Someone Like You by Vanessa Devereaux Read Free Book Online Page A

with you?” he asked Gen.
    “No,
but thanks for the offer. I think it best I go alone just in case I have
to drag him out. He’d hate me doing that in front of a stranger.”
    “Okay, but
just come get me if anyone gives you any trouble.”
    He patted her
on the arm before she got out of the car and ran into the arcade.
    Jake turned
on the radio and listened to some music while he waited. He hoped everything
turned out okay for Gen. He didn’t know a lot about her, but she came across as
a good mother.
    He sat his
head back, listening to the combination of some light jazz music and the
tinkling sound of the rain hitting the roof of his car. He hadn’t felt this
relaxed in some time. Maybe it was the sexual tension leaving his body. Perhaps
it was because he wasn’t home feeling sorry for himself, but instead involved
in someone else’s problem. That makes a
change.
    Something
made him glance toward the door of the arcade. He saw Gen heading his way with
a teenage boy in tow. He unlocked the doors of his car as Gen opened the front
one and ordered her son to get into the back seat.
    A handsome
boy who had his mom’s beautiful blue eyes slid reluctantly inside the car with
some water cascading down his face.
    “Nicky, this
is Jake Harris. Jake, this is my son, Nicky.”
    Jake turned
around and extended his hand to Nicky. The boy just sat looking at him, but
Jake wasn’t going to withdraw it. He extended his hand farther toward him,
hoping he’d get the message loud and clear that when Jake Harris wanted to
shake your hand, you better take it or else.
    Jake could
tell Gen was about to say something, so he hoped she didn’t mind him jumping in
there first.
    “It’s nice to
meet you, Nicky. It’s kind of rude to refuse someone’s hand.”
    He heard the
boy mutter something inaudible under his breath, but he finally shook Jake’s
hand.
    Jake turned
back to Gen. “So I assume it’s straight home for
Nicky?”
    Gen nodded.
    Jake put the
car into gear, drove out of the parking lot, and headed to the main road.
    “Did your
mother ever embarrass you?”
    Jake realized
Nicky was talking to him and not his mother.
    He glanced in
the rearview mirror.
    “Sure, all
mothers do. It’s one of their main purposes,” said Jake.
    Nicky scooted
forward and perched himself between the two front seats.
    “But I bet
she didn’t do it in front of your friends.”
    “You’re too
young to be embarrassed,” said Gen.
    “How could
you do that to me?”
    “And how
could you do that to your grandmother after she took you to the movies and
bought you a meal?”
    “She’s okay
up to a point, but then she gets boring when she starts talking about her
ladies’ knitting group.”
    “Well now
that’s where I might have to draw the line too,” said Jake.
    He glanced at
Gen, she glanced at him, and he winked at her. He hoped she knew he was joking
around to ease the tension that was building in the car. She smiled. The first
time she’d done that since she’d gotten the call from her mother. It was a pity
to let it go to waste because it was one that could brighten anyone’s sprits,
even on a rainy night.
    Jake
remembered the way back to Gen’s house without having
to ask for directions. He pulled up on the driveway and turned off the
ignition.
    “Nicky,
you’re to go straight to your room, and other than heading over to your grandma’s
to weed her yard and mow the lawn, you’re grounded for a week.”
    “Shit, that’s
so not fair,” he said. He got out and slammed the door so hard that it shook
the car.
    “I’m sorry
about that, and my apologies to the shocks on your car,” said Gen.
    “That’s okay.
And don’t worry because he’ll sleep away his foul mood.”
    “I hope so.
Thank you so much for tagging along.”
    “I had
nothing else to do, and it was a pleasure to meet your son. Things will work
out between the two of you. I know it.”
    “I think they
will once he turns thirty.”
    Jake laughed.
    “Do you