Page 10 of Fight
“Sure,” Ian said, nodding. Jake turned around and rushed through the crowded restaurant and out the door. Lena leaned back in her chair to see him through the window, jogging swiftly across the street.
“Where’s he going?” Lena asked, looking around at everyone at the table. That was weird. Who just left a restaurant like that?
Ian and Annie both shrugged as Ian murmured a question to her that Lena couldn’t hear. Annie answered excitedly, flailing her hands around her while Ian listened attentively and surreptitiously moved her water away from her wild limbs.
“Who knows?” Morgan said in response to Lena’s question, dismissively waving her hand in the direction that Jake had run. “Jake's always a man on some kind of mission. Onto more important things, did you see your room? What do you think?”
Lena smiled at Morgan appreciatively. “It looks great. Thank you so much. Annie told me how much work you put into it, finding some new furniture.” Lena had been pleasantly surprised when the room that had been Alicia’s when she had visited last summer was set up with a full size bed, a beat-up, but beautiful, antique-looking mid-century modern dresser, and a simple night stand. The furniture was older, but had so much potential. Lena was already coming up with ideas on what to do with it once she got the old varnish sanded off.
“Well, it’s far from new,” Morgan noted, taking a long sip of her water. “But Alicia took everything, and Annie and I thought you’d appreciate some nice second-hand furniture to spruce up since you’re so artistic.”
Lena smiled warmly at Morgan. “It’s perfect,” she responded. “I love a project. I can’t wait to sand them down, paint them, and make ‘em good as new.”
She and Morgan continued to chat about the house and its peculiarities, there was a light switch that turned off the power source to the microwave, and the use of the showers, laundry, and dishwasher should always be timed to control the iffy hot water situation.
Before long, though, Cara returned with the four beers and took the group’s order, including Jake’s as reported to her by Ian. She was just walking away to put in their orders when Jake walked back into the restaurant with a tall, paper bag in his hand.
He made his way through the tables and people, this time looking down at the floor and his feet rather than locking eyes with her as he had when he’d initially walked in.
When he approached their table, he looked as if he was second guessing something before he stood next to Lena and removed the paper bag to reveal a bottle of Rosé, condensation bubbling and running down the sides. He must have run to the liquor store across the street and bought it for her, Lena realized.
He laid it on his forearm, label side up, and held up the stem of the bottle in his other hand. He looked at Lena expectantly. “Your wine, madam,” he said in a slow, accented voice before giving her an exaggerated wink.
There was a short pause before the whole table burst into laughter and Annie said loudly, “Aww, okay, I guess that’s an acceptable wink!”
“Annie, my dear, let me tell you about the least acceptable wink that I ever received…” Morgan launched into a raunchy story, and Annie laughed along with her as Ian cringed in embarrassment.
Lena’s attention, however, was on Jake. He sat down on his chair in front of her, and it was as if a spotlight was focused on him, blocking out the rest of the restaurant and the others still laughing or groaning at Morgan’s story.
Lena looked at him in awe, a surprised smile frozen on her face. “Thank you so much, Jake. That was so nice of you.” She took the wet bottle from his hands and placed it on the table in front of her. She was happy that it was a screw top as she didn’t trust Cara to know what a corkscrew was.
“Well, look at you complimenting me.” Jake drawled the words out in a low, deep voice as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
His eyes darted from the top of her head, grazed her bare shoulders, and landed where her purple-painted toes peaked out from under her long dress.
His eyelids drooped down when they reached her toes, and his lashes cast sharp shadows under his eyes. They were surprisingly dark given his lighter hair color. He looked relieved and pleased with himself. It was still cocky and obnoxious, but in a cute way this time…maybe?
Mild, but warm feelings started rising inside of Lena. She felt aglow with light and warmth. The heat rose up the back of her neck and out of her cheeks wrapping her in a feeling that she didn’t want to outright identify.
At the realization she was feeling a specific type ofsomethingaboutJake, her heart sputtered and she started having trouble breathing again. She didn’t understand the physical reaction she was having to him. She knew that Jake was attractive, but was she starting to feel attractedtohim? All for a bottle of wine and a pretty face.God, I’m a cheap date.
She resisted the urge to lean in toward him as she looked over at the bottle and then back at him, meeting his eyes. “Well, look at you not being an asshole for once.”
As Jake plugged away on his work computer the next afternoon, he was distracted by his buzzing phone. Looking down, he saw “Mom” flashing on the screen. His eyes darted between his phone and his computer until he reluctantly reached for his phone.
“Hey, Mom, what’s up?” he said after he tapped his phone to answer.
“Jake! How are you doing?” she asked happily.
Jake softened a bit, his initial annoyance over being interrupted melting away. Jake's mother had a friendly, gentle manner, and he credited both his love of the outdoors and his ability to get along with almost anyone he encountered to her influence.
Ever since he could remember, she’d taken him hiking, biking, and skiing all over the state of Colorado, making friends and starting conversations wherever they went. She had an affable way with people, and had more friends than she could count in the small Colorado town where his family had lived for generations.
Despite their disagreements over the years about the direction of his life, Jake could never quite bring himself to let her down too fully. Unfortunately, she was married to his father—the biggest hard ass Jake had ever met. He embracedthatbastard’s disappointment in him.
“I’m good. I’m at work right now though,” he responded, his eyes darted to his computer screen as he attempted to type more of an email as he spoke.
“I won’t keep you long then. I was just wondering if you’d given any more thought to coming down here for the Fourth of July at the ranch. I saw Chris Schneider’s mom, Louise, in town today and she said Chris would love to see you. You two used to be such great friends. And I know your dad would love to see you,” she added innocently.
