Chapter Eighteen
Jade hadn’t bailed on him, had she?
Hunter tossed the football to Finn and discreetly pulled his phone out of his swim trunks pocket to check the time. She was only fifteen minutes late to his family barbecue. He didn’t need to freak out yet.
“Did you scare off the new girl already, Mags?” Finn asked Maggie as he threw the football at her.
She smirked, unaffected by the comment. “Are you kidding?” She nodded toward Hunter. “I’m looking forward to watching lover boy over there fall all over himself around her. Why would I screw up such a golden opportunity?”
Finn laughed and Hunter rolled his eyes.
“It’s just nice to see him falling over someone with both a brain and a heart,” Mia said. “Since his last girlfriend was missing both of those qualities.”
“Yeah, and real hair,” Maggie muttered.
Hunter made jazz hands. “Hello,” he muttered. “You know I can hear you guys, right?”
“Plus, Jade can cook,” Mia offered, ignoring him. “Or at least bake.”
“Whoa,” Finn exclaimed, his throwing arm halting in midair. “No one told me the woman can cook.”
Mia grinned. “She had homemade triple chocolate chunk muffins at the shop.”
Finn groaned, then looked pointedly at Maggie. “Maybe she could teach you a thing or two in the kitchen, Mags.”
Maggie glared and launched the ball right at his gut, though he easily caught it. And laughed.
“Again, I’m standing right here,” Hunter said, exasperated.
“So?” Finn said. “We’re not talking about you.”
Hunter was about to check the time on his phone again when he caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. He glanced around to see Jade gingerly walking down to the beach as she balanced a giant beach bag, a chair, and two Tupperware containers in her arms.
Her long, thick locks had been corralled under a retro-patterned scarf. The flimsy dress thing she was wearing didn’t hide what she had on underneath. The wind was blowing the material about, providing him with glimpses of her brightly colored swimsuit.
The one he’d told her to wear.
The one he’d ripped off of her last night.
Shit, there went his dick.
This was going to be a long day.
Suddenly, Mia yelled, “Hunter! Jade!”
He whipped around as Maggie shouted, “Heads up!”
Crap.
He quickly looked back at Jade. She dove to one side, sending her bag and chair flying. The football missed her head by mere inches. She held onto her containers, though, clutching them to her chest as if her life depended on it.
“What the hell, Maggie?” he yelled, but didn’t waste time scolding her.
“Jade!” He ran toward her at full speed.
She glanced up as he reached her, her eyes focusing on his bare torso. He’d lost his shirt earlier when the sun came out full blast and was only wearing his swim trunks.
He was abundantly pleased that she seemed to be appreciating the view.
“Jade?” he repeated. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head, snapping out of her—hopefully—lust-induced trance. “I’m fine,” she said. “No harm done.”
He knelt down and helped her to her feet, then gathered her bag and beach chair. She adjusted her scarf and tried to brush the sand off as Maggie, Finn, and Mia approached.
“I’m so sorry about the football, Jade,” Maggie apologized. “Sparky, here, forgot that I have a cannon.”
Hunter shot her a glare. “I wasn’t even looking when you threw it!”
“Yeah, we know where you were looking,” Finn mumbled under his breath, forcing Hunter to turn his glare on his soon-to-be-ex-best friend.
Maggie snatched the plastic containers out of Jade’s hands and held them high above her head. “Good news, folks. The desserts are safe!”
“What’cha got in there?” Finn asked, looking over Maggie’s shoulder as she lifted one of the lids.
“Apple pie bites and cherry limeade cupcakes.”
Everyone spun around to look at Jade, shock and amazement on their faces.
“What?” she asked, at once uncertain.
“We’re usually lucky if someone makes cookies. Brownies on a good day,” Mia answered, awe in her voice. “This is like…a whole other level of…feasting.”
“She used to work as a baker,” Hunter said proudly.
Jade smiled. “I can’t really help myself. When I have an excuse to bake, I sort of go overboard. If I made this stuff for myself all the time, I’d weigh a ton by now.”
“Oh, we’re definitely not complaining,” Maggie said, shoving the containers into Finn’s hands before reaching up and pinching Jade’s cheek. “You’re already going to be in Uncle Wayne’s good graces. Let’s go introduce you to the rest of the fam.”
Hunter saw the nervous way Jade bit her lower lip, though she tried to play it off with a polite smile. He held her back with a light touch on her arm.
“We’ll be there in just a minute,” he told the others, who scampered off to the picnic area they’d set up surrounding a grill that was billowing smoke.
He was already gazing down at Jade by the time she met his eyes. “Hey,” he said.
Her mouth stretched wider. “Hi.”
“Glad you made it.” He took in her sand-covered front with amusement. “And in one piece.”
“Maggie threatened to set her pet boa constrictor loose in my store if I didn’t show up.” She shivered. “Does she really own a pet snake?”
He bit back a sigh and nodded, leading Jade toward a group of chairs, his hand on her lower back. “Yes, she does. A giant one named Sly. But don’t worry. She would never have done that. Maggie’s bark is a lot worse than her bite.” He halted midstep and looked over at her in caution. “I take that back. Her bite can be pretty vicious, too.”
Jade laughed. “I’ll do my best never to get on her bad side, then.”
He stopped in front of two chairs and placed her bag on the sand beside them. “I’m really happy you’re here.”
He couldn’t mask the blatant honesty in that statement even if he wanted to. But he figured, hey, he’d fucked her in her fitting room the night before. And fingered her in a very public bar. He could be open with her.
Even about his scary feelings.
Feelings he probably shouldn’t be having for a woman like her. Someone who had grown up worlds away from his poor childhood. Someone who was used to the finer things in life. No doubt expected those things to always be there.
Someone who, as he’d told his father, was miles and miles out of his league.
She had to realize all of that. If the differences between them were so obvious to him, she couldn’t have missed that fact, either.
In other words… Yeah. Feelings he definitely shouldn’t be having.
But she held his gaze with a bright, unrestrained smile, making him momentarily dismiss every damn thing he’d just warned himself about when she whispered, “Me, too.”