Chapter Eight
The Courage to Try His Hand
Thirty seconds after Jake rang the bell to Lavender House, Josie opened the door.
And when she did, Jake froze.
“Hello, Jake,” she said. “I’ll just get my coat.”
Jake didn’t move.
This was because the vision of her was burning itself on his brain and he was enjoying the feeling.
Then she turned and he got her back.
And Jake didn’t move again.
This was because the vision of her back was making his cock get hard and he was fighting the feeling.
She was in a dress that was an unusual shade of yellowish-green satin, like the color of an apple. Thin straps, a diagonal neckline that had a flap of material falling down her front. The top fit her snug, accentuating every line and curve. The skirt caught at her hips, somehow turning into panels that ended in a spiked hemline, the spikes brushing her knees.
But the back…
F*ck.
There was no back.
It bared her from shoulders to the top of her ass.
Jesus.
Her hair was up again, this time in curls arranged in a bun at the side of her neck. All Josie, it was elegant. But, unlike Josie, it also was almost playful.
And f*cking hot.
Even as much as he liked her hair, he’d prefer to see it as it was in that picture he had of her.
Down.
But not blowing in the breeze.
Spread on his pillow.
And he liked that dress a f*ckuva lot but he’d like it more on the floor by his bed.
From top to toe, she was the shit. Maybe especially her toes seeing as their nails were painted f*ck-me red and they were exposed in shoes that were a mess of very thin, dark silver straps. So many straps, the f*ckers had to be zipped up the back.
And the heel was tall and lethal.
He had no f*cking clue how she could walk on those things.
But she did, gracefully this time, no tripping. He watched her do it and he watched her grab her coat from a chair in the hall. This finally spurred him to move.
Which he did, right to her, taking the coat from her.
“Got this, Slick,” he muttered, shaking it out and rounding her to hold it up for her to put on.
Her face appeared startled when she looked over her bared shoulder at him but he looked away from her face, and her bare shoulder, then he couldn’t find anywhere to look because all of it was too good.
Finally, she stuck her arm through the hole, he got her other one in and he settled the shiny silver coat on her shoulders, covering her.
Thank f*ck.
He had no idea how he was going to have dinner with her wearing that dress without dragging her to his truck then taking her back to Lavender House and probably f*cking her on the floor of the foyer.
Then again, when she’d walked on her classy high-heeled boots, wearing her classy shades, that scarf blowing in the wind yesterday, he’d thought the same thing and he’d managed it.
He’d do it again.
Somehow.
She grabbed her purse and turned to him.
“Ready,” she said softly, her sweet voice as it always was, from the very beginning, cultured but melodic.
“Right,” he muttered and grabbed her hand, moving them to the door. “House locked down?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered.
“Great.” He was still muttering as he moved her out the door.
He stopped her, released her hand, dug in his pocket for the keys and used his own to lock the door behind them.
Then he grabbed her hand again and walked her to the truck.
“You look nice,” she noted.
“Thanks,” he replied, distracted, thinking about her ass in his truck. More to the point, thinking about reclining his seat and dragging her ass over to his side and what he’d do with it when he got her there.
On this thought, a thought that wasn’t helping him keep his cock from getting hard, he opened her door for her as she asked, “Where are we going?”
“The Eaves,” he answered, pulling gently at her to maneuver her in his truck.
But she’d stopped dead so he looked at her.
“That’s very expensive, Jake,” she whispered.
“Babe, you’re you,” he replied. “And you’re you in that dress. Where the f*ck else would I take you?”
He saw her draw in a soft breath, and that was sexy as f*ck too, making him wonder how he could make her do that with his hands, or his mouth, before she luckily took him from this train of thought and pointed out, “You took me to The Shack yesterday morning.”
“And gave you the best omelet in the county.”
“This is probably correct,” she murmured as if to herself, her doing this reminding him she could be cute, which finally made him grin.
“It’s definitely correct. Now get your ass in the truck.”
She looked into the truck and hesitated a second before she put her f*cking fantastic shoe on the running board and he put his hands to her waist to heft her up.
He got her ass in the seat and she looked at him. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure I could get up on my own.”
