Page 38 of Five Alarm Kiss

Don’t go there.

“At Hannah’s,” he answered, ignoring the fact his dick was already thinking about pumping into her. “She asked me to dance.” He’d told Gage the story when he’d called about the double date, so he was sure Emery already knew the answer. Still, he wouldn’t mind hearing Laurel’s interpretation.

“Alcohol must’ve been involved,” Gage concluded. “No one would ask him to dance if they were sober.”

“Yeah,” Emery snickered. “You must’ve been really drunk to have had that bad lapse in judgment.” She looked at Jake and smiled sweetly. “I’d have to be trashed.”

He ignored both of them.

“I was a little tipsy,” Laurel confessed, still playing with that damn straw.

Jake didn’t miss the fact she wasn’t drinking tonight. “A little?” he teased.

“Fine,” Laurel conceded. “Maybe a little more than a little. But I only did it because of… a dare.”

Jake studied her. He didn’t know what she’d been about to say, but “dare” definitely wasn’t it.

“Okay, a dare makes sense,” Gage said. “You’re obviously too intelligent to have asked him otherwise.”

Laurel pursed her lips, fighting a grin.

“Speaking of which… What was the whole ‘number five, number six’ thing?” Jake asked.

“Just a list,” she evaded. “No biggie.”

It was obvious she was trying to change the subject, which made Jake really want to stay on the subject. “What kind of list?”

“It’s stupid, really.” She nervously touched the streak of blue in her hair, making sure it was still tucked behind her ear. “Just something my best friend thought up.”

“Emery knows something about making her best friend do stupid things. She had my sister sign a contract to fake-date Em’s brother.”

Laurel blinked. “Wait. What?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Emery countered, a smug look on her face. “They’re perfect for each other,” she told Laurel. “They just needed a little push to admit it, so I made them sign a contract and pretend to be dating for a—” She waved her hand in the air, like she was dispersing smoke. “Long story. Suffice to say, they’re together now, thank you very much.”

“Okay, compared to that,” Laurel rationalized, “I guess Skye’s list isn’t that bad.”

“So, spill!” Emery ordered.

Laurel eyed Emery while leaning toward Jake. “Is she always this pushy?” she asked, apparently comfortable enough with them now to be playful.

Jake and Gage both answered, “Always.”

“Whatever.” Em put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. “I’m waiting.”

Laurel smiled. “Skye—that’s my friend—took it upon herself to make a list of ten things she thought I should do before I turned thirty.”

“You were at Hannah’s for your birthday,” Jake said. It wasn’t a question. Now, the don’t ask a girl’s age comment made sense.

“Yeah. One of the things on the list was asking a stranger to dance, hence…” She gestured to Jake.

“He’s definitely strange,” Emery said.

Ignoring her, Jake asked Laurel, “Why’d you pick me?” He already knew the answer. She’d been sneaking glances at him all night.

She shrugged, feigning indifference. “You were close to the dance floor.”

Uh-huh.

---