Let it Snow(The Hope Falls Series)

Chapter Twenty-One


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Jake walked into JT’s and his eyes immediately landed on Tessa. She was laughing at something Levi had just said as she poured several drinks at once. A small twinge of jealousy crept up in Jake’s chest. He didn’t like it.

Jealousy was a useless emotion in his book. And he’d never had to deal with it with any other girl he’d been with. Only Tessa.

Jake waved and said ‘hi’ to a couple of guys from the station as he made his way between the tables and chairs. He crossed the room and took a seat at the only empty stool at the bar.

Before he even sat down, Levi had a longneck sitting in front of him. “Hey, Jake. Haven’t seen you around.”

“I’ve been working,” Jake said as he brought the bottle to his mouth and took a swig.

He had been working for the last few days but normally Jake would have been at JT’s at least two nights over his days off last week. Instead, he’d been with Tessa or brooding about her return. Which had just been a week ago.

It was only last Wednesday that his world had stopped spinning and he thought he’d seen a ghost. Jake looked over to the exact spot in the room that he’d laid eyes on Tessa a week ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed in that time.

“Hey, Jakey,” he heard a whiny voice say from behind him, “do you want to play some pool?”

He turned and saw Courtney, who had managed to wear an even more revealing outfit tonight than the last time he’d seen her when she was going commando under a short skirt and practically falling out of her shirt. Tonight, she was wearing a netted, form-fitting dress, and although she had the appropriate undergarments on, the peek-a-boo effect of the fabric—if it could be called that—of her dress left little to the imagination.

“Not tonight, sweetheart.” Jake winked at her and swiveled back around on his stool.

He felt hands running over his shoulders and down his chest as he heard Courtney purring in his ear, “Please? Play with me, Jake.”

Jake had to stop himself from turning around and pushing her off of him. Hard. It was just that the feeling of another woman’s hands on him, now that Tessa had touched him again, made him almost sick to his stomach.

Still, he didn’t want to be a dick, as he was so often accused of. So instead of jerking away from her, he stood, causing her hands to fall at their sides, and said, “I’m with someone, actually.”

Was it technically true? No. But there was a truth in the statement. He’d always been with Tessa. Even when she’d left. His heart had gone with her, because she owned it.

An irritated-slash-mad look crossed Courtney’s heavily made-up face. “Who are you with?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jake said, not wanting this conversation to continue. It was not headed in a good direction. He nodded as he moved past her. “Have a good night.”

Luckily, he spotted his sister Nikki. She was seated by herself on a two-top and had her laptop open. He pulled out the stool on the opposite side of the table and sat down. Looking up, she smiled and took out earphones that he hadn’t noticed she’d been wearing.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked as he scooted his chair closer to the table and set his beer down.

“Studying,” she said with a sigh.

“In a bar?” He hadn’t been in school in a while—granted, he hadn’t been the best student when he was in school—but he honestly didn’t think that this environment would really be the most conducive to retaining and processing knowledge. “Is the library closed?”

“Ha ha ha, very funny.” His sister shut her laptop and ran her fingers through her hair. “I had to get out of my house and be around people. I was going stir-crazy.”

Jake had wondered about the transition from flight attendant to full-time student. Nikki was social with a capital S. She needed interactions. Things happening. She got bored faster than five-year-olds.

Jake motioned towards the computer. “How’s it going?”

“Good. Really good,” she beamed, and Jake honestly couldn’t be happier for her.

“And how are things with Maxim’s Most Eligible Bachelor?” Jake asked even though it didn’t take a psychic to figure out the answer.

“Good.” Nikki’s smile grew even brighter as she added, “And he won’t be an eligible bachelor for much longer.”

“True. Poor guy,” Jake said, teasing his sister.

“Shut up,” Nikki said as she swatted his arm, reverting to their go-to comeback as kids. “A lucky guy is what he is.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?”