“Well, you’re there, Slick,” he noted.
She opened her mouth to say something but he stepped out of the door, ordering, “Buckle up,” before he slammed it.
He moved around the hood, hauled his ass in at the other side, buckled in and started her up.
He sent them down the lane and did it deciding to get the tough stuff done first.
“I’ll be over tomorrow, first just me to box up Lydie’s stuff, and then some guys are comin’ over. I’ll be around about ten. They’ll be around at eleven. You gotta know what you want done with the den by then, babe. I’ve got a place to store Lydie’s furniture. You want it sold, I’ll get Con on putting it on Craig’s List. You got a use for it and decide you want it back, just let me know.”
“All right, Jake,” she whispered.
“That’s done,” he replied. “But just sayin’, the boys are over hauling furniture around, you’re gonna have to feed them. You don’t have to go whole hog. Pizza is good.”
“All right,” she said, louder this time. “And thank you. I don’t know what to say about all you’re—”
He gentled his voice when he cut her off with, “You don’t have to say anything, Josie.”
He heard her sigh and pointed the truck toward town.
“If you like, the kids can come over,” she offered. “The Fletchers are coming for dinner tomorrow night but I can make enough for all of you.”
“Not sure Reverend Fletcher wants to break bread with the owner of the local strip club,” he replied.
“Oh,” she whispered, then again louder, “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“We’ll come over Monday night. Con’s off work and Ethan’s been talkin’ your meatloaf up. Con’s feelin’ left out.”
“I would enjoy meeting your eldest child but I can’t do Monday night. Maybe we can do Tuesday?”
“Can’t do Tuesday. Con’s workin’,” he told her. “What do you have on Monday night?”
“I’m having a drink with Boston Stone at the Club.”
His chest seized and his hand tightened on the steering wheel as his lips forced out, “Come again?”
“I know,” she stated even though he didn’t know until she gave it to him, “It’s irritating.”
He looked her way and saw she also looked irritated. Then again, as polished as she was, Josie still tended to let it all hang out.
He looked back to the road and asked, “He on you about selling the house?”
“He’s told me he’s given up on the house,” she shared. “He wants to”—a pause then, with frustrated emphasis—“get to know me.”
Jesus. Shit.
“He’s makin’ a play when your Gran just died?”
“Yes, and he isn’t easy to put off. So I’ll put him off face to face.”
No, she wouldn’t.
Jake would put him off.
Therefore, he declared, “I’ll deal with it.”
He felt her eyes on him. “Pardon?”
“I’ll deal with it,” he repeated.
“How?”
“Don’t worry about how. Just know it’ll be done and me and the kids’ll be over Monday night.”
“I…” Another pause then, “Maybe I should phone him and be clearer about how I feel about not wishing to get to know him.”
“Babe, what’d I say?”
“What did you say?”
“Yes, what’d I say?”
“I don’t—”
“I’ll deal with it.”
She fell silent.
He simmered.
Boston Stone, f*cking dick.
Jake barely knew him but from this shit, he knew he was a f*cking dick.
That said, the man was perfect for her. All his money, his class, his power. It wasn’t surprising Josie caught his eye. He had the money to get the best of everything and he was the kind of guy who had it in him to know exactly what the best was. And he didn’t have to know the guy to know he frequently indulged in both, what with the a*shole lording his shit all over town.
She decided to change the subject and he knew this when she asked, “What are the children doing tonight?”
“Amber, pouting because she had a date with Noah that she had to break because she’s grounded. She also has no access to the phone so that means she can’t call his ass and talk with him in her bedroom for hours like she normally does. Ethan’s probably eating a shitload of crap so he’ll have a stomachache that’ll wake him up at about two in the morning, which means my ass will be up at two o’clock in the morning. And Con’s always got his old man’s back. In order to look after Ethan and make sure Amber doesn’t do anything that’ll get her into more trouble, one of his girls is comin’ over rather than him takin’ her out.”
“One of his girls?” she asked.
“He’s got five. Steady.”
There was a heavy pause before, “How can he have five steady girls?”
“No clue how the kid manages it, Slick, just know he does. That doesn’t mean those five get along and like sharin’. Just know they put up with it whatever Con does to make ‘em do it.”
