“Gia Huy, that bowl is clean enough, yeah?”
Glancing down, she realized she’d washed the same bowl at least ten times by now, and grimaced.
“Oops.” She rinsed the bowl and was placing it on the drying rack when the kitchen doors swung open. By the charge of awareness shooting through her, she knew it wasn’t Minnie who had come through the doors. Still, she kept her back turned away like the coward she was as Jake greeted her parents, who responded exuberantly.
Traitors.
Picking up the next dish, she scrubbed it a little too hard, her hands gripping the sponge in a tight fist. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as Jake sidled closer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him place the bouquet on the counter as he stepped closer to her.
“Gia.” He leaned against the counter and crossed his muscled arms across his broad chest. The movement caused the fabric of his shirt to stretch tautly, exposing more of the golden skin at the base of his neck.
“What do you want, Jake?” Gia bit out. It wasn’t really a question, though Jake acted like it was an invitation for conversation instead of the rebuke it was.
“I’m glad you asked, actually.” A corner of his lip tugged upward in an arrogant smirk, as if he knew she would react this way to him. “The restaurant will be closed soon, and I’d like to take you out to dinner.”
Dinner?
Turning the faucet off, Gia reached for a hand towel. She braced herself as she turned to face him and then wished she hadn’t, because he looked absolutely delicious standing there with a devil-may-care attitude, his tie loosened to expose the strong column of his throat. She could make out the curls of his chest hair at the edge of his unbuttoned shirt.
That’s a new development. I wonder what else is new about Jake.
“Gia, my eyes are up here.” Jake gestured to his eyes with two fingers.
Fuck.
He’d caught her checking him out.
“I know where they are.” She puffed, but his smirk widened in response. There was no fooling Jake. “And no thank you.”
She turned to walk past Jake, but he stopped her with a hand around her arm. Gasping at his warm hand on hers, she instinctively pulled away. She expected resistance, but he immediately let her go.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed you.” His face scrunched in concern as he looked her over, half-expecting her to break down at any moment.
“I’m fine.” To her shock, she was telling the truth. If anyone else had grabbed her without warning, she probably would have reacted much differently, but both her mind and her body knew what she’d refused to acknowledge until now—she wassafe. Despite how he had broken her heart, she had never been in any danger around him.
Maybe she had been a little hard on Jake. He’d been nothing but kind to her. Thoughtful even, as shown by the flowers he’d brought her. Her past hurts didn’t justify how she treated him now, because despite their issues, he always showed he cared about her. Even if she was friend-zoning him, as she was.
I could really use a friend.
Gia shoved down the teenage girl inside of her, who protested at the prospect of being Jake’sfriend—but they slept together and had nothing but heartache to show for it. Maybe some people were only meant to bejust friends.
“Dinner sounds great.”
Jake’s eyes widened comically. He clearly hadn’t expected her to agree so readily. She had surprised herself too.
“How about the bar down the street? I haven’t been there since I’ve been back.”
“Crystal Hollow Grill?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“Lead the way, little lady.” Jake held the door open for her in a flourish, but as she moved to walk by him, he stopped her shortwith the flowers. “These are for you. I was instructed to give these to you, or else.”
“Oh.” A wave of disappointment crashed into her as she gripped the floral arrangement. “Thanks.”
And here she thought he had been trying to seduce her.
Guess I am in the friend zone, after all.
