Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series) (29 page)

Karina grinned, clearly eager to fill her in as she held out her hands in a grand ta-da fashion. “Because I wrote that song about you and Jake.”

Tessa froze. She could see from the shocked expressions that no one else had been aware of this either.

“What do you mean?” she asked quietly.

“Well, I remember the exact day in high school. I saw you by your locker, and you were looking kind of sad. Then Jake walked up behind you and wrapped his arms around you. You sank back against him, and you just looked so peaceful and radiant… And he looked so protective and”—Karina shivered—“male. Then the chorus just played in my head. At that moment, it all just flowed. ‘Hold me tighter than I’ve ever been, save me from this world within. The way you wrap me in your arms, tells me all that’s in your heart. I feel your love when I feel your touch, so just hold me tight tonight.’ I mean, seriously, I couldn’t grab a notebook fast enough to get it all down!”

Tessa was shocked, and she didn’t know how to react. She felt as if her skin were made of spun sugar, as if even the slightest tiny movement would cause her to shatter into a million pieces. She didn’t know if she was going to laugh, or cry, or hyperventilate, or…

Luckily, she was saved the embarrassment of doing either of the latter by Amy, whose facial expression had just turned distinctly queasy.

“Wait a minute.” Amy’s face grew serious. “Do you mean to tell me that I’ve been…um, making out…with my fiancé to a song that is actually about my
brother
?”

“’Fraid so, darlin’.” Karina winked. “And I doubt you’d be that shade of red if
all
you and Matty boy were doing was ‘making out’ to that song.”

The room exploded in laughter and Karina’s face lit up excitedly as she clutched her chest.

“I feel like Al Green! Did you make the baby to my song?”

Amy just shook her head. She was smiling but obviously embarrassed by the unwanted attention. She touched the top of her nose as if she were pushing up nonexistent glasses as she answered, “No.”

“Do you want to pick another song for the wedding?” Karina asked, letting Amy off the hook.

“No, I still love that song,” Amy answered.

So did Tessa. So. Did. Tessa.

‡

J
ake looked down at his “date” and pasted a plastic smile on his face. Inwardly, he was doing anything but smiling. The last thing he wanted was to be here with this card-carrying member of the B.B.B club, but fair was fair. Her ticket had been pulled in the “Win a Date with the Fire Chief” raffle his guys had put on without his knowledge. It wasn’t her fault that his thoughts—along with his heart and his soul—belonged only to Tessa. Nope, she had paid her money and won her prize, and he was going to do his best to be a decent companion this evening.

Still, he found himself glancing around every two seconds to see if Tessa had arrived. He just couldn’t stop himself. He knew that she was going to be here this evening. She was working, taking photos on assignment from Say Cheese. Just the thought that he was going to get a glimpse of her beautiful face was enough to lift his spirits and make his heart expand—not to mention other parts of his anatomy. He just wished that she were here with him. Damn.

“Who do you keep looking around for?” his date pouted. “You’re supposed to be paying attention to me!”

Jake winced inwardly. She was right. The truth was that she had won this. He was her date and he should be paying attention to her. It was just that grating, wheedling tone she used was annoying the shit out of him.

He turned to her and smiled, doing his best to look sincere.
Stop grinding your teeth, Maguire,
he warned himself.
Just be nice.

“Sorry. You’re absolutely right,” he conceded and saw the ghost of a slyly triumphant smirk grace her lips. That annoyed him, but he fought to maintain his pleasant demeanor. “I promise, for the rest of the night, I will be completely and totally focused on—”

He trailed off mid-sentence, not even grasping the irony, because at that moment, he caught his first glimpse of Tessa. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened.

She looked like an angel.

The smooth black satin of her dress skimmed her trim curves like a glove. She moved effortlessly through the crowd, her smile lighting up the room as she snapped photos and chatted with everyone she came across. Her hair was pulled up, showcasing the gorgeous, sexy slope of her neck. The sight of her exposed skin made Jake’s mouth water, and he was having a hard time drawing in a full breath.

Breathtaking. That was the only word for it. Tessa was breathtaking.

“Only focused on what?”

Jake barely registered the words, and he definitely was not aware that they had been aimed at him until he felt a sharp poke in his ribs.

He looked down, unable to hide his annoyance now that physical pain was part of this torture ritual, AKA “date.”

“What?” he snapped.

B.B.B. stuck her bottom lip out, playing up a fake tremble for full effect.

“You’re only going to be focused on what?” she whined.

Great. Now the pouting was back.
Is this chick for real?
He sighed to himself as he clenched his teeth.

It didn’t matter. Jake knew he had to pull his head out of his ass and fast. It wasn’t Rib Poker’s fault that he was here with her instead of Tessa. Jake just needed to man up and follow through with his commitment.

“Only focused on you,” he admitted, doing his best not to show how tightly gritted his teeth were as he said the words.

She smiled and winked in a way she must have thought was seductive. “Good boy,” she purred. “And if you’re
really
good, maybe you’ll get a treat later.”

What the hell? Did she have him confused with Lucky? Is this the sort of thing guys went for?

Well, yeah. He guessed it was. Sadly, this inane-banter-as-foreplay routine was exactly the sort of thing he used to go for in his “asshole-slash-man-whore” days, as Eric had so bluntly put it.

To Jake’s surprise, Eric appeared next to him at that very moment, as if thinking about him had actually summoned him to Jake’s side.

