She rolled her eyes. "Really, Jake? Sometimes you make me want to be a twelve-year-old and stick my finger down my throat to gag myself. Do you honestly think you can order me not to worry and I'll just stop?"

"Sure. Have you ever known me not to handle a problem, especially one you were worried about?" He shrugged his shoulders.

Emma planted her hands on the counter behind her and lifted herself up to sit. He did take care of any problem. Even if she mentioned it casually, he immediately fixed the least little thing. He did it so smoothly she often didn't even notice. "This isn't that kind of thing."

"All right. Spit it out."

Now that she had his attention, she wished she'd let him divert the conversation. She tried to choose each word carefully. "I've just been thinking about the future. I've been drifting along without any real plan. It's so comfortable here and I'm not really looking forward to leaving."

Something dangerous crossed his face and she paused. He had gone very still, his lids dropping so that he'd narrowed his gaze. His eyes had gone completely golden, slipping into the absolute, single-minded concentration that she found unnerving.

"Andraya and Kyle are as close as blood siblings. They love each other and they love both of us. If you found someone you wanted-"

"Emma, this is such bullshit. You aren't going anywhere. And I'm not finding anyone else." He waved his hand dismissively.

"We have to think about it. We do, Jake, whether you want to face it or not. The longer the children are together, the harder it's going to be to break them up. The thought of losing Kyle is already more than I can bear."

"You're not losing him because you aren't leaving. What the hell has Susan Hindman been saying to you that's gotten you all upset?"

"It isn't Susan, Jake. You're legally Andraya's father. I'm not Kyle's mother. If something happened, I'd be the one to lose out, possibly on both of them."

He was on his feet, tall, enormously strong, towering over her, looking suddenly ruthless and a little cruel. Temper was riding him hard. "Okay, now you're just pissing me off on purpose. What the fuck does that mean, Emma? Tell me what you mean by that."

She held out a hand to ward him off, but he kept coming, wedging his hips between her legs and catching both of her upper arms to give her a little shake. His fingers dug deep. His eyes looked like glittering jewels, hot and angry, his body giving off a blazing heat.

"You're the one who's always telling me to think about the future instead of the past. It's not like we can stay here like this forever. And then what happens to me? Don't pretend you wouldn't demand your rights to visit with Andraya."

Without visibly moving, his hand snaked out, hard fingers spanning her throat, allowing her to feel his immense strength. His thumb tipped her chin up so she was forced to look up at him. He was enormously strong, and it showed in his well-defined, rippling muscles and the powerful grip of his hands.

"You aren't leaving me," he growled very softly. His gaze dropped to her trembling mouth and he made an effort to soften his voice. "If you're so damned worried about your rights, let's get John here tonight, now, and have him draw up adoption papers. You never brought it up, so I just assumed you knew you were his mother and that was the end of it. But if you need the legality of a formal adoption, then just do it."

"You still have the advantage, Jake. You know every judge."

A muscle ticked along his jaw. For a moment her heart nearly stopped. He looked more like a leopard than a man, a predator about to leap on and devour prey.

"If you fucking want to get married, just say so and we'll get it done along with the adoption. Whatever it takes to stop this bullshit about leaving. As my wife you'll have the same playing field and I can pretty much guarantee that judges will like you better than they will me. And don't give me crap about me finding someone else. If I was going to find someone, I would have already done it. For Christ's sake, Emma."

"Well, what if I find someone else?"

"How are you going to do that, locked in this house with two kids and still pining away for someone who's never coming back? You don't even look at men, Emma, so no, you're sure as hell not going to find someone else."

Fury swept through Emma, her temper rising up out of nowhere, something rare but lethal once she got going. She was tempted to slap his face, but it wasn't her style. She reached behind her to keep her itching palms away from him and came in contact with the sprayer on the sink. Without thought she turned on the faucet and blasted him with cold water right in his arrogant, handsome face.

"Maybe you ought to stop being such a hothead, Jake."

