At which point Jake got the death glare magnified.
Driven to antagonize her by a madness he couldn’t shake, he took a bite of cake before rising to put his plate down on the alcove seat. “Cake’s gonna have to wait, Jules.”
“Where’s the damn torch?” She put down her own cake and stood.
“In my car,” Jake said automatically before realizing they’d come here in a limo. “On second thought—we’ll have to use our phones.”
Juliet took his phone when he handed it to her, then swung by the head table to pick up hers too. They’d just stepped outside when his phone flashed with light, a message popping onto the front screen.
Shuddering, Juliet handed it over. “I think it’s one of your groupies. Take it before I gag.”
The text was from a Trixi Kitten. “For your information,” he muttered after quickly scanning it, “that’s the name of my great-aunt’s cat.”
Juliet stared at him. “Do I look like I was born yesterday?”
“Read the message.” He held it out.
Folding her arms, she tilted her head to the side, just daring him to continue.
He held it up right in front of her face so she couldn’t miss the message: Jake, dear, are you checking your uncle’s car? Can you come look at Great-auntie’s in the next week? It’s making a strange noise and it scares me. Meow – Trixi Pussy
A kind of strangled sound erupting in her throat, Juliet nudged aside his phone. “Does she always…”
“Write messages as if it’s her cat?” He nodded. “She’s a perfectly sane human otherwise. Last week she beat everyone in her local pub quiz so she could win a nodding-cat thing.”
“The whole… er… pussy thing?”
“She’s eighty-nine. As far as she’s concerned, it means cat.” Jake rubbed his face. “She stood next to me while I was inputting her number and kept asking me why I didn’t list her as Trixi Pussy.”
Juliet’s laughter sounded like it was torn out of her. And the cock twitching got worse. That didn’t make sense. Why was her laughter turning him on? Or maybe it was the way she looked when she laughed, so open and warm and… as if she’d make him that way. Not this staid, solid stranger he sometimes felt he’d become.
Shaking off the thought because his solid and staid nature was what made him a good dad, he pointed to a pale blue VW Bug. “That’s it.”
The two of them walked across the parking lot, which was empty of all other signs of life. Just rows of cars—some bedecked with flowers and streamers in honor of the wedding—and a few standing lamps that cast just enough light so people could find their vehicles. Useless, however, for looking at an engine.
The land sloped down on the other side of the car, the old theater surrounded by manicured grounds that often hosted outdoor plays. Maybe he’d bring Esme to one of those, he thought absently as he unlocked his uncle’s car, then tried to start it to see what sounds it made, if any.
Juliet stood outside, tapping her toe on the tarmac and looking like a fantasy straight out of the midnight hours, times when Jake’s brain went its own merry way. Sex dreams weren’t exactly a surprise for a single male who had a sex drive he hadn’t been feeding, but the dreams had always been amorphous and erotic. No faces, nothing but sensations that led to frustrated arousal.
He had a feeling that was about to change.
When the hell had Juliet grown those curves?
Wishing he hadn’t left his jacket in the event space, he popped the hood before getting out of the driver’s seat; hopefully the dim lighting would conceal the interest in his pants.
“Here.” He handed her his phone. “I think I know the problem,” he said, propping the hood open.
The scent of Juliet washed over him as she stepped close enough to shine the torchlight from both phones into the engine.
“Tell me where you want it,” she said, and his brain decided to put those words in a totally different—and dirty—context.
Gritting his teeth, Jake said, “Where you have it is good.”
Not responding to Jake’s comment because she’d become fascinated by the way his muscles moved under the fine white fabric of his formal shirt as he bent over the engine, Juliet told herself to breathe. She also reminded herself that she’d already had this conversation with herself and decided the physical attraction was pure nonsense.
But jeez, did the universe have to make him so gorgeous? There, fine, she’d admitted it. The gearhead jock had grown up into a panty-melting adult who adored his daughter, loved his family, and was kind to his elders. Even a great-aunt who liked to text using her cat alter ego.
He might have a stick up his butt, but Juliet would still like to see that butt.
Juliet Nelisi, you stop checking out Jake’s butt. STOP.
But the man was muscled everywhere. It was hard not to eat up the eye candy when it was right in front of her. Also, since a visual was all it would ever be, she might as well enjoy… except, this wasn’t just a random hot guy.
This was Jake.
“My arms are starting to hurt,” she muttered, because keeping him annoyed with her was an excellent and time-proven way to foster distance.
“Sorry,” he said, his focus obviously on the engine. “I almost have it. It’s just a loose… There.” Rising to his full height, he went to put his hands on his hips.
Juliet, her own hands full of phones, whacked his upper arm with one to stop him. Of course it was all taut biceps and heat. “Grease.”
He looked down at his hands. “Shit.”
“Go wash off in the bathroom. I’ll wait here.” She knew he had to start the car, check everything was okay.
He hesitated, a frown on his face as he took in the empty parking lot. “Sit in the car,” he said at last.
“Gee, Jake, I don’t know how I survived life without your advice.”
Juliet’s deadpan words had clouds moving across his face. “You know, you’re right. You’ll probably just stab anyone who attacks you. Probably with one of those weapons on your feet. No wait, I forgot your elbows.”
“Keep going and you’ll get a demonstration of just what I can do.”
He glared at her one more time before shifting on his heel to walk back to the venue. Except he only went three steps before turning to her. “Seriously, Jules, just sit in the car, okay? Or I can’t go inside and you can’t have cake.”
Juliet went to snap a comeback but decided to hurry this up. The faster he got cleaned up, the faster they could get this done with and she could get away from Jake and his potent aphrodisiac of a scent. “Fine, grandpa.” Ignoring the growl-like sound that came from his direction, she slipped into the driver’s seat and shut the door, then pointedly pressed the lock.
As she watched him walk off at last, she exhaled a shuddering breath. It was easy to be annoyed with him for acting all protective and overbearing, but a small part of her was shaken by how his care had made her feel.
No one had ever been protective of Juliet’s safety, not that way.
Her aunt didn’t care when she came home so long as she didn’t embarrass the family. Her grandparents in Samoa had set her a strict curfew, but it’d had nothing to do with protectiveness. It had to do with control.