Page 35 of Five Alarm Kiss

“Five,” Emery noted.

“At least,” Gage agreed.

“Bite me.” Jake took a long pull of his beer. Maybe she wasn’t coming. He did kind of coerce her into the date. Maybe she’d lied and said she’d meet him to get him off the phone.

Huh.

He hadn’t been stood up in—well—ever.

“She’s probably just running late,” Em said. “Girls do that sometimes.”

“You mean,youdo that,” Gage corrected. Emery was never on time for anything. The only reason she was tonight was because Gage had told her they were meeting at six-thirty, not seven, and he’d driven.

She sneered at Gage before turning to Jake. “Lotsof people run late. Not just me.”

This was their M.O. Ever since the day they’d met, Emery and Gage had had this love-to-hate-you relationship. That is, until they’d really fallen in love. Now it was an I’m-in-love-with-you-but-still-have-to-push-your-buttons relationship.

Jake started to reach for his phone again before abruptly stopping himself and grabbing a breadstick instead. He took a huge bite, refusing to look at his tablemates.

What was it about Laurel? Worrying about whether or not a date would show up was out of character for him. Of course, no one had ever kept him waiting before. That sounded conceited, but it was the truth.

“Speak of the devil.” Gage lifted his chin toward the front door.

Jake glanced up to find Laurel standing inside the entrance. With her white jacket, she looked more like an angel to him. When she started scanning the restaurant, he stood and held up a hand to get her attention. He saw her shoulders rise and fall on a deep breath before she headed his way, stumbling a little on her first few steps.

“She’s cute,” Emery said. “She looks sweet.”

“Yeah,” Gage agreed. “What the hell is she doing going out with you, Lockwood?”

Jake ignored the jibe, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.

“Sorry I’m late,” Laurel said before Jake could even get out “hello.” She sounded nervous.

“No worries,” he assured her. “I’m glad you came.”

Her cheeks pinked, and she averted her eyes.

So fucking cute.

“Hi.” Emery gave a little wave. “I’m Emery.”

“Laurel. Nice to meet you.”

“Hey, Laurel.” Gage motioned to the empty chair between Emery and Jake. “Sit down and join us.”

The tension in her face dissipated a little. “Hi, Officer. Nice to see you again.”

“Gage,” he corrected.

She smiled. “Gage.”

She took off her jacket and placed it on the back of her chair, revealing a dark green sweater with a V-neck. It wasn’t low enough to show any cleavage, but it left Jake wishing it was.

When Laurel sat down, and Jake pushed in her chair for her, Emery flashed him an amused grin.

Whatever.He was being polite. Nothing wrong with that.

Laurel smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

---