Page 33 of Jake

Lauren stretched and slowly opened her eyes. She had slept so well. This topped her first night with Catherine when she got out of her roommate situation.

Looking around, she didn’t recognize where she was. Did she go into the wrong room last night? Last night? Oh no! She sat up with a start and looked around again.

She was in Jake’s bed. She’d spent the night with him and then slept in. What a lame date she was. She scrambled out of bed and ran for the bathroom, which was thankfully empty.

After looking around, she reminded herself she hadn’t planned to stay over so there was no toothbrush or clean clothes. Worse still, she had no idea what time it was. She couldn’t go out there to him with morning breath. She grabbed his mouthwash and took her time swishing it around before spitting it out.

After finger combing her hair again, she did her best to look presentable in his clothes and headed out. At least her breath wouldn’t stink. Her hairband was still in the living room from last night, so her hair was a lost cause, but maybe she could find that quickly.

Jake stood in his kitchen in the same sweats from last night but no shirt. She took her time admiring his muscular back, watching as it flexed with his movements, and she licked her lips before she got a grip on herself.

He was making breakfast, it seemed. With him distracted, she took the opportunity to look for her hairband, finding it lying neatly on the ottoman next to her purse. She was throwing her hair up when Jake spotted her.

“Good morning.” He came up behind her, kissing her neck as she looped the hairband around her hair.

“Good morning.”

“I’m making us something to eat and then we can figure everything out,” he told her, returning to the kitchen.

She followed him to the bar, perching on a stool as he handed her a cup of coffee.

“There’s cream in the fridge and sugar over there.” He pointed to the counter.

After a quick inhale of the coffee to get her energy going, she helped herself to the creamer and then sat down again.

Jake was a man of many talents, it seemed, as he managed a few pans on the stove as he cooked. He joined her at the bar when he had everything plated.

It was a big breakfast for her, especially compared to her yogurt or nothing type that she usually had. It was welcome, though, and she picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite.

“So, we have two hours before we have to get to Cade’s and part of that is the drive.”

Lauren nodded. It was a decent drive out of the city, so really only about an hour to get ready.

“If you’re okay with riding with me, I can go get dresses and then run you to your place to get ready?”

She thought they had already decided on going together, so she was confused. It had been awkward to think that she was going to ride with him after just really starting their relationship but it wasn’t like she just met him, so she had agreed. It must have shown as he continued talking again.

“I just wanted to make sure nothing had changed with you.”

“Not on my end, except that I would love a shower and clean clothes.”

“You could join me . . .” Jake grinned and gave her another one of his winks.

She felt the blush creep up her cheeks and ducked her head down to hide it, shoving a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

“I was teasing.” He stood and took his plate to the sink. “I’ll go get ready. It won’t take long.

She nodded, keeping her eyes on her plate and hopefully her red face at least mostly out of view. The food was good, but more than she was going to eat. When she was full, she cleared her plate and started the dishes.

That’s where Jake found her when he came back. She was washing dishes as he came up and spun her to him.

“I told you, no dishes. This is a date,” he fake scolded her.

“They needed to be done. It’s not a problem.”

He kissed her quickly before backing away. “Go and get ready, I’m going to call to have the car so we can get right in.”

She went to the bathroom, still warm and damp from his shower, and slipped her old clothes on. There was no way she could have herself looking as nice as she did yesterday in this outfit, so she left the blouse untucked as she left.

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