by Liz Talley
“Sure, the remote’s on the coffee table,” Eva said, nudging the door open with her foot. Charlie slipped inside.
“I gotta run,” Jake said, his eyes sliding away, something in his expression bordering on embarrassment. It was a characteristic rarely seen in the overconfident man.
“Okay.”
Jake started toward his truck but then turned. “Hey, E.”
She lifted her eyebrows.
“I want to help you. Uh, be there for you. I don’t know what’s going on in your life, with Charlie and all, but you’re my friend.”
“I know I am.”
“You’ll always be my friend, even when you’re pissed at me or things are weird. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“So what can I do?”
Eva hadn’t a clue. At this point with a damaged Charlie under her care and the whole attraction thing for Jake busted wide open, she wasn’t sure she needed Jake around. “I don’t know.”
“Just give me something, anything I can do to make up for the jackass I’ve been.”
“You don’t have to do anything. All that…strange stuff between us was just temporary insanity. We’re good. You don’t owe me anything.”
He crossed his arms.
“Okay. Fine. How about you come over Friday night? Charlie could use a guy around. He’s been a little light on male influence in his life…unless Claren had someone around I didn’t know about. Which could have happened and scares me to death.”
Jake crooked his eyebrow questioningly.
She just shook her head. You don’t want to know.
“I can do that,” he said. “What time?”
“Around six thirty okay?”
Jake nodded.
Eva watched him climb into his truck, offering a wave as he backed out. She’d planned to tell Jamison she couldn’t go out with him Friday night, but since Jake had volunteered to help, he could stay with Charlie.
But then again, maybe she should cancel with Jamison.
But if she did, then the doctor would think she wasn’t interested. To be honest, she wasn’t sure if she was. Jamison was nice, but almost too nice. Still, he kept her focused on something else besides Jake and the Texas-sized torch she carried for him. Dating Jamison made her look less interested, less desperate for the warmth of a certain hot-as-hell firefighter.
“Eva!” Charlie called.
She jerked her thoughts off the men in her life…well, sorta in her life…and went in to the male who’d be the center of her world for at least the next few months.
Charlie sat on the couch, frowning at the TV. Eva glanced at the screen and nearly screamed. Two naked people rolled around in bed.
“I can’t get this to work. I wanna watch Nickelodeon.”
Eva jerked the control out of his hand, fumbling for the button that would turn the channel.
Where was the damn guide button?
“What are those two people doing with their clothes off?”
“Nothing,” she moaned, jabbing at the off button but missing and hitting the menu button. The screen shrank, but the two actors were still moaning and saying really, really inappropriate things.
“Is he hurting her?” Charlie asked, scooting forward and squinting at the left corner where some actress was pretending to have an orgasm. “She sure is screaming.”
Eva ignored his question, finally hitting the correct button. The TV went dark. “There.”
“You turned it off,” he said, looking at her as if she’d stomped on a baby bird or something.
“Yes, because I wanted to show you around. I fixed up your room and bought you some new jeans and stuff. Don’t you want to come see?”
He made a face. “All you bought was clothes?”
“And some books,” she offered.
“Books?” he repeated, wrinkling his nose.
Eva sighed and set the remote on the table. In the span of an hour Charlie had gone from the walking wounded to an irritable kid…who had questions about sex.
And she was so not going there.
“You know what?” Eva asked. “Why don’t you…ah…go wash your hands and check out your room while I heat up dinner and fix the TV?”
Charlie shrugged, grabbed his backpack and started for the hallway. Eva clicked the TV back on only to see the two actors kicked back in bed, twisted in the sheets, looking sweaty and satisfied. She found the parental controls on the menu and quickly set them so Charlie didn’t have to see people getting their heads blown off or some random actress getting off with—Eva squinted her eyes to identify the actor—Richard Gere.
