Page 5 of Frankie (Big Northwest #5)
CHAPTER FIVE
FRANKIE
“ T he fuck you will.” Frankie pushed upright, fully intending to get off the couch and throw JD out of her house. But the minute she moved, her hip joint twinged, sending a sharp pain radiating down her thigh. A gasp hissed between her teeth as she gripped her leg.
One of JD’s brows slowly angled as he stared at her. “Don’t tell me you’d rather have Kenneth come help you with this too.”
The sarcastic edge to his words made it obvious he knew how excited she was about the prospect of Kenneth seeing her in any state of undress. She loved Alex’s father-in-law—possibly as much as she loved any man—but there were still lines she had no interest in crossing, and that was one of them.
JD snorted. “That’s what I thought.” He turned as her trio of geriatric long-haired chihuahuas came racing into the room. She’d adopted the threesome from a local animal shelter after they’d been saved from a hoarding situation. Nobody knew how old they were, but since they were mostly deaf and slept twenty-five out of twenty-four hours every day, they were likely old as fuck.
They were also loud as fuck.
The second they saw JD, each of them decided it was their sole responsibility to raise complete and utter hell. The piercing yaps of their aggressive barking made her wince. She didn’t need a ton of sleep, but last night there was zero to be had, and the throbbing in her head was nearly as severe as the one in her hip. “ Girls ,” she snapped, glaring at the pups. “Can you kindly shut the fuck up?”
Beezy—never one to bow down—started barking louder as she danced in a circle, her little nails tapping against the laminate with each step.
“Come on, ladies.” JD moved toward the back of her house. “Let’s get you outside before your mama blows a gasket.”
“Are you kidding me?” She scoffed. “If I haven’t blown a gasket yet, I’m sure as shit not going to do it over my dogs.”
She loved the little bitches. Did they have bad temperaments? Yes. Were they prone to aggression? Yes. Did they occasionally lose their minds over absolutely nothing? Also yes .
But the same could honestly be said about her. That’s why she didn’t hold it against them.
Frankie scowled, stuck on the couch and listening as JD continued conversing with her little monsters as they carried on yapping at him. Somehow, he miraculously managed to coax all three of them outside, and the second the door closed behind them, blessed silence settled around her.
Blessed silence that made JD’s footsteps seem to echo like a death knell.
He came back and resumed his position beside the couch, hands on his hips as he stared down at her. “Are you going to take them off, or am I?”
A little laugh bubbled free. “You can’t really be serious about this.” She and JD had found a tenuous sort of equilibrium over the years. One where they avoided each other at just about all costs. It wasn’t easy, considering he worked for her sister. But since she was frequently out at job sites running her logging company, it was mostly possible.
Right up until everything started going off the rails in Shadow Pine. A lot of good had happened for her and her sisters, but so had a lot of bad. And both of them had her in town way more often than she wanted to be. Because being in town meant being close to JD. And no matter how hard she tried, he was nearly impossible to ignore.
“I’m very serious.” His hands dropped to his sides. “You’re hurt, Frank. I need to know how bad it is so we can decide whether or not you need to go to the hospital. ”
She scoffed again. “I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Then I definitely need to make sure we know what’s going on with you, because I’m not gonna have you getting worse and worse because you want to be a pain in my ass.” JD’s voice was stern. Sharp almost.
And it pissed her the fuck off. “Why am I the only one you talk to this way?” She motioned toward downtown. “You’re so fucking nice to everybody else. You’re sweet as goddamned pie to my sisters and you’ve got a whole freaking bromance going on with their men.” Frankie looked him up and down, hating that she wasn’t completely disgusted by what she saw. “But you’re an ass to me. Why is that?”
JD leaned over her, resting one hand on the back of the couch as he invaded her space. “Because you’re the only one who goes out of their way to drive me fucking crazy.”
“Maybe that’s because you deserve it,” she spat back at him.
“Then maybe you should ask yourself why I’m an ass to you.” He said the words slowly. Calmly. Like he didn’t know he was lighting the end of a fuse.
She gasped, eyes widening at the fucking audacity. “I hate you,” she snarled, the words low and dangerous.
