Page 78 of Five Alarm Kiss

Yes, he wanted her. He’d kill to have her right now, but where the fuck was that supposed to happen? He sure as hell wasn’t going to have sex with her in the back seat of his Jeep. He wasn’t some horny, high school punk, and she was worth more than a quick fuck in a car.

Last night, when he’d decided to steal her away for an impromptu road trip, he’d planned on having her bring a travel bag. He’d originally wanted to take her on an overnight trip, but had changed his mind. The goal was to push her outside her kiddie pool comfort zone and get her to wade into the deep end, not drown her in the ocean. Since an out of the blue, overnight stay with him probably would’ve pulled her under, he’d opted for the day trip instead. Well, that’d just bitten him in the ass.

“Where’re we going?” Laurel asked. She sounded curious, but there was a slight undertone in her voice. A hint of the heat he’d tasted in her kiss.

It made him hard. Well, harder. Being in a constant state of arousal around this woman had become his new norm. But as far as where they were going…

“I have no idea,” he confessed, pissed at himself. The fucking zipper on his jeans was ruthlessly digging into his stiff dick, and he didn’t have a game plan.

Grand had invaded his house without warning, and Laurel’s apartment was in shambles. He literally had nowhere to take her except a hotel, and that felt wrong. At least, it did with her. He’d be damned if he was going to rent a room with the sole purpose of fucking her. She deserved better than that.

He wasn’t expecting Laurel to start laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Our timing sucks, doesn’t it?” she asked between giggles.

Gnashing his teeth, he practically snarled, “So fucking badly.”

“Well…” She held out her hands, palms up, like she was waiting for ideas to drop into them. “Are you hungry?”

He reached across the center console between their seats and laced his fingers through hers. “Starving.”

He knew she got his meaning because her cheeks pinked, and her gaze dropped to their interlocked hands. There she went again… heating him up past boiling, then reverting to shy when whatever was making her insecure muscled its way back to the forefront. If he ever met whoever had broken her confidence, he was going to rip them a new one.

“I meant for food,” she clarified.

“Didn’t we have breakfast a few hours ago?” Not that he couldn’t eat.

She lifted her shoulders up to her ears before letting them drop. “Does it matter if it’s ice cream?” She pursed her lips. “There’s always room for ice cream.”

Staring at her mouth, Jake knew he was screwed. How the hell was he supposed to watch her lick ice cream when all he wanted to do was lick her?

Fuck me.

“Ice cream it is.”

They’d stuffed themselves with sundaes and were almost back to Britt’s house when Laurel got a text. She clenched her jaw as she read it.

Mom

Did you finish the invitations? I hope they weren’t damaged in the fire.

No, Mom, they weren’t damaged in the fire, but I’m fine. Thanks for asking.

Since she’d known the fire would most likely be on the news last night, Laurel had called her mom to tell her she was okay. She’d gotten voicemail, so had left a message. Her mom had eventually texted, “So glad you’re safe,” but never called, like Skye did. Her mom was probably afraid the conversation would’ve gone on too long and taken time away from planning her precious fundraiser.

Laurel knew her parents loved her, but sometimes she really wished they’d show it more. Even Grand, whom she’d barely met, had fawned over her and made sure she was all right after she’d found out what had happened. Britt had literally started crying; she’d been so relieved Laurel was safe.

“You okay?” Jake asked.

When Laurel looked up and saw the concern in his eyes, she swallowed the emotions churning inside her.

“Fine,” she said.

Jake raised an eyebrow.

“Good,”she corrected, deliberately rolling her eyes for his benefit. Still, she couldn’t stop a grin as she held up her phone. “Just a text from my mom.”

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