Chapter 609

• They spent lunch on the deck with the rest of the party, eating chicken Caesar salad and drinking wine, lounging on the padded double loungers on the main terrace. Jake ensured he stayed by her side and warned his friends off visually. He wouldn’t put it past any of them to make a play for her if he left her alone. Such was the nature of their trips. Each guy always brought dates and some unspoken agreement that all was fair game and that no one would get prissy about it afterward. The girls they normally brought were bed hoppers, had no loyalty, and never anyone serious. Leila was the exception normally, she wasn’t much for it, and even though he could see she wasn’t that into her date, he knew she wouldn’t sleep with any of the others. Emma was completely off-limits to any of them, and he would damn well break the neck of any who tried.
• Jake was leaning toward Daniel’s bed, Emma at his back and in conversation with Leila. Daniel was arguing about sports, one of his passions, and Jake just loved to goad him on the matter anytime it came up. He was more into manual stuff and extreme sports he could do himself, but he wasn’t against watching the odd football or baseball game. Daniel was just too easy to wind up. He was only half listening though, as he could most definitely hear the words “hair,” “cut,” and “short” going on behind him, and he didn’t like it one bit.
• Looking back at Emma, he caught Leila picking up a strand of that soft honey-blonde hair with the look of someone contemplating cutting it all off. He could feel the frown taking over his face and minor irritation as Leila said, “pixie cut,” and he could only assume that was something very short like hers. Emma wouldn’t suit Leila’s hair. She needed soft and sweet around her face, not edgy and choppy like hers.