“I do not see good things in the future about this, Jake,” she declared. “Women don’t like to share. This détente may last for a while but it won’t last forever.”
“He’s got his hand in the candy bowl and he’s keepin’ it there, he’s gotta deal with the pain when someone bitchslaps him to pull it out.”
“A difficult lesson to learn,” she murmured.
“Conner’s like his dad. He learns by doin’ or, in some cases, by f*ckin’ up and tryin’ to be smart enough not to f*ck up the same way again.”
He knew he had her eyes again when she protested, “But people are involved, in this case girls and their hearts, and they might get hurt.”
He looked her way to see she was looking at him and he gave her a shake of his head before looking back to the road. “That’s the difficult part, Josie. A man’s any man at all, the first woman he hurts, he learns not to do that shit again. Good he learns at seventeen rather than twenty-five when shit might count.”
She said nothing to that for some time and Jake had pulled off Cross Street and onto the coastal road when she spoke again.
“When did you learn that?”
“How do you think I got married three times?” he answered.
He sensed he again had her eyes when she asked, “Pardon?”
“Learned early. Not at seventeen but saw a girl, had a girl on the side my sophomore year in college. They found out about that shit, it did not go down very well. I felt like a total f*ckin’ a*shole mostly ‘cause I was. The look on my girl’s face. F*ck.” He shook his head at the road. “Never forget that look, honey.”
“And how did this lead you to getting married three times?”
“Didn’t want to see that look again, got no clue how to get shot of a woman so I find I got her ring on my finger instead of seeing her in my rearview.”
“You…” she paused and her voice was higher pitched when she went on, “married women instead of ending things with them?”
He grinned at the road. “Never claimed to be Einstein.”
“Indeed you haven’t,” she murmured.
“How real do you want it?” he asked.
“How”—another pause—“real?”
“Honest. Straight up. How much of that can you take?”
“You’ve been astoundingly open already, Jake.”
He glanced at her again before looking back to the road and asking, “We gettin’ to know each other?”
“Yes.”
“Are you mine?”
A shocked, “Pardon me?”
“Did Lydie give you to me, babe,” he explained.
“Well…yes.”
F*ck yes.
There it was.
She was his.
“Then you’re mine,” he stated. “And that means you’re my kids’. And that means we gotta dig in there and give each other shit. So we shouldn’t hide and anyway, I got nothin’ to hide. I did what I did, made stupid decisions, f*cked up, I’m still standing, my kids are healthy and happy. Not countin’ Amber pouting and being an occasional pain in the ass, Con serial dating and Ethan mourning the only grandmother he’ll really ever know.”
There was another pause before, quietly, she began, “His other grandmothers—”
“My ma’s dead, babe. So’s my dad,” Jake told her. “His mom’s dad is also gone and her mom lives up in Bridgewater. Sweet lady but a little whacked. She’s a hoarder, doesn’t leave her house and I don’t want my kid in a house like that. Plus, it isn’t exactly close. They talk on the phone. That’s all he’s got.”
“I’m sorry to hear of this, including about your parents, Jake,” she said, voice still soft.
“We deal, Josie,” he replied in the same tone.
He didn’t ask about her parents.
This was because he knew her father was dead. He’d asked his cop buddy, Coert, to look into it because Lydie asked him to and Coert found that shit out. He also knew her uncle was alive. And he knew her mother was off the grid, probably buried so deep under whatever identity she took when she escaped Josie’s assclown of a father, if she was alive, she’d never surface, even though her motherf*cker of a husband was long gone.
Bitch should have taken her daughter.
But the bitch left her daughter to a monster.
“Would you like to, well…share about how you lost your parents?” she asked carefully.
He didn’t hesitate before he gave it to her.
“Dad, aneurysm. Right at work. Sixty-four. A few months from retirement it hits him, he’s down. Gone. Ethan was born three months later.”
“Jake,” she whispered but said no more.
Jake did.
“Ma died when Eath was nearly two. He doesn’t remember her. She had an infection, didn’t catch it, thought it was just bein’ tired ‘cause she was sad she lost Dad. By the time she looked into that shit, it had done a number on her heart. Too much damage to repair. Few months later, she just slipped away. Amber was tight with her, though. Like with Lydie, she took it hard.”
