Let It Snow(78)

She smiled and winked in a way she must have thought was seductive. “Good boy,” she purred. “And if you’re really good, maybe you’ll get a treat later.”

What the hell? Did she have him confused with Lucky? Is this the sort of thing guys went for?

Well, yeah. He guessed it was. Sadly, this inane-banter-as-foreplay routine was exactly the sort of thing he used to go for in his “asshole-slash-man-whore” days, as Eric had so bluntly put it.

To Jake’s surprise, Eric appeared next to him at that very moment, as if thinking about him had actually summoned him to Jake’s side.

“How’s it going, bro?” Eric asked with a sly smirk.

“Great,” Jake replied flatly.

“It absolutely is. It’s going so great,” the blond said, possessively slipping her arm through Jake’s.

Eric looked at her for a moment then put his hand out. “I’m Eric,” he said, “Jake’s brother.”

When the blond raised her heavily mascaraed eyes to meet Jake’s, waiting for him to make the introductions, he realized he didn’t have a clue what her name was. Shit! He knew she was part of the B.B.Bs. But out of the group, he only knew Courtney’s name, and this wasn’t Courtney. It was also something with an ‘eeeee’ sound at the end. Trixie? Cookie? Zoey? Crap! Something like that. Everything sounded close, but nothing sounded right.

Jake saw the exact instant that Eric realized what was going on, but he never had any illusions that Eric was going to rescue him. He couldn’t really blame his big brother. Jake would not have rescued Eric if the situation were reversed.

“Jake, why don’t you introduce me to your date?” Eric asked, an undercurrent of amusement coloring his tone.

“Yeah, Jakey,” the blond pouted. “Why don’t you introduce me to your brother?”

“Really, Jakey,” Eric continued, faux sincerity filling his voice. “It’s just poor form. So rude.”

“Yeah, it’s so rude!” the blond continued to pout.

Damn it all the hell. Jake was honestly trying to do his best to get through this night and be a half-decent date. He was going to kill Eric the next time they were alone, and he did his best to convey that sentiment with his facial expression.

Far from looking intimidated, however, Eric appeared highly amused.

Just then, Lily walked up, wearing a red gown that left nothing to the imagination. Jake could see Eric’s reaction to her written all over his face. In fact, right then, Eric’s face probably looked quite a bit like how Jake’s had just moments earlier when he’d laid eyes on Tessa.

Well, good, Jake reasoned. Maybe he’ll be distracted enough by Lily that he’ll stop being a dick.

No such luck.

Eric looked back to the blond, his face open and full of warmth. Jake knew it was false, but the blond would certainly fall for.

“This is my fiancée, Lily,” he introduced. “And, Lily, this is Jake’s date…”

Eric looked pointedly at Jake, who opened his mouth to form some sort of reply, but Lily ruined Eric’s gag, turning to Jake with genuine surprise and blurting out, “Oh, I thought you were here with Tessa?” before covering her mouth with her hand.

“Who’s Tessa?” the blond spat, her eyes wild with fury.

It’s none of your damn business.

“A friend,” he replied firmly. He looked back at Lily, who was mouthing, “Sorry,” a worried expression on her face. Jake nodded. He knew that his soon-to-be sister-in-law hadn’t meant to cause any trouble and he didn’t want her thinking she had.

He felt his arm being tugged on and he turned to see that the pouty lip was back in full affect—it must have been her go-to move. “Tonight, I’m supposed to be your friend,” she whined.

Jake’s head was pounding from all of the conflicting emotions. He felt like telling her straight up, “Seriously, I don’t even know your damn name! Stop whining!” But of course, that was not an option. He simply bit back his frustration and smiled.

He needed to take control of this evening before it spiraled any further out of control. Thinking that he might have figured out a way to stop the flow of endless conversation coming at him from all sides, he summoned every last drop of charm he could. “You are. Do you want to dance?”

*

Tessa was having a hard time maintaining the sunny and friendly façade she had been determined to keep up throughout the course of the evening. When she left the house, she had been pumped up and feeling strong, having listened to her Girl Power playlist the entire time she was getting ready. From ‘Don’t Need You To Tell Me I’m Pretty’ by Samantha Mumba to ‘Independent Women’ by Destiny’s Child, she had rocked out to female empowerment anthems for an entire hour while crafting her hairstyle and makeup. And yes, she did recognize the irony. Still, she needed the boost.