Page 30 of You Wish
And wasn’t that the problem? Jake played games. That’s how he broke her heart. He wanted to win it over but never had any intention of protecting it.
“Well, my life is too busy for a relationship right now.”
Hadn’t she been too busy when they’d first met? Taking care of Connor, her mom’s mental breakdown, college. But she’d found the time, and they’d made the most of it.
As if reading her mind, Joy asked, “How did he charm you the first time?”
Georgia snorted. “I was a math tutor at the school and?—”
“I was walking by and saw the prettiest girl I’d ever seen,” Jake said.
Gorgia turned around and saw Jake holding up the door frame with his shoulder. He was dressed in a flannel shirt, well-worn jeans, and cowboy boots, all covered in a snowfall of sawdust and sap. If Paul Bunyon and Chris Hemsworth had a love child, it would be Jake.
She devoured him with her eyes. College Jake had been sexy as hell. Adult Jake was lethal.
“She was sitting by herself in the library, and I thought, hell, why not shoot my shot. Only when I approached her, she called me Steven. I didn’t know who the hell this Steven was.”
“He was my new student.”
“Lucky for me he was also a no-show. I pretended to be Steven who needed help with algebra.”
Joy laughed and it filled the room with a warm and loving vibe. “Your major was in mechanical engineering.”
“I would have been a creative writing major if it meant spending an hour with her.”
“You’re exaggerating this a bit, don’t you think?” Georgia said, but the words came out rough. He’d never explained their meet-cute with this much detail—and emotion.
“I’m telling the story,” he chastised.
Georgia waved a silent go-ahead.
He walked toward the table and pulled out a chair. He folded himself into it, leaned back and stretched his legs out as if he owned the space. The air stilled in her lungs at the sight.
“Anyway, after the session I asked her if she wanted to grab some coffee and that was our first date.”
“It was not a date.”
“Darlin’, there were drinks, laughter, flirting, and then you gave that snort-laugh you do whenever you’re nervous. It was a date.”
“I don’t snort,” she said, and he raised a brow in amusement. She looked at Joy. “Okay, I do snort. But it’s a ladylike snort.”
Joy didn’t answer. She just rested an elbow on the tabletop and had an all-knowing smile on her lips. Georgia couldn’t translate the sentiment behind it, but she knew it wasn’t good.
“The next night we went to the movies.”
“You mean Steven and I went to the movies.” She turned to Joy. “He kept the ruse going for three dates.”
“Four. Remember coffee was our first.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. He kept up the ruse for two weeks until he was ratted out by a friend.”
“You were so mad, your temper was at full boil.”
“I hate liars.”
“It was more like role-playing.” He winked at her knowingly and her skin tingled with sudden warmth.
Who doesn’t like a little role-playing? He was the one with the toe fetish! Not that she was going to say that in front of Joy.
