Fight for Me

3

“What about the animal shelter? Does anyone work there?” Lexie asked late Tuesday morning, holding the phone to her ear so she could listen to the voice on the other end of the line. For someone tasked with tracking student community service hours, this woman certainly wasn’t much help. So far, all she’d been able to tell Lexie was that athletes and students who were members of Greek organizations completed the highest number of hours; however, she didn’t have any information on when or where the hours were served.

Lexie thanked her and hung up in frustration.

“What was that all about?” Jake asked, coming into the breakroom as Lexie crossed another idea off her list with irritation.

She looked up in time to see him lift a large box marked “photo negatives” onto the top of a long row of black file cabinets, and something in her brain stuttered as the muscles in his arms and back flexed beneath his T-shirt. The same thing had happened the other day when he’d been standing close enough for her to see all the shades of brown that ringed his irises. It was like a mental glitch that only happened when he was close by.

Jake gave her a funny look as he turned around, and Lexie realized he’d asked a question.

“I’m looking for students completing community service hours, but I’m coming up empty. So far, nobody I’ve talked to is part of a current project.” She shuffled the papers in front of her and tossed back the last of a strawberry smoothie she’d grabbed after class.

Jake headed back into the hallway and returned a moment later with another box, lifting it up beside the first. This time, Lexie looked out the window, willing herself not to watch. It was rude to stare, after all.

“I can probably help,” Jake said, leaning back against the row of cabinets. His stance did nothing to keep Lexie’s attention off the tanned arms that crossed over his chest, and she mentally smacked herself. What was wrong with her all of a sudden?!

“I volunteer with parks and rec during the fall season. So do several other students,” he went on, oblivious to her internal monologue.

“You do?” Lexie gasped, bringing her attention back to their conversation. “You’re telling me I’ve been trying to track people down for hours when I could have just gone across the hall?”

Jake chuckled. “Happy to help. What do you need?”

“Well, I’d like to find out exactly what everyone is doing and why and how it impacts the community. Can I interview you?”

“Sure, and I can give you the names of a few other coaches I know,” Jake said, pulling out the chair across from her as she reached for her voice recorder and turned it on.

Lexie stopped and looked up. “Other coaches? You’re a coach?”

“Yep, kids’ soccer,” Jake said. He sank down into the chair and rested his forearms on the table. “I played in high school, and community service is part of my scholarship, so I figured it was a good match.”

Lexie made a few notes on her pad. “So, what kind of time commitment is involved with being a coach?”

“Well, the season just started last week, so we’ll have practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a month or so. Then, in October, we’ll have games on Saturday mornings against the other teams in our age group. I’m with the four-to-six-year-olds this year, so it’s basically bumblebee soccer,” he said.

“It’s what?”

“Bumblebee soccer,” he repeated. “They’re so little, they really just run around in a huddle wherever the ball goes—like bumblebees. There’s very little strategy and no focus on positions. I’m just teaching them how to kick a ball with both feet and not use their hands.”

Lexie nodded. “And what do you get out of it?”

Jake smiled and leaned back in his chair, crossing one ankle over his knee.

“Well, of course, it’s required for my scholarship, so there’s that. But honestly, I enjoy working with kids. I love soccer, and while I’m not playing at the college level, that doesn’t mean I can’t work on my skills by teaching another generation of players,” he said. “The kids are hilarious, and they really remind you why sports are supposed to be about having fun and not just about trophies and titles and records.”

Lexie nodded, remembering how natural he’d seemed with the elementary school students at the pep rally. Colt tended to grimace and walk the other way when he saw kids coming.

Not that she was making comparisons.

“I feel like I need to see Coach Tanner in action. You know, for the sake of journalism,” she said, making the most serious face she could.

Jake laughed. “Anything you want, Lex,” he said, his dark eyes trained on hers, and for the briefest second, she wondered if he was still talking about soccer.

