Page 84 of Blue Collar Babes

“Bon appetit,” I nod in his direction and dig in, too nervous to wait for Jake’s assessment of what I made.

“Damn,” he lets out a moan beside me. “Alex, this is amazing.”

Pride swells in my chest. “Thanks.”

“No, I’m serious. I’m going to need the recipe for this. I love a good salad but have a hard time mixing it up. I get tired of eating the same thing all the time.”

“Yes! Same. I mean, we all know that I love a good burger or a steak. But sometimes I need more greens in my life and I want something hearty, that is going to sate my appetite too.”

“Exactly,” he agrees, cleaning his palate with a drink.

“What about Evi? You said she’s three. Three-year-olds are pretty picky, right?”

“Oh you have no idea. A few weeks ago, she decided that she couldonlyeat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Three meals a day. She wouldn’t eat anything else. No matter what I tried. Now she’s moved on to chicken nuggets. At least I can sneak some veggies in with those thanks to the pre-packaged nuggets at the store.”

I gasp, “You mean, you don’t make her home cooked, all organic, chicken nuggets, from scratch?”

Jake pauses mid-bite and looks over at me with a questioning glance. “Tell me you’re being sarcastic.”

I do my best to keep a straight face for as long as I can, before I can’t take it anymore and burst into giggles. “Yes, I’m kidding.”

“You’re evil,” he concludes. “Evil.”

“Muahahaha. You have no idea.”

“Have I mentioned that it’s been good having you back? Catching up with you. Even if you’re a sarcastic smartass,” he says, doing his best to avoid my gaze.

“It’s been good catching up with you too. Even if you’re still a bit of a domineering, control freak.”

“I can’t be sure, but I think you said dominant wrong.”

My insides flutter.I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!

Okay maybe I didn’tknowit. But his praise that day on the phone makes so much more sense.

“Pretending you can’t hear me, again?”

“Huh?”

Jake smirks and I notice the tiniest of dimples on his left cheek. Jesus, this man is something else.

“You heard me. I know you did.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think that this whole thing was a ploy to seduce me,” I go all in and attempt to feel out this sexual tension that I’ve been convinced that I was imagining.

He leans forward and sets his now empty bowl down then turns to face me. “Not a ploy, Pony Girl. I haven’t always been so straightforward when it comes to you, I can admit that. We’re both adults now though.”

Following suit, I put my own things down and wipe my hands on my shorts. “And. Tell me more.”

My heart thumps faster in my chest.

“I didn’t invite you to stay at my house to get in your pants,” his voice grows thicker.

“But…”

“But, I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t felt some kind of way since the moment you opened the front door at your parents’ house. Honestly, maybe even when I talked to you on the phone, even though I had no idea that I was talking toyou.”

His vulnerable honesty seduces me more than anything else possibly could.

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