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Crossing her arms over her soft woollen sweater, she stepped warily out of the lift to find him waiting by the doors, his lean jaw dark with night-time shadow, his hair mussed and his piercing blue eyes preternaturally bright. Desire for him was like a flash flood, fierce and elemental, and it rendered her immediately weak.
‘Jake…’ His name on her lips was little more than a murmur.
‘Come for a walk’ he said, catching hold of her hand and urging her towards the rotating glass doors of the exit.
Mid-stride, Caitlin ground to a halt to stare at him. ‘You want to go for a walk? Are you crazy? It’s two-thirty in the morning.’
A muscle tensed visibly in his jaw and Caitlin allowed him to guide her outside. The wind cut through her like an icy blade and, catching her shiver, Jake immediately shrugged off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders.
Her eyes wide, she glanced up at him. ‘What’s all this about, Jake?’
‘Come on—let’s walk. It’s too cold to stand around.’
They headed out towards the pier, Jake catching hold of her hand again as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. The night sky was almost black, but there was still plenty of light. Aside from the stars and the curved sliver of moon that permeated the velvet blanket there was plenty of neon to light up the streets, and even the occasional car’s headlamp as it flew past.
For most of the way Jake had stayed silent. Now he stopped, drawing Caitlin close against him before staring out to sea.
‘You were amazing tonight.’
He turned back to survey her. Heat slid down her spine and radiated down into her pelvis. The unexpected compliment took her by surprise.
‘Thanks…I really enjoyed myself. The band were great, weren’t they? I particularly liked—’
Jake silenced her with a hard, hot kiss that made her stumble against him.
Her lips were like soft satin pillows that couldn’t help but invite him to keep tasting them. But he didn’t just want to kiss her. He wanted to do so much more… The very idea made him tighten. Then it made him hard.
Lifting his head, he examined the dazed expression she wore—the moist, softly opened mouth that he’d so spontaneously and heatedly ravished, and the shining green eyes that he defied any man not to lose his soul to.
‘I’ll go crazy if I can’t make love to you soon,’ he confessed.
‘We can’t. Remember, we agreed…?’
Emitting a curse, Jake stared at Caitlin and drove his hands through his already windblown hair in frustration.
‘I know what we agreed. I know what we should do. But the truth is that when you were posing with the others today at the photo shoot I hated every single one of them for looking at you…for no doubt imagining what it would be like to make love to you… No one has a right to look at you like that but me.’
Nervously, Caitlin slid her tongue over her lips. ‘What’s the meaning of all this, Jake? What are you telling me?’
‘I’m telling you that I want us to be lovers. I’m not saying I expect it to be forever but I want us to be together.’
‘What you’re saying is that if we get together you don’t expect it to be a permanent arrangement?’
‘Yes.’
The expression in his eyes looked haunted for a moment.
‘The idea scares you?’
‘I just don’t trust that long-term commitment can ever really work. Look at the examples I’ve had.’
‘You mean there’s no chance you might be able to change that view? We’ve all been hurt, Jake…including me. After what Sean did to me it was never going to be easy to trust another man. If I can open my mind to the idea…can’t you?’
He sighed. ‘I’d like to tell you I could…but in all honesty I don’t hold out much hope. I know myself too well.’ He shook his head in frustration. ‘Look, do things have to be so serious? Can’t we just have some fun together?’
‘I take it you’re talking about sex? Is that how you see relationships, Jake as a chance to indulge in a little light-hearted sex with no commitment whatsoever?’
‘No! You’re taking everything the wrong way. Look, Caitlin, I’ll respect you and take care of you for however long our relationship lasts…we’ll enjoy whatever time we have together—that’s all I meant. I only know that I want us to be up-front about things to everyone—not play cloak and dagger and pretend we aren’t an item. After all, we’re adults, aren’t we?’
