Some women might be too embarrassed to show their love of food in front of such a hot guy, but she honestly didn’t care. If the fact she didn’t survive on a diet of lettuce turned him off, then she’d have to live with it. Her eyes practically rolled back in her head as the tender meat literally melted in her mouth. “Mmmm, this is so delicious,” she moaned as the flavors exploded onto her tongue.
She’d taken a few more bites before she glanced at Jake, only to find him fixated on her mouth. I should have worn a bib, she thought ruefully. Surely, something was on her chin. She casually picked the napkin up from her lap and dabbed her face, hoping she’d taken care of whatever Jake was so focused on. When he continued to stare, she dropped her napkin and asked, “Could you point out whatever you’re gawking at? Apparently, I missed it.”
He appeared confused by her words. “I was looking at you because you’re beautiful and I’ve never seen a woman eat with such passion before.”
Suddenly, the food that she had been enjoying felt like a lead weight in her stomach. She couldn’t believe it. He was repulsed by the fact that she was wolfing her food down. Why had he bothered to compliment her looks, though? “This is the first meal I’ve had today,” she said defensively.
“Lydia, you shouldn’t go so long without eating. You’ll make yourself sick,” he said gently. “Finish up and we’ll have some dessert.” Now Lydia was puzzled. Had she misunderstood what he was saying? He appeared downright thrilled when she picked her fork up again and continued. So maybe she’d overreacted. That’s what happens when you marry a man you don’t know.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Jake rarely left her side and seemed intent on playing the part of the doting new husband. A few moments before the reception ended, she found herself surrounded by Claire Danvers, who was married to Jason Danvers, the CEO of Danvers International, and Suzy, who’d already cornered her earlier. Ava Powers and Emma Davis quickly joined them. Ava also worked for the company, and she was married to Mac, who handled security there. Emma was engaged to Ava’s brother, Brant Stone. Lydia could barely work all of the connections out in her head and was constantly asking Crystal to clarify them for her.
Emma wasted little time in blurting out, “Oh, my God, you’re married to Jake! That man has one of the best asses I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
“Who the heck is Jake?” Claire asked as she looked around the group.
Emma shrugged. “Brant calls him Jake, but personally I think it suits him. It sounds all dirty sexy.”
“Yeah, I like it better too.” Suzy nodded. “And I agree with you, Em. I bet the man can bring on the nasty. There is no way he’s strictly missionary. Hell, he probably barely remembers that position.”
Lydia knew she was probably blushing like mad as her friends laughed. She was trying to formulate a reply when Mia came jogging over on her dangerously high heels. “I can’t believe I missed the freaking wedding! I told Seth that we needed to fly home last night, but no, he had a last-minute meeting and assured me we’d get home in plenty of time. Well, guess what? Vegas was one big hive of thunderstorm activity and the plane was delayed for hours. For fuck’s sake, look at me. I didn’t even have time to go home and change clothes,” she huffed out. Lydia shook her head. Mia might not be quite as well put together as she normally was, but she still looked gorgeous. “Now, someone tell me about the ceremony and anything else I missed. We managed to catch Crystal and Mark before they went off to change. Man, she set the bar for brides everywhere. Mark is one lucky bastard.”
Suzy grinned and slung an arm over her mini-me. She and Mia had such similar personalities that they were almost clones of each other. “I was wondering where you were. Here’s a quick catch-up for you. The ceremony was kickass, the food amazing, and your BFF over there married Jake Hay a few days ago after the bachelorette party.” Raising a brow, Suzy asked, “Did I miss anything?”
Yet another round of shrieking and rapid-fire questions commenced as Mia alternated between being excited about Lydia’s marriage and pissed that she was the last to know. When she’d finished lecturing Lydia for not calling her immediately, she smacked her lips dramatically and asked, “So is he as big as his suit pants would suggest? When he has that jacket unbuttoned, it looks like a monster snake lives in the front of those trousers.”
“He does have the Jon Hamm cock outline going on,” Suzy agreed.
“Damn, I totally saw that in Star Magazine.” Emma nodded. “The man had like an extra arm down the leg of his shorts. They were saying something about him walking his dog, but poor thing, that has to be a workout in itself.”
Claire giggled before asking, “Just to be clear, are we talking about Jon Hamm here or Jacob? Oh wait, we’re calling him Jake now, right?”
“Well, we started off with Jake, but that last part was about our favorite television stud,” Mia purred. “He has nothing on Lydia’s Jake, though. I love Seth Jackson to pieces, but I’ve stared at Jake’s ass until I feel as if it’s permanently burned into my brain.” Fanning herself, she added, “I swear, between Seth’s friends and his family, I’m constantly hot and bothered. The Jackson brothers and cousins are in a league all of their own.”
Emma elbowed Lydia in the side with a big smirk on her face. “I don’t believe you answered Mia’s question about the size of Jake’s baby maker. There’s not a woman in this room who hasn’t wondered the same thing at some point. He looks fucking phenomenal in that tux tonight.”
Ava, who had been fairly quiet up to that point, rolled her eyes at her future sister-in-law. “You are such a pervert. It’s bad enough I have to see you practically mount my brother at the office every day. Must you also know the dick size of every man who works at Danvers? I can barely keep it together in meetings because I know way too much about most of the men who attend them! Certain things about my brothers should have really remained a mystery to me. But nooo, apparently my straitlaced brother, Brant, likes to tie you up and spank you, and Declan likes to do a little mutual self-pleasuring. Then everyone wants to know what the GI Joes are packing in their cargo pants. I ignore the questions as long as I can before I finally break and say, Mac is huge, okay! He’s like a freak of nature or something. Are you happy now?” As if realizing what she’d said, Ava clamped a hand over her mouth and her face flooded with color. “Oh shit, I can’t believe I said all of that.”