AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A moment later he had shortened the distance between them. Reaching out, he laid his palm over her cheek. Soft as a newly opened petal, it beckoned him to touch again. As if anticipating the event, her plump lower lip quivered and the sight inevitably made his blood slow and thicken. Now he wanted to taste her, to plunder, to brand…
But he was swiftly denied the pleasure when Caitlin caught hold of his hand and lifted it firmly away.
‘I need to talk to you, Jake.’
‘After the gig tonight. We’ll have a proper conversation then.’
‘No. I need to tell you something now. I’ve got a friend coming back with me tonight. A friend from home.’
Disappointment, heavy and crushing, cramped his chest. ‘Male or female?’ he quipped jealously, straight away knowing that as a matter of principle he disliked the person already. It didn’t matter about the decision he ultimately had to make for both their sakes. Right then, Jake wanted the dark-haired beauty in front of him exclusively for himself.
‘It’s Lia.’ She shrugged a shoulder. ‘The owner of the shop where I worked.’
‘I remember…the one who had to have some wisdom teeth removed?’
Smiling wryly, Jake lifted a strand of Caitlin’s hair and stared down at it, transfixed. Her green eyes widened.
‘Jake? Is everything all right?’
Even as she asked the question dread coiled in the pit of her stomach. Somehow she knew that everything wasn’t all right. There was something he wasn’t telling her…something she was certain would cause her untold hurt…something she didn’t want to know until she absolutely had to—because right then all she wanted to do was keep this man in her company until the last possible second…
‘Stop worrying. Everything’s fine.’
Jake had just bent his head to kiss her when Rick pushed opened the door and strode in. Depositing the tray of drinks he carried down onto the coffee table, his hazel eyes locked accusingly onto them both.
‘Still taking care of business, Jake?’ he commented sarcastically.
Even before Jake stepped out of their embrace Caitlin sensed his anger and irritation. Once again she put the blame for helping to create animosity between the two men squarely on her own shoulders.
‘Don’t blame Jake.’ Lifting her chin, she unwaveringly met Rick’s glance. ‘It’s my fault. I was the one who—’
‘Save it, sweetheart.’ His smile was resigned, but not unkind. ‘You wouldn’t be the first woman to become infatuated with Jake, and if I’m not mistaken you won’t be the last.’
‘I’d stop right there if I were you.’ The cold glare that Jake directed at his colleague glittered like the sparkle of ice in a glacier.
‘Why?’ Rick demanded. ‘Because you don’t want her to hear the truth?’
‘What truth?’ Caitlin’s mouth had already gone dry as sand.
‘Jake doesn’t have a particularly good track record with women. In this business not many men do…the temptations are often too great to resist. But, to be fair…’ His glance focused even more intently on Jake. ‘He was burned badly by his ex, and after that he swore never to commit to another woman again. I’d be very surprised if that view had changed. In any case, whatever he’s told you, I wouldn’t take it too seriously, Cait.’
The tension that rebounded between them deepened. In the pit of her stomach Caitlin felt sick, cold dread. Was he telling the truth? Was Jake intending to end their relationship before it had even really got started? Had she been painfully naïve in thinking that their passionate lovemaking really mattered to him? Jake had already made it clear that he wasn’t offering her anything more meaningful.
What an idiot she was! When was she going to learn that some men were in the business of taking, not giving? Every time her ex Sean had told her that things would be different, that he would change, that they had a bright future together, she had believed him. Yes, she had even believed him when she’d bailed him out with the last five hundred pounds in her savings account, because he’d sworn to pay it back with interest. Of course he never had.
