When We Go Back Again (Mason Brothers Book #1)

Chapter 7

EDEN

I wasn’t planning on coming back to The Mason Jar anytime soon, but Carly called and invited me out to a late dinner with her and her husband Nathan. My mom practically pushed me out of the house to go see my friends. Joseph was already asleep and I wasn’t going to be doing anything excepting sitting around reading so I said yes.

I put on a pair of dark denim jeans and a shimmery red tank top and waited for them to come to pick me up. Carly said she didn’t usually drink much, so if I wanted to let loose I was welcome. We were enjoying a nice late-night dinner that included all the good stuff like stuffed potato skins and nachos when another guy stopped by our table.

“What’s up, Coach?” The guy slaps his hand on Nathan’s shoulder.

“Hey Jacob, how are you doing?”

“I’m good, didn’t expect to see you in a place like this on a Friday night. I thought maybe you were a little too grown-up for that.”

“We’re the same age, Jacob. Some of us just have more responsibilities than others.”

“I have plenty of responsibilities, I just leave them when I clock out and I happened to be off for the next 48 hours, so I’m here to have a good time.” He looks over at me and puts his hand out. “Hi, I’m Jacob. I know I’ve never seen you before because I’d remember.”

I put my hand in his and instead of shaking it, he brings it to his mouth and kisses the back of my hand. “Hi, Jacob. I’m Eden.”

Carly seemed to be familiar with this Jacob guy as well. She did make a move to put her arm around my shoulder and tug me in for a side hug, moving me slightly away from the Jacob. “Eden used to live here, we all went to school together.”

He takes the hint and backs off a bit, going back to drinking his beer, “I see. What do you do, Eden?”

“I’m kind of in-between jobs right now. What about you, Jacob?”

“I’m a firefighter. You know those hot, fit, strong men that run towards danger and save lives.”

“Uh-huh, you’re one of those smooth talkers aren’t you, Jacob?”

“It depends, is it working?” He leans forward slightly and raises his eyebrows at me.

“What would you consider working?”

“Will you come dance with me?”

I look over at Carly and she shrugs her shoulders. I’m not looking for a relationship or even a hook-up, but Jacob seems harmless and a little dancing never did anybody wrong. Jacob puts out his hand again and I take it and follow him onto the dance floor. I find myself looking in the direction of the bar to see if Fletcher is anywhere around. I’m not seeing him, not that it matters, we aren’t together and it is just a dance. Jacob isn’t my type at all. I just left a man whose ego was too big for his zip code, I have zero plans to repeat that.

Jacob puts his hands on my hips and we move to the beat of the music. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having a good time. I haven’t let loose like this in years. I’m sure the three drinks I’ve had already are helping. He tries to pull me in closer to his body, but I resist. Thankfully, Jacob doesn’t push me further. I don’t mind dancing, but I’m not into dry humping on the dance floor.

The music is pretty loud, so Jacob has to lean close to my ear for me to hear hi, “I’m just glad tonight isn’t country night because I can’t line dance worth shit.”