Playing With Trouble (Desire Bay 1)

He came to stand beside her, her suitcases still in his hands. “Yep. Walt and I did a few summers back, after he sold his other house.”

When Laura saw the smile and pride that lit up Jacob’s face as he looked at the home, she realized that he had a very different relationship with her father than she did. Especially since she’d hadn’t been around.

“He sold the house?” she asked softly.

Jacob nodded. “Yeah, the owner cleared the land and is rebuilding on it himself, I think.”

“So it’s gone? The house . . . the garden?” And he’d never told her. In all those phone calls, he’d never once mentioned selling her childhood home. Where her mother had had her garden. The owner had cleared the land and was rebuilding.

Jacob shrugged. “Walt wanted a fresh start, I guess. Sold it a few years ago.”

Her heart beat slower and her chest tightened. Her father had sold the only tie to her childhood home, and it was gone. While the floral shop needed TLC, he’d built this house with Jacob?

But being in the presence of the house, knowing her father had used his two hands to build something with Jake, cut deeper than she wished.

And whose fault is that?

Hers.

She’d been in California chasing a man who’d degraded her, and a dream that had landed her right back in this small town.

A pang of envy hit her hard, and it felt a lot like a sharp knife to the kidney. She could never build a house, much less something like this, but she could try to rebuild the shop. And she’d stay focused on that. And at least her father had built this beautiful house, which was something. She could empathize with needing a fresh start and would never fault him for needing the same thing.

“Well, it’s very nice.” She walked toward the front door. She was in desperate need of a hot shower and a stiff drink. “Do you have the key?”

“I do.” Again, he smiled like he’d won some victory that Laura wasn’t aware of, so she continued her walk toward the house. “Where are you going?” he asked when she reached the steps to the large wraparound porch.

“Inside.”

“But I didn’t invite you in. That there is my house. Your place is right over there.” He pointed to the left, and that’s when she saw it. A few yards off to the side of the house was an old camper that had seen better days.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s your dad’s, and he said earlier that it’s all yours.” He winked and strutted over and dropped her suitcase down in front of the camper. That envy that she’d been feeling earlier morphed into full-blown anger—and, if she were honest, total, humiliating sadness.

“He built a house with you and lived in a camper?” It wasn’t a question, but it came out that way because Laura still couldn’t believe it. Not that she thought she was entitled, but she had thought her father had at least had a house. Or an apartment. But a camper?

“A camper that’s now all yours. Lucky lady.”

Whatever expression she wore made Jacob take a step closer, that sky-blue gaze locked on her face—like he was mentally doing long division. Either that or it was a look of concern. Her money was on long division, though.

She straightened her shoulders. Letting the competition see weakness wasn’t wise. And she needed to regroup, because it was clear that Jacob wanted her kept under his heel, and she wanted him to realize she was in charge of this shop endeavor. The race was on as to see who could outlast whom. She glanced at her new home. Whether it was a camper or not, she just needed some time to let this all sink in. And she needed that shower before going to meet Hannah at the bar.

“I, ah . . .” Jacob gripped the back of his neck and looked over his shoulder at his home. His beautiful home. The home he’d built with her father. He almost looked . . . sorry. As in, sorry for her. “I can take you to the grocery store later if you need. Or I have sandwich stuff if you’re hungry?”

She swallowed, because s

he’d been right. In that moment, he felt sorry for her. Her belly growled at the offer of food, but no way would she take anything more from him. She wanted to fade away. Get a good distance between herself and those piercing eyes before they saw right through her fake confidence and she broke down in tears.

“I know where the store is and I can take care of myself, thank you.” She picked up her suitcase, bumped his shoulder as she passed him, and hoisted herself into the camper.

“Suit yourself,” he grumbled and strode the ten feet it took to reach his home.

So much for keeping a distance.

That woman wasn’t just a sexy pain in the ass, she was stubborn as hell and set on making Jake’s life miserable. At least the part in his jeans, because he’d been hard since he saw her bending over and now he was just getting grouchy about it.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge, popped the top, and sank his big body on his even bigger leather sofa and looked out the front windows. Though it was still gray and night was coming, it had stopped raining for now. Jake, however, couldn’t stop thinking of Laura Baughman, who was now his next-door neighbor.