it?” he asked.
She snatched up her sweater from the floor and tugged it back over her head. “I have to go.”
Jake sat up and reached for her, but she avoided his grasp. “Caley, come on. I was just teasing. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
She shook her head. “I do agree about Emma and Sam. They’re too young. You and I don’t even know what we want. How would they?”
Jake grabbed her hand. “I know what I want,” he said.
She stared down at their fingers, intertwined so tightly that she couldn’t tell his from hers. Caley fought the temptation to strip off her clothes again and just forget her fears. But if she jumped into bed with Jake tonight, there would be no going back. “I’ll talk to Emma.”
“When will I see you again?” Jake asked.
“You’re going to see me all week.”
“You know what I mean.”
Caley bit her lower lip. “I don’t know. Maybe we ought to forget this. It just makes things too complicated.”
“I’m not sure I can,” he replied.
“Try, Jake,” she murmured. Caley walked to the door, then turned back to look at him. “Try really hard.”
3
JAKE STEERED HIS SUV around a sharp curve on West Shore Road, his mother’s grocery list clutched in his hand. He had an appointment for his tux fitting and then his mother wanted him to buy three “nice” chickens. He wasn’t sure what qualified a chicken as nice, but he’d figure it out when he got to the grocery store.
The truck skidded and he took his foot off the accelerator, startled out of his thoughts. He’d gotten about two or three hours of sleep last night. The rest of his time in bed was spent trying to figure out just how he’d managed to screw things up with Caley.
Maybe the forces of the universe were sending him a message—don’t mess with Caley Lambert. But though he’d considered heeding the message, his body didn’t want to listen. Every time he came within ten feet of her, he found himself lost in another sexual fantasy.
This was his penance for keeping all his desire bottled up so long ago. It had increased over the years, like pressure in a simmering pot, until he was left with a need for Caley that threatened to boil over. He wanted to kiss her and touch her, to strip off her clothes and enjoy the pleasures of her body. He’d waited years and now that she was with him again, he wanted to make it happen.
But could it just be casual sex? Would he be able to enjoy the act and then walk away, no strings attached? From the moment he found her lying next to him in bed, he’d felt it. A deep-rooted connection, not diminished by time, but strengthened. She could never be just a physical release for him. Sex with Caley would have to mean something. But what?
Jake groaned, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “It’s just too complicated,” he muttered, repeating her words. But it didn’t seem at all complicated in his mind. In truth, seducing Caley felt like the most natural thing he’d ever done.
How long had he been searching for a woman just like her, a woman he could feel entirely comfortable with, a woman who didn’t try to make herself into something she thought he wanted.
Jake had seen it all—the sexpot, the girl-next-door, the doting wife, the perfect mother of his children. They’d all tried to be something they weren’t. He’d known Caley so long that she couldn’t hide behind a facade. And if she tried, he would see right through it.
“Just take it slow,” he told himself. He’d been able to resist her when he was younger and far less experienced with the opposite sex. It shouldn’t be that difficult to bide his time.
His mind flashed back to an image of Caley, straddling his waist, tugging her T-shirt over her head. Jake’s fingers twitched as he recalled the feel of her flesh beneath his hands, the taste of her skin, the scent of her hair. He drew a ragged breath and tried to banish the image from his mind and focus on something else.
He noticed a car ahead of him on the road and slowed, but the sedan wasn’t moving. Instead, it was tilted at an odd angle. As he approached, Jake realized the car looked familiar—as did the figure standing at the front bumper. He carefully pulled over, then hopped out of the truck.
The moment Caley saw him, she turned away and shook her head. “Don’t even say it,” she muttered.
“Who taught you to drive?” he teased.
A reluctant smile broke across her face. “You did. Remember? You took me out in that old Cutlass you bought, then proceeded to yell at me for the entire lesson.”
“You’ve forgotten everything I taught you, grasshopper,” he teased, running his finger along her cheek. This time Jake fought the urge to kiss her and instead moved to the front of the car to examine the situation.
“We didn’t cover ice and snow, if you recall.”
“And how are you planning to get your car back on the road? By sheer force of will?”
“Maybe you could give me a push?”
“Not gonna work.” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets. It took every ounce of his willpower just to keep from touching her. He never remembered her hold over him being this strong, but it must have been. How had he managed to say no the night of her eighteenth birthday? He shook his head. “It’s going to take an hour of shoveling and two or three guys to get you out of this snowbank. I can go back home and get a chain and see if I can pull you out. Or I’ll get Teddy and my brothers and we can shovel and push.”
“My hero,” Caley said with a mocking smile.
Jake’s smile faded. He was short on sleep and tired of this game they played. Why did everything always have to be a challenge? “Am I? After last night, I thought you might not like me anymore.”
Caley shrugged. “I like you. That’s not going to change.”
“I shouldn’t have said those things about your sister.”
She drew a deep breath and sighed, then reached out and touched his arm, as if to reassure herself that they were all right. “I’m as worried as you are. I’m having lunch with her later. I was hoping I’d get a better sense of what she’s thinking.”
“You know, they haven’t had sex yet,” Jake said.
Caley blinked, stunned by the revelation. “Really? They’re both virgins?”
“No. They’ve both had sex, just not with each other. They’re saving it for marriage.”
“That changes everything,” Caley said, her eyes wide. “I mean, I think it’s an admirable concept, but it still worries me. Sex is an important part of a relationship. What if they aren’t compatible in bed?”
“Exactly,” Jake said. “Maybe we need to have one of those—what do you call them—interventions.
