Page 106 of Hot for the Jerk

Her smile was small and tired.“Hopefully they find them, and this all just goes away.We’ve all had way too much drama and danger to last us a lifetime.I thought this year was going to be better.”

I squeezed her shoulder, then pressed a kiss to the side of her head.“You and me both, you and me both.”

I was nearly out the door when Alice Figgs, who was part of the Sewing Circle and currently working on some project in their reserved booth, flagged me down.Her husband, Palmer, was the school bus driver and the kids all just loved him.“Jagger, dear,” she said, resting her hand on my arm.“I’m sorry about what Raina and Marco are going through.”

News traveled so fast in a small town, and since we were an island made up of a lot of gossipy older people—one being the Island Mouth, Jolene Dandy—it was no surprise Raina and Marco were a hot topic of discussion with everyone.

“Yeah, it’s pretty scary,” I said.“He’s a great kid.All the vineyard kids are.”

She pressed her thin lips together and nodded.“I understand the would-be kidnappers are still at large on the island?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Have you looked in the empty houses of the Island Elders who have gone down to the Baja for the winter?”

My eyes widened and my jaw went slack.

Alice just continued to nod.“Palmer and I were discussing that this morning.Since there aren’tthatmany places to hide on the island, and of course you boys—and Myla—have undoubtably all looked everywhere imaginable.”

“Alice,” I put my hand on her shoulder, “that is a fantastic suggestion.Thank you.”

She beamed, her cognac-brown eyes glittering.“By the way, the whole island very much approves of you and Raina together.All that animosity, of course it was just hidden sexual tension.”Her brows bobbed salaciously.“It’s about time.”

Heat rushed into my cheeks, and I dropped my hand from her shoulder.“Thanks for the tip, Alice.You ladies have a great Sunday.”

Then I dashed out of the pub, shooting off a series of texts to my brothers in our group chat, and that they should absolutely go check to see if Azriel and Ezekiel were hiding out in a vacant Elder’s home.

The first text response was from Dom.

Why the fuck didn’t we think of that sooner?On it.

I raced back up to the house to make sure the fries stayed warm, and relayed the news to Raina.Just like mine did, her jaw dropped.“Fuck, that’s smart.I bet you they’re hiding out in one of those homes.It makes so much sense.”

Nodding, I plunked the to-go container of fries next to her computer.I barely saw what she had up on the screen, but by the looks of things, it was the winery’s proposal for Bonn Remmen’s land.My curiosity obviously piqued, but I wasn’t an asshole, and I’d hate if she pulled the same stunt with me.So I went to the kitchen to grab a plate and tongs.When I returned to dish myself up a portion of fries, she already had a mouth full and was giving me a thumbs up.

“Is that a ‘yes’ to the jarred seasoning mix?”I asked, grabbing just a third of the fries for myself.

Still chewing, she nodded, swallowed, and smiled.“That’s a ‘yes’ to the seasoning mix, and a ‘yes’ to placing another order.I’m stressed, so I’m going to eat carbs.”She shoved a bunch more fries into her mouth and groaned very sexually.“Delicious, delicious carbs.”

Chuckling, but also a little turned on, I shot off another text to Burke.“On it.But just so you know, the next order of fries comes with an invoice.”

“Blowjob?”she asked, totally unfazed.“I’ll give you two for another order that I don’t have to share.”

“I was going to say a kiss, you little sexpot, but I like your currency better.”

She shot me a wink as she shoveled more fries into her mouth.“These are blowjob worthy fries for sure.”

All right, it was official; I was in love with this little rose-scented porcupine.Now all I had to do was get her to fall in love with me too, convince her to move here for good, and hope to God that she didn’t hate me when my family’s proposal beat her family’s proposal.

Maybe I needed to placetwomore orders of fries, just in case.I texted Burke.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Raina

Itwasjustbeforedinner Sunday night when we got word from Dom that they had found my brothers.They were indeed squatting in one of the empty Island Elder houses—Theron Oliver’s to be exact.Which made sense, since Theron lived between the vineyard and the ferry terminal.They’d been driving Theron’s car, eating his food, and running his furnace, all while keeping the lights off so as not to draw too much attention.

Apparently, they only drove his car to our property to abduct Marco, which was why nobody on the island noticed Theron’s old red 1982 Ford Mustang GT cruising around and got suspicious.

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