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Jake couldn't tear his eyes away from Charlie's long legs eating up the stage as she crossed it and headed down the stairs. After a few words with a petite woman with jet black hair who he guessed was Lizzie, she joined him.
She leaned close to him and her arm brushed against his. “I owe you one for rescuing me,” she said, her voice a whisper.
Unable to stop himself he laughed at the sincerity in her voice. “Daycare not your thing, Doc?” He pushed open an auditorium door that led into the parking lot.
“Call me Charlie. Everyone does. No it's not my thing. One or two at a time is fine but that was worse than Officer Development School.”
He'd been calling her Doc for the past four days. Not once during that time had she corrected him till today, and damn if he wasn't pleased because of it. After opening the passenger door, he waited for her to climb in. “You looked pretty comfortable up there. The kids couldn't take their eyes off you.” Not that I blame them. He closed the door and walked around to the driver's side of the SUV.
Taking a water bottle out of her backpack, she took a drink before answering. “I read four or five books today. Before that we did arts and crafts. Even when I was a kid, I hated that stuff.”
Jake smiled at the exasperation in her voice. “Guess it's a good thing you didn't go into teaching like my sister Callie. She spends every day surrounded by twenty or so kids. Honestly, I don't know how she does it, but she insists that she loves it.”
“She's the one marrying Dylan Talbot, right?”
He didn't know if she was asking to make polite conversation or because she really didn't know which sister he was talking about. Jake didn't think that was possible, not after last year when everyone including Callie learned that Warren Sherbrooke was her father.
“Yes. Their wedding is in a couple weeks.”
Charlie looked as if she was putting together the pieces of a puzzle in her head. “And Dylan's your half-brother?”
Jake nodded prepared to give the explanation to yet another person. “Dylan and I have the same mom, but different fathers. Callie and I have the same dad and different mothers so, yes, I am related to both of them but Callie and Dylan are not related.” He couldn't understand why people found the whole thing so confusing.
“You have to admit it's a little odd. It's not something that happens every day.”
He agreed with her on that point. Still it wasn't that difficult to understand.
“She's not still teaching though, is she?”
He noticed how the tone of Charlie's voice changed from inquiry to amazement.
Pulling into a parking space in the hospital lot, Jake turned off the ignition. “Why wouldn't she be? She's been doing it since college.”
Charlie's eyebrows shot up. “Her father is the President of the United States, and her soon-to-be-husband is a billionaire. It's not like she has to. She could spend her day doing anything she wants.”
It wasn't the first time the news that his half-sister continued to teach shocked someone, and he knew that Charlie wouldn't be the last.
Jake got out of the truck and walked around so he could open her door, but he wasn't quick enough. So instead he held out a hand to help her down. Surprise crossed her face again, but she accepted his hand and stepped down.
“Would you stop being a doctor if you didn't have to work?” he asked without releasing her hand. While he waited for her answer his eyes zeroed in on her pale pink lips. His mind suddenly wouldn't let him think about anything but how they would feel against his. As if drawn by an invisible cord he took a step closer.
Charlie ran her tongue over her lips and Jake followed its p
ath with his eyes, his desire to kiss her growing like a wild fire out of control.
“No, of course not. I guess I can't imagine enjoying being surrounded by that many children every day,” she answered, her voice not sounding as confident as usual to him.
Without stopping to think, Jake began to lower his head toward her. “I agree with you there,” he whispered inches from her lips.
Charlie didn't stop to think about what was happening or where she was as she felt Jake's lips come down on hers. One of his hands still held hers while the other settled on the curve of her shoulder. The skin on his hand was rough and callused, more proof that he was more than just the face of the foundation. His lips were firm as he slowly kissed her. Unable to stop herself, Charlie took a step closer eliminating the space between them. Then she wrapped her free arm around his lean waist. The additional contact of their bodies seemed to throw a switch in both of them. Jake moved them backward until Charlie leaned back against the SUV. At the same time she teased his lips open with her tongue. Freeing her hand from his, she buried her fingers in his short thick blond hair. Incredible warmth raced through her body as the kiss continued and everything but the man next to her faded from reality.
Only when Charlie heard the sirens of an approaching ambulance did the haze of desire start to clear from her brain and she pulled away. Oh, god! They were in a parking lot making out like a couple of teenagers, in front of a hospital of all places.
Though they stopped kissing, Jake's hand remained on her shoulder and Charlie found herself trapped between wanting to run from him as fast as she could and wanting to pull his head back down toward hers for another kiss.
“We should go inside.” She didn't recognize her own breathless voice as she let her hands fall back to her sides.
Jake trailed a finger down her cheek. “Yeah,” he drawled, not moving away.
