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Charlie unconsciously sighed as she thought about the kiss they'd shared the night before. For the second straight night they'd both come down for a late night snack and ended up having homemade oatmeal cookies with a side make out session.
If your friends saw you now O'Brien, they'd think you'd been abducted by aliens. She didn't sigh and daydream about men. It simply wasn't her. Yet she was doing just that.
With more force than necessary she stuffed a pillow into a clean cotton pillow case. She prided herself on her ability to remain emotionally detached from the men she spent time with. No matter who she dated or became intimate with she always held back a part of herself. She never let her heart become invested in a relationship. It was the only sure way to avoid a broken heart.
This time things were different. Every day she found it a little more difficult to keep her emotions under lock and key. She kept trying to figure out why? Maybe if she knew why she could get a handle on it. Part of her wished she still thought of him as the spoiled playboy the media referred to as Prince Charming. Then she wouldn't have a problem keeping her heart safe. Though she still didn't know how much of his playboy status was fabricated by the media, he'd more than proven that he was more than just a spoiled rich guy. He cared about the welfare of others, no one could deny that.
Charlie tossed the pillow back onto the bed and reached for another. “I've got to get myself back in control.” She stuffed the other pillow into its case.
Through the open bedroom window she heard a car pull into the gravel driveway. After a few minutes she heard the front door downstairs close. Despite her previous words to herself about getting back into control, hope and anticipation blossomed in her chest. Had Jake returned? He'd left right after breakfast. Lunch time had come and gone and he hadn't returned.
Determined not to look out the open window to see if his truck was back, Charlie spread the sage green comforter over the bed. “I've got issues,” she said, her voice laced with annoyance and disgust. Turning from the bed she retrieved the bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap and the rag she'd brought up with her.
“You're not alone. We all have issues but talking to yourself can be a serious problem. You might want to see a professional,” Jake said from the open doorway, the amusement in his voice apparent.
For a moment Charlie wanted to do something she'd never in her life done before; drop everything and run to the man leaning against the door frame and throw her arms around him. Instead she looked at him forcing her feet to stay rooted in place. “Can you suggest someone?”
“I've got a great shrink on speed dial. I'll give you the number.”
He walked further into the room and Charlie swore the temperature jumped twenty degrees. Doesn't he ever look unsightly like the rest of us mere mortals? It just wasn't fair. No matter the time of day or what he'd been doing, Jake always looked incredibly sexy. Today was no exception. Wearing a pair of khaki Dockers and a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up he could've been a model in an ad for a weekend executive collection.
“Your mom said you were helping out. Almost done?” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close as he spoke. “Thought we'd head over to see Mr. Quinn.”
All the nerves in Charlie's body quivered at the physical contact. It seemed no matter how many times he pulled her close like this it happened. Her entire body went on high alert with excitement a
nd yearning.
Control. Somehow she needed to get a handle on these emotions. Otherwise she ran the risk of having her heart crushed. The last person who had done it was her father and she'd vowed it'd never happen again.
With that single word repeating in her head, she broke free then took a few steps away from him. “Give me another ten minutes and I'll be done. Dusting is all I have left. I'll meet you downstairs.” She needed him to leave before she said the hell with dusting and threw her arms around him for one of his fabulous kisses.
Jake opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed it again. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he nodded. “I'll be in the kitchen getting a sandwich. I missed lunch.”
Without another word he turned and headed back downstairs. He figured waiting in the kitchen was best. Being that close to her and a bed was dangerous. The minute he'd seen her in the bedroom he envisioned himself locking them in, peeling her clothes off and spending the rest of the day in bed getting to know every inch of her body, something he'd come close to doing on the yacht before their unexpected visitors arrived. In the middle of the day with her family around struck him as a bad time to give into his desires. He'd have to wait till they had more privacy, assuming her response on the boat hadn't been an isolated occurrence. He hoped it hadn't been.
Although the last thing he'd come here for was a relationship, Jake hoped she gave them a chance. Everything about her was so different from the women he normally dated, yet being with her felt right. Though they'd only known each other a short time, he felt like she understood him. She looked past his name and saw the man. True, at first she'd only seen what the media told everyone, but her opinion had changed. He could tell by the way she responded to his kisses and the way she spoke to him. When they first met she'd been indifferent and aloof. That wasn't the case anymore.
Thoughts about the first time they met were still running through his mind, when his cell phone rang. He knew from the ringtone it was his executive assistant, Cindy.
“Hi Cindy.” Jake pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and made himself comfortable.
“How are things up there, Jake?”
Most executives would take exception to their employees calling them by their first name. In fact his father almost had a heart attack the first time he'd heard Cindy call him Jake. When he'd hired the fifty-something assistant he insisted that she call him Jake and not Mr. Sherbrooke. At first she balked at the idea, but after a while she complied. Now it sounded strange to hear her refer to him as anything other than Jake.
“Everything is coming along. A good portion of town has power back and our engineers have started plans for replacing the dam. I should be returning home soon.”
“That's a relief. The place is falling apart without you.”
Jake couldn't help but chuckle. Cindy ran a tight ship especially when he wasn't around so he knew there was no possibility of things falling apart without him. “I doubt that.”
“You're right, no problems here. I called because I wanted to give you a heads up. Marcy Blake from Today magazine called looking for you this morning.”
Every cell in Jake's body tensed up at the reporter’s name. Whenever she called looking for a statement, it wasn't a good sign. The last time had been when news of Callie and Dylan's involvement had been made public.
“What did she want?” Jake leaned his forearms on the table prepared for bad news.
“She didn't say much. Only asked to speak with you. Maybe she's doing a piece on your sister's wedding next week,” Cindy said sounding optimistic.