By Thursday, Lexie had everything she needed for her article. There was no real reason to attend a practice in person, and yet she still found herself parking outside the Cypress Valley Rec Complex at a quarter to six. Climbing out of her silver Infiniti, she scanned the large practice area for anything that would point her toward field three—but there wasn’t a single sign in sight. The open expanse of grass beside the parking lot was dotted here and there with miniature soccer goals and teeming with people of all ages. Lexie stood beside her car, unsure what to do next, until a young woman in athletic leggings and an oversized T-shirt passed nearby.

“Stay with me, Hannah,” the woman admonished, squeezing the hand of a little girl with a swinging brown ponytail. “We have to find Coach Jake and your friends before you go running off.”

Lexie’s ears perked up, and she fell in line with the young mother, who seemed to know where she was going. The practice area was enormous, and kids clumped together in color-coordinated groups, each set of bright T-shirts displaying the name of a local business sponsor. Hannah’s shirt was black with gold lettering identifying her as an “AutoZone Blackhawk.”

Finally, after weaving their way past the concession stand and through a snaking line of parents near the restrooms, Hannah released her mother’s hand with a squeal.

“There they are!” she cried, racing toward where a cloud of black-clad children was gathering with Jake as its center. He towered over them, and Lexie couldn’t help but notice how his wide shoulders filled out his black coach’s shirt. Her eyes automatically traced the line of his torso as it tapered down to comfortable athletic shorts.

She had a boyfriend, but she wasn’t blind.

“Coach Jake, Coach Jake, look!” a little girl beside Hannah exclaimed, her shrill young voice lifting above the hum of activity. She thrust one small foot out expectantly, and Lexie smiled as Jake dropped to a crouch to admire her tiny pink cleats. Whatever he said made her bounce excitedly, and her blonde pigtails flopped in all directions. He chuckled and patted her shoulder before rising and scanning the field, his mouth moving silently as he counted the little black meteorites flying wildly in all directions. His gaze landed on Lexie standing near the goal, and his look of concentration melted into something else entirely.

“You made it! I brought you a chair in case you didn’t have one,” he said, closing the distance between them and steering her gently toward a tan camp chair near the midfield line. “I’ve got to get started, but I’ll find you after, okay?” he said. Then he lifted a shiny whistle to his lips and gave a few quick blasts as he jogged toward the center of their designated practice area.

“Alright, Blackhawks!” he shouted, clapping his hands, and the kids gravitated toward him like tiny electrons. They obviously adored him, and Lexie couldn’t help but smile as Jake patiently demonstrated the day’s exercise by weaving his ball back and forth around a series of low cones. He exuded an easy confidence that Lexie envied.

“Little kicks. Keep control of your ball,” he reminded the players as one little boy sent his ball out of bounds.

“That one’s mine. He has too much energy for his own good,” the woman in the next chair said. She leaned over with a friendly smile. “I don’t think I’ve seen you on the sidelines before. I’m Tabby.”

“I’m Lexie, and this is my first practice,” Lexie responded. “I’m writing an article about some of the student coaches from CVSU.”

“Oh, Coach Jake is fabulous! Jordan loves him,” Tabby said.

Lexie reached for her bag and retrieved a pad of paper and her voice recorder.

“Can I ask you a few questions for my story?” she asked, leaning toward Tabby as she flipped to a blank page. A grin from the other woman was all the answer she needed.

“Be my guest!” Tabby said, laughing, and Lexie instantly liked her.

Forty-five minutes later, they were still talking, though Lexie had long since put her equipment away.

“So, is there any reason you chose to observe this particular practice? Because, you know, Samantha over on field eight is a student coach, too,” Tabby said, pointing toward another field.

Without thinking, Lexie glanced to where Jake was showing his players how to pass their soccer balls to each other. When she looked back at Tabby, there was a mischievous twinkle in the older woman’s eye.

“But don’t get me wrong,” her new friend added, waggling her eyebrows, “the view is definitely better over here.”

