He held up his arms in defeat. “I was only trying to help.”
“Anyway,” I continued, “I’ll let you know tomorrow morning if I can go.”
Jake nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll pick you up from the gallery if you can.”
Hailey waved for him to go into the kitchen. “Now that you’re here ruining our girls’ night, you might as well eat some food. I have a ton.”
Jake chuckled and hooked a thumb toward the door. “I can leave if you want.” He glanced down at our matching pajamas. “I mean, if it’s because I’m not dressed for the occasion, I’m sure Oliver has something I can borrow.”
Hailey rolled her eyes. “Ha-ha. You know my husband wouldn’t be caught dead wearing Santa Claus pajamas.” She pushed him into the kitchen. “Are you staying at Mom and Dad’s until you find a house?”
Jake picked up a carrot from the vegetable tray and took a bite. “Well,” he said, grinning sweetly at her, “I was hoping I could crash in your guest bedroom.”
Hailey sucked in a breath through her teeth. “That’s not going to work. Our guest bedroom is packed with overflow supplies from the store.” She quickly looked over at me. “What about the bedroom above your garage? Could Jake stay in there?”
“Of course,” I agreed, meeting Jake’s gaze. “That is, if you don’t mind sleeping in a canopy bed with stuffed animals everywhere.” My sister and I would sleep in that room when we stayed with my grandparents. When I bought the house, I didn’t want to change it.
Jake smirked. “Sounds perfect to me.”
“All right, then. I’ll put some fresh sheets in there for you.”
Hailey peered over at the oven clock, then to me. It was closing in on ten o’clock. “It’s getting a little late, Lydia. You two should probably go. I know you have to get that room ready.”
“You sure?” I asked. “It’s our girls’ night.”
She snorted. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty more. Now go. I’m sorry you have to deal with my brother.”
Jake winked at me, and I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be fine. He’s the one who has to sleep in a girly bedroom.”
Jake grabbed a handful of chips and chuckled. “Doesn’t bother me.” He nodded toward the door. “I’ll be at your house in a few. I need to make a quick stop on the way.”
He marched over to the door and waved at Hailey, his grin sly as if there was a secret he was privy to that I wasn’t. “See you later, sis.”
I glanced over at Hailey. “Is there something going on I don’t know about?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Just good luck is all I can say. Don’t be surprised if you wake up in the morning to see him in his underwear in your kitchen.”
My mouth dropped and I turned to watch him through the door as he got in his little silver sports car. If he did walk around my kitchen in his underwear, something told me it wouldn’t be that bad.
10
LYDIA
Jake ended up stopping by his parents’ house for a few minutes before coming to my place. It gave me plenty of time to put fresh sheets on the bed and make sure the bathroom was clean. It’d been years since anyone had stayed in that room.
When Jake arrived, he said he only needed a few minutes to unpack, so I sat in the living room to ensure he didn’t need anything before I went to bed. It wasn’t long before I heard his footsteps marching down the hardwood stairs.
“There’s food in the refrigerator if you get hungry,” I called out, waiting for him to turn the corner into the kitchen.
He searched for me and smiled when he spotted me on the couch. “Thank you for letting me stay here, Lydia. I could easily get a hotel room if you need me to.”
I waved him off. “I know you have the money for it, but there’s no sense spending it if you have a place to stay.”
Jake sat down in the brown leather recliner across from me and sighed. He’d removed his flannel button-down and had changed into a simple white T-shirt. What I really thought was funny was how unkempt his dark hair looked from wearing his baseball cap earlier.
“I love the hair,” I teased. “What if the paparazzi were here and took pictures of you looking like that?”
He ran a hand through it and laughed. “I wouldn’t care. Now if Daphne were with me, that’d be a different story. She couldn’t stand it when I dressed down.”