Emma released the trigger and dropped the sprayer in the sink, torn between horror at what she'd done, anger at his callous proposal and the implication that she might never find someone else, and laughter as water ran down his face over his shocked expression and dripped onto his very expensive soaked shirt.

There was complete silence. A heartbeat. Two. Hard hands seized her, swinging her smaller body over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes. One hand came down hard on her wriggling butt, a stinging blow that made her yelp as he strode to the door and carried her outside down the long drive.

Heat flashed across her bottom and spread deep inside, the swat triggering a different memory, or maybe it had been an erotic dream, lying across his lap, his hand coming down hard and then rubbing sensually as he was doing now.

Her heart jumped. Where had that come from? Lately she'd been having dreams of Jake, dreams of things she'd never consciously thought about. Emma drummed at his broad back with her fists, fuming, embarrassed, not at being upside down but at the heat rising in her body and the blood surging so hotly.

Jake delivered a second smack, this time a little harder than the first, and once again rubbed at her bottom to take the sting away, sending fire shooting through her veins. "Stop it, Emma. You so deserve this and you know it."

The deep growl of his voice sent an illicit thrill coursing through her bloodstream. She wished her jeans weren't so tight or her panties so skimpy. She could feel his hand burning right through the thin material as he rubbed to ease the sting.

She caught a glimpse of Joshua's startled face as Jake stalked past him. She looked around quickly, seeing the direction in which they were heading, and knew instantly what he intended. "Don't you dare, Jake." Emma caught at the back of his shirt with both fists, realizing what he planned. "I mean it. Don't you dare."

He kept walking at the same pace, with long, purposeful, ground-eating strides. Emma clutched him harder, trying desperately not to laugh at the ridiculous situation. She should have known Jake would retaliate. What ever had possessed her to spray him with the kitchen sprayer? She'd been too angry to think clearly, but it hadn't occurred to her that Jake might ever do this. "Stop. Don't do it." She couldn't help it that her voice turned to pleading. Or that laughter played around the edges. She'd always had the worst sense of humor.

Jake swung her from his shoulder, cradling her for a moment, then held her out from his body and dropped her unceremoniously into the large horse trough. She came up sputtering, splashing water ferociously at his face, laughing so hard she could barely stand.

Jake stood over the horse trough, water cascading over him as she used the flat of her hand to send a huge wave into the air. Time slowed down so that the droplets of water glistened like diamonds and the sun seemed to surround her head, turning her red hair into a bright halo of light and gleaming off her pearly teeth. Her laughter was infectious, melodic, irresistible, and he found himself laughing with her. Laughing. Deep inside, happiness blossomed and spread. He'd never thought much about being happy. Not like this-something simple. Something not revenge, or dark and ugly. Something not about making money. Just laughing at the absurdity of their argument.

He reached into the trough and hauled her out, swinging her easily to the ground, one arm locked around her waist, holding her wet body against his. The air was crisp and cold and she shivered, but her laughing face was turned up toward his and-God help him-he was tempted almost beyond all control. He was beginning to understand the story of Adam and Eve.

"You're crazy, Emma. You know that?" His voice was gruff. Husky. He could hear the need almost as much as he felt the ache, not in his groin-although he was as hard as a rock-but in his chest. He actually pressed a hand over his heart. "Let's get you back inside. I didn't realize it was so cold out here."

She slipped under his shoulder naturally, as if she belonged there, her arm curling around his waist, still laughing up at him.

Snickers broke out behind them and she ducked beneath Jake's arm to peer at the ranch hands. They stood with wide grins on their faces, doubled over laughing.

"Having a little trouble, boss?" Joshua called.

"Need a hand there?" Darrin, another hand, yelled.

"Hey!" Emma objected. "No cookies for either of you for a month."

The leopard in Jake scented genuine camaraderie, an honest shock at his out-of-character behavior and real laughter. He didn't know how to react. A part of him wanted to join in the laughter, to share in the moment the way Emma did, to have fun. Hell. This silliness was fun. He didn't know how to react, or even what to say, so he just grinned, waved them back to work and kept her walking toward the house, slightly uncomfortable that his work crew had seen him acting so childish, but still feeling a small glow.