Lexie’s mouth dropped open. “It’s not like that!” she protested, but Tabby rolled her eyes with a grin.

“Honey, please. You’ve been watching him like you think he’ll run away while you’re not looking,” she said. “Not that I blame you. I’m happily married with three children, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes.”

Lexie felt her cheeks heat, and Tabby settled back into her chair, satisfied.

“Uh-huh. Say what you want, but you’ve got reasons,” she said.

Lexie shook her head silently and looked back at Jake, who waved when he saw her watching.

“Jake and I are coworkers and friends. Besides, I’m already seeing someone,” she said, giving Tabby the most serious expression she could muster. Tabby reached across the gap between them and patted Lexie’s arm, giving her such a motherly look that Lexie’s chest tightened.

“Lexie, take this from a woman who’s been around the block a time or two: life is too short to spend it with a man who doesn’t know your worth. So, unless this boyfriend looks at you like you hung the moon and stars, leave him behind. Because from what I can tell, that boy right there”—she nodded toward Jake, who looked away suddenly as if he’d been caught—“he does.”

“Alright, Blackhawks! Great job today,” Jake shouted, releasing the players to their parents. “Same time, same place next Tuesday, alright?”

An affirmative sound rippled through the crowd as mothers and fathers gathered their gear, collected their children and started the trek toward the parking lot.

“I hope to see you again, Lexie,” Tabby said. She snagged her son’s arm as he tried to slip past her. “It was great talking to you, and good luck,” she added with a wink, slinging her camp chair over one shoulder and turning to take in Jordan’s excited post-practice chatter.

Lexie waved and remained in her seat, fiddling with her bag on the ground while the crowd thinned. A few parents had lingered to talk to Jake, who still needed to pack up the gear he’d brought with him. Lexie stood and wandered over to a cluster of small soccer balls, kicking each one hard in his direction. They rolled to a stop several feet from his bag, but at least they were in the right vicinity. She jogged out to the far boundary line and tapped the last ball with her foot, sending it a few feet across the grass. Following lazily, she used first one foot, then the other, dribbling the ball between them as she’d seen the children do during their drills.

Back and forth, back and forth, she slowly made her way toward midfield, keeping her eyes on her ballet flats. Suddenly, a white tennis shoe darted into her line of vision and swept the ball out from under her. Looking up, Lexie watched Jake dribble it effortlessly toward the small net and then launch it into the goal with a swift kick. The ball hit its mark with an audible swish.

“Goal!” he shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

“No fair!” Lexie called, her hands on her hips. “I wasn’t ready.”

“Oh, really? Is that why it was so easy?” he taunted. “Fine, I’ll let you try again.” He snatched the ball from the net before trotting back to her and dropping it at her feet. “If you can get it past me, we’ll consider that a win.”

“Just past you? That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Lexie narrowed her eyes, sensing a trap, but she took the bait anyway. Sweeping the ball to the left, she tried to arc around Jake, but he easily stole from her again and headed downfield in the opposite direction. Lexie huffed and shook her head.

“Okay, I should have expected that. Let’s go again,” she said. “But you have to give me more room.”

He smirked and kicked the ball back. Standing several yards away, he spread his arms wide and gestured to the empty field.

“What are you waiting for, Preston? Nobody’s stopping you!”

Lexie set her face in determination, ignoring his taunt, and struck out to one side. She could see him standing at the edge of her vision, waiting, and she suddenly felt like a mouse being stalked by a cat. All at once, he was inches away, knocking the ball out of her path and taking off toward the goal behind her. He did a few spins on the way, obviously proud of himself.

“Show-off!” Lexie shouted.

Jake stuck his tongue out in childish victory, his self-satisfied grin lighting up his face, and a whole swarm of butterflies took flight in Lexie’s belly. His teasing shouldn’t have affected her so deeply, but it did. She huffed out a breath and raked her hands through her hair before pulling a rubber tie off her wrist and securing her soft waves into a low ponytail. It was time to change strategies.

