Playing With Trouble (Desire Bay 1)

And that was what she was afraid of. Because at this rate, there was no place she’d rather be than in Jacob Lock’s bed.

Chapter Eight

Snap, snap, snap!

Jake put the last three nails in the new siding of his sister’s house and set the nail gun down on the grass, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Are you really done?” Erica asked, walking out with a glass of water.

“Yep, your new siding is up and ready to go,” he said.

“No, I mean are you done avoiding your house and the warehouse?”

“I’m not avoiding anything,” Jake said. “I’ve gone on a ton of drops and orders. And I’m helping you now.”

“Oh, please. You live to work. And dropping off gravel keeps you out of the warehouse and away from the flower shop. Which is where Laura is. And you’ve spent the last two days nailing God knows what on my house for no reason.”

“This is premium siding that helps with the elements of sea air and rain. You’re welcome,” he said. Erica just raised a brow, once again seeing right through him.

“Just go talk to her,” she said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jake said, grabbing the water and taking several drinks.

“You like Laura. Good! About damn time you liked something more than work.”

“Even if I did”—he did—“she won’t go out with me.” And hooking up had been amazing. Hell, he had a lot of pent-up feelings for her. And seeing her with Gabe the other night, only to be the one that got to see her at home, love on her, had been incredible. But Laura was holding firm on no dating, and Jake just felt like he was getting closer and closer to a woman who was keeping one hand on the door.

“Maybe it’s time you start going after what you want,” Erica said.

“I go after what I want,” Jake replied.

“No, you don’t. You sit and wait. Let things happen or let them go. You just . . . wait.”

Jake couldn’t exactly argue with that. He wanted Laura but wasn’t jumping in entirely. He was still trying to be responsible. Find some way to make everything work. But every m

oment he spent with her, feeling her, seeing the woman she was and all that spirit she had, he just wanted to be more a part of her world.

Responsible or not.

He’d heard she’d been working hard at the shop the past couple of days . . .

“Maybe it’s time I drop in to the flower shop,” he said, and he didn’t wait for his sister to say “duh” before he was already in his truck.

“Holy shit,” Jake muttered as he walked into the office, which today looked a hell of a lot more like a flower shop. The coolers were filled with flowers, the smell of roses and lilies was pungent, and . . . was that new furniture in the waiting room?

“Oh, welcome to Baughman Home Goods. How may I help you?” Laura said sweetly, walking from the back room into the lobby. She looked pressed, pretty, and powerful. Three things he liked on her.

He’d gone out of his way to give her space the last two days. But with the weekend approaching, he couldn’t keep busy staying away much longer or take on odd jobs for his sister. He’d had no idea she’d been up to something on this bigger scale in the office—flower shop. Clearly the woman could get a lot done in a limited time.

He also liked that she seemed to have an affinity for those skirts. Even though it was usually overcast here, she was her own special brand of sunshine in a big-city outfit. And Jake had to do a double take every time she walked in front of him.

Today she wore a silky cream top that looked like it could be see-through if he squinted hard enough, paired with a black leather skirt that hugged her hips and hit her knees, so he was doing more of a triple take. All the way down to, yep, bright red high heels.

Man, he liked that red on her. And she seemed to have a thing for the color, too.

“You did all this?” Jake asked.

“I like to jump in and get things accomplished,” she replied with a smile. “Perhaps you just don’t understand how to move quickly.”