“How’s it going, bro?” Eric asked with a sly smirk.

“Great,” Jake replied flatly.

“It absolutely is. It’s going so great,” the blond said, possessively slipping her arm through Jake’s.

Eric looked at her for a moment then put his hand out. “I’m Eric,” he said, “Jake’s brother.”

When the blond raised her heavily mascaraed eyes to meet Jake’s, waiting for him to make the introductions, he realized he didn’t have a clue what her name was. Shit! He knew she was part of the B.B.Bs. But out of the group, he only knew Courtney’s name, and this wasn’t Courtney. It was also something with an ‘eeeee’ sound at the end. Trixie? Cookie? Zoey? Crap! Something like that. Everything sounded close, but nothing sounded right.

Jake saw the exact instant that Eric realized what was going on, but he never had any illusions that Eric was going to rescue him. He couldn’t really blame his big brother. Jake would not have rescued Eric if the situation were reversed.

“Jake, why don’t you introduce me to your date?” Eric asked, an undercurrent of amusement coloring his tone.

“Yeah, Jakey,” the blond pouted. “Why don’t you introduce me to your brother?”

“Really, Jakey,” Eric continued, faux sincerity filling his voice. “It’s just poor form. So rude.”

“Yeah, it’s so rude!” the blond continued to pout.

Damn it all the hell. Jake was honestly trying to do his best to get through this night and be a half-decent date. He was going to kill Eric the next time they were alone, and he did his best to convey that sentiment with his facial expression.

Far from looking intimidated, however, Eric appeared highly amused.

Just then, Lily walked up, wearing a red gown that left nothing to the imagination. Jake could see Eric’s reaction to her written all over his face. In fact, right then, Eric’s face probably looked quite a bit like how Jake’s had just moments earlier when he’d laid eyes on Tessa.

Well, good,
Jake reasoned.
Maybe he’ll be distracted enough by Lily that he’ll stop being a dick.

No such luck.

Eric looked back to the blond, his face open and full of warmth. Jake knew it was false, but the blond would certainly fall for.

“This is my fiancée, Lily,” he introduced. “And, Lily, this is Jake’s date…”

Eric looked pointedly at Jake, who opened his mouth to form some sort of reply, but Lily ruined Eric’s gag, turning to Jake with genuine surprise and blurting out, “Oh, I thought you were here with Tessa?” before covering her mouth with her hand.

“Who’s Tessa?” the blond spat, her eyes wild with fury.

It’s none of your damn business
.

“A friend,” he replied firmly. He looked back at Lily, who was mouthing, “Sorry,” a worried expression on her face. Jake nodded. He knew that his soon-to-be sister-in-law hadn’t meant to cause any trouble and he didn’t want her thinking she had.

He felt his arm being tugged on and he turned to see that the pouty lip was back in full affect—it must have been her go-to move. “Tonight, I’m supposed to be your friend,” she whined.

Jake’s head was pounding from all of the conflicting emotions. He felt like telling her straight up, “Seriously, I don’t even know your damn name! Stop whining!” But of course, that was not an option. He simply bit back his frustration and smiled.

He needed to take control of this evening before it spiraled any further out of control. Thinking that he might have figured out a way to stop the flow of endless conversation coming at him from all sides, he summoned every last drop of charm he could. “You are. Do you want to dance?”

*

Tessa was having a hard time maintaining the sunny and friendly façade she had been determined to keep up throughout the course of the evening. When she left the house, she had been pumped up and feeling strong, having listened to her Girl Power playlist the entire time she was getting ready. From ‘Don’t Need You To Tell Me I’m Pretty’ by Samantha Mumba to ‘Independent Women’ by Destiny’s Child, she had rocked out to female empowerment anthems for an entire hour while crafting her hairstyle and makeup. And yes, she did recognize the irony. Still, she needed the boost.

Her playlist had ended on ‘Extraordinary’ by Liz Phair, and by the time she’d walked out the door, she really had been feeling like an “average, everyday, sane/psycho Super Goddess.” She had been ready to go to this event, and Jake’s presence was not going to throw her in the least. He would be there with a date who had won the honor through a raffle, and Tessa could handle it. She was going to be working and Jake was raising money for a good cause.

Much to Tessa’s disappointment, however, that strong glass-half-full momentum she’d built up lasted for about .46576 seconds after she laid eyes on Jake in his tux. She was disappointed with herself, obviously, for falling prey to her hormones. But she was equally disappointed in her playlist for giving her false hope that she might be able to withstand them when she so
clearly
could not.

Still, Tessa had a job to do. And she couldn’t let it suffer because of how much seeing Jake affected her. So, she put on a bright smile and began to mingle and do her job. If there was one thing that she had learned during the endless parade of weddings, birthdays, graduations, bar mitzvahs, and quinceañeras she had photographed these past years in San Diego, it was that people came out looking much more natural and organic in photographs if you chatted with them first, got them relaxed and smiling and happy.

She was here to take photos tonight—that was her job. But moreover, she was here to take
great
photos tonight. That was her work ethic. She didn’t care if she was photographing a prom for a high school or a war zone for Time—she did her best work every time she got behind the lens. No exceptions.

So, yes, it was tearing her apart inside that Jake was across the room with a gorgeous—a little flashy but she had to admit, gorgeous—blond on his arm instead of her. Oh well. That didn’t matter. What did matter was that she was going to put on a happy front and do her job.