“Oh, this is getting serious!” Jake called, his voice filled with laughter. “Are you going to show me how it’s done?”

Lexie narrowed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to give him the satisfaction of making her laugh.

“One more time, but I’m going to take it from you, and I’m going to score,” she said as she closed the gap between them.

One of Jake’s eyebrows popped up, his expression skeptical. “Yeah, I doubt that.”

“Oh, I’m sure I can find a way. You have no idea what I’m capable of,” she said, swishing her hips and moving closer until she was all but leaning against him, her palms flat against the curve of his shoulders.

Jake went very, very still, his eyes wide, and Lexie could have sworn he stopped breathing. An unfamiliar sense of power surged through her blood as she realized she had his undivided attention—something she hardly ever got from Colt. She almost hated to misuse such an incredible gift.

Almost.

Taking full advantage, she shoved Jake hard with both hands. He stumbled backward, and she snatched the ball from between his feet. Lexie kicked it hard and ran with all her might to catch up.

“That was dirty!” he shouted, his voice thin as he raced up behind her. There was a moment of confusion when the ball got tangled between their feet, and Lexie latched onto his arm just above the elbow, trying not to fall.

“I never figured you’d cheat,” he said.

“Well, you figured wrong!” she replied, kicking the ball out of the scuffle and darting beyond him. But Jake lunged forward, and his arms closed around her from behind just before he lifted her off her feet. Lexie struggled in vain, laughing as the ball rolled out of range.

“What is this?” she said, smacking his forearms where they remained locked around her waist.

“Payback,” he replied as he set her down.

Turning, Lexie found his face lit up with a cheeky grin, and her stomach turned over. He wasn’t extraordinarily tall, maybe five foot ten to Colt’s six foot plus. It would be so easy to—

Whoa! Where did that come from?she asked herself, alarmed by the unexpected image of Jake’s lips pressed against hers. But she couldn’t seem to push it away, not with him looking at her like that.

“. . . like you hung the moon and stars.”

Tabby’s words echoed in her mind, and it was suddenly very hard to breathe. Jake’s eyes went soft around the edges, full of a gentleness she never saw in Colt’s icy blue ones, and Lexie felt herself being pulled into them like a shell drawn out to sea. His hand brushed along the back of her arm, sending a shiver all the way to her toes and making her painfully aware of how close she was to doing something stupid.

“Jordan’s mom!” she blurted, surprising them both. Confusion spread across Jake’s face as his brows knit together, and Lexie took the opportunity to step back. “Great quotes from Jordan’s mom,” she said, struggling to find a complete thought in her scrambled brain. “She loves you. The kids! The kids, I mean. They love you. Thanks for your help.”

“No problem,” Jake said slowly, though he still looked bewildered. He paused for a moment, scanning her face, before turning to gather the discarded soccer balls. There were a few moments of silence as Lexie cast about for something else, anything else to say, desperately trying to forget the way she’d started to lean into him.

After he’d packed his equipment, Jake stopped next to her, toying with the cinch strap on his equipment bag.

“I usually grab ice cream on the way home from practice. Would you like to come?” he asked, his tone casual. But he didn’t meet her eyes.

Lexie took a long, slow breath.

Jake looked like the kind of guy who had smooth, practiced pickup lines at the ready, who could collect girls like trading cards if he wanted. But the more time Lexie spent with him, the less she felt like that was the case. She’d seen girls flirt with him on more than one occasion, but Jake seemed to shy away from that kind of attention more often than not. He certainly didn’t soak it up like it was his birthright the way some guys did.

Well, the way most guys did.

Now, she wasn’t completely certain how to interpret his invitation. If he was asking her out, she should say no. But if he wasn’t asking her out... she should still say no. She obviously couldn’t trust herself where he was concerned.

Colt would tell her to say no.

Suddenly, Lexie could hear the grit in Colt’s voice as he justified himself.

It’s just a guy thing. . . . Don’t be like that. . . . Pull the stick out.

