Page 37 of Hot for the Jerk

I swallowed and was about to say something—I don’t actually know what—when voices in the living room saved the day.

“It’s dark,” came a gravelly old man’s voice.

“Shit,” came another.

“My head hurts,” said Effie, or maybe it was Cynthia.

“What time is it?”asked Julian, his soft Southern accent setting him apart from the rest.

Raina and I both pushed out of our seats at the same time, catching each other’s gaze before we focused ahead and made our way to the sitting room.“Well, good morning, sleepyheads,” I greeted all the slowly rousing grandparents.“How are we feeling?”

“Like I just licked the bottom of a fish tank,” said Effie, smacking her lips together.

“I’ll get you all some water,” Raina offered, ducking off to the kitchen.

“Did we all pass out?”Lenora asked.“Oh my god!How unprofessional of me.”She fixed her curls, then pulled off her purple-rimmed cat eye glasses to give the lens a wipe on the hem of her blouse.

I shook my head and gave her boney shoulder a gentle squeeze.“It’s all good.We held down the fort.You needed to let your hair down and destress a bit.”

“Well, we certainly did that,” Bernie chimed in right before burping.“Tastes like chili.”

Raina returned a moment later with a tray of water glasses.“How are we all feeling?”

“Ready for round two,” Julian said, reaching forward and pouring more wine into his glass.“Hair of the dog that bit you and all that.”He met Raina’s gaze.“You wouldn’t happen to have any more of that delicious fried bread, would you, dear?”

Raina grinned.“I’ll see what I can do.”

Then she was gone back to the kitchen, leaving me with the yawning crew of hungover guests, and Julian, who was ready for round two.

Would Raina take me up on my offer?

That’s when I remembered my boner and quickly turned away from the crowd.Fuck.Could they see it in the dark?Was it that noticeable in my pajama pants?

Raina Aaronson had me flustered, and I didn’t get flustered.I didn’t like the feeling.I was the person who flustered others, not the other way around.And yet, when she returned five minutes later, with the cast-iron skillet and a big blob of bread dough, I’d give anything for her to fluster me again.

And again.

And again.

And never stop.

CHAPTER TEN

Raina

Thehungoverguestsjoinedus in the dining room, and I was grateful for their presence.With so many of us working together at the table on the jungle puzzle, there was no room for sexual tension, or tension of any sort, to get strung up and tangled in.At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

However, I could feel Jagger’s eyes on me as I kept my gaze down, scouring the pieces for the left leg of the howler monkey.They burned against my skin like the sun through a car window.Intense and magnifying.Yes, the woodstove was going, but that shouldn’t have caused me to start sweating between my boobs the way I was, or afraid of lifting my gaze at the wrong time.

Thankfully, Effie beside me, kept me turned toward her as she talked my ear off, only slightly slurring her words, since she gave in and started back on the wine like several of the others.

Deciding that it was better to share our bounty than hoard it all for ourselves, we brought down the food we bought at the grocery store earlier that day, and put out a spread for the guests.Between our snacks, the chili, and the fried bread, none of us went hungry.

Jagger stood up from his seat, and of course, my eyes followed him.

I had to consciously tell myselfnotto look at him.To focus on the puzzle pieces.To focus on Effie.To focus on anything else.Literally anything but the broad expanse of his back in that tighter-than-tight T-shirt, or the way his ass fit in those pajama pants.I definitely needed to keep my eyes away from the front of his pants because I knew for a fact the man was going commando under that thin bit of flannel.

He peeked out the window, pulling back the thick brocade drapes.“Wind’s died down a bit,” he said to nobody in particular.“Rain too.Even if the power doesn’t come back on right away, we might be able to cross the channel to San Camanez tomorrow.”He turned around and met my eyes, offering me a smile.“Have you called your kid to check in?”

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