Page 74 of Hot for the Jerk

It took a moment for there to be any noise—besides the music—on the other side of the door, but eventually, it swung open, the music still playing.I wasn’t expecting a tiny pixie of a human with curly, blonde hair and soft, brown eyes to greet me.“Hello,” she said.“You’re Marco’s mom, aren’t you?”

“I … I am.You’re Aya, right?”

She nodded.“Are you here to see Uncle Jagger?Because he’s busy in the spa.”

“Aya, who’s there?”came Jagger’s voice before the man I came here to see appeared in the doorway wearing a black mud mask, a terrycloth headband, and foam spacers between his toes.He had hot-pink nail polish with sparkles on both his fingernails and toenails.His eyes went wide when he saw me, then he glanced into the house.“Emme, can you turn the music down, sweetheart?”

A second later, Marvin and Tammi were no more than a whisper.

I’m pretty sure I ovulated right then and there.

The goopy mud mask was thick on his face, so I couldn’t see if his complexion changed color, but apprehension filled his eyes.“We, uh … we do ‘spa’ once in a while.Clint and Bennett had to work for a bit, so I said I’d watch the girls.”

Aya reached for her uncle’s hand and pressed her fingertip to a few of his nails.“They’re dry now.”

“Thanks.Maybe you could start cleaning up, hmm?”

Aya pouted.“Oh fine.”She disappeared into the house, leaving the man with the charcoal mud mask and nail polish standing in front of me.

“I, um …” I started, not sure what to say.I glanced down at the ground, but was drawn to his big, sexy, bare feet.Even with the Barbie nail polish, they still turned me on.Maybe I needed therapy to get to the root of my sudden foot fetish.“You didn’t ask me out again,” I said, slowly lifting my gaze to his.“Why?”

Tugging on one ear, he cocked his head to the side.“You told me no.‘No.’is a complete sentence.The last thing I wanted to do was make you feel pressured into saying yes when you didn’t want to.Or making you think I didn’t respect your voice.If you’re not interested in me that way, that’s okay.It’s not like it’s going to affect our truce.I’m a jerk, but I’m not a complete prick.”His mouth tipped up into a roguish smile with that last sentence.

I tugged my bottom lip into my mouth with my top teeth for a minute, letting his words sink in.“‘No.’is a complete sentence.”

“No,” meant jack-diddly-squat to Josiah when I said it.

“I got scared.I haven’t dated … ever.And we’ve been—”

“Enemies?”

“Yeah.We’ve been enemies for so long.I just … I panicked.”

He nodded.“I get that.”

I drew in a deep breath of courage, causing my ribs to strain against my vest.“Ask me again?”I said softly.

It was tough to tell if his brows lifted or not.I think they did.They were caked in the mud mask, and the mask had started to dry, creating cracks all over his face.“Pardon me?”

I let out an exasperated exhale.“Ask me again.”

“Ask you what?”

“Are you really going to make me do this?”I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“I think you should ask me this time.”His eyes twinkled like two blue diamonds in an inky sky, mocking me.

“Seriously?”

One big shoulder shrugged.

I huffed out a sigh through my nose.“Jagger, would you like to go out for dinner with me?”

His lips twisted, prolonging the agony in my gut.That’s when I noticed just how much of the mud mask ended up in his beard and mustache.I guess when your estheticians were no older than nine, you can’t expect perfection, let alone tidiness.“Thank you for the offer, but no,” he said.

My temperature spiked like I’d just opened up the oven.“Oh … okay.”

Then his mouth split into the biggest, most panty-melting smile I’ve ever seen.“Just kidding.I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at six?”

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