Read Online RESCUED BY THE RANCHER by Soraya Lane - Free Book Online Page B

disappeared
without Jake needing to find an excuse.
    “Do I know you?”
    Jake gave him a slow smile, fighting his anger,
refusing to be anything other than calm. “You and me? We need to talk.” Jake knew him on sight, but Phil wouldn’t have a clue who he was – Phil had been younger than him back in school.
    The other man looked hesitant, but he shut the
door behind him and slowly crossed the porch to stand opposite from Jake.  
    “You remember a girl called Faith?” Jake asked,
never breaking his gaze.
    He shrugged, but Jake didn’t miss the flash in
his eyes, the way they darted to the side, nor the way
he tapped his fingers against his leg.
    “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
    Jake chuckled, making fists with his hands and
then releasing them. “You make such a habit of getting teenage girls pregnant
that you can’t even remember their names?”
    He
didn’t have an issue with getting a girl pregnant. It could have happened to
him enough times when he was young and stupid. But what he did have a problem
with was how the guy had treated Faith.
    “Look, I don’t know who the hell you think you
are, coming here and…”
    “Stop talking,” Jake commanded, walking closer
to him, swallowing the red bite of anger that was threatening to make him snap.
“You got her pregnant, your family made sure she got the
hell out of dodge, and when she finally came back, you fire bombed her house so
she wouldn’t get a chance to tell anyone the truth.”
    Now the other guy was starting to sweat, but
Jake didn’t back down. He was pleased he had a height advantage, so he wasn’t
secretly shitting himself that the guy could knock him out if it came to that.
    “I don’t give a fuck right now about what you
did back then, but I do give a damn about her. So listen up.”
    Phillip walked backward and knocked into an old
chair.
    “You look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t
do it. Tell me you didn’t try to burn your own son alive just to make sure
Faith didn’t show up and ruin your happy little life. Maybe you didn’t mean to
do anything other than scare her, but if there hadn’t been any smoke detectors
in the house? You’d be facing a murder charge, my friend.”
    Silence was his only response.
    “Just what I thought.” Jake shook his head, disgusted. “So listen up.
You stay the hell away from her, or I tell your pretty wife exactly what you
did to your pregnant girlfriend, and what you almost did to your son. I don’t
want to hear your name or see your face ever again, and I sure as hell don’t
want you to run to daddy for help. I already know he’s covering for you, and if
you don’t piss off? I’ll make sure you don’t ever have the chance to hurt anyone again. Am I making myself clear?”
    Jake wasn’t an aggressive person. Hell, he
didn’t even raise his voice to his horses. But Faith? Well, Faith was making him turn into the kind of man she needed him to be, and
he wasn’t going to let this shithead do anything to hurt her.
    “Who the hell do you think you are?”
    Jake laughed in response. Now he was going to try talking back? He closed the distance
between them, until he was so close he was guessing the guy could feel his
breath on his face.
    “Who am I?” He stared him down. “I’m the guy
who’d smash your fucking face in and burn your goddamned house down to protect her.”
    He
hadn’t been able to protect Rachel, but he sure as hell was going to protect
Faith. Because he wasn’t going to lose a woman he loved ever again.
    Jake winked and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“We have an understanding?”
    He received a nod in response. It was all he
needed. Because this guy might have been cowardly enough to
torch a house in the dark, but he was scared as shit right now.
    Jake walked a few steps backwards before
turning and heading to his car. He even whistled a tune.
    He’d
just been a prize asshole, but he’d done what needed to be done. And protecting
his girl felt better than good.