Page 81 of Five Alarm Kiss

Jake didn’t miss the way Laurel kept fidgeting with her hands on the drive to her parents’ house. He wasn’t sure why she was so nervous, but she clearly was.

Her parents lived in one of the more established, gated subdivisions in Eagle. The houses were huge, and he guessed every lot to be a minimum of one acre. They put his own sixteen-hundred square foot home to shame, but he’d never been one for appearances. His house was nice, and suited his lifestyle. Even if he could afford one of these behemoth structures, he still wouldn’t want one. Too ostentatious for him, and definitely too many rooms to clean.

“You grew up here?” he asked.

“Yep.” Laurel popped the“P.”

She didn’t elaborate or offer anything further, so he asked, “Did you like it? Seems like a nice neighborhood.”

It was, but it would’ve been stifling to grow up here. Impeccably manicured lawns surrounded every house. Grass that you’d never be able to ride your BMX bicycle through. There were no empty fields to play in where you could try to burn ant hills with a magnifying glass or dig holes, fill them with water,and make mud puddles to “accidentally” push your sister into when she told on you.

Yeah, he’d been a nightmare as a kid.

“It was fine,” Laurel answered, twisting her fingers so tightly, her knuckles showed white.

Since she was obviously stressed, he let the word choice slide. Was she nervous because he was here? It was always nerve-wracking to “meet the parents”—not that this was what that was. They weren’t even officially in a relationship. But if they had been, would she not want him to meet her folks?

He’d never cared about stuff like that before. Course, he’d never met anyone’s parents before either. But for some reason, this time it mattered to him. Laurel mattered to him.

Jake matched the address she’d provided and pulled into the driveway.

“I’ll hang here, if that’s okay,” he told her. Even though every protective instinct was pushing him to go with her, if he was reading her right, she’d prefer him to stay. His hunch was confirmed when she visibly relaxed at his statement.

“Okay. I’ll only be a sec.” Laurel grabbed a box of invitations from the back seat and hopped out of the Jeep before he could make a move to open the door for her.

She hurried down the concrete walkway with a leaf pattern stamped into it that led to the house. She rang the doorbell once she reached the door.

Maybe they keep it locked?

He always just walked into his mom or Grand’s houses without knocking. They were family, so it wasn’t expected. Only place he didn’t let himself in was at Jess and Chase’s. The last thing he needed was to walk in while they were getting it on in the living room because he sure as hell didn’t want that image burned into his retina for all eternity.

A smartly dressed, dark-haired woman opened the door and smiled at Laurel. No way she wasn’t her mom. They had the same features and small stature. Even though she looked happy to see her, the woman didn’t hug her daughter.

Shit, if Jake didn’t hug his mom whenever he saw her, he’d get smacked. It was like an unwritten law in his family.

He watched the woman crane her neck around Laurel to inspect his Jeep. Jake raised a hand, but instead of acknowledging him, she disappeared into the house with Laurel in tow.

Okay, then.

Since he was stuck waiting, he got out of the Jeep and took in the neighborhood. All the houses were painted the same bland, neutral colors. The landscaping looked like Dr. Seuss had designed it, with trees trimmed into round balls stacked on top of each other, and those droopy varieties that looked like they were either dying or being weighed down by invisible snow. The line of shrubbery separating Laurel’s parents’ yard from their next-door neighbors’ could pass a military inspection with its precise, must-have-used-an-L-square angles and perfectly straight top.

Jake let out a low whistle.

Pivoting on his heel, he happened to glance into the back of the Jeep. That’s when he saw a smaller box of invitations that had fallen onto the floor behind the passenger seat. Laurel had overlooked it, but judging from the number of texts she’d received from her mom, it would definitely be missed.

Opening the back door, he picked up the box and jogged to the front porch. He rapped his knuckles against the polished wood, choosing to forgo the brass door knocker. A man, most likely in his late fifties, opened the door.

He took one look at Jake, then shouted, “Slugger! It’s for you!” over his shoulder. The man swung the door wider and motioned Jake inside. “They’re in the sitting room.”

Sitting room? Damn, Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

“Dad, what’re you shouting about?” Laurel rounded the corner, then abruptly stopped when she saw Jake. A soft smile briefly kissed her lips before confusion chased it away.

He held up the box and gave it a little shake. “Thought you might need these.”

“Oh, my gosh!” She closed the distance between them and took the box. “How did I miss that?”

“It was on the floor. Hard to see from the front.”

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