“Okay, well, I love you.” I turn away from the door when I hear someone coming up the stairs and I almost drop the phone when I see JP walking up the stairs looking like he just stepped out of a fucking GQ magazine. He’s wearing a pair of black jeans that shows his trim waist and a white button-down that emphasizes his olive skin that’s even more tan from his time in Mexico. I briefly wonder if he was doing hard labor or something between surgeries because he’s a little more muscular than I remembered. His dark brown hair is a little longer and curls slightly at the ends spurring vivid memories of pulling on it while his mouth was between my legs. Speaking of which, he licks his lips drawing my attention to his mouth before finding his eyes that are still roaming shamelessly all over my body.

Of course, he looks even better than he did three years ago. Bastard.

“I love you too,” Parker tells me back, but my brain barely registers that before I hang up the phone.

“Hi Jacob.”

He cocks his head to the side and narrows his eyes and I can almost hear his thoughts. Jacob, huh? So that’s how we’re playing it? “Hi beautiful,” he responds, and after three years of not hearing his voice, I almost melt at just those two words.

Fuck. Where is Chloe? We discussed that I shouldn’t be alone with him for this exact reason. She probably just assumed we were fine for now because he wasn’t here yet.

He’s still on the stairs so he climbs the final two and then he’s moving closer to me. I take a step back and he takes another step closer. I take another and he does the same and I immediately begin to panic. I don’t want him in my space. I don’t want him to hug me and I don’t want to be close enough to smell his cologne. I put a hand out to stop him from coming closer. He frowns and I shake my head.

“I’m engaged.”

His eyes darken and I see a flash of annoyance cross his face. Fuck. “So, I’ve heard.”

“So… no.”

“No, what?” He gives me that cocky smile that used to make my panties wet. The one where he revealed one dimple but none of his teeth and I am trying to ignore the fact that there is a tingling between my legs.

“You know what.”

“I’m simply saying hello and acknowledging the fact that you’re beautiful. Any person with eyes can see that.” He nods when I don’t respond because I’m actually holding my breath until I can move out of his space. “Congratulations, by the way.”

I let out the breath I’m holding because this seems safe. Talking about my engagement implies he’s accepted that I’ve moved on. Maybe he really is just here to celebrate or maybe for closure. “Thank you.” I smile. “Parker is great. You’ll really like him.”