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‘No. I grew out of it. It got better all by itself. It hasn’t been an issue since I was young. Anyway, are you going to tell me what’s making you so tense, or do I have to guess?’
Suddenly impatient, he relieved her of the scrunched-up cleaning rag she was still holding onto and threw it onto the window ledge.
As Caitlin fought hard to marshal her thoughts, Jake sucked in a breath and let it out again slowly. ‘I don’t want you to worry about what happened between us.’
‘I’m not. I mean, I was just…I was just…’
He held up his hand to indicate she should stop talking. His blue eyes glittered. ‘Hear me out. I don’t want you to worry about it because I don’t regret a damn thing. And, contrary to what you might think, I’m not going to pretend it never happened.’
A warm rush climbed into her chest. The anxiety that had propelled her into her frenetic cleaning bout slowly subsided, leaving her with a sense of joy so acute she couldn’t resist the smile that tugged at her lips.
He didn’t regret it… That surely had to signify something, didn’t it?
‘However,’ he continued, ‘even though I won’t pretend it never happened, I agree we can’t risk a repeat performance. You were right when you said we should concentrate on the band.’
Caitlin’s brief joy was quickly replaced by crushing disappointment. It was so intense that it was as though all the breath had been brutally sucked from her lungs.
‘You think that’s the best idea?’ she murmured.
‘It’s not because I don’t want us to be together again like we were this morning…’
Capturing her wrist, Jake firmly wove his fingers through her own. His misty blue eyes mesmerised her, and she saw that he was hungry for her again—and yet it was clear he was furious with himself. She suddenly realised that he didn’t want to desire her so much, and was furious because she was hardly helping him to resist.
‘You got into this because you wanted to realise a dream,’ he went on. ‘One day soon this band is going to be very successful…that is if we’re all committed to the same goal. If you and I don’t maintain a professional relationship then the whole thing could fall apart. I think that would be a great shame, don’t you?’
She wasn’t going to disagree. With a brief nod she dropped her gaze. To her surprise, Jake released her hand, slid his fingers beneath her jaw and lifted her chin.
‘I’ve been to see Rick and I’ve arranged to stay over at his place tonight. You can stay here. Treat the place as if it was your own. I’ll be over to pick you up at about six. We’ll do a sound-check and run through the playlist. Tomorrow, when we go to Brighton, I’ve booked you into a separate hotel from the rest of us—a much nicer hotel, because you deserve a little luxury. All in all, I think the arrangement is for the best.’
Caitlin swallowed hard.
‘Why? Don’t you trust me, Jake? I’d much rather be in the same hotel as everyone else. Do you think that because we made love I’m going to make a nuisance of myself?’
Hurt cramping her throat, she pulled out of his grasp and strode across to the other side of the room. Folding her arms, she stared blankly up at a large photographic print of a beautiful redhead. The sight of it made her even sadder when she remembered that there weren’t any more personal photos around because Jake had no family. It broke her heart to think that he’d grown up without someone to love him.
‘Are you crazy?’ he ground out. ‘It’s me I don’t trust. It’s like I told you before—I have a job to do and a little bit of distance wouldn’t be a bad thing right now…at least when we’re not working together.’
Everything he said made the utmost sense, but it didn’t prevent Caitlin from feeling desperately disappointed. Hope was futile, she realised. She didn’t have a right to hope for anything as far as Jake Sorenson was concerned. And thank goodness at least one of them was taking charge of the situation. Of course it was right that the band should come first.
Wasn’t her passion for music and singing the reason she had auditioned in the first place? It certainly hadn’t been because she was looking for another relationship. And she was sure she wasn’t looking for some ‘on-off’ hot little liaison with Blue Sky’s charismatic manager. The sooner she let Jake see that she wasn’t going to waste her time crying over spilt milk, the better.