“Yep, until Charlie leaves, no one is getting any,” she told the actress snuggling into Richard Gere and looking up at him with a dopey smile. “Especially me.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
JAKE FLIPPED DOWN the mirror in the truck and ran a hand through his hair, checking his teeth for any pieces of lettuce left over from his lunch with his sister. Abigail ate like a damn rabbit and had only prepared a large chef salad for them to share. He’d had to eat three servings, but still it was nice to see his sister and visit with Birdie, who had just started eighth grade at St. George’s. He could hardly believe how fast his niece had grown into a full-fledged teenager.
He popped a breath mint and then shook his head. Hell, why was he acting as if this was a date?
Eva was Eva.
Besides, he was just coming by to hang out with her and Charlie. After several days cooped up with her brother, he suspected his good friend needed a break. Their one conversation a few days ago had indicated she had her hands full. So far she’d taken Charlie to the doctor for his immunizations, which required a trip for ice cream afterward, to the dentist for a cleaning, which meant a small filling…and tears, and had visited St. George’s Episcopal, which was declared a dumb school. Eva had also said Charlie wet the bed every night, which necessitated lots of laundry and resulted in a lack of sleep.
So Jake was there to help out, provide distraction, change lightbulbs… Whatever she needed.
’Cause that was what good friends did for one another.
They were not, however, supposed to trim their toenails, pop breath mints or take care to wear a shirt that complemented their eyes. That was what a date did. And this was not a date.
Jake set the roll of mints back in the ashtray and climbed out. The days were growing shorter and cooler as October rolled in, which was a relief for the summer-weary residents. Jake was tired of working up a sweat by just getting out of his vehicle.
Jogging up the steps, he pressed the doorbell.
Charlie answered. “Oh, it’s you.”
Jake smiled. “Who were you expecting?”
“The doctor guy.” Charlie stepped back and let Jake inside. The normally neat living room looked as if a storm had hit, tossing blankets, toys and empty soda cans around the room.
“The doctor guy?” Jake said, picking up a blanket and lifting a diet soda can off the coffee table. “Are you drinking this?”
Charlie looked guiltily at the can. “Well, I found them in the back of the fridge. They aren’t as good as orange soda, but I’m sick of water and milk.”
“Where’s Eva?”
“She’s in her room getting ready. She takes really long showers.”
“What are all these blankets doing out?” Jake asked, folding the one in his hand.
“I’m building a tent. My birthday’s next weekend, and Eva said we’d have a campout in her backyard. I’m practicing. See? I used these chairs and put the blankets on top of them. It doesn’t make a good tent, though.” The little boy shook his head at the chair with the blanket hanging from its back.
Jake set the folded blanket on the couch just as Eva emerged from her bedroom, wearing a dress and pulling a shoe on her right foot. She stood, her eyes growing wide at the disaster of her living room. “What did you do, Charlie?”
“I built the tent. You said I could.”
“Well, you need to pick all
this up,” she said, taking an earring from her palm and threading it into her earlobe. Her gaze rose and she finally saw him. “Oh, Jake, you’re here. Good.”
Good?
Jake stared at Eva, who was way overdressed for hanging out. The dress she wore hugged her generous curves, and her hair fell in soft waves onto her shoulders. She secured the other earring before running fingers through her pretty curls.
“You look nice,” Jake said, still feeling totally confused.
“Thank you,” she said, moving into the kitchen, peeking through the open area over the bar. “Now, I’ve left some dinner in the oven.”
“Yuck!” Charlie screeched.
Eva shot him a withering look. “I didn’t make it. Jake’s mom did. Wait, did you drink soda, Charlie?”
Charlie plopped down on the hardwood floor and started moving his trucks around, making vroom noises, shutting Eva out.
“Oh, my gosh, how many did he drink?” she asked Jake, pulling a notepad from beside the cordless phone.
Jake looked around. “Uh, two? No. Three?”
“Jeez.” Eva sighed, scratching something on the pad with a pen. “Now, you have my number. I’m just setting his medication right here beside the coffeemaker. He needs one antibiotic with his dinner.”
“Wait, are you leaving?”
