Naughty Neighbor - Lauren Runow Page 0,57
turn to Milène, wondering if that’s one, and she grins.
“Nope, that’s my dad’s saying,” she says as she wraps her arm through his in a loving manner.
As we all sit around the table, story after story of good times the family has shared float around.
I learn that Jake was a theater kid growing up. He loved set design and even won an award from the state.
I turn to him. “I didn’t know you did theater.”
He shrugs. “I had a minor role. My passion was behind the scenes.”
“He only signed up as a way to pick up girls,” Milène teases.
“Hey now, not in front of Lacey.” He fills my water cup with a nearby pitcher.
“Like I didn’t already know that aspect of you,” I say with a deadpan expression.
Wayne leans in, abruptly changing the subject and looks at Jake and me with a seriousness written all over his face. “Okay, here it is. The make-or-break question of the day.”
I raise my brow to Jake in confusion.
He seems to know where this is going because he just looks down with a grin as Wayne holds his two hands up and asks rather cautiously, “White Sox or Cubs?”
“Huh?” is all I can say.
Penelope rolls her eyes. “Boys are dumb.”
“Be careful how you answer this one. It could be the beginning or the end of a beautiful evening,” Bobbi adds jokingly, yet her tone says otherwise.
My eyes widen as I wonder if she’s being serious. Jake shrugs, letting me know his family takes their Chicago sports very serious.
“I’m not a sports enthusiast. That’s no news flash,” I state. “However, growing up as the only granddaughter of my late grandfather, I had the responsibility of sitting with him and listening to him share his baseball knowledge. Of those years, I firmly remember three things.” I hold up my fingers to tick each item off. “Ernie Banks is the best infielder of all time. Wrigley Field is the cathedral of baseball. And you should never, ever root for a team with footwear as a mascot. I’ll always root for Chicago, but the Cubs are my team.”
Jake grins, and Wayne lets out an audible sigh.
“She can stay,” he says as Jake puts his arm around me.
“I had every intention of it. Now, if she’d said White Sox, we would have had to conduct a lobotomy first!” Jake’s joke gets everyone laughing, and we go back to our banter and fun.
After dinner, we sit around a firepit in the backyard, drinking wine and talking some more. Bobbi brings out s’mores ingredients, and I show Jake how to roast the perfect marshmallow. He likes them burned, which is so gross. I take my time, browning the perfect mallow to get a golden coat.
Around eleven o’clock, everyone turns to their rooms. I help Jake straighten up the back deck, and we finish our drinks as we wait for the fire to die down.
He lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “How about we get in the hot tub?”
The idea of being alone with him fills me with warmth and desire. “Okay,” I whisper right before he kisses my lips.
“Go get your swimsuit on, and I’ll meet you back out here.”
“I don’t know where my room is.”
He chuckles. “You can take my room. Up the stairs, second door on the right.”
“You’re not going to show me up like a gentleman?”
“Trust me when I say, what I have planned is not gentlemanly.”
His grin makes my chest tighten and my breath hitch.
“Now, go get dressed.” He slaps my ass, and I yelp in response.
Chapter Seventeen
I walk up the staircase and follow his instructions to find his room—navy-blue walls, distressed wood furniture, and a massive king-size bed. My duffel bag is lying on top of the duvet, which makes me smile. I didn’t even know he’d walked it up here.
After I get my swimsuit on, I grab a robe from the back of the bathroom door and quietly make my way through the house so as not to wake anyone. It would have been wise to ask where the hot tub was, so I aimlessly wander to the back deck again in search of it. The air is thick with the scent of burned ash from the firepit. It’s really chilly too. I rub my arms as I walk along the walkway to the side of the house, where I hear the sound of the tub’s motor.
It’s dark out here, except for two tiki torches lit on each side of the