Page 82 of Five Alarm Kiss

She tilted her head back to meet his gaze, big, hazel eyes sparkling with flecks of gold. “Thank you.”

God, she’s beautiful.

He could get lost in those eyes.

Laurel’s dad cleared his throat.

She flushed and turned around to face him. “Um, Dad… this is Jake. Jake, meet my father.”

“Bert,” he supplied.

Jake shook his outstretched hand. “Good to meet you.”

“Laurel, are you coming back, or—” Laurel’s mom halted mid-stride. “I didn’t know we had company.” Her eyes flicked to her daughter. “Laurel, aren’t you going to introduce me to your… friend?”

“Of course.” Laurel’s tight smile was pinned to her face. “Patricia…” She gestured to her mom. “This is?—”

“Jake Lockwood,” he supplied, extending his hand.

Laurel’s mom took his hand with her fingertips, but let it drop without shaking.

Wow, talk about an ice queen.

Her gaze traveled down Jake’s body, then back up, but not in a sexual way. No, this was strictly a does-he-measure-up perusal. Her expression was unreadable, so he wasn’t sure of the answer.

Laurel broke the uncomfortable silence by pushing the box of envelopes into her mother’s hands. “Here are the rest of the invitations. Guess we’ll be going.”

“Nonsense,” Patricia asserted. “You’ll both come and sit down for a while.”

Jake noticed it was neither an invitation, nor a request.

Laurel looked up at him, worried. “Um…”

He put his arm around her, and her mom immediately lasered in on his hand at Laurel’s waist.

“We can spare a few minutes,” he said. With the way Patricia was scrutinizing him, he knew the odds of getting out of there otherwise were worse than Logan being elected President.

He gave Laurel a little squeeze… a silentI’ve-got-you.

“Lead the way, Slugger,” Laurel’s dad told her.

That was the second time he’d called her “Slugger.” There had to be a story behind that. Jake made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Once they were settled on a couch that probably cost more than his Jeep, the interrogation began.

“Jake, tell us a little about yourself, since Laurel’s failed to mention anything at all.” Patricia shot her daughter a pointed look before asking him, “What do you do?”

“I’m a firefighter.”

“I used to want to be a fireman when I was young,” Bert confessed.

“Until he realized he wanted to do something to help others,” Patricia added with a saccharine smile. “Like teaching.”

Too bad I don’t help people by putting out fires and saving lives.

“Mom…”

“Isn’t that right, Robert?”

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