"Am I hearing this right?" Spencer said. "You two flew together to Martha's Vineyard?"
"That's impossible," Cade said. "He never takes anyone there."
Colton cleared his throat. "Jake?"
I could barely hold back my smile. I liked seeing Jake in this situation with his brothers. The staff at the airport, both drivers, and even the chef tried to be as invisible as possible around him. His brothers were the exact opposite, ready to needle him about everything.
"Grandmother asked me for a favor, and I obliged," Jake said carefully.
Gabe whistled loudly. “Natalie, you are tougher than I gave you credit for. You survived a trip to Martha's Vineyard with Jake and haven't quit the job yet. I have a feeling you're going to be able to handle us just fine."
"Thank you for the encouragement," I told him.
Colton was suspiciously silent, simply watching Jake. Cade and Spencer seemed completely stunned.
"Wait, I need details about it," Cade said finally, snapping his gaze to me. “How did he not run you off?"
"Like I said, I have tough skin," I replied. Besides, I had no other option but to go through with this job, but they didn't have to know that. And I was enjoying myself. Jeannie was simply adorable, and Jake was... well, he was delicious, but that was completely beside the point.
The man wasn't going to be here for long. Besides, we were complete opposites. I was ahappyperson. My mother always said I was the most cheerful of her daughters. I loved counting my blessings. Dad had taught all three of us girls to do that since we were little.
“Natalie, lovebug, you had a hard day, not a hard life. Remember to count your blessings.”
I did that even now.
Jake seemed determined to be unhappy. We certainly weren't compatible in the slightest. Except in the chemistry department. We had that in spades.
"All right, Natalie and I have to leave," Jake said, putting his empty glass on the living room table. "I'm dropping her off at her home, and then I'm going straight to the hotel."
"You're welcome to stay with any of us," Colton said. “You know that right?”
"Oh, please," Gabe said. "That would cramp his style, interfere with his morning jujitsu routine, or whatever it is he's doing."
"You should try it sometime," Jake said.
I was stunned by the subtle change in his voice. He was starting to mellow out, and he'd only needed a few minutes with his family. I had an inkling I might see another side to Jake altogether. But bottom line, Jeannie was my client, and we had yet to figure out what we wanted to do now that Jake's home was out of the question. There was really no reason for me to ever see him again. I was disappointed at the thought.
He trained his blue eyes on me, which rooted me to the spot. "Natalie, are you ready?"
I felt like we were alone in the room, even though the Whitleys were chatting loudly.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go. Jeannie, I’ll come up with several other options and call you to set up a time to meet, okay?"
"Sure thing, honey. I'm sure we'll find the right way to celebrate this milestone." Turning to her grandson, she said, "Jake, thank you for everything, and welcome home."
He kissed his grandmother's cheek and shook his brothers' hands before we left the house. Stepping outside, he led me directly to the car. I climbed in quickly without giving him a chance to open the door. For some reason that seemed to be an intense moment between us. Go figure.
The second we were both inside, Jake turned and asked, "What's your address?"
"I live in East Boston."
"Okay. We'll head right there," the driver replied after I gave him the exact address, and the car jerked forward. I looked at Jake in silence. I had a million questions bubbling up.
"Ask away," he said eventually, startling me.
"How do you know I wanted to ask anything?"
He glanced sideways at me, drumming his fingers over the empty seat between us. I had to stop obsessing over his fingers.