To this, he got nothing.
When he continued to get nothing, he turned his head and saw she was looking out the side window.
He looked back to the road.
F*ck, he was a dick.
“Josie,” he said gently. “I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have gotten into that shit.”
“Life happens, Jake,” she replied quietly. “And you’re just being”—she hesitated— “real.”
Too real.
“We’ll stop talking about that.”
She said nothing.
He drove on.
Finally, she broke the silence. “So, being, erm…real. Your wives?”
Terrific.
Now he got to give her not him being a dick but instead being an idiot.
“Donna, the first one, loved her. Probably shouldn’t have divorced her. She wanted it, I didn’t get it, but I gave it to her.”
“That sounds odd,” she noted when he said no more.
“It was,” he agreed. “To this day, I still don’t get it but what I get pisses me off so I try not to think about it.”
“You don’t have to share,” she offered.
That made him grin.
“Babe, laid myself out already. Too late for that.”
“Indeed,” she murmured but he heard a smile in her voice too and he looked at her to catch it.
He got a glimpse before returning his eyes to the road and he was glad he took that shot.
She was pretty normally. When she smiled though…
Jesus.
“Though, I don’t want you to get angry,” she went on.
“Too much time has passed, not worth it to get angry anymore,” he told her.
“All right,” she replied and he went for it.
“We fought, not all the time, but that shit happens,” he told her. “And honest to Christ, don’t know what was up her ass but something was. She got her teeth in it and wouldn’t let it go then wouldn’t let anything go then wanted to let me go. How I remember it starting was she wanted a new car. I couldn’t afford a new one so I bought her a used one. It was better than the one she had so I thought she was good. She didn’t. Told me I never listened to her. I told her I did but we couldn’t afford a brand new car. She got shitty, kept bein’ shitty, kicked my ass out. Lost her man but got herself a new car.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she snapped, suddenly pissed and he fought back the grin. But he had to admit he liked it that she gave him that emotion.
“That shit happened. She tried reconciliation. What we had was good, so I tried with her but seein’ as that shit kept comin’ up for me and pissing me off, it didn’t work. She threw away a marriage, a family, for a new car. Not down with that.”
“I heartily agree,” she declared and at that, he didn’t fight the grin.
He gave into it.
“Still, life led me to eventually gettin’ Ethan outta it, wouldn’t have had him with Donna so I guess shit works out the way it should.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
This was breathy and he didn’t know why. But he liked the way it sounded.
“Mandy, number two, was the shit,” he kept going. “Loved her too. She was all over me, all over bein’ stepmom to my kids. Put a ring on her finger, she wanted me, realized, 24/7, she couldn’t hack kids. She took off. Just one day came home and she was gone. Got the divorce papers in the mail. Haven’t seen her since. Good news was, I didn’t have her ticket, but the kids did so it rocked my world but they were glad she was gone.”
“That, well…rocking of your world sounds unpleasant.”
Jake shook his head at her words and the way she said them.
F*ck, half the time with her and the way she talked, he didn’t know whether to laugh or kiss her.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t do the last and didn’t think she’d appreciate him doing the first so he did neither.
“It wasn’t, honey, but don’t worry. Got over it quick, her hauling ass like that. Not cool. Figured, in the end, she was like that, I got off clean and did it fast, so I did all right.”
“And the last?” she prompted when he stopped talking.
“Sloane, Ethan’s mom.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re down with real?”
A pause then, “Yes, Jake, I’m down with real.”
He grinned again at the way she said that then stated, “She was f*ckin’ fantastic in bed.”
When he said no more she asked, “That’s it?”
“No,” he answered. “She was unbelievably f*ckin’ fantastic in bed.”
“I, um…well, that is to say…it doesn’t sound like you wanted to end things with any of these women.”
“You open your eyes, you see signs. You keep ‘em closed, you don’t see dick. Lookin’ back, every one of them gave me reason to throw in the towel before things got legal. I didn’t see it because I wasn’t man enough to look for it.”
