Page 73 of Love on Deck

“Who’s up for Celebrity?” someone called from the front room.

Jack lifted his eyebrows in something of a question, or maybe a challenge. He seemed more relaxed, like the initial arrival had been dealt with and he’d survived, so now he could breathe. “My family is crazy about games, so play at your own risk.”

I gave him a shrug, taking a bite of the best Texas sheet cake I’d ever had. The icing melted in my mouth and the brownie was chocolate perfection. “Only if I get to bring another piece of this. Does that make me look like a greedy outsider?”

He cut another piece and plopped it on my plate, then leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the lips while we were alone. “I think you fit in just fine.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

JACK

Everyone had gone home except for my brothers—and my parents, but it was their house. We sat on the sofas in the living room, picking at leftover treats. Lauren didn’t seem thrilled about the need to stay overnight, but Tucker could drive us back to Dallas in the morning, so she wasn’t going to be away for too long.

“Tell us about yourself, Lauren,” my mom said, giving her a bright smile. She leaned back into Dad’s side, but her eyes were wide and set on Lauren like a homing device. I knew what this was. She couldn’t pretend to be innocent with me. She was about to drill Lauren for every piece of information she could. It wasn’t a habit of mine to bring girls home, and everyone was acting cool about it, but I knew they were all dying of curiosity.

My mom’s phone was going to be busy tomorrow when all the ladies called to find out what was going on with Jack’s new friend.

Which meant we had to be strategic in our answers.

“Not much to tell,” Lauren said humbly. “I work for the Hunnam Hotels Group as an event coordinator in Dallas, where I’ve pretty much lived my whole life. I have one sister, and... that’s about it.”

“She also knows how to make a killer spreadsheet.”

Lauren speared me with a watch it glare.

“And,” I said dramatically, “she is the one who dragged me here tonight.”

“I knew I had a good reason to like you.” Mom leaned forward to pat her knee. “How long have you known each other?”

Lauren looked at me, so I answered. “A few years now, but I’ve known her sister since my first year of grad school.”

“Is your family nearby?”

“I don’t have much family.” Lauren shifted on the sofa. “It’s really just my sister and me. And now Kevin, the lucky dog.”

“He is lucky,” I said. My phone pinged, and I pulled it from my pocket to find a message from a guy at work and a few missed emails. One of them caught my eye.

I had gotten an email response about my request to move the conference.

Colt pulled a face. “Kevin might be, but now you have to put up with him.”

“You’re just bitter because he beat you in his TC,” Tucker said around a mouthful of cake.

Colt scowled. “That car should not have handled so well.”

Mom pointed her fork at her youngest son. “I said no racing on Alburn Road, Colt. It’s not worth your life.”

He put his arms up. “This was years ago.” His side-eye gave him away. There’s no way he’d quit racing.

Dad leaned forward to snag a cookie off the coffee table, then tapped the distressed white oak tabletop. “Jack made this,” he bragged, graying eyebrows lifted.

“Restored it,” I corrected.

But Lauren looked impressed. She ran her fingers over the smoothed edges where paint was sanded away to give it an aged look. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s basic,” I said, but the praise still lodged itself somewhere in my chest.

“He also did the dining table,” Mom said. “And the hutch in the kitchen.”

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