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Jessica arrived with our drinks, and after passing them out, she placed her hand on the back of Jason’s chair. “I love your hair.”
He ran his hand through it, the tips curling around his fingers. “Thank you. I grew it myself.”
She giggled, a bit over the top, and I snorted, rolling my eyes. His knee bumped mine again, and what the fuck was with this guy? He might’ve been eighteen feet tall, but he didn’t need to continually man spread.
“What about you?” he asked Jessica. “Is that your natural color?” When she nodded, tugging at the black-as-night strands, he smiled. “It’s beautiful.”
I hate that he smiled at her. A real smile. Blinding in its perfection.
“Could I get more water?” I cut in.
Jessica didn’t seem to hear me as she backed away from the table, still only speaking to Jason. “I’ll be back with your food in a little while.”
“Excuse me,” I called after her. “Jessica!”
She didn’t acknowledge me.
Frank guzzled down his drink. “So, Gemmie, I know you and your mom went dress shopping yesterday, but she won’t tell me anything about it.”
“Sorry, Frank. All I can say is that she’ll be the most beautiful bride,” I said, and Jason was looking at me again, the weight of his stare perceptible even through his shades.
Mom reached across the table to cover my hand, smiling, and I was about to tell her how thankful I was to have her as my mom, but Jason cut me off.
“Gemma isn’t a name you hear very often. Where did it come from, Caroline?”
I lolled my head to the side, bored with him, although my mother sat up tall. “Well, when Gemmie was born, she arrived with that gorgeous tawny hair in a ring around her head like a crown. I wanted to give her a name fit for a princess. But instead of a princess, I got a—”
“A hipster,” he interjected.
I curled my lip at him. “I’m not a hipster.”
“A hipster?” My mom arched her brow at Frank as if for back-up, but he only fanned himself with his napkin, not paying much attention to the conversation, and she pressed her hand to her chest. “Forgive me for beingan old,” she said with a pointed look at me because that was our inside joke. “But my daughter doesn’t strike me as a hipster.”
Jason opened his mouth to speak, and without thinking, I slapped my hand over it. I didn’t want to hear any more of his passive aggressive taunts. “Exactly. Hipsters wear skinny jeans, listen to jazz music, and read Tolstoy for fun. I’m not a hipster.”
My mom nodded. “Right. If anything, she’s a hippie.”
Jason nipped my palm, and I yanked it away, a fissure of pleasure throbbing between my legs. One little pinch of his teeth, and my skin was on fire. I’d hate to know what would happen if I had the full force of his mouth on me.
But I got a hint of it when he licked his bottom lip, his tongue lingering as if he could taste me there. It was obscene, really, the way his tongue stroked back and forth a moment before his top teeth scraped over it. And I wasn’t only throbbing, now I was wet too. Like he knew, one sandy eyebrow raised in a challenge.
Trying to gain some control of the situation, I faced forward, only to be taken by surprise when his hand skimmed my collarbone. I sucked in a breath as his fingertips traced my shoulder, gently brushing back my hair, then toying with the thin strap of my sundress. I felt a blush crawl up from my chest to my neck as the pad of his thumb dragged over my pulse point, his fingertips pressing into my skin ever so lightly.
And I liked it.
But I hated him.
“Sorry,” he said after an eternity. He shook his head like he was coming out of a trance. “Your hair was caught in your necklace.”
“Honey, why are you all red?” My mom asked, oblivious. “No need to be embarrassed. You know I love that you’re basically a reincarnated man who lived and died on some commune from eating poison berries.”
I let out a reluctant laugh at her teasing, grateful to clear the tension simmering on this side of the table.
“Yeah, I love you’re into all that environmental stuff,” Frank agreed. “In fact, we’re working on a new housing development that’s all green. Right, Jason?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Yes.”
I tied my hair up in a messy knot, unable to cool down. “I didn’t know you two worked together.”
