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“One thing I’ll never joke about is fucking you,” he assured her with a twinkle in his eyes. Leo tipped her mouth closed with his fingers. “Might want to close that, sweetheart, before I find something to fill it with.”
“Leonard Ulysses Trask!” she screeched as quietly as possible. “You can’t say stuff like that when we’re at my parents’!”
“Why not?” he asked with a big grin. “It distracted you from your worries, didn’t it?”
“By creating new ones,” she said with a snort, shaking her head. “You’re so lucky I love you.”
At her words, they both froze.
Jazz didn’t blink. She didn’t breathe. Even her hair stayed still, not a single strand daring to blow in the breeze. She just stood there with her leg half down off the truck and the other one standing firm on the running board.
Leo was in a similar state of shock, frozen, with his hand out to help her down, and staring at her with his mouth hanging open.
“Ummm…now it’s your turn to close your mouth,” she whispered, her face heating in embarrassment.
He snapped it closed but otherwise didn’t move.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head.
“What are you sorry for?” He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Because I’ve made this awkward and we’re getting ready to go—”
“Jasmine Jane! Stop loitering in front of the house. You’re making a spectacle of yourself.”
Jazz froze once more, this time at the sound of her mother haranguing her from the steps of her childhood home.
“Perfect,” she mumbled, turning to face the woman that had supposedly birthed her.
“Well?” Victoria snapped. “Are you coming? Your father would like to talk to your…datein the study. You can help me arrange flowers for the table while they’re occupied.” Her mom turned on her pale ivory pumps and walked back into the house, leaving the large entry door wide open without a backward glance.
This was off to an awful start.
“Jazz.” Leo dropped one hand down to her ass and gave a hearty squeeze.
The contact jolted her back to the present.
“Stay with me, sugar,” he ordered, giving her bottom a pat as they began to walk. “No matter what, I’ve got you.”
“Did you just cross yourself?” she asked with a giggle when she saw the familiar movement out of the corner of her eye.
“Just covering my bases for my meeting with the devil,” Leo deadpanned before giving her a wink.
“You’re ridiculous,” she snickered.
Since Victoria had disappeared, Jazz figured she was the one that was supposed to deliver Leo to her father’s study for whatever inquisition they had planned. Just before she could knock on the large wooden door, Leo stopped her.
“I can take it from here, sugar,” he told her. He clasped her hand in his and then raised them together to kiss the back of her fingers. “It may have been years ago, but I’m pretty sure he remembers me.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, appreciating the offer but not expecting him to face her dad on his own. This mess was of her own making. “I can handle him.”
“I know you can,” Leo answered with a warm smile. “You don’t need to though. I’ve got this. You handle your mom before she decides to come back here and yell at us some more.”
“Thank you.” She went onto her tippy toes to give him a quick kiss and then turned around to head towards the dining room.
With her heels clicking quickly on the marble floor, she turned back once more to catch a glimpse of Leo opening the doors and stepping inside.
“I got this,” she repeated, pumping herself up as she continued through the house.