She looked up at him. “Yeah. I have a date.”
A date? Jake shook his head like a cartoon character. What the… “A date?”
“With Jamison. You volunteered to come tonight to babysit Charlie. Remember?”
Something hot and almost viscous blanketed him. Eva was going out with Mr. Stuffy Pants and leaving him here with Charlie?
Bull to the shit.
“I didn’t volunteer to babysit,” he said, glancing over at Charlie. “I thought you wanted to hang out.”
She tilted her head in an adorable way. Well, it would have been adorable, if he hadn’t been so absolutely pissed at the moment. Then she twisted those delectable lips. “Oh, well, I suppose I didn’t actually mention babysitting. I didn’t realize. Sorry. But I have a date and you were so kind to correct being a jackass…”
Jake folded his arms. “I don’t know what to do with a kid, and should you be leaving him like this? I mean, it’s sorta selfish to go out on a date when your brother is still trying to adjust.”
Eva’s eyes crackled. “Selfish? Are you joking?”
Jake lifted a shoulder. “I’m just saying.”
Eva stalked around, entering the living room, coming to a halt, putting her hands on her hips. She looked pissed, and Jake wondered if he shouldn’t have kept his mouth shut.
“What’s selfish about it, jackass?” Eva asked.
“Oooh, you used a bad word, Eva,” Charlie said.
“Oh, so now you can hear me?” Eva drawled at Charlie, tempering her look at him with a slight smile. The kid turned back to his trucks, and Eva zipped her gaze back to Jake, making him feel squirmy.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have said selfish per se,” Jake said, putting the coffee table between them. “I just wondered if it was good for you to leave since he’s having some difficulty adjusting.”
“Charlie, is it okay if I leave you for a few hours to go to dinner while you play trucks and watch Finding Nemo with Jake?”
“Sure,” Charlie said, making the dump truck climb the side of the TV cabinet.
“See? He’s fine. If you want me to pay you, I will,” Eva said, turning and grabbing her purse off the top of the piano.
“No,” Jake said, realizing that he was good and stuck.
The doorbell rang.
“That should be Jamison.”
Jake wanted to answer the door, punch the too-good-looking doctor in the mug and close the door, locking Eva inside with him. But that would be crazy. That would mean he felt something more than friendship for Eva. And he didn’t.
Or at least he didn’t want to.
Eva opened the door and pasted on a smile he’d never seen before. He assumed it was her “date” smile. He fisted his hands and stared at the coffee table littered with parenting magazines.
“Hey, you,” Eva said to Jamison.
“You look incredible, Eva,” Jamison said.
Jake clenched his teeth.
“Thank you. And you clean up pretty nicely, too,” she said before turning to Jake. “So dinner is warming in the oven. Don’t let Charlie have anything else to drink tonight. Please.”
Jake nodded but didn’t look at her. He didn’t want to notice how damn beautiful she looked for Jamison French, MD, resident prissy-pants dork.
“And Charlie,” Eva said, waiting on her brother to look up at her. “You mind Jake…and get this mess picked up before bedtime, which is nine thirty.”
“Nine thirty?” Charlie squealed, bobbing up and down in excitement.
“Well, it is Friday night,” Eva said.
“You’ll be home by then, right?” Jake asked.
Eva cast a flirty look at Jamison and then smiled. “Maybe.”
Jake frowned, knowing he looked like a spoiled little boy but unable to stop himself.
“Bye, boys,” Eva called, stepping out the door.
The sound of the door shutting felt like a sucker punch.
“Damn it,” Jake said under his breath.
Charlie looked up. “That’s a really bad word.”
“There are worse, trust me,” Jake said, sinking onto the couch, pulling a superhero figurine from under his left butt cheek. “So what do you want to do?”
“Dunno. I guess you can play trucks with me. I’ll let you be the Marsh Monster.”
“Negative.”
“What’s that mean?” Charlie asked.
“It means try again.”
“You can help me build a tent.”
