Forever's Embrace (Forever In Luck Series Book 2) (14 page)

“Okay…okay…,”
he uttered, as he sat up trying to get control. “It’s just that you’re so damn
funny.” He fell back again, laughing some more.

“Well
that’s just great, glad I could be a source of entertainment for you,” she
grumbled. “How thick is this ice?”

“A
couple inches.”

“Jake!”
she squealed. “Get us off here now!”

He
howled with laughter again.

That
did it. Pulling out her phone, she dialed Linnie’s number. He took the phone
and hit disconnect.

“Give
me my phone,” she demanded.

“Jules,
look at me.”

“No,”
she said angrily, as she put out her hand. “Give me my phone.”

Handing
it back, he grabbed her hand and kissed the back. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I was
just having a little fun with you. You’re safe, I promise.”

Her
phone rang. Answering it, she put it to her ear. “Linnie?”

“Yeah,
you called?”

“I’m
on some Bone Lake, next to Kris’s ice house, with this wretch you call a
brother. He drove out on the ice with his truck, and told me the ice is only a
couple inches thick. He wants me to stay in the truck while he goes in and
lights a heater and lets it warm up inside. I don’t know what world you people
live in, but the one I come from has heat melting ice, and trucks falling
through thin ice! Please come get me, now.”

CHAPTER
8

“Jules,
take a deep breath, he was just teasing,” Linnie said, trying to reassure her.
“Trust me, you’re safe. Let me talk to him.”

Taking
a deep breath and then letting it out, Jules handed him the phone without
looking at him.

“Yeah,”
Jake said. “Aha…yeah, I did…I tried…I know…I will…promise…I promise…no…yes…
mmhmm…alright.” Then he handed the phone back.

“Yes,”
Jules said, in a hoarse whisper.

“You’re
safe. The ice is a few feet thick, the truck will not fall in, and a heater can
be, and is, used safely on the ice. He was just having fun with you, and
knowing my brothers, he’s probably trying to get you to wait in the truck while
he checks the ice shanty out to be sure there are no playboys laying around, or
pinups and panties hanging on the walls.”

Jules
gasped. “You’ve got to be joking! Tell me you’re joking.”

Linnie
laughed. “I wish, but I did warn you, there’s great fun to be had in an ice
house.”

“Oh
sure, another warning is it? The way you carried on about it, it was more of an
advertisement. I’m going to quit listening to you, Linnie Sanders, it just gets
me into trouble every darn time.”

 
Linnie giggled. “Lesson number two, now that
he’s upset you, make him grovel. Making up can be so much fun, you’ll see.
You’re in control, so stick around, catch a fish or two, and have a little fun
canoodling.”

Jules
dropped her head against the window. “Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding. So
not feeling it,” she said exasperated.

Linnie
laughed, and said, “Ahhhh, the joys of having a man in your life, they take you
from happiness to irritation within seconds. The good thing is, it can go the
opposite direction too. Have fun, but not too much fun, and catch a walleye for
me. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Hitting
disconnect, she sat back in the seat.

Reaching
over, Jake took her hand and kissed it again. “I’m sorry, please forgive me.”

“…he upset you,
make him grovel.”

She
stared out the front window of the truck. “Go clean up the playboys, pinups,
and panties. I don’t care to witness the Albrecht boy’s indiscretion.”

He
sat there staring at her, then said, “I told you its Kris’s shack, not mine.”

“Save
it, not interested.”

He
let out a long sigh and got out of the truck. Grabbing a box of supplies from
the back, he took it in with him.

Digging
in her purse, she found a stick of clove gum, opened it, shoved it in her
mouth, and tried chomping her stress away. Soon he emerged, coming to her side
and opening the door. Helping her out of the truck, he held her arm as she
shuffled along the ice and into the little shack.

Well,
it’s nicer on the inside than on the outside, she thought, as she entered.
Small though, very small, and with the way she was feeling towards Jake right
now, even smaller.

Setting
her bucket on the table, she sat and watched as he pulled up some covers stuck
in the floor. Taking out this huge corkscrew looking device, he put it in the
hole and started turning it around and around. After a few turns, he stopped
and took off his jacket, then went back to boring the hole in the ice. Pausing
from time to time, he cleaned out the broken ice chunks and debris, his strong,
muscular arms making quick work of the job.

