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"Too bad. Now you owe me. I loaned you the tent and I'm roasting your wieners.”
''There's a joke in there somewhere," she quipped. Jake grinned.
Ever since Jake had moved away from her on the couch at the firehouse last week, things had been easier. Almost back to normal. Almost.
Thing was though Eva had been really good in the past at hiding how much she wanted Jake, once it came out to play in the daylight, that attraction was apparently hard to put back in place. She couldn't help but indulge in watching him, her gaze caressing his physique, her hands itching to touch. It was as if her desire had been encapsulated in a full-body cast and now that the casing had been shattered, it refused to be bound again. Or maybe it was more like her desire was a fertile delta, birthing fantasies of intertwined bodies glistening with sweat. Or maybe it had merely built inside her, festering, begging her to...
Do something.
"Eva!" Feet slapped the patio, jarring her from her musings, and Charlie skidded to a halt in front of her. "Can we blow up water balloons now?"
Water balloons?
"We don't have any water balloons."
"Jake brought some." Charlie skipped over to the man who, come to think of it,hadarrived with a big bag from Target. "Can we do them now, Jake?"
Jake's nephews and another little boy who was in Charlie's class crowded around Jake. "Please!"
"Can you get these hot dogs off for me, Eva?"
"I don't know. Can you wrap your own presents?"
Jake actually hesitated. "I still brought the tent and lit the fire."
Eva laughed. ''Okay, go with them. I'll take care of the hot dogs."
"Yay,” the boys shouted in unison when Jake jogged over to the bag he'd brought with him. Like puppies they clamored after him, disappearing around the side of the house in the direction of the water hose.
Eva had never hosted a kid's birthday party before. Heck, she'd only hosted one other party in her life - a bridal shower for her college roommate. All other gatherings before then had included Jell-O shots and enough room for a deejay. There had been no matching plates and napkins, balloons, or cakes with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on them.
Just as she removed the hotdogs from the grill, a stream of water hit her in the back. "Ahhh!"
She spun, and another blast hit her right in the face.
Jake stood, clad in his PFG shorts and T-shirt, wearing a pair of goggles and holding a soaker gun. "Score!"
Eva shook her hands and darted behind a column just as a blast of water came at her from another direction.
Charlie whooped, followed by the other boys all carrying water guns and holding balloons full of water. "Get her!"
Squeaking, Eva ran in the direction of the house. A balloon hit at her feet, causing her to slip in her flip flops. She skidded into the house and slammed the French door just as a stream of water hit it. Twisting the lock, she stuck out her tongue, taunting them.
"Awww, man," Charlie shouted, before turning the gun on Jake.
Jake yelled as the water hit him in the chest, plastering the cotton shirt to his nicely defined muscles. He issued a war cry and then he was off, chasing the boys across the green lawn. Lots of laughter and screaming ensued.
Eva watched for a moment, and as she stood there an idea uncurled in her head. They'd abandoned the water hose on the side of the yard, so if she sneaked around front to the side gate, she could grab the hose with the power nozzle and soak all of them.
Seconds later she slid stealthily through the gate, kicked off her flip-flops, and turned the water to full blast. Grasping the big power nozzle, she whipped the coiled hose behind her and charged out from around the corner. Jake and the boys were in the middle of the small backyard, engrossed in tossing balloons at each other. They weren't prepared for the wild woman barreling toward them. She flipped the switch, and the water shot out in a thick torrent. She went for Jake first.
''Agghhh!" he screeched, grabbing for his super soaker gun. The boys screamed and ran, but Jake stood firm, ducking beneath the blast, looking like a special forces member as he rolled across the grass and came up firing.
Eva felt the water gun blast hit her chest, but she didn't stop aiming the hose at Jake. She planted her feet and let him have it. Until he started toward her, head down, goggles abandoned, scrambling against the force of the water she aimed his way.
Dropping the hose, she ran back toward the sideyard. Her bare feet slipped as she rounded the corner, and she careened out of control, landing on her butt in the wet grass. Didn't matter, she was already soaked.
Jake hit the corner hard at a full run and, seeing her sprawled on the grass, tried to leap over her. His foot caught her knee and he tripped, falling and taking a roll on the grass.
