No Dress Required by Cari Quinn Page B

car while he waited for Nellie to answer. Something she didn’t seem in any rush to do. Who the heck was the guy propping her up? Was he a friend, or had she suddenly developed a taste for men three times her age? The longer the silence dragged on, the more tense he became. Why wasn’t she answering him?
    He swallowed the sudden rush of impatience. This so wasn’t his business. His baby sister’s best friend was a grown woman, fully capable of strolling up the middle of the street with an older man in a brown suit and ugly shoes. Just…she looked so small cuddled against the guy’s side. Her long blond hair waved every which way down her back, caught and tossed around by the cold breeze. God, how he’d love to tangle his hands in all those thick, silky waves.
    Ease off, soldier , he admonished himself at the immediate constriction in his groin. She’s a kid . Hot as hell now, but still six years younger and practically family. That was the way it had always been. Alexa and Nellie had been friends since elementary school and had always insisted on tagging along after him, no matter how much he’d tried to dissuade them. By the time they got the message, the girls were in high school and he’d been reduced to trailing after them to make sure they didn’t get into trouble. He hadn’t fully noticed Nellie had turned into a woman until her high school graduation, two short months before she headed east for college. And he’d been with Maureen.
    He grimaced at the thought of his ex.
    “Jake? What are you doing here?”
    No squealed “Jakey!” as she’d once done, followed by a tight hug that made him laugh and curse simultaneously. She felt entirely too good in his arms, her compact body made for holding and kissing.
    And other things. Things he wouldn’t consider or fantasize about or wish could happen just once, so he could get them out of his head. A girl like Nellie wasn’t built for one-night-stands. If a man started something with her, he should finish it.
    “I was heading past. Figured I’d find out what was going on.” He peered closer. “Are you okay? Where’s your car?”
    Her head snapped toward the sound of advancing sirens. Shit, were they coming for her? What was going on?
    “Nellie?”
    “Carjacked,” her friend supplied, shaking his head. “Right in broad daylight. Well, it was,” he added, glancing up. This time of year, dark came early and the pink-hued sky warned the last of the sun’s rays would be gone soon.
    “Carjacked?” Jake echoed, shutting his car door and striding forward to grip one of Nellie’s icy hands. “Honey, are you okay? Did he hurt you? Was there a weapon?“
    “My day’s gone to shit, but I’m fine,” she said. “Don’t I look fine?”
    Jake swallowed a retort and took his time looking her up and down. Her hazel eyes glowed fiery gold in the waning sunlight, and her small mouth had pursed into the mother of all scowls. But her pink cheeks, mile long eyelashes, and curvy body added up to one heck of a package.
    A package he wanted to unwrap, one fuzzy sock at a time. He grinned at the striped knee socks slouching down her trim calves. She pulled the coat tighter but he still saw the fluffy bunnies and glittery noisemakers on her top. It was nice to see that even after months away, some things hadn’t changed. Thank God.
    “You look great,” he said finally, hoping his slightly shaky voice didn’t give him away. He wasn’t the best at hiding his emotions around her. With other women, yeah, he could play the role of smooth cat looking to score. At least he’d been able to before Maureen had swept into his life, made a nest for, oh, five years or so, then swept back out again.
    His gaze lasered in on the faint blue and purple splotches on Noelle’s forearm. “The fucker bruised you?”
    She stared at her arm. “I guess he did.”
    “He dragged her out of the car,” the guy beside her said, again shaking his head. “Thank God, the cops are here.