Page 9 of Picture This

“Too bad. I bet you’re fun when you’re drunk.” He shrugged and poured the equivalent of four shots into Luca’s empty flute.

I went to a couch, plopping down on the soft cushion.

The second I settled into the seat, Jake stood, abandoning his chair to claim the space beside me. He sat so close his thigh brushed mine.

I scooted away, but the moron didn’t get the hint. For every inch I retreated, he followed, drinking straight from his bottle.

“Always running away from me.” He leaned in, grinning down at me. “Come on, Delylah. Give me a chance.”

If he thought using my name would score him points, he was mistaken.

“Yeah, give him a chance,” Emily said, smiling over the rim of her glass. “You have so much in common.”

“Like what?”

“Me.” She giggled. “And Luca.”

“Exactly.” Jake chuckled. “We have great taste in friends, and we’re both beautiful people. You’re hot. I’m hot.”

“And oh, so humble,” I muttered, standing to go to the other couch.

Yes, Jake was handsome. There was no denying it. Not ruggedly gorgeous like Noah, but Jake wasn’t hard on the eyes when he wasn’t talking. The minute he opened his mouth, he went from an eight out of ten to a three.

“What can I say? I’m confident.” Jake spread his arms across the back of the couch, staring at me as he licked his lips. “I don’t apologize for it.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Well, all those similarities aside, I don’t think we’re a good fit.”

“We both live in New York.”

“Along with millions of other people.”

He grinned again, his gaze roving over my body, lingering too long on my bare legs.

These were my favorite shorts, but never in my life had I regretted wearing them more.

“I’m going to win you over this weekend.” He tipped the top of the bottle my way. “Just watch.”

“My eyes are peeled,” I muttered.

“I love how determined you are. It reminds me of Luca.” Emily reached for her fiancé’s hand. “He had to chase me. And now look at us. Right, babe?”

Luca was too busy frowning at his phone to answer her question. He stared at the screen like he was willing it to find a signal.

But even if he was listening, I doubted he’d consider his pursuit of Emily a “chase.”

They’d met at a party in college. He’d asked her out, and she’d waited until the end of the night to accept. He’d had to chase her for three hours, max.

“Damn it.” Luca shut off the screen on his phone and tossed back his bourbon, the entire glass, then stood and stalked into his tent.

Emily’s eyebrows knit together as she followed him, leaving Jake and me alone.

“This is quite the setup,” Jake said, looking around the site. “Have you ever been camping before?”

“Yes. I grew up in Montana. My parents would take me camping in these mountains all the time.”

“Country girl. I like that.” His gaze dropped to my legs again. “Guess if I get scared in the middle of the night, I know which tent to knock on.”

“Mark’s.”