He arched a brow. “Yeah?”
I started to laugh as I pulled into traffic. “Well, Ho-Down, Jack….you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Seven
Jack
I’d heard the term ‘cougar’ before, but I’d never actually understood what it meant. But now…?
Red-painted nails slid over my thigh as Lila’s mom leaned in close.
Well, now I got it.
“Relax, Jack,” Jeanine cooed in my ear.
She’d told me to call her Jeanine shortly after we’d arrived at this super swanky beach house.
A bungalow, Lila had called it.
If ‘bungalow’ meant mansion-by-the-sea, then yeah… I guess this was a bungalow.
I glanced at the clock over the mantle as I sank deeper into the cream leather of the couch. Jeanine kept shifting closer until I was pretty sure I was going to be swallowed alive by the freakin’ sofa.
“My boyfriend won’t be home for days,” she breathed in my ear.
I couldn’t hide my flinch as I backed away. “That’s… too bad.”
She laughed, and her teeth were stained red from her wine, making me think all kinds of crazy thoughts about vampires and human sacrifices and evil witches.
Speaking of witches… I glanced at the clock again.
Where the hell was Lila?
She’d slipped away almost as soon as the Thai food her mom had ordered was delivered, and she’d been MIA ever since.
My phone vibrated, and I reached for it in my back pocket. Or… I tried to. “Um. Excuse me, Jeanine,” I said as I tried to snag my phone with Lila’s mom strewn across my chest. “I think this is my ride.”
Please God, let this be my ride.
I sighed with relief when I saw Brandon’s response. It was mainly laughing emojis but then he ended it with, “I’m on my way. Stay strong.”
Stay strong.
He knew.
Which meant… she’d known.
For the millionth time since I’d arrived here, I snuck a glance in the direction of the hallway where Lila had disappeared, leaving me alone with Handsy McCougar over here.
Lila came waltzing down the hallway as if she could feel my stare. Finally!
“What did I miss?” she asked as she reached the doorway to this living room, with its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the crashing waves.
When we’d first arrived, I’d had to try hard not to stare at the ocean. Now, I was too busy trying to remove myself from Jeanine’s grip to care. Lila paused in the doorway and took in the sight before her.
Me. And her mom.
Crap. It probably looked like something was going on here.
For a second, I had a flare of panic that Lila was going to get the wrong idea, but she was grinning at me with that smile I knew well.
She was laughing at me. Trying hard not to laugh out loud, by the looks of it.
Freakin’ little minx. I knew it. She’d known exactly what she was getting me into when she’d brought me here. I narrowed my eyes at her, and she turned her attention to her mother. “Jeanine, what do you say you let Jack out of your claws for a few, huh?”
Her mother sighed with irritation, but she removed her hand from my thigh and went over to the bar to pour herself another drink, her gaze moving over her daughter as if just seeing her now for the first time since we’d arrived. “When are you going to get your father to pay for a boob job, Dee? You look ridiculous in that shirt with nothing to flaunt.”
Lila rolled her eyes. As soon as we’d arrived, she’d changed out of her uniform and into yoga pants and a V-neck T-shirt.
She looked amazing in that T-shirt, but I had no desire to enter into this bizarre conversation, so I started to back away. “Brandon’s on his way to give me a ride back,” I started.
“I’ll walk you out,” Lila said.
She grabbed a cardigan from a coat rack when we reached the back door leading down to the beach, away from the street.
“Brandon will be here any minute—”
“Not in the traffic at this hour, he won’t,” she said. “Besides, he knows better than to go inside. He’ll wait outside or come around back.”
I stared at her as she led the way down the steps. I had about ten million questions to ask about her mother and Brandon and us—but she beat me to it.
“Have you ever seen the ocean before today, Jack?”
Her words caught me by surprise, but I shook my head, stupidly ashamed to admit it. “Nope.”
“I figured.” She stopped on the beach and stared straight ahead, so I did the same.
For a second, I forgot everything. I forgot all the heartache that had driven me here, I forgot the crap Lila had just put me through and the fact that this stint in LA was only temporary.
How could anyone think about anything so petty as all that when faced with this? The sun was setting and the splay of colors that streaked the sky was mesmerizing, the sounds of the waves overwhelming, and the feel of the wind and sand and the salty air…
“Amazing,” I breathed.
Lila leaned against my arm, a friendly gesture, not romantic, and yet I felt the heat of her all the way to my core. “I’m glad you could see this while you’re here.”
While you’re here.
A reminder that this was temporary. But whether she was reminding me or herself, I wasn’t quite sure. Maybe it was for both of us.
I turned to face her. “What was that back there?”
The faraway dreamy look on her face faded, and I felt like a jerk for ruining a rare moment of sweetness with this girl. But also… what the hell was that?
She gave me a wry little smile. “Sorry. But if it makes you feel better, you helped me out, so thank you.” I stared at her until her smile faded. She bit her lip before offering, “It was for a good cause?”
I blinked as the realization hit. She hadn’t just flaked back there. She’d done it on purpose. “Did you honestly just bring me home as… what? Bait?”
She pursed her lips, her brows coming down as if offended. “Not bait. More like… a distraction.”
My mouth gaped, and a weird choking sound came out as I tried to figure out how I was supposed to respond to that. What I was even supposed to say. “What is wrong with you?”
She laughed, but it sounded fake. Forced. Turning back to the ocean, she wrapped her arms around her waist. “Still expecting the best from me, Jack?” Her voice turned bitter and cynical. “How sweet. Naive, but sweet.”
I shook my head. I knew what she was doing. I’d seen her do this a number of times before.
But I knew better now. I knew her better.
So I didn’t play along. I didn’t engage or let her push me away. Instead, I asked the question I’d been wondering ever since we’d arrived. “Does she always hit on the guys you bring home?”
“Always.” Her response was too bland. I studied her face for any show of emotion. None.
She was serious. And she was used to it.
She must have seen my look of revulsion and pity—I mean, what sort of mom hits on her daughter’s boyfriends? But Lila gave me a cute little grin. “She says it’s for my own good. Her way of testing them. If they don’t take her up on what she’s offering, then she’s proven he’s good enough for me.”