Page 44 of The Kiss Keeper
She gestured with her chin a few tables over to where a group of older teens with bedhead and their gazes all pointed toward their laps sat silently.
“They’re probably doing Snapchat or snap cat. Whatever it is, they’re glued to their phones. I asked my grandpa if he minded that they barely made a peep or socialized with anyone.”
Jake spooned up another bite. “What did he say?”
She grinned. “He asked if I could remember saying anything worth hearing when I was that age. I couldn’t.”
Jake chuckled. “Makes sense. Those are some crazy years.”
“Yeah, I was pretty awkward during that time in my life,” she offered.
“I was pretty angry,” he replied into his bowl of half-eaten cereal.
Angry?
From his cool demeanor and take-charge attitude, she’d pictured him as someone who’d always had it together. She chose a bowl of oatmeal off a large tray in the center of the table and took a bite, glancing over at her fake boyfriend.
Was there more to him? That was a stupid question. There had to be. Everyone had a past. This Jake just seemed so sure of who he was. She was twenty-eight and flailing from job to job and Jake to Jake. He seemed so solid. She closed her eyes, remembering the tenderness in his gaze before they made love and the strange recognition that passed between them as he worked her body into a frenzy. It was like kissing someone from a past life.
And the sex.
A delicious tingle danced through her body. On a scale of one to ten, she was a solid two when it came to the intimacy department. She’d spent so much energy trying to figure out what her Jake du jour wanted that she’d never focused on herself. But last night, in her fake boyfriend’s arms, she couldn’t tell where he began and where she ended. And his lips. Just the thought of kissing him had her clenching her core muscles.
And that brought her to his cock. His perfect, thick, hard…
“Natalie?” came a deep voice.
She startled from her daydream and gasped. “I wasn’t thinking about cock.” She glanced around to find her grandfather frowning and every person, including the owner of the cock she’d been fantasizing about, staring at her.
“Tails,” she threw out immediately. “Cocktails,” she added, then grabbed a kid-sized cup of apple juice and knocked it back, hoping she hadn’t turned completely beet-red from mortification.
“It’s eight thirty in the morning, Nat,” her grandfather replied, his frown still in place while her grandmother stood silently, lips pressed together, holding back a grin.
“But it’s got to be five o’clock somewhere,” she parried back, trying to be funny.
Jesus! When would she learn? She wasn’t funny!
But an amused little snort from Jake made her feel like less of an idiot. Maybe she was funny, or maybe he was laughing at her? Oh, God! What did it matter?
She glanced over at him, and he tossed her a wink.
The warmth that had flooded her chest earlier was back. Funny. He thought she was funny.
“Natalie, are you all right?” her grandmother asked from the front of the room.
“I’m fine. Maybe a bit jet lagged.”
Her grandfather barked out a cough, then crossed his arms. “What is your answer? Yes or no?”
She watched the man closely, and a pang of worry set in. His bright eyes weren’t as intense, and he’d lost a bit of weight since she’d last seen him.
Jake leaned in. “While you were meditating back there, they asked if we’d lead the kids’ activities this week.”
“Of course, I…we’d,” she glanced at Jake. “We’d be happy to.”
The children at the table clapped and cheered their approval when she felt Jake back at her ear.
“What does that mean?”