Again, he got silence for a long time before she said, “I don’t know much about these matters, Jake, but I would think it would make a man less of a man if he was in love and he didn’t have the courage to try his hand.”
The courage to try his hand.
F*cking hell.
She kept going.
“Therefore, outside of Ethan’s mother, who you didn’t claim to love, you just followed your heart and I find that very manly.”
Followed your heart.
F*cking hell.
“Jake?” she called when he was silent.
“Yeah, baby,” he answered quietly.
“I…” Another pause and then, “Are you all right?”
“Laid it out, it was ugly, you went gentle,” he replied, reaching out and finding her hand. He gave it a squeeze and finished, “Appreciate that, honey.”
“Well, you’re welcome,” she murmured and it took her a second but she squeezed his hand back.
He kept hold of it, resting the back of his on the sleek silk over her soft thigh and her hand again squeezed his, reflexively this time. He figured he knew what this meant but he didn’t let her go even as they hit The Eaves and he turned into the parking lot. He only let her go when he stopped the truck outside the front door.
He put it in neutral, opened his door and jumped down. Rounding the hood, he pulled open her door.
“I’ll let you out here. Place is always packed. I find a spot far away, don’t want you walkin’,” he explained.
“That’s kind, Jake. Thank you,” she replied and undid her seatbelt.
When she turned to the door and cautiously put one of her shit-hot shoes to the running board, he put his hands to her waist. She put hers to his shoulders and he pulled her down, setting her on her feet.
He let her go, she dropped her hands but he grabbed one and walked her to the front door and through it.
Once he had her out of the cold, he lifted his other hand and squeezed the side of her neck as he squeezed her hand in his, bent close and said, “Be back.”
Her blue eyes held his and she murmured, “All right.”
He grinned at her and took off.
He was assaulted with the vision of her in that dress when he returned. Obviously, they’d taken her coat.
He was still dealing with her and her dress when she turned her eyes to him near on the second he came through the door, her lips tipped up, her eyes for some reason bright, and she said, “I inquired. Our table is ready.”
Then she held out her hand to him.
Christ.
It hit him in that moment in a way he knew he’d never forget that he could take that hand and she could lead him anywhere. Just tip up her lips, turn those eyes to him and hold out her hand and he’d go straight to hell with her and do it smiling.
He knew the idea was f*cked.
He also knew no one grieved like she did for Lydie without feeling deep. He knew she wasn’t giving up the house, something that would break Lydie’s heart—and his children’s. He knew she was looking after a dying woman she barely knew so her husband could have a break. He knew she was the only person who seemed to pierce even an inch through the web of teenaged girl drama Amber had woven around herself. He further knew that his daughter was a vegetarian for a day and then she gave that stupid shit up, definitely because of Josie. He knew she helped his son with his homework. He knew he gave her all his f*cked up shit with women and she made it sound like he was a knight in armor on a white horse. And, last, he knew she knew she’d f*cked up with him and she didn’t even leave it for a day before she hauled her ass to him and apologized.
She was wrong. With Donna and Mandy, he’d been blind.
Now he had his eyes open and he liked a f*ckuva lot what he was seeing.
He strode forward and took the hand she was offering. Then he pulled it up and tucked it to the side of his chest, his eyes going to the hostess.
“As the lady said. Spear,” he said to the hostess.
She nodded, grabbing some menus. “Of course. Please follow me.”
He held Josie close as they walked to their table. It was not lost on Jake that never, not once in his life with the women he’d had in it—and some of them had been good ones, all of them had been good-looking—had he ever felt the pride he felt walking through that restaurant with Josie at his side.
When they made it to their table, one he liked, which was in the middle of the restaurant so everyone could see him and the woman on his arm, he let her go only to pull out her chair.
He settled her into it and watched as the hostess flicked out Josie’s napkin and Josie sat back with practiced ease to allow it to be placed on her lap.
Jake grabbed his own, not about to have the hostess do the same with him.
They were handed their menus, told that their server would explain the evening’s specials and the hostess slid away while a busboy came in and filled their water glasses.
Josie looked up at the kid and murmured, “Thank you.”
It was then she turned even brighter, totally shining eyes to him.
When she did, Jake felt his chest seize for the second time that night, but this time it was an altogether different kind of feeling.
