Page 72 of Hardcore Vanilla
Blinking, Sharon opened her mouth to argue and then closed it again. She couldn’t think of a reasonable argument. Looking down at her crotch, she cocked her head to the side. “Well damn. I didn’t know I had a magical vagina.”
******
After getting Patrick a beer, Jake joined him on the couch, pensively glancing down the hallway at his closed bedroom door.
"Should I be worried?" he asked Patrick. Granted, he was pretty good at reading his sister and she seemed more excited about him and Sharon than anything else, but Patrick would know for sure if Lexie would have any reservations. He'd also know if there was anything Jake should watch out for.
Sharon didn't need extra help being troublesome, and he shuddered to think of her and Lexie combining forces.
"Not about Lexie," Patrick said dryly. "She'd be thrilled to have Sharon as a sister-in-law."
Jake choked on his beer and pounded his chest, glaring at his friend while his face turned red and he gasped for air. "We are so not there yet."
"But you wouldn't be making things official with her if you didn't see the possibility of it going somewhere." Patrick smirked at him as Jake finally got his breathing under control, his throat still feeling a little raw.
He was also irked because he knew Patrick was right. While he might not be willing to think that far ahead yet, he knew he wasn't interested in being in a relationship just for the sake of being in a relationship; especially not with someone who was part of his group of friends. It was pretty much an all or nothing equation, which they'd tried to get around by calling it being fuck buddies, but by claiming a real relationship they were now basically announcing that they were going for it.
"A possibility, maybe," he muttered, taking another sip of beer - a smaller sip this time. Patrick smirked at him.
"No, the person you really have to worry about is Andrew," Patrick said cheerfully, obviously enjoying himself.
"Shouldn't he be happy we're not going to just be 'fuck buddies' anymore if he's playing the big brother role?" Jake pointed out, feeling more than a little disgruntled. He doubted his own flesh and blood sister was as protective of him as Andrew was of Sharon. "Not that it's any of his business anyway."
"Yes, because our group of friends always does a fantastic job of staying out of each other's business." Patrick drawled, shaking his head. "Andrew's been watching out for Sharon for a while now, he considers her under his protection at the club."
Jake raised his eyebrows. "Is that how Sharon sees it too?"
"Doubtful, since Sharon probably doesn't think she needs anyone's protection," Patrick admitted. His dark eyes turned serious. "But having Andrew's has been good for her, even if she doesn't realize it. Her actions might not be conscious, but it's clear that she's always more comfortable when he's there."
Well Jake could be her protector now. Not that she was going to need protecting from anyone. Some part of his brain nudged at him, insisting that it meant something different in BDSM. It didn't really matter. Either way, she'd be comfortable at the club because from now on he was going to be there when she was.
Maybe they'd even use the club a little.
Watch some of the scenes together. Jake wasn't interested in trying out most of what he saw, but he did like to watch.
The idea of being watched wasn't a bad one either.
Not to mention it would probably make Andrew's head explode.
It wasn't until Patrick gave him a weird look that Jake realized he was smirking. Hmm. Maybe Sharon was rubbing off on him. Trying to get under someone else's skin was not normally one of Jake's goals.
******
If Sharon had had any doubts about Jake really wanting to be in a relationship with her, they were gone after Sunday night. She and Lexie rejoined the guys and all four of them spent the rest of the afternoon and evening together - an impromptu double date. They watched a movie, ordered in pizza, and played a board game called Pandemic that she totally fell in love with.
The whole time, Jake treated her like his girlfriend. If his arm wasn't around either her shoulders or her waist then he was holding her hand. he cuddled with her the entire movie and gave her little kisses whenever one of them had to get up for anything. He was not shy at all about showing affection in front of an amused Patrick and beaming Lexie.
Later, just before they left, Lexie gleefully whispered to her that she'd never seen Jake being so physically affectionate with any of his girlfriends.
As soon as they were gone Sharon asked Jake if he minded her calling Kate. It wasn’t that she wanted to abandon him immediately, but they both knew that if she didn't call Kate now then her bestie would be hearing it through the grapevine. He'd just smiled and waved her back to his bedroom while he took care of the pizza boxes and plates.
Unlike Lexie, she gave Kate all the dirty details about the coat closet - and some of the hotel room stuff. Kate pretended to be upset about Lexie and Patrick getting the first double date until Sharon promised that of course she and Jake would go out with her and Andrew sometime this week. Jake walked into the bedroom just in time to overhear that part of the conversation and suggested they go on either Friday or Saturday before heading to Stronghold.
Worked for her.
They both knew that once they got to Stronghold they were going to be under siege by their friends.
The rest of the week passed by in a bit of a blur. Most of her day-to-day interactions with Jake didn’t change at all, except that on Tuesday he took her out to dinner for their first official date. They almost had another argument over who was going to pay, but she ended up conceding and letting him spring for the whole meal as long as she got to pay next time. Sharon always considered it an important test whether a guy was too eager to have her pay or wouldn’t allow it at all. She had expected a fight from Jake on it, he wasn’t the type to be too eager, but she was glad they’d come to a compromise.