Jake considered that. He had a tent at his place, but he didn’t want to take Charlie across town for a tent. He reached for his phone and dialed his brother Matt.
“What’s up?” Matt said.
“Your boys with you this weekend?”
“Yeah.”
“What are y’all doing?”
“We’re about to head to the St. George’s football game.”
“Perfect.”
“For what?” Matt asked.
“For me to come with you. I’m watching Charlie for Eva and since he’ll be going to school with your boys, maybe it would be cool to hang out.”
“Sure, the Dragons are playing the Acadiana Tigers. Should be a good game.”
“See you in half an hour at the stadium.”
He hung up and looked at Charlie, who’d been watching him with a puzzled expression. “So do you like football?”
“Like the Saints?”
“Not the same level, but yeah.”
Charlie smiled and nodded his entire body. Jake hadn’t realized such a thing was possible, but the excitement in the child’s eyes tempered his anger at Eva. And he wasn’t sure if the anger was over being suckered into babysitting or that she was going out with another guy…an accomplished, rich guy with the nickname around town of “Hot Doc.”
“Then let’s get this living room picked up, eat a quick bite and go watch some football like real dudes do,” Jake said, extending his fist.
Charlie scrambled to his feet, gave him some dap and said, “Hell, yeah.”
Jake laughed but then said, “Don’t say that again. Eva will kill me.”
“No, she won’t,” Charlie said gravely. “I heard her saying bad words all week. She burned my waffles and said a really, really bad word.”
“Yeah, but still. Let’s keep the naughty words to ourselves.”
“Okay. I gotta go pee.”
“Have at it,” Jake said, rising and tidying up the coffee table and folding the remaining blankets before heading to the kitchen. He looked over at the note Eva had left along with the medicine and tried not to be mad at his friend.
Yes, friend.
Even if he wanted to punch Jamiso
n, yank Eva toward him and drag her off to his cave. That was a primitive, natural instinct. He’d probably feel a little that way about his sister. Okay. No. He didn’t feel that way about Abigail at all. Maybe it was because he cherished Eva’s friendship so much, and everyone knew that Jamison French was a womanizer. Okay. So he wasn’t a womanizer, but the man didn’t stick with any particular woman. He could hurt Eva, fooling her with his slick manners and witty intellect, making her think he had forever on his mind when all he wanted…
Okay, Jake had to stop thinking about Eva.
“Come on, Charlie,” he called.
The kid slid on his socks into the kitchen. “What?”
“Let’s eat.”
Jake dished up the chicken and rice casserole his mother had fixed. It was obvious Fancy was in “helpful mom” mode with Eva. When he’d dropped by yesterday, she’d been making the casserole for today and said she’d already sent spaghetti and a chicken enchilada casserole. Nothing like a friend in need to get his mother cooking…and he’d gladly clean up the leftovers.
After a quick meal and even quicker cleanup, he wiped Charlie’s face, proud of himself for thinking of it, and they loaded up to head to the game. Jake had never actually babysat before, but he even remembered to grab the booster seat. Maybe he should make Eva pay him for babysitting. He had mad child-care skills.
They made it to the game three minutes into the first quarter. Matt, his boys and Jake’s father occupied their normal seats, and thankfully it didn’t take Charlie long to bond with Matt’s son Wyatt. Wyatt would be only a grade ahead of Charlie, and they both seemed to like something called Minecraft.
By the end of the game, Charlie had gone from reserved to bouncing off the walls. It might have had something to do with the candy and soda Jake’s dad had bought all the boys. But the upside was the Dragons had pulled out a win in the last few seconds of the game, nailing a field goal from forty-four yards. The home side of the stadium had erupted into cheers, and the band had cranked up an old MC Hammer tune that had the three boys writhing, hopping and jumping off the bleachers.
“Whoa,” Jake said, catching Charlie in midair. “I have to take you home all in one piece.”
“I don’t wanna go back to Eva’s yet. This was fun,” Charlie said, twisting away and running behind Wyatt, who was jumping up and down the stadium steps.