"I'm never living that one down," Emma said, smacking his chest. "I can't believe you dumped me in the horse trough." She smacked him again. "And you spanked me. Sheesh, I'm not two, you know."

His palm immediately dropped to the enticing curve of her bottom, rubbing caresses. "I couldn't resist."

She made a face. "I don't think that was an apology."

"No? Imagine that."

She reached behind her and removed his hand. "And now you're just being a perv."

He bent his head until his lips brushed her ear. "Not a perv, Emma, an opportunist."

Emma kept her head bent. He kissed her often, touched her often, but never with that lingering, possessive hint to his touch. Was it her imagination because she was suddenly so aware of him? Because he'd kissed her senseless with his birthday thank-you? She had to get a grip. She was so out of sorts, so restless and moody lately.

She told herself as she lay in bed at night, unable to sleep, that she missed a man's touch, the feel of his body. She definitely missed Andy. He'd been nothing like Jake, so different it was nearly impossible to find any common ground with the two of them.

Andy had been fun loving and uncomplicated. He didn't harbor obviously painful secrets. There was no intrigue about Andy at all. He was exactly what you saw-open and honest and ready to help anyone. Not closed off emotionally, as Jake was. He trusted people, and always thought the best of everyone. Jake trusted no one and expected people to double-cross him at every turn. Andy had boyish good looks and charm, where Jake was all hard edges, a brooding, dangerous man who exuded sex from every pore, a man in every sense of the word.

Jake rarely smiled, he barked orders and he was so protective the children could barely move without bodyguards getting under their feet. She doubted if Andy would have noticed danger even if it hit him in the face, let alone simply imagined it or suspected something or someone was out to hurt them. Andy took it as his right that she would cook and bake and do all the little things she loved doing for him, where Jake always seemed shocked and even a little wary of any kindnesses done for him. He noticed everything she did, and often didn't seem to know what to say or do in return-but he noticed.

Jake's hand wrapped around the nape of her neck. "You've gone away again, Emma. You've been doing that a lot lately."

She managed a quick, reassuring smile. "I know you've got work to do this evening, Jake. You always do. But I made you a cake. I thought after dinner you could do the birthday thing with the kids. They'll make a terrible mess, but they'll love it."

She couldn't keep the anxiety from her upturned face. She shouldn't have told the children they were going to have a birthday party with him, but she'd been planning his surprise for days and they'd seen the preparations. She held her breath.

"Emma, do I let you and the children down often?"

She hesitated, unsure how to reply. He did everything for her and for the children. "Of course not, Jake. You take care of everything." That at least was honest.

He moved closer to her, trying to surround her shivering body with heat as they stood together just outside the kitchen. "I'm not talking about things like that. You have a look on your face, like you think I might ignore the party you planned. Do I do that? Not be there for you and the kids emotionally? I don't mean to. If something is important, you need to let me know. I'm not very good at the family thing. I don't really know what I'm doing half the time, so I follow your lead."

Emma took a breath and let it out, suddenly wanting to cry for him. He could do that in one heartbeat, with one revelation of his past, make her feel his vulnerability, his absolute, single-minded resolve to learn how to live in a family. She hated hurting Jake. He really did try with them, and maybe it was only with them, but every evening he was home, he tucked the kids in their beds and definitely seemed to enjoy the family dinners. He just wasn't home often. He always asked about the children when he called, always wanted every detail, but he didn't participate that much in actual hands-on parenting.

"Emma." He said her name quietly, his hand on the doorknob. "If blowing out candles and watching Kyle and Andraya make a mess is important to you, or to them, then of course I'll be there."

"Thanks, Jake," Emma said. "I think Kyle and Andraya will have fun."

Jake opened the door and allowed her through. "You'd better grab a hot shower. Susan can watch the little ones while you get cleaned up. I do have some work to do in my office before dinner, but if I get tied up, just come get me."

