“Um. I’m good?”
“That’s good. I’m doing well myself.”
Mia glanced toward the bar to find Jackson on his way back with a pitcher. His eyes bounced between them.
“So, Mia, I was wondering if you’d like to go out for a drink sometime?”
If Mia didn’t know any better, she would have thought her eyebrows were planted in her hairline with how quickly they shot up. Jackson approached the table at that moment, and Mia blushed. She didn’t know why, though. It’s not like she and Jackson were an item. She had no reason to be embarrassed that another guy was hitting on her.
“Excuse me, Jimmy,” Jackson said. He set the pitcher in the middle of the table and took a seat in his chair once Jimmy stepped back. “Would you like to join us?”
Jimmy smiled. “No, I’m here with a few friends. I’m just waiting for Mia’s answer.”
Jackson’s eyes swung to Mia. “Answer to what?”
“I asked her to go out for a drink with me sometime.”
Jackson’s eyebrow hitched, but he remained silent.
Mia swallowed hard, and then felt Ethan pinch her back. Her eyes flicked to him, and she knew at that moment that this was a setup. They were trying to make Jackson jealous.
Mia looked back at Jackson, who was waiting for her response as eagerly as Jimmy. When her eyes met Jimmy’s, he winked. Clearly he was in on it.
A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. This was ludicrous. Jackson would never believe she’d be interested in Jimmy. But what the hell?
“I’d love to,” she said.
Jimmy stepped closer and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and Mia could see the Blake brothers all cover their blooming smiles as Jackson watched on in disbelief.
“Great. I’ll call you later with details,” Jimmy said before walking away.
The table remained silent until Jessa finally broke it.
“Wow, Mia! That’s great! I hope you enjoy yourdate.”
The way Jessa enunciated ‘date,’ and how Noah put his arm around Jessa and gave her a squeeze, meant she was in on it too.
Mia blushed. “Thanks. It should be fun.”
“I bet it will. He’s a hottie.”
Noah only smiled brightly at Jessa’s comment, not caring that she commented on how attractive another man was.
Jackson remained quiet, not commenting at all, and she really wanted to ask him what he thought of it. But based on the smug looks of his brothers, this was exactly as they had expected. Mia didn’t know what to think. She had been asked on dates before, but never in front of Jackson. But as far as she knew, he wouldn’t care. Despite her wanting him to.
Let the chaos begin.
