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I cover my mouth with my hand to hide the fact that I’m about to burst out laughing. The tears are pooling in the corners of my eyes and the smile on Jack’s face is stretched so wide.
“Absolutely,” Jack says, jumping in and saving me from the laugh that I’m trying to keep trapped. “Thanks for taking care of it, dude.”
“So tell me,” Olivia says very astutely, her grilled cheese in her hand, “do you keep your promises, Jack?”
I cough, my hand again covering my mouth as I nearly choke on the mouthful of wine Jack just poured us.
“Um, well, I would say yes, Ollie, I do.”
“Good, good,” she responds nodding her head and I watch her give Oscar a side-eye.
“Aunt Lulu only likes guys who keep their promises,” Oscar interjects, and he looks over at me and tries to wink several times but fails and it’s taking everything in me not to crack up laughing.
These two obviously have an agenda here, and as much as I want to stop them, I’m really getting a kick out of this whole thing.
“She also likes guys who are funny,” Oscar continues. “Like really funny. Not the boring kind of adult funny.”
“Okay,” Jack says, taking in everything they say in complete seriousness.
“Like this one time Mom made Aunt Lulu laugh so hard rice came out her nose. Can you make rice come out her nose?” Olivia questions and she’s dead serious, but the way she asks it makes it sound like she’s asking if Jack can pull a rabbit out of a hat.
“Well, I’m not sure. We aren’t eating rice tonight, but next time I’ll give it a try.”
I can’t get over how sincerely Jack is taking everything. Not once has he cracked a smile since they’ve started this conversation.
Their questioning goes on for the rest of our dinner with Jack answering everything they throw at him and not once does he tell them to stop or seem annoyed by any of it.
I watch him with the kids and how they respond to him and how he treats them, and there’s something about it that’s comforting, and it makes my heart clench in my chest. He’s so good to them and they adore him.
By the time we’re done, the kids are exhausted and they’re sprawled out on the couch with Jack while I clean up the kitchen.
When I walk into the living room, the TV playing quietly, Olivia jumps up off the couch and throws her arms around me.
“You sit next to Jack,” she says, grabbing my hand and tugging me toward the couch. I sit down next to him, but we’re both sitting stiffly, my hands folded in my lap.
Neither of us has looked at each other, hell we’ve barely spoken, and that tension between us is back. It’s buzzing in the room and I thank fuck that we’re here with two kids who are back to being oblivious.
Olivia is practically asleep and Oscar is on his way out, and they don’t notice when Jack excuses himself to go to the bathroom.
My leg begins to bounce on its own accord and I can’t let it continue like this. This weirdness that has now settled between us is far worse than the lead-up to our kiss.
Maybe the kiss ruined things, but I can’t take it back now.
I look over, checking to make sure both Olivia and Oscar are asleep, and then I tiptoe down the hallway and stalkerishly pace outside the bathroom door.
The door swings open and Jack jumps back, startled to find me hovering outside the door, but before he can say anything I whisper-shout, “Why are you being so weird?”
“Me?” he replies, affronted. “You’re the one being weird. You avoided me all day.”
“I did not,” I lie, and he smirks at me.
“You’ve always been a terrible liar. It’s written all over your face.”
His grin is cheeky and I bite my bottom lip as I feel the room begin to swirl with the desire that blanketed us last night on my porch.
“Why are you avoiding me, Lu?” he asks, and his voice is low and sexy, the words spilling from his lips like warm honey, sweet and seductive.
My breath catches in my throat, a quiet rasp, but something about it, something about his words and this night together urges me on.