The busboy left and Josie leaned into the table immediately.
“Gran and I have been here three times,” she announced.
F*ck.
He watched her closely, wondering if he misinterpreted those bright eyes and it was about tears, not happiness.
“I love it here,” she went on. “We came twice for my birthday, once for hers. It’s one of my favorite restaurants anywhere.”
Well, that was good.
She smiled a big smile, a smile that lit up her face and exposed her pretty white teeth.
His gut clenched.
He’d seen her smile. But never like that.
It was phenomenal.
“I went to Breeze Point and Gran and I would go there too, more often as it’s not as expensive. And I went by myself. It wasn’t a terrible experience but it made me melancholy and not simply because that odious man approached me,” she shared, still smiling.
It was then she gave it to him.
“But now I’m in a lovely frock, you look very handsome in your suit, you’re very gallant which is most charming, and we’re at a fabulous restaurant where I’m certain we’ll partake of an excellent meal. And it doesn’t make me feel melancholy because I know Gran would be happy we’re here enjoying this…together.”
She reached out, grabbed her water glass, took a sip from it and put it back, returning her eyes to Jake. All through this, Jake, still dealing with her smile and her words, couldn’t think of f*ck all to say.
“Now we get to make a lovely memory here. Isn’t that marvelous?” she asked.
“Yeah, babe,” he forced himself to answer.
She kept dazzling him with a smile a moment before she continued rocking his world.
“Thank you for giving this to me. It means a great deal.”
“You’re welcome, honey,” he whispered.
And that was when something else hit him.
Since he’d first seen her, she was covered in a cloak of grief. She carried on day to day, but it was still smothering her.
Now, she was happy.
And he gave her that.
Shit, f*ck, but that felt good.
He watched her tip her head to her menu and murmur, “I wonder what their specials are. They always have something quite splendid on offer with their specials.”
“Live it up, Slick, whatever you want,” he murmured back and she tipped her head again, gave him her shining eyes and another dazzling smile.
He grinned at her then he grinned down at his menu.
He’d not made his choice when a waiter arrived at their table and Jake watched with confusion as the guy put a glass of champagne in front of Josie.
“Good evening,” he said as Jake looked from the glass, to Josie studying it, to the waiter. “That’s from the gentleman at the bar,” he explained, smiling and tipping his head toward the bar.
The waiter went on, asking Jake’s drink order but Jake looked beyond Josie, who was looking over her shoulder toward the bar, and he saw him.
F*cking Boston Stone.
And the f*cker had the balls to send a drink to the woman sitting at Jake’s table.
“Sir?” the waiter prompted and he cut his eyes to him.
“Bud. Bottle if you got it,” he ordered curtly.
“Of course,” the waiter replied. “Would you like to hear the specials?”
Jake looked to Josie to see her now glaring at the glass of champagne.
“Come back,” he said.
“Of course,” the waiter murmured then slid away.
The instant he did, Jake knew how irritated Josie was because she didn’t hesitate telling him.
“This is beyond the pale,” she hissed. “Utterly tactless. I’m at a meal with a gentleman and he sends a glass of champagne only to me? That is not done. It’s exceptionally rude not to mention arrogant. Does he honestly think this will impress me? If he does he’s very wrong.”
After she delivered that, Jake rose from his chair, tossed his napkin on the table, reached across it and nabbed her glass of champagne.
He rounded the table, his eyes on his target, his blood hot in his veins, and only stopped when he felt her hand curl around his.
He looked down at her to see she’d paled and was now looking concerned.
“Jake—” she started in a whisper.
“It’ll be okay, baby,” he assured her. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Then he pulled his hand from hers after giving hers a squeeze and prowled to Stone.
He put the glass on the bar beside Stone and growled, “Outside.”
He didn’t wait to see if Stone followed him. He might not know Boston Stone but he knew the kind of man he was. Even though he knew Jake could take him, and not just because Jake had two inches and thirty pounds on him, he wouldn’t take the hit to his manhood that would be keeping his seat when he was called out.
Jake wasn’t wrong. When he got outside, Stone was there. The a*shole rounded him and they faced off, Jake going first.
