Full Bloom

decided I'd taken enough orders from Ravenscrofts."
    "So you let her think you were sleeping with Morrell?" Jacob's face was tight with his anger. "What kind of a game do you think you're playing?"
    Emily scrunched back against the headboard, pulling the covers up to her chin. She was offended. "I didn't do it just because I was feeling vengeful. I also did it to protect you."
    "You did it to protect
me
?" Jacob was clearly astounded. "Have you gone nuts? What the hell did you think you were protecting me from?"
    "My family!"
    Jacob swore and leaned down to cage her between his hands. His eyes were swirling with gray storm clouds. "Now you listen to me and you listen good, lady. I can take care of myself. The day I need protection from your family or anyone else, I will tell you. Until then, you will let me take care of myself. Understood?"
    "But, Jacob…"
    "Forget it. I don't want any arguments. The subject is closed. Which brings us to the second topic on the agenda."
    "What's that?" Emily asked uneasily.
    "I'll be damned if I'll have your family or anyone else thinking you're sleeping with Damon Morrell. You're sleeping with me and you'd better make sure anyone who has an interest in the matter knows the truth. I don't want any more misconceptions, misinformation or mistakes on that subject."
    Emily chewed on her lower lip, troubled. "I understand what you're saying and it's very sweet of you to want to be up-front about… about our relationship, but I'm not so sure it's a good idea to shout it from the rooftops. Especially to my family. You know as well as I do they can be difficult."
    "Let me worry about your family. You concentrate on making sure no one leaps to any more false conclusions. Is that clear?"
    Emily was hurt. "Of course it's clear. It could hardly be anything else but clear with the way you're yelling at me."
    "I never yell." Each word was taken out of deep freeze.
    That much was true, she thought with a sigh. Jacob was not exactly yelling. His voice was low, controlled and very dangerous. The truth was, he might have been less intimidating if he was yelling.
    "I realize that your ego was probably punctured somewhat by my letting my mother think Damon was here instead of you, but I really think it would be for the best if we kept our… our, uh, relationship private," Emily said earnestly.
    "Private? As in secret? You expect me to skulk around in the middle of the night, hoping no one notices me leaving your bed?" he asked incredulously. "You think you can keep an affair secret for long?"
    "Well, an affair is a private matter, isn't it?" Emily countered quickly. "Why should everyone else have to know what's going on between us?"
    "Because I damned well want everyone else to know!" Jacob straightened away from the bed and stalked toward the bathroom. He turned on the threshold and shot her one last, quelling look. "You belong to me now and I don't care who knows it. If you think I'm going to let you play games, you're out of your mind."
    Emily was tired of feeling pressured. "If I want to play games, I will. I'm tired of my family and you giving me orders and telling me how to conduct my life."
    "Is that right?" Jacob shot back coolly.
    "Yes, that's right." She lifted her chin.
    Jacob studied her for a long moment, as if wondering just how far she could be pushed this morning. Then his gaze softened. He smiled faintly. "Poor Emily. You always seem to be on the receiving end, don't you?"
    "The receiving end of orders and commands and instructions? Yes, I do. And I'm sick of it."
    "I don't blame you," Jacob said with a surprising degree of gentle understanding in his voice. "You do always seem to be at the bottom of the Ravenscroft pecking order. I guess it was too much of a temptation to resist letting your mother leap to a conclusion that was bound to upset her, wasn't it?"
    Emily shrugged, afraid to point out again that her actions had been motivated as much by wanting to protect him as by annoyance. Jacob didn't seem to want protection. He probably thought he didn't need it. He just did not seem to comprehend how her family would react if they thought he was having an affair with Emily. He ought to know better, she thought, given the fact that he had worked for Ravenscrofts for years. Jacob, of all people, should know how ruthless the members of her family could be when they felt obliged to protect the company or one of their own.
    Jacob's gaze turned affectionate as he watched Emily sitting in