And she didn’t care what he would say.

“Sure, that sounds like fun!” she answered, ignoring the warning voice that told her it was a bad idea. She was a grown woman, after all. She could handle it.

Jake sat across from Lexie outside the local Dairy Queen and did his best not to laugh as she battled a hole near the bottom of her waffle cone.

“Plug it with your finger,” he said, pointing to the gap where her strawberry ice cream was escaping.

“I can’t, it keeps breaking!” she said with dismay as the cone cracked farther up the side. “I’m heading for a full containment breach!”

Jake laughed, scraping the last of his hot fudge sundae from the bottom of his paper cup.

“Here, see if this helps,” he said, handing the cup to her.

Lexie unceremoniously dumped her dripping concoction into his empty container, shaking a few drops of ice cream from her sticky hands.

“This makes me think about animals that adapt so they can’t be eaten. You know, like porcupines and poison dart frogs,” she said, cleaning up with a pile of napkins he’d grabbed at the pickup window.

“How exactly did you get from ice cream cones to poison dart frogs?” he asked, not bothering to hide his amusement.

“You know, the way they make themselves inedible. This cone is fighting back.”

Jake shook his head. “I’m starting to think your mind works in strange and mysterious ways.”

“Oh, you have no idea. Once, I had a dream that was part Harry Potter, part Wizard of Oz, and it was incredible.”

“I’d watch that movie. Did it have both the Wicked Witch of the West and Voldemort?” he asked, raising his drink to his lips.

“Yep, married with kids, actually. And let me tell you, green-skinned, no-nose babies are not attractive.”

Jake pitched forward, barely containing the Dr. Pepper that threatened to spray across the table and make her messy situation even worse. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and swallowed.

“Sorry. I probably should have waited until you weren’t mid-sip,” Lexie said, grinning.

Jake laughed, feeling his cheeks stretch until they hurt. This was the best first date he’d ever had. But was it actually a date? She’d driven herself and refused to let him pay, so maybe not. But it was certainly date-adjacent.

It wasn’t not a date, at least. And he was willing to work with that.

“There’s probably some telepathic link straight to Copper Hill that’s going to tell my mother I spit on a woman, and she’ll be here in less than twenty minutes to beat me with a wooden spoon,” he said.

It was Lexie’s turn to laugh, and Jake loved the way her whole face changed. If she’d been a distraction on the sidelines, it was nothing compared to sitting across from her now.

“What’s your mother like?” she asked, taking a sip of her remaining ice cream as if it were a milkshake.

“Well, she’s pretty much your typical Tennessee housewife. She used to be a kindergarten teacher, but then when I came along, she stopped working to stay home and keep me out of trouble. She makes the best lasagna in the world and likes to grow tulips in these huge flower beds in the front yard. She says she wants the place to look like those fields in Amsterdam,” he said, lacing his fingers behind his head.

Lexie’s eyes followed the movement, catching somewhere near his shoulders before jumping back to her dessert. Jake smothered a triumphant smile as a blush rose in her cheeks.

Definitelydate-adjacent.

“So, you’re an only child?” she asked, keeping her attention on her cup.

“No, I have a younger sister, Ashlyn; she’s a sophomore at CVSU. I also grew up within ten miles of my nine first cousins, so the house was always full.”

“Nine cousins?” Lexie asked. “Wow.”

“A lot more if you count second cousins, too. There are currently four generations of Tanners in Mason County,” he said proudly. “My grandfather is the oldest of Grandpa Jacob and Grandma Ruby’s four boys. Then he had four kids himself, including my dad, so there are a lot of us.”

“I grew up in a big house all by myself,” Lexie said wistfully. “I can’t imagine having siblings or cousins running around all the time. It must have been fabulous to always have someone to play with.”

Her faraway expression tugged at Jake’s heart.

“So, what do your parents do?” he asked, desperate to learn more about her. The sadness that flickered through her eyes was unexpected.

“My dad is a doctor, a surgeon, actually.”