“You got stones,” Jake clipped.
To that, the motherf*cker grinned. “Is that a pun?”
“I’m not bein’ funny, a*shole,” Jake bit out. “Seriously? Sendin’ a drink to the woman sittin’ across from me at my table?”
“I bought the entire bottle but I’ll drink the rest. I’m relatively certain Dom Perignon would be lost on you,” Stone replied, his voice smooth, his words snide.
Jake let that slide. What Boston Stone thought of him did not factor. Not now and it never would.
What factored was Josie having a good night, smiling bright and then a minute later being pissed because of this jackass.
“Josie’s got too much class to lay it out for you,” Jake returned. “But on the way here, she told me about the drink she’s supposed to have with you. She also told me she didn’t want that drink. We talked about it and decided I’d lay it out for you. And now that I got that opportunity, here it is. She’s not into you, man. Let it go. And heads up, a woman like that with class like that, the shit you just pulled doesn’t do anything for her except piss her off.”
“We’ll see Monday night if Josephine is into me.”
Jesus. Was this guy deaf?
“You didn’t hear me,” Jake returned. “You won’t be seein’ shit ‘cause, if you show at the Club, she won’t be there ‘seein’ as she’ll be makin’ dinner for me and my family.”
Annoyance chased across Stone’s face before he hid it and lifted his chin. “It appears she’s in the mood to go slumming but a woman like that always comes around when that particular thrill is gone.”
What was with this guy?
“She’s just lost her grandmother, a*shole,” Jake reminded him.
“And in times of sorrow, it’s good to turn your mind to other more pleasurable things and, when she gives me the opportunity, I’ll enjoy turning her mind to just those things.”
“Christ, honestly?” Jake asked. “I told you she’s not into you. Do you seriously think your dick is that big?”
“I’ve never been a man to compare. We don’t have that in common. We don’t have anything in common, Spear. Except for the fact that both of us know precisely how f*ckable Josephine Malone is. And I wouldn’t have believed it possible but tonight, seeing her in that dress, proved she’s even more f*ckable. If you have the stones, my suggestion, get in there and do it fast. Tonight. Before your charms wear off. But please, not against the wall of the foyer of Lavender House. That’s where I’ll be taking her our first time.”
Jake’s vision went red but he didn’t have the chance to say a f*cking word.
This was because she came at him from behind. And he was so pissed and focused he didn’t hear her heels on the pavers. He just felt her shoulder as it hit his arm then she slid in front of him and he watched Josie pull back a hand and slap Stone hard across the face.
Stone’s head jerked to the side and Jake moved. Wrapping his fingers around her wrist, he pulled it down and around her belly, yanking her back to his front then stepping them both back as he wrapped his other arm around her chest.
But now, she was focused.
“You cad,” she snapped and Jake lost his fury instantly and had to clench his teeth to stop himself laughing at her ridiculous insult that, even ridiculous, was f*cking cute because it was pure Josie. “How dare you!” she kept at him. “You’re…you’re…unspeakable,” she finished on a hiss.
Stone’s face changed entirely, his eyes on her, his lips murmuring, “Josephine—”
“Do not utter another word,” she warned angrily. “I’m afraid I must inform you that with your behavior tonight and the things I just heard you say, I’ll not be meeting you for a drink Monday. Indeed, I’d rather not see you again in my life. Have I made myself clear?”
“It’s unfortunate you heard that, Josephine, but allow me to—” Stone started.
“Actually, I find it quite fortunate,” she cut him off to declare. “I simply thought you were arrogant and insensitive. Now I know you’re much more and none of it is good. Alas, what’s unfortunate is that Jake and I were having a lovely evening. The first lovely evening I’ve had since my grandmother died, and you cast a pall on that. However, with the likes of you, it’s easily forgettable so we can put the unpleasantness that is you behind us, return to the restaurant and continue enjoying our evening.”
Listening to this, Jake was making a mental note not to piss Josie off when she pulled from his arms but caught his hand.
“Come, Jake. Your beer has arrived and I’ve just discovered I’m in dire need of a martini.”
She tugged on his hand.
