Safer With You by Trisha Madley Read Free Book Online Page B

head to the side and nods, “Come on, climb on.”
    “I’m not climbing on.” I’m having enough of a reaction to Jase without bodily contact. I’m afraid that having my legs wrapped around him will cause me to overload. “I’ll just take my shoes off.”
    I bend down to take them off when he says, “Well, you can, but I’m not sure what you’ll step in if you do. My uncle loves cows and horses, not to mention, I’ve seen my fair share of snakes.”
    “Okay, okay, I get it.” Ugh. I guess that’s one way to get my legs around him. “Be gentle, but if you drop me, I’m kicking your ass!”
    He lets out a breath, “Just get on. I promise I’ll be good.”
    I roll my eyes and huff, then move a small piece of hair out of my face. Hiking up my dress as far as I can manage without showing anything in the process, I take in a deep breath and jump on his back as gracefully as I can.
    He stumbles a bit at my awkward attempt to jump on his back, but recovers.  
    I wrap my arms around his neck and smell a glorious mixture of scents: soap, aftershave, and the outdoors.
    As he walks, he bounces with each step, causing friction between our bodies. I straddle his back and his arms wrap around my legs. A part of me wants to stay like this for the rest of the night, the other part becomes nervous…very nervous.
    I clear my throat, my voice is shaky, and I find myself whispering in his ear, “So, where are we headed, cowboy? You’re not going to tie me up and leave me here, are you?” I was joking, but after I say it, I realize that it doesn’t sound funny. Dear God, I’m all over the place. Trying to be sexy and sounding dumb instead.
    He stops suddenly and his head turns, almost colliding with my face. “Listen, I would never do anything to hurt you. You can trust me,” he says seriously.
    He continues to walk to the barn, but we are quiet the rest of the way. I’m not sure if I touched a nerve with my little joke, but he got very serious, very quickly.
    Jase sets me down when we reach the barn. While I jump off and try to rearrange my dress, he tugs a flashlight out of his pocket. He shines the light on the large structure. The big red building must have been built many years ago… judging from the worn, peeling paint and the missing or broken wood boards holding it together.
    Jase slides the massive doors open. Inside are tractors and vehicles of all kinds, plus hay bales and other farming equipment.
    “Ahh…there’s my baby. This is my favorite truck, my old blue Ford.” He gestures toward his baby . “What do you think?”
    I giggle, probably a little too loud. Here is this influential businessman. He’s worn a suit all day and owned it. So charming, powerful, and in control, I would have never guessed a truck could put such a boyish grin on his face.
    “I think I wasn’t expecting this. Looks like you missed it.”
    “Missed her ,” he clarifies. Jase opens the passenger door and motions for me to get in.
    It takes me a moment to react. I need to tone down my hormones. Naive Nora needs to snap out of it. Here I am getting into this stranger’s rusty old truck, going God knows where, and who knows if it even runs. Luke would be furious if he saw me.
    Jase pulls a semi white rag from the glove compartment and wipes down the seat before holding my hand to help me navigate into the high truck. It looks to be lifted several inches.  
    Jase walks to the other side of the truck and jumps in, but not before throwing his vest in the bed, along with his tie and taking off his dress shirt. Luckily, he has a T-shirt on, because I’d probably melt on the spot if he was sitting shirtless in front of me.
    “We’re going for a little ride by the pond. Sorry it’s so dirty in here; I haven’t driven it for a long time.”
    My eyes survey the old space. He isn’t kidding. The bench seat is made up of striped, frayed carpet material that has seen better days. It smells dusty. Jase confirms by sneezing, but