Jake let out a low whistle and leaned back, propping his feet up on an empty chair. “What kind of surgery?”

“Cardiothoracic,” she said, wincing like she’d said a bad word. “He’s the surgeon-in-chief at Vanderbilt.”

Wow, Jake thought, though he didn’t expect that was the response she wanted.

“I’ve heard they have hard schedules,” he offered instead, trying to tread carefully.

Lexie picked at the soggy pieces of her cone.

“Yeah, they do. He wasn’t around much when I was growing up, but I think that was intentional.”

Jake frowned. “What about your mom?” he asked, hoping for a better answer.

“Well, she was a waitress when she met my dad, and I’m pretty sure he married her just to make my grandparents angry—his one act of defiance.” Lexie cleared her throat, her attention returning to her bowl. “She died in a car accident when I was fifteen.”

Jake felt like he’d been punched in the gut. How was he supposed to respond to something like that? He cleared his throat and leaned his forearms on the table, filling the silence with motion.

“I’m sorry. I’m really on a roll with my questions tonight.”

“It’s okay,” she said, offering a sad smile. “How are you supposed to know if you don’t ask?” She stood and tossed the dregs of her ice cream cone into the trash. “I should probably call it a night.”

Jake watched her gather her things, feeling her impending absence more keenly than he’d like. He reached out on impulse and caught her hand as she passed his chair, surprised by his own audacity.

She stopped and looked toward where his fingers looped around hers.

“I’m really glad you came. I’ve had fun,” he said, lifting his gaze to her face. Those brilliant green eyes drifted up to his and lingered.

“Yeah, it was fun,” she said. “I’ll see you at work, okay?” She gently pulled her hand free and walked toward her car, then slid inside.

Jake forced himself to stay seated, knowing that if he stood, he’d probably do something stupid—like try to stop her. He watched her back carefully out of her parking space before pulling onto the main drag. Then he flexed his fingers a few times, noticing a sticky spot where he’d held her hand.

It was proof she had been there.

Proof there was hope after all.

“Where have you been?” Olivia asked, looking up from the textbook in her lap.

Lexie pushed the door shut behind her and dropped her purse onto a kitchen chair. “Playing soccer with Jake.”

“Doing what with who now?” Olivia asked, setting down her pen and giving Lexie her full attention.

Lexie sighed. “It wasn’t a big deal, Liv. He helped me with a story, we played soccer, and then we got ice cream.”

Olivia blinked several times before closing her book and swinging her feet off the couch. She patted the now-empty cushion with her hand.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to need more information.”

Recognizing when she needed to fold, Lexie sank down beside her friend and started talking. When she mentioned kicking the soccer ball around the empty field, Olivia laid a hand on her arm.

“Lex, please tell me you know he was flirting with you.”

“What? No, definitely not,” Lexie said, though she felt guilt creep up her neck anyway. “It was just good fun.”

“Lexie,” Olivia said, letting her name hang in the air. “Guys don’t play keep-away soccer with girls just for the fun of it. And then he asked you on a date!”

“It wasn’t a date! We’re just friends. We work together. That’s all,” Lexie protested, though it was too much, even to her own ears.

“Did he drive?”

“No.”

“Did he pay?”

“No!” Lexie said, feeling vindicated.

“Did he try to?”

Lexie paused, remembering Jake’s insistence that she let him buy her cone. He’d even gone so far as to snatch her five-dollar bill and hold it above her head. But she’d put her foot down and demanded to pay for herself, and he’d eventually given in—albeit reluctantly.

“Yes,” she said miserably, unable to ignore the truth any longer.

Olivia lifted one eyebrow. “Does he know you have a boyfriend?” she asked.

“No,” Lexie moaned, dropping her face into her hands. “It’s never come up.”

“What do you mean, ‘It’s never come up’?” Olivia repeated. “There’s never been a place to simply drop Colt’s name into conversation with a guy who is obviously interested in you?”