Jake turned and saw Tessa standing beside the table, and like always, his heart picked up speed. His eyes dropped to her jeans, the ones his hand had been inside just a few hours earlier.

“Mike,” Nikki smiled up at Tessa.

“Oh, yes he is,” Tessa nodded in agreement. “I was just checking if you needed anything. I didn’t want to bother you before. You looked busy.”

“I would love a Coke.” Nikki let her head fall back dramatically. “I need a caffeine fix.”

“Got it.” Tessa smiled as she looked over at Jake. “What about you?”

“What about me?” he asked as her brilliant blue eyes landed on him and awareness sizzled between them.

“Do you need anything?” A blush crept up her cheeks, and Jake noticed her giving him the don’t-you-dare-start stare.

“Yes. I need something.” His eyes wandered down Tessa’s body.

“To drink,” Tessa clarified in her I’m-serious-knock-it-off tone. Jake loved that tone. In fact, he lived to hear that tone. It was sexy as hell to him for some reason.

“Oh, to drink,” Jake said as if he’d had no idea that was what she had been asking him about. “No, I’m good. Thanks,” he added with a wink, and she shook her head, trying not to smile as she walked back behind the bar.

His eyes followed her until he could no longer see one of his very favorite things in the world to look at—her jean-covered ass. Well, her ass in any state, really. Naked was preferable, and later tonight, he was planning on seeing it in that exact state.

When he glanced back at his sister, she was squinting her eyes at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Looking at you two is like looking into the sun. You’re so hot that I couldn’t look away, but now it’s burned into my retinas,” Nikki said as if she were in pain.

Now it was his turn to sound like a middle-schooler. Jake smiled as he told her, “Shut up, smartass.”


*

Tessa could not believe how Jake was acting. No, scratch that—she could. He always liked to push the envelope with her. He had always loved to walk that fine line between embarrassing her just a little bit and making her mad. Sometimes he stepped over the invisible line that separated the two, but as always with Jake, one smile and a kiss and all would be forgiven.

If Tessa looked up ‘irresistible’ in the dictionary, she was sure that she would find a picture of Jake smiling with his trademark wink. She shook her head back and forth as she grabbed some glasses and filled the orders she’d taken out on the floor.

Two cranberry and vodkas, three Jack and Cokes, a Tequila Sunrise, five Snake Bite shots, and finally Nikki’s Coke. She placed the drinks along with the bottles of beers she needed to deliver on a tray, grabbed it, and held it high, turning sideways as she slid between the small opening between the end of the bar and the wall.

First, she stopped by her V.I.P. table and dropped off Nikki’s Coke. Sure, she’d been the last person to give her an order, so logic would dictate that she should be the last one served, but screw logic. Nikki got her drink first.

Then she made her rounds without incident, dropping off the Jack and Cokes, cran and vodkas, and the Tequila Sunrise. Finally, she ended at the table with the twenty-something pricks who’d ordered the shots and beers. She dropped them off without making eye contact and quickly began to move away from the table.

Tessa didn’t mind dealing with drunk guys, even if they were hitting on her. But these a-holes were taking inappropriate commenting to a whole new level. Just as she pivoted away from said a-holes, one of them reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“Hey now, not so fast, blondie,” the red shirt a-hole said as he rubbed his thumb across her wrist, making her skin crawl.

Tessa tried to keep her patience as she turned back around and pulled her arm away from him. “I have to get back to work, boys.” She monitored her tone, making sure to keep it light, but her patience was wearing extremely thin.

“Nah.” The dark-haired a-hole in the flannel shirt shook his head. “You can hang out for a minute.”

“No, I can’t,” Tessa stated firmly as she once again turned to leave.

Then the red shirt a-hole grabbed her again, saying, “Now, now. The customer’s always right, sweetheart. Didn’t they teach you that in Cocktailing 101? Or did you take Cockteasing 101? ’Cause you certainly seem good at that. Consider my cock officially teased.”