He grinned at her then grinned at a frowning Stone who was giving Josie a dark look Jake didn’t like all that much. Then again, the a*shole could do nothing. She was lost to him even more than she was before. It didn’t matter he was loaded and could send a glass of Dom Perignon to her table. He’d ceased to exist for Josie.
On that thought, Jake kept grinning as he let her start to pull him toward the restaurant.
But when she turned, she wobbled on her high heel so he jerked on her hand to send her flying his way. He let it go but caught her tight to his side with an arm around her back as he swallowed down a bark of laughter when she muttered an infuriated, “Drat!”
“Just keep on keepin’ on, baby,” he whispered. “You leveled him. And it wouldn’t matter what you do in those shoes. You’re gonna look good doin’ it, he’s got no chance, so it’s all good.”
He negotiated her up the steps and reached out to open the door for her when she declared, “That man is a toad.”
“That man is in your rearview mirror and what’s down the road is a martini and a f*ckin’ good meal.”
He heard her draw in a breath as he pulled her through the door, then she said, “Indeed.”
He gave her a squeeze and felt her arm slide around his back as he headed her to their table.
They only let each other go when he held her chair for her. She sat in it. Jake tucked her under the table and resumed his seat.
He was putting his napkin back on his lap when she again spoke.
“I was correct. You’re very gallant.”
He looked at her to see her eyes direct on him. “What?”
“I found what you just did to be both honorable and brave. I’ve never seen a man behave like that. Your acting when I was annoyed to handle that matter without delay was quite gratifying.”
He grinned at her and noted, “So, you’re giving me a compliment.”
She nodded once. “Indeed. No wonder Gran liked you. She always said that chivalry was fading alongside nobility and she thought that was a shame. She said those kinds of men are now very rare. She found one in you. I’m seeing more and more clearly why she’d give me you for, her knowing this, she’d want me to have it.”
Jake said nothing. This was because he was again frozen in order that he could fully experience her words searing through him.
“What I don’t understand is why she kept you from me,” she stated, her eyes sliding away and she began talking to the carpet. “However, that encounter was vexing.” She looked back to him. “So can I ask that we dispense with discussing anything that may be distressing and just sally forth enjoying the evening?”
Jesus, she was too much.
And too f*cking cute being it.
Jake again grinned at her. “We can sally forth however you want, Slick.”
Her eyes flashed when he quit talking then he watched something move through her expressive face, settle in it, warming the entirety of her features, and finally she smiled.
He let that smile sear through him too then he saw their waiter out of the corner of his eye. He caught the man’s attention and jerked up his chin.
The guy hustled to their table.
“The lady wants a martini,” Jake told him.
“Vodka, with olives,” Josie put in.
“I’ll see to that right away,” the waiter replied.
“Then we’ll want the specials,” Jake added.
“Of course,” the guy nodded, bowing slightly. “I’ll return shortly.”
“Now,” Josie started when the guy moved away. “I’ll need to know if there’s anything Conner won’t eat so I can plan Monday’s menu.”
He reached for his beer, ignoring the chilled glass they’d provided, answering, “Con’s allergic to vegetables.”
He took a tug from the bottle and smothered another grin when he saw her big blue eyes get wide.
“That’s horrible,” she declared. “Allergic to vegetables? All vegetables?”
He put his beer back to the table and leaned into her. “Baby, it’s a turn of phrase. He’s not allergic to them. He just hates ‘em.”
“Oh,” she mumbled. Then her gaze grew sharp. “He should get past this. It’s not healthy not to have vegetables in your diet.”
“I’ll let you share that with him on Monday.”
She straightened her shoulders and stated, “I’ll do that without delay. It’s my understanding that young men continue to grow into their twenties. He’s far from small but if his diet was more robust, who knows what could happen.”
F*cking hell, she was the shit.
“Yeah, Josie. Who knows,” Jake muttered.
“Now, I’ve got the taste for steak,” she changed the subject. “What do you have the taste for?”
Straight up, he had the taste for cute, klutzy, classy p-ssy, eating her and listening to her moan.
He didn’t tell her that.
He said, “Waitin’ for the specials.”
She nodded and smiled.
He took her smile and gave her one back.
Then her martini arrived.
* * * * *