could hardly believe what she was hearing.
‘That was below the belt, Lia,’ she murmured. ‘Okay, so I’ve made some wrong turns in my life. Haven’t you? Hasn’t everyone? It doesn’t mean that everything I do is doomed to failure or disaster, does it?’
‘I shouldn’t have said that. About Sean, I mean.’ Lia sniffed. ‘I’m sorry, Caitlin. I should know better, considering the business I’m in, shouldn’t I? It’s just that sometimes it’s hard to put wisdom into practice when it comes to someone you care about. You know what men can be like. They’ve got a one-track mind when it comes to women like you, and I mean that as a compliment. You’re beautiful and talented, with a sweet and trusting nature. They’re bound to try and take advantage and here you are—going off into the wide blue yonder with five of them!’
‘Well, you’ve got to try and stop worrying, Lia. I’m going to be just fine. I’m doing what I want to do, right? Nobody is forcing me. If I can trust that everything will be okay, then why can’t you?’
Abruptly rising to her feet, Caitlin carried her empty mug over to the sink. Then she rinsed it out and turned it upside down on the drainer.
‘I’d better get back upstairs and relieve Nicky so that she can have her lunch. Today’s my last day at the shop, so let’s not spoil it by having an argument.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m just feeling a bit on edge because you’re going. Don’t be mad at me?’ Lia pleaded as she got to her feet.
‘Don’t be silly!’ Grinning, Caitlin fondly ruffled her hair. ‘How on earth could I be mad at you for caring? Since that particular commodity has been sadly lacking in my life for quite some time, I can assure you I’m open to all the TLC I can get!’
But even as she laughed off her friend’s concern Caitlin couldn’t help dwelling on what she’d said about Jake. The revelation about Jake’s former marriage perturbed her. She didn’t often read the celebrity gossip that littered the newspapers and social media, and right now she was glad that she didn’t. Whatever had happened between Jake and his ex-wife, it must have been painful for both of them, she reasoned. She should just focus on singing with the band and not concern herself with how Blue Sky’s manager might or might not conduct himself in private.
AT THE END of an emotionally fraught day, Caitlin sank back into a hot steamy bath and exhaled a heartfelt sigh. Flickering candles cast dancing shadows on the walls of the small, once shabby bathroom she’d sought to transform with some pink paint, pale blue curtains and accessories. She was genuinely pleased with what she’d achieved.
Closing her eyes, she breathed in the exotic perfume that filled the air from the scented candles and her favourite aromatic bath oil. Trailing her fingers idly in the water, she let her thoughts whirl. Electing to leave her job, she hadn’t exactly burnt her bridges, she reflected, because Lia had promised she could have a job with her any day. But it was still a scary thought to realise that she was giving up something relatively stable and secure for something that was its direct antithesis.
Splashing a handful of water across her shoulders, Caitlin opened her eyes and absently watched the droplets roll down her warm, scented skin. Frowning, she thought about the afternoon’s rehearsals and how Jake had regularly berated her for lack of concentration—not to mention for pretty much everything else. He’d yelled at her so often that the rest of the crew had cast each other quizzical glances, as if to ask, what’s going on?
Was he behaving like that because he regretted kissing her? She hadn’t asked him to kiss her! Her concentration might well not have been what it should, but despite the rights or wrongs of that inflammatory kiss how did the man expect her to react when she’d just left the job that she’d been devoted to for the past five years? It just wasn’t that easy to detach herself from a person or a place she cared about.
At least Rick and the others had been more understanding. They had even brought along a bottle of champagne to celebrate her ‘release’, although Jake had declined to join them in their impromptu toast during the break. Instead, he’d collected his leather jacket and gone out for a while… ‘To get some fresh air,’ he’d tersely explained.
‘Blast you, Jake Sorenson! I’m doing my best here. Give me a break, can’t you?’
Grabbing the innocent plastic yellow duck bobbing about on the water, she flung it down in temper. It made a very sad little splash. Not nearly enough impact to vent the anger that was bubbling up inside her.
Then, as if on cue, the doorbell rang.
Caitlin cursed out loud, determined to ignore it. But when it rang for a second and then a third time her resolve crumbled and she hauled herself out of the bath, grabbed the blue terry robe off the peg behind the door and struggled into it, littering the air with vague mutterings of irritation as she did so…
Stomping through the living room, then down the cold linoleum-covered stairs, she wondered who could be so inconsiderate and foolhardy enough to disrupt one of her favourite pastimes.
‘Jake.’
All the strength seemed to drain from her limbs as she came face to face with her unexpected visitor. His lean, athletic frame was clothed entirely in black, and his long legs and broad shoulders were outlined by the filtered orange glow of a nearby street lamp. No other man had the power to disturb her as much. Jake had a presence that scrambled her thoughts into a muddled tangle and almost made it hard to breathe. All compelling lean angles and shadows, his gorgeous cheekbones were almost impossibly perfect.
Meeting his bold gaze, she asked, ‘What is it? Is something wrong?’
‘Can I come in?’
Because the request had caught her off guard, Caitlin found herself nodding. Then she stepped back into the dimly lit hallway, with its unfortunate flocked gold wallpaper and worn red carpet, to let him enter. The damp hair that she’d screwed up so carelessly into an improvised knot hung loose and heavy behind her head and several long ebony strands had worked free to glance against her cheek. Beneath her robe her body was still slick with moisture because she hadn’t had time to dry herself. And she was stark naked beneath that robe…
It was a fact that did little to add to her confidence. Not when Jake edged past her with an enigmatic little smile that made all the strength ooze out of her limbs like sherbet through a straw.
‘Up the stairs,’ she instructed weakly as he turned and waited while she closed the front door.
Glancing briefly up the narrow staircase that led to her flat, he said, ‘You go first.’
Caitlin had been afraid he might say that. With her face burning she squeezed past him, inadvertently inhaling the heady scents of cedarwood and leather and the fresh smell of the outdoors that clung to him as her body brushed briefly against his. It was like coming into contact with a power supply, she thought as she began to ascend the stairs. There wasn’t a cell in her body that hadn’t felt the effect.
Every step she took in her slim bare feet with their scarlet-painted toenails was pure agony because she was acutely aware of Jake, just inches behind her. The belt round her waist had been fastened so tightly he couldn’t fail to be apprised of her shape beneath the perfectly innocent terry robe,
