“Hard having a harem?” She whispered the words at him as they zigzagged through the crowd.
“Sometimes.” He wasn’t going to get into this now. He didn’t have a harem, he’d just been very open about his life, which generally worked because women knew exactly what they were getting into with him. “Sometimes not.”
A loud whoop went up when he got to Will, the others joining. Clearly, more than one drink had already been had.
“Shakey Jake! Have a shot!” Will pointed to where a tray of shots were, a few empty glasses already put back.
Jake picked one up, deciding he could do with some extra kicks to get through a night of having Lainey nearby. He downed it, Will cheering madly.
“One for you, pretty lady.” Will offered Lainey the tray.
To Jake’s surprise, she took one, downing it without even a shadow of a grimace.
“That isn’t Scott’s best tequila.” Jake looked down at the tray, opting not to have a second. He did have to get up early tomorrow; there was a lot to pack in to the day and he needed to set up the barn for the fundraising gig at the weekend.
“Scott’s best tequila would’ve been wasted.” Olly seemed slightly more sober than Will. “You missed circuit training.”
“I never go to circuit training.” Jake avoided any gym, figuring the one he had outside, also known as work, was all that was necessary.
“You should. It’s fun. Hey, Lainey, why don’t you join us at circuit training?” Olly turned his attention to her.
Jake waited to see what her response was. He’d worked out that her confidence had been shattered by her dick of an ex, he’d seen how she showed fleeting glimpses of confidence – it took a lot to drop your robe in front of someone like she had, even if he’d been almost naked himself.
That wasn’t something he needed to spend too much time thinking about.
“I’d rather ride a horse. Burns more calories.” She gave Olly a beaming smile which he returned.
Jake wasn’t sure he liked that.
“You don’t need to burn calories.” Will looked her up and down.
Lainey didn’t smack him. Jake considered doing it for her.
“That’s because I don’t stop working all day. As in on-my-feet working.”
Olly laughed. “I know. The only thing I ride is my desk chair.”
There was a hoot of laughter from Will, which Jake joined in with, slapping Olly on the back. Olly was good fun and a really great bloke, but he fell in love too quickly when he wasn’t being picky.
“You need to get out more.” Will took another shot. “Lainey, would you date this man?” He pushed Olly forward.
Jake decided another shot was definitely a good idea. He saw Lainey looking half-shy for a moment, then the steel crept back into her.
“I think the question should be, Will, willyoudate this man? You’re very interested in his love life.” She smiled almost too sweetly.
Jake laughed, watching Will grab hold of Olly in a huge, tight bear hug and pretend to declare his undying love. The bromance between them was strong, and was definitely attracting the attention of a group of women who had come to the bar for the music and a girls’ night out.
“Want to bet both of them end up tapping one of them by the end of the night?” Jake bent down to whisper in Lainey’s ear. “Will’ll go for the redhead, and that brunette looks like she’s into Olly.”
“Which one? The one with curly hair or with her hair up?” She muttered back, close enough still for him to smell her perfume.
“Hair up. Although Olly’ll probably just try to get her number.” He wanted her to stay close.
She did, and he caught a naughty smile growing on her face.
“Which one will you take home?”
“I won’t.”