JD shook his head. “No, you don’t.” His lips curved in a slow smile. “You just wish you did.”
This was fucking ridiculous. Arguing with him was pointless. But damn it felt good to get it all out. To finally say all the shit she’d been bottling up in an attempt to fake indifference.
“Now.” JD’s eyes moved along her body. “Pants off.”
The command in his voice had her treacherous belly fluttering. The sensation was unwanted and unwarranted. Her days of wanting to fuck JD were long gone. To prove it—mostly to herself—she lifted her chin, expression defiant as she said, “Fine.” Without hesitation, she grabbed the waistband of her sweatpants, wincing a little as she lifted her butt off the couch, and skimmed them down her legs, revealing the entirety of her lower half with a smirk.
JD went completely still. His big body hovered over hers, the hand at the back of the couch gripping tighter as he took in everything she’d just revealed.
And it was everything . Technically, she’d run out into the woods in her pajamas. Like most people, she enjoyed sleeping in comfort, so all she’d pulled on after her shower was sweatpants and a T-shirt. No bra.
And no panties.
“Everything okay?” She asked in her sweetest voice.
“Yup.” The single word was clipped and short. “Fine.” JD straightened away from the couch, his jaw clenching a little. “I don’t see any cuts or scrapes.”
She’d been so busy fighting with him it hadn’t occurred to her how uncomfortable she could make him by doing exactly what he asked her to do. But now that they were in the midst of it, she fully intended to make this as weird as possible. Hopefully then he would go back to leaving her alone and she could go back to doing her best to ignore him.
“Are you sure?” Fighting a grimace, she lifted one leg, bending at the knee and letting it fall open. “Get a good look. Don’t want to miss anything.”
She was comfortable being naked in front of men. So far she hadn’t come across a single one who didn’t find her more than a little appealing. Well...
Besides the one who shut her down and broke her heart. But even he didn’t seem immune to the lean lines of her body. In fact, JD’s gaze might as well have been fused to her skin.
After a few long seconds, his eyes finally lifted to hers. Then they dropped to her T-shirt. “You’re right. We should probably check everywhere. Just in case.”
Was this motherfucker taunting her? Daring her to take things one step farther?
If he was, JD was about to find out she was way better at this game than he could ever be.
Without missing a beat, Frankie grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, dragging it up and over her head before letting it fall to the floor beside the couch. The cool air inside her house had her nipples pebbling immediately, clenching around the gold barbells impaling them.
JD sucked in a breath she felt all the way to her core. A flare of heat lit in his eyes as they drifted over her skin. “Where do you hurt?”
Frankie licked her lips, taking in a shaky breath at his unexpected reaction. Lifting one hand she pointed to the hip causing her the most discomfort. “Here.”
JD reached for her, his palm hovering as he asked, “Can I touch you?”
Frankie nodded, her heart rate picking up as his fingers skimmed over the joint, gently prodding.
“Does it hurt when I press on it?” JD’s voice was as calm and careful as his touch.
Frankie shrugged, the conflicting feelings in her body making it difficult to answer that question. “Not a lot.”
He tested the skin and muscle before asking, “Is that the only place that hurts?”
She shook her head and pointed to her other hip, breathing faster in anticipation of his touch.
The game they were playing had changed. Abruptly. Suddenly. It’d become far more intimate.
And far more dangerous.
Again, JD carefully poked and prodded her other hip, looking for any obvious signs of injury. Each touch was purposeful and efficient. He didn’t take a single liberty or stray into any questionable areas. But the way he looked at her was anything but chaste.
And it had her way more wobbly than her misbehaving hips.
She’d always believed JD didn’t want her. That even after all these years he still considered her nothing more than a bratty sister he found more than a little annoying. But the heat burning in his eyes as they moved over her skin had her thinking maybe that assumption wasn’t completely correct. Because the man looked like he’d eat her up if she asked nicely.
Not that she was one to ever ask for anything nicely.
“There’s no obvious issues.” JD’s eyes came to her face. “I’m going to lift your leg and see what happens, okay?”
Frankie nodded, even though she didn’t really have a clue what he said, because all that registered was the look in his eyes.
When JD gently gripped her behind one knee and angled it toward the ceiling, she sucked in a sharp breath.
