him. “Trust me, there’s plenty of dopamine, oxytocin, and physical reactions present.”
“But you never felt these things with Trent?”
“No,” she said, not sure where he was heading.
“So why are you comparing what is happening with your rancher to what happened with Trent? It sounds like you feel differently—more strongly—about your rancher than you did Trent.”
Emily thought about his words. He’d called Jake “her rancher” twice. She liked that, yet something inside her screamed it was wrong for her to feel that way. She’d found comfort in Trent’s arms after her father’s death, but she had never felt the longing, the shortness of breath, and racing pulse she experienced with Jake.
