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Jo abandoned the field and left Frankie trying to jump-start her brain from a lust-induced dead battery back into conversation gear. It wasn't working. She scrambled for some conversation starter just to fill the awkward silence, but her brain kept pinging her dash with warning lights.
If he would just quit shifting in his seat, maybe she'd have a chance.
"Are you upset that I'm here? Jake stared at his hands and toyed with the braided strings of the gift bag, pointedly not looking at her. His fingers flexed and pulled as he worried the soft rope into frays. He had his sleeves rolled up, and the easy flex of muscle in his forearms captured her gaze.
She grabbed an arm to stop him so she could focus. "What? No. Of course not. Why?"
"Because you got real quiet once we sat down."
It is taking all of my considerable control to not kiss you again in the middle of a hospital waiting room, in front of God and my mother, and you want to know why I can't speak?
She shifted her grip and tugged down his shirtsleeves instead. "There, that's better. I was just a little distracted," she teased. A bit like Icarus, she skimmed too close to the sun of her truth, but secretly she hoped to get a little burned.
Ever since their kiss, she felt herself distracted by the most ridiculous things. His forearms were just the tip of the iceberg. His thigh. The way his hair curled at the back of his neck. His Adam's apple bobbing as he drank his coffee. The tendons in the back of his hand as he curled his hand into a fist in front of his mouth while he watched film. She was a hot fucking mess. Emphasis on hot but a decided lack of fucking.
"I get that. After all, you're about to be an auntie."
Sure. Let's go with that.
"I'm definitely going to be the 'cool aunt' for these little rugrats."
"You're lucky. I'm an only child of two only children. I'll never get to be the cool uncle."
"Never say never. The great thing about aunts and uncles is that they don't have to be blood relatives. What would you do if you were the cool uncle?"
"I'd fly the kids to wherever I was filming for a vacation and take them to premieres and stuff."
"Wow. I was just going to show up with candy and the obnoxious loud toys their parents won't buy them. You're setting that bar way high."
"You think it's too much?" He was trying to joke, but she heard the underlying anxiety and wanted to hug him.
"I think you need to ease up to that. Don't jump in the deep end."
"Noted. You know, for those hypothetical nieces and nephews." He bumped his shoulder into hers and she grinned and bit back a yawn. She liked this playful side of him.
"So, what did you bring them?" Frankie tapped the bag.
"A mini hard hat and a plush cube with different fabrics and colors on each side and…taggies? Not sure what those are but the article said babies love them, and this lady on Etsy said she could add them."
"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You did research?"
"How else do you figure out what to bring for a baby?"
"And then you went on Etsy and had something custom-made?" Frankie's heart melted a little more in her chest. This man, so exacting and rigid, had turned into a marshmallow over her sister's baby. Damn, he was hard to resist. Why hadn't that kiss worked like it was supposed to?
"I support local artists when I can…"
"And everyone thinks I'm the softie," Frankie teased.
"I can promise you, no one thinks that."
Part of her wanted to take offense at that, but the way he said it wasn't a dig. More a statement of fact. His face was full of truth, and her gaze snagged on his full lips. She was so tired, she couldn't resist replaying their kiss in her mind.
"Something about you makes me feel soft," she said, before she could think better of it.
"You must be exhausted." Jake checked his wristwatch.
God damn it—why the hell was that little move sexy too? It wasn't fair. She hoped she could get this infatuation under control soon. She needed her wits about her again.
