Page 26 of The Kiss Keeper
Her stomach clenched as she imagined Lara and Leslie’s smug faces when she arrived, boyfriendless.
Jake pressed his hand to her lower back, jolting her from her doomsday scenario. “Are you all right?”
She shook off the impending disaster. “Yeah.”
He leaned in. “Do you need to throw up? You look a little green.”
“No, I’m thinking of my family,” she answered as they exited the plane and walked across the jet bridge to the terminal.
“The perverts?” he asked.
“The what?” she exclaimed as they continued down the concourse.
“The podiatrists. On the plane, you said they were perverts.”
She hung her head, recalling her tipsy tirade. “My stupid champagne mouth.”
“You did knock back a few.”
Or five.
They continued on in silence. And she glanced around the familiar airport. In a week, she’d be back here, most likely with a bruised ego and another chunk of her self-esteem whittled away by her witch cousins. But she’d make it.
How much could happen in a week?
She could hide out in her cabin or sneak away to do art projects with all the great-grandkids. And she loved Camp Woolwich as much as she loved her grandparents. They’d never jumped on the Natalie bashing bandwagon. They had to have known about all of her misfortunes—all her lost jobs and failed relationships—but they’d never mentioned it.
And she knew she’d always hold a special place in their hearts.
She was their youngest grandchild, and that had meant extra time with them when she was little. While the older kids ran off to play capture the flag and paddle canoes over to their small island, she’d stay close to her grandparents, waving to her cousins from her grandpa’s arms.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t four years old anymore. And with all their friends and family coming in for the fiftieth-anniversary celebration, it may be a stretch to find a single quiet moment with them.
“How about I walk you to baggage claim and then…” Jake began, breaking into her thoughts.
And then, he’d be just another Jake who’d passed through her revolving door of Jakes. But even though she’d decided to give up Jakes, she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to this one quite yet.
“Do you want to grab something to eat? I still owe you for helping me,” she asked, trying not to sound too pathetic.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I should be going.”
“So soon?” she asked, then winced.
Her stupid mouth! Now she looked desperate, but she didn’t need to lay it out there like a Sunday picnic.
“We’ve been together for the last five hours,” he replied.
“But we were unconscious for four of them,” she parried back, trying to be funny.
She should not try to be funny.
“Heels, I’m not a Jake that you want to add to your list.”
Anger edged out her embarrassment. “My what?”
“Your list of Jakes—I can’t be one of them.”
Heat rose to her cheeks. “First of all, I’m done with Jakes. And for the record, I wasn’t asking you to be one of them. I was trying to be polite.”
