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Opened myself up for that one. “Not like you. This is the first time I've visited them in almost a year. My mom and brother are tight, but I've been a third wheel since …” Charlie paused. How much did she want to reveal? Her relationship with her family began to change the day her father walked out on them. She didn't share that with many people. “… my parent's divorce.”
“How old were you?”
“The divorce was official a few days after my thirteenth birthday. It came as a complete surprise when they separated the year before. A lot of my friends' parents were divorced but I never thought mine would be.”
He squeezed her hand as an unexpected emotion squeezed her heart.
“Most kids probably think like that. Do you see your father often?”
Did she see him often? She hadn't seen or heard from him since the day he walked out and as far as she knew neither had Sean. She didn't even know if the man was still alive. “He didn't bother to keep in contact,” Charlie said as they stopped in front of her bedroom door. She could hear the bitterness in her voice, but could do nothing about it. Her father's rejection shouldn't bother her, especially after all this time, but it still did.
Releasing her hand, Jake wrapped his arms around her. “His loss,” he whispered inches from her mouth before moving in to kiss her.
The kiss was tender but still sent shivers of excitement to every nerve ending in her body. Soon the excitement from his kiss and touch washed away the bad memories of her childhood.
“Maybe we should go inside,” Charlie suggested as he moved his lips away from hers and settled on her neck. If he continued to tease her like this, she wouldn't be held responsible for her actions.
Jake lifted his head just enough to answer. “I'd like nothing more, but …”
Charlie groaned at the sound of the word but.
“I promised to take Dylan out for drinks tonight. I missed his bachelor party because of the hurricane so this is my chance to make it up to him. We leave in less than an hour so that doesn't leave me much time, and I don't want to be rushed.”
Rather than cool her passion, his words further ignited it. How much effort would it take to change his mind? Sneaking her hands under the hem of his shirt, she decided to see for herself. “Is that so?” She trailed her hands up his back toward his shoulders. “Are you sure I can't change your mind?” she asked her voice low.
She felt his lips curve into a smile against her neck.
“You wouldn't even need to try, but this time I need to go.” He pulled back and dropped a final kiss on her lips. “But I promise to make it up to you tomorrow, Charlie.”
The desire in his eyes matched the desire running rampant through her body, and she knew, if not for the wedding in the morning, he'd come in. Charlie let her hands fall back to her sides. “Go have your drinks then.” She opened the bedroom door and took a step inside. “See you tomorrow.”
After she closed the door she looked around the well-appointed room. What should she do for the next few hours? Although it was late she knew sleep wouldn't be coming anytime soon, thanks to Jake. The guy had some nerve to awaken her passion like that and then retreat.
A well-stocked bookcase stood in the corner of the room. Selecting a book about the history of nineteenth century Newport, Charlie settled outside on the balcony. Hopefully a little reading would get her in the mood for bed.
Chapter 7
The musicians on the balcony overlooking the outdoor dance floor launched into a slow ballad. Without warning Jake tugged her onto the dance floor where the bride and groom were moving as one to the music. Dinner had ended more than an hour before but many people remained seated, lost in conversation. Given the diverse guests present, Charlie assumed those conversations ranged from politics to fashion and just about everything in between. None of it mattered to Charlie though as she melted against Jake who wrapped his arms around her and moved her across the dance floor. She'd been looking forward to this moment all day.
“You look beautiful today,” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear. “Do you know what I've thought about all day?” His voice took on a husky tone.
Charlie didn't respond, though she thought she could guess.
“Taking you some place private and losing this sexy dress of yours.”
The blue of his eyes darkened with desire and an unexpected bout of self-consciousness rolled over her. Never in her adult life had she been self-conscious. Yet surrounded by all these beautiful people, it kicked in. Jake Sherbrooke, world-renowned playboy, dated beautiful women all the time and the thought of him seeing her
naked suddenly worried her.
“What do you think?” He ran his tongue along the outline of her ear. “No one will miss us if we go now.”
What did she think? She could barely put two words together when their bodies touched. Even the briefest of touches caused her thoughts to float away. Talk about annoying. She never lost her head over a guy. She'd always teased her friends for doing just that. Evidently it was true, what goes around comes around.
Pull yourself together. He's talking about sex, not flying to the moon, she reminded herself. “I say what are we waiting for?” Charlie tried to project as much confidence in her answer as possible. The last thing she wanted was for him to pick up on how unlike herself she felt tonight.
At some point during their dance one of his hands had come to rest on her ass, and now he gave her a gentle squeeze and reached for her arm that was wrapped around him. No one paid any attention to them as they weaved between dancing couples. Once free of the dance floor, Jake picked up his pace. Charlie wished he'd stop long enough for her to remove her heels. She didn't wear them often and they kept sinking into the lawn making it difficult to keep up.
Like the night before, Jake took her in through a side door that led into a hallway near the back of the mansion. “We'll use the back stairway.”