Emma glanced at her watch. "I've got a telephone repairman coming any minute, Jake, and we needed to fix the phones in your office as well. I'm sorry, I didn't think you were going to be home until this evening."

"What's wrong with the phones?"

Emma frowned. "I don't know. There's an echo I don't like. Joshua thought the squirrels might have chewed on the lines, so I'm having everything checked, starting in the house and working backward. He shouldn't be in your office long. I'll get him out as soon as possible."

"Have Joshua do a security sweep as soon as he leaves," Jake cautioned. "And have him stay with the man at all times."

She stuck her chin in the air. "I'll stay with him at all times. I'm perfectly capable of looking after the house."

"Joshua isn't looking after the house," Jake snapped, his eyebrows drawing together. "He's looking after you."

"We've had this conversation a million times, Jake. I'm not two. I don't need looking after. It's my job, not Joshua's."

Jake opened his mouth and closed it. She had the most sexy, stubborn look on her face he'd ever seen. His body reacted with a hot flair of need, a need to conquer, a drive to change that look to submission, compliance, hunger even. Few people ever argued with him or stood up to him, but Emma had no problem at all giving him her opinion.

He tasted her in his mouth. His body ached. He pushed a towel into her hands. "If you get any strange vibes, call me or Joshua immediately." He stepped away from her, frowned and turned back. "And I want Josh in the house. That's nonnegotiable."

Emma drew herself up to her full height. "Absolutely not. I take care of the house, not Joshua. If I don't like something, I'll let you know."

A hint of a smile flickered across his face. She had the little bite in her voice he loved to hear. It didn't matter how often he offered to rehire a cook or a nanny, she refused and he was grateful. He had come to enjoy the way she ran the house, the scent of cookies and freshly baked bread in his kitchen and the sound of laughter echoing often through the halls. She considered the house her domain and she guarded it jealously.

"Joshua stays in the house, Emma. You're too trusting." Emma made a face at him, shivering, her teeth chattering as she reached for another kitchen towel. "I am not. Just because I like people doesn't mean I'm trusting. I'm well aware you're worried about Kyle's and Andraya's safety. I agree totally with you that they should have bodyguards. I've never once objected to that."

Jake walked back to her, his body crowding hers until she could feel his heat. She backed up until her bottom hit the edge of the table and she had to stop abruptly. Jake took the towels from her as he deftly removed her barrette with the other hand and slipped it into his pocket where so many others had disappeared before it. Emma found it impossible not to notice the way his muscles rippled beneath his soaked shirt, how wide his shoulders were and how strong his arms seemed.

Her body reacted again, blood surging hotly, something wild inside of her reaching for him. She breathed away the need, her breasts rising and falling, aching to be touched, her nipples tightening into hard peaks she was desperate to hide. He began to rub at the silky strands of wet hair in an attempt to dry them. His arm brushed her breast and her womb clenched and pulsed. She caught her breath and counted in her head, trying to think of anything but how his waist tapered into his narrow hips and how the front of his jeans had an impressive bulge.

For a moment, just one moment, an image rose in her head: Jake's strong hands on her shoulders, pushing slightly until she obeyed his silent command and she was kneeling, reaching for him, wanting the familiar shape and texture of him, already anticipating his masculine taste and the way he'd make her feel, as if only she could bring him exquisite ecstasy. She'd love looking up at him, meeting his eyes while she took control, driving him past all sanity until he was truly helpless under her erotic onslaught.

Her breath caught in her throat and her heart slammed hard inside her chest. She'd been a virgin when she'd married Andrew. They'd only been married five short months when the accident happened. She didn't know the first thing about sex, not sex like the images in her head. Her attempts to please him had been funny and not very successful.

"Hey." Jake tugged at her hair. "Are you listening to me?"

Had he been talking? Color rushed into her face. "Only when you make sense."

Jake tugged a little harder on her hair until he tilted her head back, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Don't ignore me when I'm talking about safety, Emma. You can object to having someone in the house with you, but sadly, honey, when it comes to your safety, I get the last word whether you like it or not." He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose and left the towel draped over her head. "I don't want Susan to be a problem for you. If she causes you more work, or any trouble . . ."

