Page 68 of The Match

A knock sounds at the door, and Joanna and I both look at each other. She wags her brows and bolts to it immediately.

“Joanna, don’t you dare ask him if we had sex the other night!” I say way too loudly just as she’s flinging open the door.

I guess my door is paper-thin, because Jake smiles at Joanna and his dimples pop. “Sadly, we did not,” he says, and my stomach flips over.

To say he looks amazing would be a gross understatement. He’s wearing dark-blue slacks that cling to his muscular thighs and a white button-down tucked in with a brown belt. A light-gray suit jacket hugs his big shoulders, and his jaw is clean-shaven. I also think he must have called some kind of hair-and-makeup artist to come style his hair, because it’s molded into a soft, tousled look that only a movie star should be able to achieve.

My mouth is hanging open at the sight of him, which gives Joanna immense pleasure. She chuckles and grabs her purse. “I think I’ll just be on my way, then. Have fun tonight, darlin’!” She squeezes Jake’s arm on her way out and then flashes a wide-eyed look back at me after she realizes he’s all muscle.

Jake steps inside with a soft laugh and shuts the door behind him.

His eyes take me in, and they hitch on the curves of my waist before he shakes his head with a smile. He walks up to me and lightly sets his hands on those curves to tug me closer. “I think we might need to have a talk later about the whole casually taking it slow thing we discussed.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask with a smile and a lifted brow, looking as cool as a cucumber and not at all like my stomach is exploding with butterflies.

His mouth dips to mine, and yep, I’m going to have to reapply my lipstick before we leave, just like he promised.

It’s a good start to the evening, and I think dinner is going to be more bearable with Jake at my side. But really, I can’t wait until it’s all over and I get to have that conversation with him.

CHAPTER 31

Jake

“So. This is where you grew up?” I ask, staring up at the white three-story Charleston mansion that has a wraparound porch on every level. The house is obscenely big for this part of town. I now know it’s possible for a home to look smug.

It’s tucked off the main road, and we had to punch in a number for the large iron gates to give us access to the driveway. I can see a tea garden off the right side of the home, and the landscaping is so well manicured I wouldn’t be surprised to see a staff of twenty on their hands and knees, cutting each blade of grass with golden shears.

I design homes for a living—often a lot like this one—but for some reason, knowing that this house is a part of Evie’s history is leaving me a little dumbfounded. It’s what this house represents. Wealth. Status. Power. Insecurity pokes me in the ribs.

Evie grabs my arm and tugs me out of my trance. “Don’t look it in the eyes. That’s how it traps you.” She lifts up on her tiptoes and kisses my cheek and then drags me and Charlie up to the front door. I think he wants to be here just about as much as I do. “There are two rules tonight: stay close and keep that pretty mouth of yours shut,” she says while nervously running her hands over her dress.

I think she was trying to go for a modest look with this outfit, but really she just looks like a hot businesswoman or librarian. I’m not going to let myself get distracted, though, because I’m pretty sure I should be offended right about now.

“Did you say keep my mouth shut?” Surely I didn’t hear that right.

“Yep. Seal it up.”

Huh. Well, yeah. Now I’m a little annoyed. Does she not think I’m good enough for her family?

She’s still fidgeting with her clothes and fluffing her long blond waves (gosh, it’s hard to focus when she’s doing all that), and I’ve never seen her look so insecure before. She finally glances at me, and her furrowed brow softens. “What’s wrong?”

“You just told me not to speak during this dinner.”

“Oh!” She steps closer. I want to be annoyed, but her nearness does strange things to me.

I can see two future paths forming in my mind. One, we go inside and have a tense dinner with her parents. Two, I toss her over my shoulder, haul her off to my truck, and we peel out of here before anyone knows we were ever on the premises. She makes me feel greedy. I want Evie all to myself.

“Jake, I’m telling you not to talk for your own good. It doesn’t matter how wonderful you are or how successful you are. If your last name is not Murray, they will eat you alive. They want me to marry Tyler, and so trust me, anything you say tonight will be twisted around in some way to bite you in the ass.”

That makes sense. “They are really that serious about this Tyler guy?”

She nods, looking remorseful, like it’s her fault somehow. “We are only here to get that check and run. The less we both say, the better. Are you ready?”

I feel like we are about to step into battle. Suddenly, I’m not prepared for this. Where’s my sword? Where’s my armor? All I’ve got is this stupid button-down shirt and slacks.

I nod. “I’ll cover you. And if you get in over your head, squeeze my hand three times and I’ll execute an extraction.”

Her green eyes glow bright. “What if we get separated?”

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