Well,
who was entertaining who now, she thought with a naughty grin, as she watched
his derrière clench and shake with his efforts. If he only had on one of those
little Chippendale costumes, then they’d be in business, she thought, the
prospect making her smile with anticipation.

Goodness
gracious, I even have some dollar bills in my purse I could spare. Now wouldn’t
that be fun? She nodded at the vision her imagination produced and quickly put
herself in the front row. Perfect. Juliet Rose Blomgren! Shame on you, you’re
being naughty, now behave. Dang it! Her conscience had just rained on her
parade. Linnie was right though, good thing she’d stuck around or she’d have
missed this show.

“Alright,
let’s see that bucket of yours,” he said, reaching out. “I’ll show you how to
go about baiting your hook and setting your line.”

Getting
up, she took a few steps and handed him the bucket.

“Stick
your hand in the bucket, grab a shiner, and hook him near the tail, like so.
You want him to be alive and wiggling when you drop him in the hole, see.” He
held out the dangling fish for observation, then continued talking through the
demonstration. “Feed the line into the hole till it hits bottom, and then pull
back about a foot or so. Then set the line, just like this. Now you try.”

She
stared at the bucket, glanced at the line he was holding out to her, then
looked at the other hole. Removing her hat and mittens, she took the line,
knelt by the bucket, and stared inside. Those little guys were wiggling all
over the place. She didn’t want to put her hand in there. She didn’t. With a
deep breath, she stuck her hand inside, swirled it around, and grabbed for one.
Pulling it out, the minnow wiggled and twisted around till it flipped from her
hand and went down the hole. Dang it! Now she had to put her hand in that
bucket again. Slippery little buggers.

Sticking
her hand in, she went for another shiner and held on good. Grabbing the hook,
she tried her best not to harm the little guy, and felt bad when the hook went
in and poked through the other side, causing the little fish to twitch and
flutter. Dropping it in the hole, she let it go down, down, down, and then
pulled it up a little, before setting the line on the wheely deely mounted on
the wall. She took a deep breath, and smiled as she looked at the hole, pleased
as punch and as proud as a peacock.

Strong
arms came around her from behind, and she was pulled in tight against Jake.
Kissing the side of her head, then whispering in her ear, he praised her, “Good
job, bebis. I’m proud of you.”

Turning
her face to him some, she responded by resting her head against his chin.

“We
need to set up two more holes, and then we can relax. If a fish is on the line,
the wheel will rattle alerting us. Are you going to forgive me, or continue
giving me the silent treatment?”

Thinking
about it for a minute, she decided she wasn’t strong enough to make him grovel
much. She turned in his arms and cuddled into the crook of his neck as she put
her arms around him.

“That’s
my girl,” he said, as he hugged her tight, then whispered, “I really am sorry.”

She
tilted her head back, and looked up at his handsome face and gorgeous amber
colored eyes, and knew she wanted nothing more than to kiss him, and for him to
kiss her. Reaching up, she put her arms around his neck, bringing the two of
them together, and kissed him. Then kissed, kissed, kissed him some more. On
fire and out of breath, she struggled to breath. Placing tiny kisses along his
jaw, she kissed and nibbled her way to his neck, as she ran fingers up into his
hair. He moaned, and started pulling her toward the narrow bench seat along the
wall.

Sitting,
he took hold of one of her knees, causing it to bend, then brought it alongside
his hip, then did the same to the other. On his lap and facing him, he unzipped
her jacket and slid it off her, tossing it to the side. Leaning in, he began
kissing her neck in earnest as he ran his hands up and down her body in full
measure, pulling her close, touching her nice. Adjusting her knees in a bid to
get closer, he encouraged her on. Nibbling and teasing her neck in full
ascension, he reached her ear, sucking and tugging on her earlobe, causing her
to gasp.

“Take
your hair down,” he said in a hoarse whisper, his hot breath in direct conflict
with the cool cabin air.

Her
insides tightened, the intimacy of his request stirring her to the quick.
Gradually bringing her hands up, she was about to start removing pins when
there was a rattle.

“Ignore
it,” he said, as he continued placing delicate kisses here and there.

More
rattling. She stopped and looked back, his line pulling, the wheel turning.
“Jake, you have a fish.”

“Don’t
care, not interested.”

She
chuckled. “Jake that could be supper. I want that fish, plus we need to set up
the other two holes.” He stopped and looked at her grumpily, and she gifted him
with her best smile.

