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The smell of Aqua Net fills the air and the sound of the coffee shop is muted around us.
Amelia sighs. “They are freaking exhausting. But,” she says with a shrug, “they are faithful repeat customers. Anyway,”—she drops her hand into her chin again—“when did you two become an item?”
I glance over at Jake, who’s got a mischievous gleam in this eye. I clear my throat and glance away from the smile that knows how to kill my willpower. “We’re not a thing; we’re just friends.”
“Yep, just friends.” He stands straight and digs his wallet out of his pocket. “What do I owe ya, Amelia?”
The tone of Jake’s voice has my gaze on him again. The smile he’s giving Amelia is still a panty dropper, but I see the tightness around his mouth. A tightness that wasn’t there a minute ago.
He avoids my stare, but I’d bet my next paycheck the little troublemaking gleam in his eyes is gone too.
Amelia waves him off. “Don’t worry about it today. It’s Lia’s first order so it’s on the house. I’ll extend that offer to you,” she says with a wink.
Jake returns the wink. “Thanks, Ame. Always taking care of me.”
“You know it.” One of the workers calls for Amelia and she excuses herself.
There’s a burning in my chest on the heels of a flash of anger. I’ve only felt that one- two punch a couple of times in my life.
And it’s always centered around the man standing next to me.
“I need to get to the shop.” Jake’s voice brings me back to the present.
I turn my head to meet his stare head-on. “Did you date my cousin?”
His mouth opens and closes before he rubs the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t call it dating per se.”
My stomach drops and bile rises in my throat. “What…uh…what would you call it?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “I would call it a date. Singular. About three years ago.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
“Why don’t you just say that shit a little louder?” Jake looks around and pulls me to a now-empty table in the corner. His eyes are like heated steel. “Not that it’s any of your damn business,” he says in a low voice, “but no, I didn’t sleep with her. We went to dinner, talked a while, and then I took her home.”
“That’s it? You didn’t even kiss her?”
One side of his mouth pulls up. “Well, I’m a man, after all. And Amelia is a beautiful woman. So yeah, we kissed. But it was like kissing my sister so that’s as far as it went. What does it matter to you anyway?”
It shouldn’t matter to me, and I’m pissed off that it does.
I look up at him and hope like hell he can’t see what I’m thinking in my eyes. I’m jealous and ashamed because said woman is my own flesh and blood.
I square my shoulders. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have even asked that. You’re right. It’s none of my business.”
“Maybe not, but I gotta admit, it did my ego some good to see that you still have the hots for me.”
“I don’t…that’s not…” I growl. “Jake, you make me freaking crazy.”
He laughs and pushes a lock of hair behind my ear. His knuckle grazes my cheek and our gazes lock. “Ditto.”
His eyes hold mine. “Have lunch with me.” He holds up a hand, cutting off any words of protest I might come up with. “Just as friends. We’ve got things to talk about if we’re going to do this Santa thing.”
As much as I don’t want to spend time with him—it is not good for my heart or my libido—we do have to work together. The sooner we get this thing done, the better.
“Fine, I’ll meet you for lunch.”
“Silver Moon, tomorrow, 11:30?”