“It’s not . . . He isn’t . . . It’s just that . . .” Lexie stammered, searching for a way out.

She just hadn’t wanted it to end. The way Jake always looked at her like she was something worth having, the way he acted like spending time with her was more important than anywhere else he needed to be.... It had been so long since anyone had treated her that way. She’d only wanted to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer.

Olivia just smiled. “He seems like a good guy.”

“Colt is a good guy,” Lexie said reflexively.

Olivia patted her friend’s knee. “Maybe sleep on it,” she suggested. “But either way, you’re going to have to tell Jake the truth. It’s not fair for him not to know.”

Lexie felt another sharp pang of guilt. She wasn’t the kind of girl to play games or string a guy along; it had just gotten out of hand. She sighed, tilting her head back against the couch.

Leave it to her to ruin a good thing.

Jake narrowed his eyes, concentrating on the advertisement he was creating for the university magazine. He nudged the photo three clicks to the right, then four clicks back to the left. Truth be told, he’d been done for twenty minutes. Now he was just stalling.

Get up!he told himself, but somehow, the instructions weren’t reaching his legs.

“I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me sometime,” he mumbled under his breath, testing the words. “Is there any chance you’d... No, that sounds worse.”

“Ask her to go out with you, not just to dinner.”

Jake jumped to his feet and turned around, surprised to find Andy standing with his shoulder against the edge of the partition.

“There’s less ambiguity that way. Dinner could be a friend thing, but ‘out with you’ is definitely a date,” Andy added with a grin, his arms crossed over his chest.

“How long have you been standing there?” Jake demanded.

“Long enough.”

Jake groaned, wiping one hand down his face. “Is there any chance you could stop sneaking up on me? Maybe announce yourself when a guy’s obviously thinking out loud?” he snapped, yanking his bag off the floor.

“As your boss, I am outraged by your attitude. As your friend, I advise you not to yell at your boss.”

“He’ll get over it,” Jake muttered as he pushed past him.

Andy only chuckled. “Lexie is a lucky girl,” he said with a smirk.

Jake’s eyes went wide. “How do you even know that’s who I’m asking?” he asked, his eyes darting toward the door in case the girl in question magically materialized.

“Everyone knows. You don’t fall out of your chair for just anybody,” Andy said, and Jake groaned again.

Exactly how obvious had he been?

He left the studio and crossed the hall to the main office suite, pausing with his hand on the door.

“Would you like to go outwith me sometime?” he repeated, grudgingly admitting it did sound better. With one final exhale, he pulled open the door and smiled at Ms. Patterson, who sat at the front desk.

“Is Lexie still here?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.

The secretary nodded and pointed her pen toward an open area where the interns worked, and he thanked her without stopping. The clacking of computer keys grew louder as he approached where Lexie sat hidden behind her own partition.

“Hey,” he said, rounding the corner into her cubicle.

She startled slightly and looked up at him, her eyes wide.

“Oh, hi,” she said as she brushed a lock of hair out of her face. She seemed nervous, and not in a good way. It was more like... dread.

Jake felt his brows pull together.

“You alright back here? I meant to stop in earlier and see how your article was going, but I got busy,” he said, waiting for her body language to change. “The new magazine spreads are pretty good, if I do say so myself.”

But Lexie didn’t seem to relax, no matter how long he talked. Not knowing what else to do, Jake plowed ahead.

“So, I really enjoyed hanging out last night. I was wondering... Well, I wanted to ask if you might—”

“Where’s my girl?”

An unfamiliar voice came from the far side of the room, and Lexie jumped to her feet, nearly knocking her keyboard to the floor.

“Colt! What are you doing here?” she blurted, obviously surprised to see the tall young man who was striding into the room as if he owned the place. Jake stepped back as she pushed roughly past him.

“What? Can’t a man surprise his girl at work?” The newcomer wrapped one arm possessively around Lexie’s waist, and Jake’s stomach dropped when the guy’s mouth crashed down onto Lexie’s without hesitation.