The heat in his expression immediately shifted to one of concern. “Does this hurt?”
“It’s not a big deal. This happens sometimes. I’ll take a few ice baths and it’ll go back to normal.” Hopefully. The pain had never been quite this intense before. But she’d never spent the night hanging in a net before either.
JD frowned. “This isn’t supposed to happen sometimes, Frank. I get that you have a very physical job, but you need to have this looked at.”
“I am. You’re looking at it now. And like you said, there’s no obvious sign that anything’s wrong.” Collecting every bit of willpower she had, she swung both legs over the edge of the sofa, biting back the pained cry that attempted to break free with the movement. “I’m sure it’s just a little stiffness from being stuck in the same position for so many hours.” She forced herself to her feet. “Maybe we should set up some sort of an alarm system so you get notified when something is caught in the nets from now on.”
“Do you plan to get stuck in a net again?” JD’s dark brows pinched. “Because it seems like that would be a terrible fucking idea.”
“I told you, I was distracted.” She took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have been caught in the net this time.”
Clenching her teeth, she moved one foot forward and attempted to transfer her weight. Proving willpower alone wasn’t enough to get through this day, her hip gave out, sending her tipping toward the floor.
Unfortunately, JD caught her, his warm hands and strong arms easily scooping her up.
“I’m fine.” She pushed at his chest. “Put me down.”
“You’re not fucking fine, Frank.” He carried her through the house and into her bedroom, where he gently laid her across the mattress. “You’re so far away from fine it’s not even funny.” He went to her chest of drawers and started yanking them open.
“What are you doing?” Never in her life had she imagined JD would be here in her bedroom, let alone rifling through her clothes. It was surreal and confusing and it pissed her all the way off. “Get out of my panty drawer.”
“No fucking way.” He grabbed something from the collection and turned to face her. “We’re going to the hospital, and you’re wearing fucking panties.”
Frankie balked at the pair gripped in his large hand, horrified at the choice he’d made. “I’m not wearing those. Those are my period panties.” Out of an entire drawer full of beautiful G-strings, the man picked those? He passed up scraps of lace in all colors for a giant swath of black cotton?
JD huffed out a loud sigh. Keeping his eyes on her, he reached into the drawer and grabbed whatever was on top, lifting it from the pile. His blind choice was certainly better than his first pick.
Frankie held out one hand. “Those are fine.”
JD handed over the hot pink mesh and waited as she attempted to hook the narrow sides over her toes. Normally, flexibility wasn’t an issue for her. In another life, she probably would’ve made one hell of a gymnast. But this morning every joint in her body hurt, and reaching her toes felt all but impossible.
“Give them here.” JD snagged away the panties, holding them up. Frowning, he fumbled around, trying to figure out what went where. After a few amusing seconds, he finally had them held correctly, and went to work sliding them up her legs.
Frankie snorted. “I think you’re the first man to help me put my panties on.”
JD’s expression turned stony. “Not surprised, considering the caliber of men you tend to gravitate toward. ”
Frankie forced a little smile onto her lips. “Well, we can’t all have pretty pretty princesses like Lena .”
She was trying to piss him off. Insult JD the same way he had insulted her. Instead, the fucker smiled. Like he was amused by her assessment of the woman who was going to be his girlfriend.
“She’s not a princess, she’s an electrician.” JD angled a brow. “And those are awful big words about a woman who was nothing but nice to you.”
Frankie pursed her lips, a little chastised over his remark. “You brought her to my niece’s birthday party.”
In her head, that explained everything. But once it was out of her mouth, it sounded less explainy, and more...
Petty.
“So I’m not allowed to bring anyone to a party I’ve been invited to?” JD settled her panties into place, but before releasing the elastic, he gave the back a tug, flossing it right up the crack of her ass. “That doesn’t seem right.”
Frankie clenched her butt cheeks in case he tried to dig the G-string in a little more. “You know what, you’re right.” She shrugged, forcing herself to sound unbothered. “Bring pretty pretty princess the electrician wherever you want.” She lifted one hand, motioning around her house. “Hell, invite her here now.” She held his gaze as she lied through her teeth. “It doesn’t matter to me.”