"She won't. She's watching the children for me. She's very good with them."

Jake inclined his head. "I'm heading for the shower. I suggest you do the same. If you feel like conserving water, you can shower with me."

Shower with him? Had he actually said that, or was her imagination running wild? What in the world was wrong with her? Emma stood speechless, the idea of being naked in a shower with Jake sending her already hot blood erupting into a fiery conflagration she could barely comprehend. She needed a shower, all right. An icy-cold one would be best.

Dragging the towel from her head, she took the back staircase, wanting to avoid Susan and the children until she was cleaned up and centered once again. Jake had managed to rattle her when she was already feeling so moody. She sighed, stripping off wet clothes and flinging them into the laundry basket before stepping under the spray. She was simply missing being close to a man. It had been two years. Maybe Jake was right and she was hiding away on the ranch, rarely venturing out other than to buy groceries and things for the children. Jake took care of everything for her.

She sighed. She needed to make a change. Jake had kept her safe in a little cocoon. She'd relied on him and he'd simply shouldered the burden, just as he took on everything else in his life. He barked orders but he was rarely angry, not with her and certainly not with the children. She wanted to stay where she was. She liked her life, liked cooking for Jake and some of the ranch hands, liked taking care of the children. She'd always wanted a home and she couldn't ask for a better one. She couldn't ruin it by having an affair with Jake. And if she was ever stupid enough to give Jake control over her . . . She shuddered at the thought. Jake could take full advantage.

She shampooed her hair, closing her eyes to absorb the sensation of soap and water running in rivulets over her skin. Her skin felt too tight, too sensitive. Everywhere she touched she felt fingers of arousal pulsing through her body. She leaned against the shower wall, frowning, trying to understand what was happening to her. Her breasts felt full and heavy, aching with the need to be touched. She felt empty inside, her body flushed, almost feverish. The water actually hurt her skin.

Emma stepped out of the tiled stall and wrapped herself in a towel, looking in the mirror and feeling a little dazed. The need to be touched was growing, not lessening, and it had come on slowly, so slowly she hadn't realized what was happening until the last week. Everything seemed different to her, as if all her senses were heightened.

A thump on the door had her whirling around with a small gasp.

"Hey! Emma, look alive. The phone repairman is here." Emma took a deep breath and let it out. She had to pull herself together and stop all the silly nonsense that could threaten their very comfortable world. She dressed briskly and once again quickly caught her hair in a barrette, pulling it back away from her face, making a mental note to have it cut soon. She wore it up far more often than down anyway. Running after the two small children made it impossible to style.

Joshua waited on the stairs for her. "I'm supposed to stay with you."

"You're supposed to stay in the house." Emma pushed past him, her hand brushing his chest. She felt a shudder of awareness go through him and she turned her head to look at him. Joshua had always-always-acted like an older brother. Now he was looking at her with speculative eyes. She frowned at him. "Go away, Joshua."

"You smell good."

"You smell like horses. Where is our guest and why did you leave him alone?" Her voice was tinged with exasperation. Everyone was losing their minds lately, not just her. Joshua stared at her with hot eyes, making her uncomfortable.

She ran lightly down the stairs into the entryway to find a young man standing awkwardly, staring around him with a slightly awed expression on his face. "Hello, I'm Emma Reynolds, the housekeeper. I'll show you all the phones."

"Greg Patterson."

"The housekeeper?" Joshua snorted.

Emma glared at him. "Thank you so much, Joshua. I'll show him the phones. If you'd like, I made fresh bread. It's in the bread basket on the counter."

Joshua frowned at her. "Emma . . ."

She smiled serenely. "It's your favorite. I know you're on a break, so I made fresh coffee for you as well." There. She'd given him a good reason to stay in the house and not make it look like they didn't trust the phone man. She kept her smile, willing Joshua to follow her lead.

"The kids?"