So . . . not her brother, then.

Good manners told him to look away, but he couldn’t seem to do it. He took in every detail: the way Lexie stood stiffly, the way she seemed to pull away first, the way her eyes flicked straight to his when she opened them.

“So, this is work, huh?” the guy asked as he looked around the room. He kept one arm around Lexie, as if he thought she’d run away—and, honestly, she looked like she might. His gaze drifted until it landed on Jake, who could almost feel ice water wash over him.

“Hey, man, how’s it going? I’m Colton Derricks with Derricks Pharmaceuticals,” he said, crossing the room with Lexie in tow.

Jake could feel the anxiety radiating from her. Colt, it seemed, could not.

“Colt, this is Jake Tanner. He’s one of our photographers,” Lexie supplied, looking quickly from Colt to Jake and then back.

“Nice to meet you,” Jake said, and he reached out to shake the hand that was offered. Colt seemed to make it a point to grip harder than necessary, and Jake worked to keep his expression neutral. He could have been Lexie’s cousin and a guy like this would still march in and pee on everything in sight. There was no point giving him more ammunition.

Definitely not who he would have imagined for her.

That’s because he’s not you, you idiot.

“You as well,” Colt said, still holding on. “Though I wish I could say I’d heard all about you.”

“Jake takes the photos for my stories,” Lexie said, jumping in. She smoothed her hand down the sleeve of Colt’s dress shirt, as if soothing a child.

Colt gave Jake a last once-over and released his hand, turning back to Lexie.

“That’s great, babe. I hope he does as he’s told.” Colt’s smile was tight, and Jake grit his teeth to keep words from tumbling out. Nothing he could possibly say about this guy would be nice.

That did not change when Colt tugged Lexie tighter against him and kissed her again, making an obvious show of drawing it out. Jake clenched his jaw and looked out the window. He couldn’t leave anyway, since they were blocking his path to the door. Besides, he didn’t want to give this guy the satisfaction of walking away.

“What do you say we get out of here?” he heard Colt ask Lexie, his voice pitched low. “It was great to meet you, Blake, but I’ve got to get my girl home,” Colt added at a normal volume, turning away without waiting for Lexie’s answer. He grabbed her laptop bag off the back of her desk chair and slung it over his own shoulder, turning with her toward the door.

Lexie glanced back as she was propelled out of the office. Her eyes found Jake’s, and she held his gaze for a moment before Colt started talking again, saying something about a sale he’d made earlier in the day. Then they were gone.

Jake leaned back against the wall and cursed his own luck. Of course Lexie Preston was with someone; why had he ever assumed she wasn’t?

Because she seemed into you. And because she’s never mentioned him.

Ever.

At all.

Jake ground his teeth and pushed to stand, figuring the happy couple had had enough time to make it to the elevator. Why couldn’t she have said something? It wasn’t that hard to drop into conversation. She’d probably gone home and laughed at how desperately transparent he’d been on the soccer field. He’d almost kissed her, for goodness’ sake, and she couldn’t have warned him?

She did start babbling like a crazy person, his memory reminded him, but he roughly pushed the thought away. Breaking a tense moment was not the same as coming out and saying “Jake, I’m sorry, but I have a boyfriend.”

He was still fuming when he reached the parking lot and yanked open the door of his old pickup truck. A car horn blared to his left, and he looked up in time to see Colt wave from the driver’s seat of a shiny, black convertible, his face stretched into a victorious grin as he passed in a cloud of dust.

Jake watched the BMW disappear over the rise, feeling bile churn in his gut. Why would Lexie ever want someone like him when she could have a guy like that? Sure, Colt was a tool of the highest order, but he could give her things Jake never could.

Give her a little more credit, would you?his brain chided, and Jake instantly felt guilty. Lexie wasn’t that kind of girl. Sure, she came from money, but she didn’t seem to live for it. Even so, Jake couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever really be happy with less.

And right then, he sure felt like a whole lot less.