Tessa tried to pull her wrist away, but Red Shirt tightened his grip. Through clenched teeth, Tessa said with a deadly serious tone, “Let. Me. Go.”

“Nah, I think it’s time you take a seat.” Red Shirt scooted away from his chair and patted his thigh. When she pulled away again, he gripped her harder and lifted up his shirt. That’s when Tessa saw his limp dick lying outside of his jeans.

His friends burst out in laughter and cheers, and just as Tessa was about to hit Mr. Limp Dick over the head with her tray, she saw a fist fly beside her head and land straight on Red Shirt’s jaw. Tessa could feel the impact of the punch through the hand that was still wrapped around her wrist right before the fingers released their grip.

The next thing she knew, she was behind Jake’s back, one of his arms holding her securely in place. She tried to look around his large bicep but it wasn’t happening. He had her plastered up against him.

She heard yelling, probably from the guys at the table, and felt Jake’s body shake from what she assumed was him landing another punch. Within seconds, several other guys Tessa recognized from the fire station were there as well as Levi.

Everyone in the small table area was on their feet and suddenly Nikki was at her side. “Are you okay?” Jake’s sister asked, concern etched in her face.

Tessa nodded against the hard planes of Jake’s back. Adrenaline was racing through her and her heart was pounding.

Jake turned around. Wrapping both arms around her, he pulled her in and held her snugly against him. And just like that, the entire bar disappeared. It was just her and Jake. The two of them.

He drew back and cupped her face in his hands. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Really,” she assured him, bringing her hands up to rest over his.

He searched her eyes for a moment more before they both heard Eric’s deep voice asking, “What’s going on?”

She turned and saw that, just like the week before, Eric was dressed head to toe in uniform.

“Damn.” Jake released her face but slipped one arm around her waist, pulling her to his side. “Did you teleport here?”

“I was in the parking lot when the call came over the radio,” Eric explained, sounding very much like a cop.

Tessa stood beside Jake as he, Levi, and Nikki all explained what happened. The peanut gallery of a-holes kept trying to interject, but Eric was having none of it.

After hearing the entire story, Eric told Julian, who had shown up a few moments after Eric, to watch the guys at the table. Then he turned to Tessa, “I need to talk to you.”

Tessa nodded and began following Eric. Jake was right by her side. They hadn’t even made it two steps when Eric turned back and said to his brother, “Alone.”

Jake did not like the sound of that. “Hell no. I’m going—”

“It’s fine.” Tessa patted him on the chest. “I’ll be fine.”

She looked right in his eyes and smiled. Of course she would be fine. She’d be with the Chief of Police, who also happened to be Jake’s big brother.

Jake nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it.

Eric stopped at the end of the hall that held the bathrooms and turned around. “Do you want to press charges?” he asked, wasting no time with pleasantries.

“No.” Tessa shook her head.

Hopefully, Jake had taught those guys a lesson they wouldn’t forget anytime soon. Besides, she didn’t really feel like they’d ever been a real threat to her.

Eric stood silently in front of her. It got a little awkward, so she asked, “Is that all?”

He still didn’t answer for several moments. Then he nodded once.

Oookay.

Tessa turned to leave and was stopped by Eric’s voice. “Be careful.”

She immediately turned back around at his cryptic warning. She looked up at him and had no idea what he was talking about. “Of what?” she asked.

“With Jake.” Eric’s brows furrowed. “I know you care about him, but you have no idea what you leaving did to him.”

With that, he left the hall. Leaving her alone.

His words hung in her head along with Nikki’s saying that Jake hadn’t been the same after she’d left. But she’d seen him in the back of his truck with that girl. Only two weeks later. He had been fine. Right?

Tessa knew that the only way she would know for sure was if she just asked him. They needed to talk.

Just then, Jake rounded the corner and pulled her into his arms. “Come on. I’m taking you home.”

Tessa couldn’t make sense of everything right now, but the one thing she knew for sure was that home with Jake was the only place she wanted to be.