Page 57 of Fight for Me
“Actually, no, don’t knock her dead because we want to meet her!” Brooklyn said, nudging Ashlyn out of the frame. “When do we get to meet her?”
“I don’t know. We’re not that far yet,” Jake said as he tucked his keys and wallet into his pockets and tugged on a pair of black dress boots. “I’ve gotta go. Thanks for all your help!” He reached out to end the call, but Brooklyn shouted before he could press the button.
“Wait!”
“What?” he huffed, starting to get anxious.
“Let us know what she thinks of your abs.”
The girls cackled as Jake felt his face heat, and he hung up without bothering to respond.
Hampton’s Riverwater Playhousewasn’t Carnegie Hall by any means, but the warm light and soft music that spilled from its soaring Gothic windows gave the distinct impression of timeless elegance. Jake was pleased to see Lexie’s eyes light up in excitement as he helped her down from his truck.
“This is gorgeous!” she exclaimed, tipping her head back to follow the spires toward the darkening sky.
“So are you,” he answered, leaning in quickly to kiss her temple.
“Wow, you think you’re slick, don’t you?” Lexie teased as she let him steer her toward the wide front stairs.
Jake’s face split into a self-satisfied grin.
“I have my moments,” he admitted, and he loved the way her soft laughter rolled out and wrapped around him like a favorite blanket.
They soon joined a chattering crowd in the spacious lobby, and Jake couldn’t help but notice the wide array of concertgoers in attendance—from college students in jeans and sweatshirts to elderly couples dressed to the nines. He and Lexie fellsomewhere in the middle, blending in with other young couples who were clearly enjoying a night on the town.
Jake looked down at Lexie, still somewhat in awe of the fact that she was actually there withhim. She stood surveying the room with her hand nestled casually into the crook of his arm, her head held high and her shoulders back. Several long, golden curls tumbled out of a complicated-looking twist, and a diamond-shaped cutout in the back of her turquoise dress exposed a soft expanse of skin. Jake could imagine putting his hand there and trailing his thumb along the ridges of her spine.
Someone nearby cleared their throat, and Jake was startled to find that he and Lexie had drifted forward with the crowd while he was lost in a daze. An usher in black pants and a playhouse T-shirt stood with his hand held out, palm up, and an amused smile on his face.
“Tickets, sir?” he asked, clearly not for the first time.
Jake felt himself flush as he pulled the papers from his jacket and handed them over. If Lexie had noticed him staring, she didn’t show it.
“Right this way, then,” the usher said after checking their seat numbers. He led them through a set of doors to the second tier, then gestured along a row near the railing. “Here you are—seats five and six.”
“Thank you,” Lexie said. The man nodded and turned back the way they’d come. Once he was gone, Lexie turned to Jake, her face full of concern as she laid her hand against his arm. “Are you going to be okay this close to the railing?”
Jake furrowed his brow, confused.
“I mean, I’d hate for your eyes to finish falling out of your head and roll straight down to the first floor,” Lexie finished, a teasing smile sneaking across her face.
Jake pursed his lips and shook his head sheepishly. “Very funny,” he muttered, inching down the row toward their seats.
“I knew you’d like this dress, but I really thought you were civilized enough not to drool,” she quipped, and Jake bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He didn’t need to add fuel to this fire.
When they reached their seats, he sank slowly into the chair, and Lexie reached out to touch the side of his face.
“Thank you for bringing me to this,” she said, her voice full of sincerity as a hundred conversations continued around them. She pulled him in for a kiss that he felt was entirely too short and then broke away as the houselights dimmed. An expectant hush fell over the wide room, and Jake draped his arm across the back of Lexie’s chair and played with a curl that fell just within reach of his fingers. She glanced at him mischievously, the stage lights reflecting in her eyes. A single spotlight illuminated a speaker who introduced the evening’s program as “Classic Rock in Classical Style.”
Jake leaned close to Lexie until his mouth hovered near her ear. “It’s not Vivaldi, but maybe it’ll do,” he whispered. He heard her take a sharp breath, and he tried not to feel too triumphant about the goose bumps that popped up along her neck.
“I love it,” she assured him, her eyes fixed straight ahead. “Now, behave,” she ordered, gently pushing him back a respectable distance.
Jake held in a chuckle as the curtain opened and the local symphony orchestra came into view. He listened respectfully, recognizing some covers and not others, but mostly, he watched Lexie. She sat in rapt attention, following every movement of the musicians below them. When the orchestra began a slow song, Jake reached for her hand.
She didn’t look up when his fingertips grazed along the inside of her arm, but he felt her muscles tense beneath her skin. He traced long, lazy trails from her wrist to her elbow, watching herfrom the corner of his eye. It wasn’t until the fourth or fifth pass that she started to squirm.
“That’s not behaving,” she whispered, and Jake couldn’t help but smile. She captured his wrist and held it tightly, but he only raised the back of her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against her knuckles.
