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“Strenuous exercise puts me to sleep too,” he said as he fixed his stare on me. “In fact, it’s the reason I slept so well last night.”
A flash of heat surged through my body. “Yeah… I love kettlebells,” I said lamely.
His emerald eyes seared into mine. “I’m more a fan of the stairs.”
Please don’t. Fear prickled up my thighs and I glared at Jake as our server came tableside. I shook my head, silently pleading that he not. Please do not reference the fact that we had filthy, sweaty sex last night when I’m sitting right next to your brother, my fiancé. Please.
As Jackson ordered our usual drinks, I dared to mouth the word “stop” across the table. Jake sneered and shook his head at me. What the fuck? I may or may not have mouthed that to him as well. Thankfully, before he could respond, Jackson turned to him.
“What are you having, man?
A Manhattan? Since when do you drink anything but beer?” he asked. When he put an arm around my shoulder, I joined him in smiling placidly at Jake, waiting for an answer. But my heart was pounding like a hammer.
“I don’t know. I met a girl who drank them and it kind of stuck.”
Jackson grinned. “She must’ve been pretty smoking hot to stand out to you. Remind me – how many girls do you take home a week? Anywhere between ten and twenty, right?”
My cheeks burned as Jake laughed that low, sexy laugh. “Ballpark. But yes, she was smoking hot. Definitely way too hot to be single.” His accusing gaze slid back to me. “But who knows. Maybe she lied about that.”
Jackson snorted. “Yeah, well. That’s not your problem.”
I saw Jake’s cheek flex before he offered a laugh. “Guess not.”
“I’d ask you for more details but you know,” Jackson smirked and nodded at me, “don’t want to offend Princess here. And you know, hot chicks hate hearing about other hot chicks.”
Anger flared in my nostrils as I cast Jackson a look. “That’s not true. I’m a grown woman so by all means,” I turned to Jake, “tell us all about the girl you met.”
Jake glared at me. I knew I was veering into dangerous territory but I was angry, resentful of the way he was looking at me. As if I were a monster. As if I were solely to blame for what happened between us. Oblivious, Jackson grinned.
“She’s pretending to be cool with it, so go for it before she changes her mind,” he said. “What’d this girl look like? Was she good?”
Jake laughed. I could see fury twitching in his lip, his nostrils, but he kept it well masked as he took a drink. “She was beautiful,” he finally said. “And she was easily the best I’ve ever had.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Jackson laughed. “Then she must’ve had the tightest pussy on planet Earth. I mean if she was the best out of all the women you’ve had in your life, then fuck, marry that girl and ask questions later.”
Jake looked at me. “Something tells me that wouldn’t be able to happen.”
At that point, I gripped the edge of the table. “Jackson – can you let me out?” I nodded out of the booth, losing my breath. I needed air, to be somewhere else. Jackson groaned, handing me my phone, which just happened to be ringing – Sloane.
“Sure, but try to cut her off after a few minutes. We have company, Lara.”
“I will,” I agreed hastily, taking my phone as I climbed out.
But outside the restaurant, leaning against the brick wall, I hit ‘Ignore.’ My throat had been closing since I spotted Jake. I was in no mood to talk to anyone. I had half a mind to hail the next cab I saw and go home. I couldn’t handle another minute of this absolute nightmare.
“Tara.”
I jumped when I heard Jake’s voice next to me. My body stiffened when I turned to see him walking toward me in a simple white button-up and fitted jeans. I hated the fact that he looked so good. It made it hurt all the more as he stared at me with a look of contempt.
“Look, I wasn’t the only one lying last night – Max. And what’s this about you flying in just this morning?”
“Yes, I lied about when I got to New York. I needed a week to myself before all the madness started and as far as I know, my lie was nothing compared to yours.”
“Look – I am very sorry that I put you in a terrible position by picking you of all people that night, but trust me, you don’t know the half of what’s going on between me and your brother right now so please, spare me of the judgment.”
“I’m sorry, but that might be difficult considering you’re fucking engaged,” Jake hissed, closing the gap between us. “As in about to get married, so what the hell are you doing coming home with me? Do you have any idea how much Jackson loves you? I never met you before today but I can assure you, I’ve known every last detail about you since the day you met my brother at Sofie Winter’s party. He talks about you constantly – he’s fucking crazy about you.”
My anger mounted. “You’re right. He’s so fucking crazy about me that he cheated on me with Sofie’s nineteen-year-old daughter,” I shot back, my lip curling with satisfaction as Jake literally backed down, his tight shoulders falling a couple inches. He stared at me.