“Why
should I care about a scrappy fish, when I have a feast right here in front of
me, hmm?”

She
giggled. “You got a sample, now you have to wait,” she answered. “Besides, I
came to fish, not canoodle.”

He
glared over at the fish hole. “'Noodling’s more fun,” he mumbled, as he stood
with her, placing her on her feet. More mumbling, a little growl, then, “First
I’m jipped out of first prize, and now the damn fish decide to bite.”

She
laughed as he complained about her ability to stay focused, and couldn’t stop
laughing when he referred to her being a taskmaster. Kneeling down by the hole,
she watched as he pulled the line up. Soon, there was a halfway decent sized
fish coming up the hole, and he reached down and grabbed it by the mouth.

“What
is it?” she asked.

“A
bluegill, and a nice one at that. It’s considered a panfish, and a keeper. When
you take a fish off the hook, gently comb the body with your hand, starting at
the top, until you have a nice grip over the fins and body. Don’t squeeze, be
gentle. Then carefully remove the hook.” He demonstrated the technique, then
placed the fish in a cooler. Baiting the hook, he set the line for use again.

Crawling
over a little ways, she opened the lid on another hole in the floor. Standing,
she grabbed the ice auger and worked on making a hole. He’d made it look easy,
but it was a little harder to do than she expected. Turning, turning, turning,
she kept at it.

“Let
me help you,” he said, stepping over.

She
ignored him, and kept turning. Finally, after several minutes, she broke
through the ice, her arms screaming from the effort. She took several deep
breaths, working to slow her breathing. Pulling the auger up, she handed it to
him with a smile.

He
was grinning at her. “In other words, you’ve got a stubborn streak, hmm?” he
asked, as he raised an eyebrow.

When
her face turned pink, he grinned even more. Shrugging, she said, “Matter of
opinion, I prefer to view it as determined.”

Chuckling,
he responded, “Touché.”

They
went about setting up the other holes, and once done, he grabbed her hand and
pulled her over to him.

“Now
where were we?” he asked, playing around. “Oh yes, you were about to take your
hair down, and I was working on making you moan.”

“You’re
the moaner, not me,” she responded. “I was making you moan with pleasure.”

Pulling
back, he adamantly shook his head. Then in all seriousness said, “Men don’t
moan.”

She
tried not to smile. He was definitely a moaner, especially when she ran her
fingers through his hair. Absolutely, positively. “Okay,” she relented, trying
not to laugh. Just then her line rattled. She pushed out of his hold and
scampered to the hole. Grabbing the wheely deely, she stopped the line from
unwinding, and as she did, she felt a corresponding tug as it pulled back.
“Jake, I got one!” Slowly, she worked on bringing the line up as she turned the
wheel, but it kept pulling back hard. “Jake, what am I doing wrong?”

“You’re
doing fine, keep trying,” he encouraged, as he knelt by the hole.

She
tried and tried. Finally, you could see the fish darting around just below the
hole. Plunging his hand into icy cold water, Jake reached deep and grabbed for
the fish, bringing it up through the hole.

“It’s
a nice one, bebis. Grab it.”

“No
way! I’m not sticking my fingers anywhere near that thing.”

He
laughed, then clucked like a chicken a few times. “Your first catch and you
land a walleye, and not just any walleye, but a beauty of a walleye. It must be
twenty-one, twenty-two inches, a definite keeper. Now you’ve got to take it off
the hook.”

She
stepped back and shook her head.

“Juuules,”
he said, smiling, “Cooome on, give it a try.”

She
shook her head.

“Where’s
that ‘determined’ girl?” he asked.

“She
was smart, she left.”

He
coughed, trying to cover up his laugh. “You want me to help you do it?”

She
looked at him warily.

He
crooked his finger at her, motioning for her to come over.

She
just stood there, not moving.

“Ah,
you want me to come to you? The line reaches that far you know.”

She
rolled her eyes and took an exaggerated breath, blowing it out as she tried to
lift the cinder blocks she called feet. Smarting from the moment’s injustice,
she prattled, “Call me a taskmaster? I
don’t
think so
mister. Taskmaster my butt.” Stumbling her way over to him, she
looked him in the eye, and said with emphasis, “
You’re
the taskmaster, making me touch that thing. I thought you
liked me?” He laughed at her as she grudgingly stepped closer. Looking at the
twitching fish with disgust, she shook off a full bodied shiver. “Bleck!”