Page 29 of Home to You
“So,” he said, leaning against the porch railing. “Verdict on your first official Mercer family adventure?”
I pretended to consider it seriously. “Well, nobody fell in the river, I didn’t fall off my horse—though my ass does feel like it might fall off—and Cole didn’t ask me too many embarrassing questions about our relationship. I’d call it a success.”
Jake stepped close and wrapped me up in his arms, his hands dropping down to cup my ass through the borrowed jeans. I felt him grow hard against me. “Let’s get you out of these dirty clothes and I’ll make this ass feel so good.”
I sucked in a surprised gasp at the same time that Jake’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god. I didnotjust say that.” His chest shook with laughter as his head fell forward to rest against my shoulder.
I chuckled right along with him until he raised his face back up. I took a step back and then another. “You didn’t hear me say no, did you?” I asked with a coy smile as I turned and winked at him over my shoulder and stepped inside the house, the screen banging shut behind me.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The fundraiser eventspace looked like something out of a fairy tale. Golden string lights draped from rafter to rafter, their soft glow casting a warm halo over the weathered wood. The sweet scent of kettle corn and hot apple cider mixed with the smell of hickory from the barbeque outside. Hay bales were stacked around the perimeter in makeshift benches, topped with faded quilts in rich tones. Wooden tables were set up in the center, adorned with burlap runners, mason jars filled with dried wildflowers, and tiny pumpkins that the students from Wild Ridge Academy had painted this past week.
Laughter rang out into the crisp evening air, while somewhere outside, a splash echoed from the dunk tank, followed by delighted shrieking and applause.
“There you are,” Jake murmured, his voice low, just before his arm slid around my waist. He pulled me flush against him,his body a warm, solid presence behind me, and pressed a slow kiss just below my ear. “You’ve been hiding from me, Miss James.”
I smiled as I leaned into him, one hand finding his forearm where it crossed over my stomach. “Just trying to make myself useful.” Initially, I’d been in charge of getting everything to the barn, but when Lily came down with the flu and couldn’t make it, I was asked to help with the day-of activities, too. I’d been on my feet all morning and afternoon, and now, every muscle in my back and shoulders ached.
“You’ve already done more than anyone else for this fundraiser,” he said, his lips brushing my skin again. “Tonight, I’m gonna give you the best massage of your life.”
Heat pooled low in my belly at his promise, and I had to grip his forearm tighter to steady myself.
I glanced around, my heart thumping in my chest, hoping that no one was paying any attention to us. Kids darted past while parents clustered in small groups nearby, sipping their cider and chatting with one another. Their conversation was muted by the faint twang of bluegrass music drifting from the speakers in the corner, but one of the dads was loud enough to know he was bragging about their most recent vacation.
If I could hearthem, there was a chance they could also hearus. I spun in Jake’s arms and tried to take a step back, but he just held onto me tighter, his grip firm but gentle.
“What if someone sees?”
He drew back just enough to look at me, his amber eyes lit with a dare. “Let ‘em.”
“You do remember I’m your son’s teacher, right? I wouldn’t want people getting the wrong idea.”
“You might be Cole’s teacher, but you’re also the woman I love, and I want everyone to know.”
Before I could form a response, my boss walked past with a candy apple in one hand and a steaming cup of cocoa in the other. Carol’s eyes caught on us, and she paused mid-step, took two steps back, and turned to face us, her brow raised in surprise.
“Hey, Carol. You don’t mind if I monopolize Miss James for the rest of the evening, do you?” Jake asked with that easy charm I’d first admired about him all those years ago.
Carol looked between us, the ghost of a smirk tugging at her lips. Her gaze lingered on the way Jake’s arm looped around my waist, the subtle tilt of my body into his side. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise. After that first committee meeting, I was worried that you two wouldn’t be able to work together. Looks like that wasn’t an issue after all.”
I chuckled nervously as Jake’s thumb stroked along my lower back and he planted a kiss on the side of my head.
“That’s all on me,” he said, his tone sheepish but sincere. “Finding out I was going to be working closely with my ex threw me for a loop, and I was being a bit of an asshole about it.”
Carol’s brows lifted, and her eyes widened slightly. She blinked, recalibrating with a curious tilt of her head. “Oh, I didn’t realize you guys knew each other … before.”
I shifted uncomfortably, the heels of my boots scraping against the barn floor. “I, umm, as you know, I went to MSU.” I forced myself to meet her gaze, even as my voice trembled with worry. “Jake and I dated for a couple of months before I moved back to Chicago.”
Dated for a couple of monthsdidn’t come close to describing what we were back then—what we were now—but I didn’t know how she’d react to seeing one of her teachers with a student’s parent, so I kept things deliberately vague.
Jake’s hand flexed against my hip, a small possessive gesture. “Eden’s downplaying things. We didn’t just date. I wanted tomarry her.” He paused, his voice steady, full of quiet certainty. “Still do.”
My breath caught, his words landing like a promise. I turned my face slightly toward him, and for a heartbeat, the noise of the barn seemed to fade. He meant it. I could see it in the set of his jaw, in the warmth radiating from his touch, in the way his eyes lingered on mine like there was no one else here.
“Well, isn’t that nice, reconnecting after so long apart?” Carol’s features softened into something warm and genuine. She smiled at both of us, her eyes creasing at the corners.
“You’re not upset then?”
