frowned, pushing back. “You don’t?”
“I just don’t have those kinds of feelings for you, Jake,” she murmured, deepening her voice to make the imitation more obvious.
She watched as a slow smile broke across his face. He’d said those same words to her that night on the beach. “I lied,” Jake said. “Believe me, I did have those feelings.”
His admission stunned her. “Really?”
“For a long time.”
“How long?”
“Remember that red striped bikini you had? You were fourteen that summer.”
Caley nodded.
“Since then. I remember I saw you in that bikini and later that night I was thinking about you and your body and how smooth your skin was and how perfect your breasts were and then I—well, you know.”
“I do?”
“What? You want me to say it? I pleasured myself as teenage boys do on occasion. Hey, grown men do it, too.” He chuckled softly. “All I remember is, from that summer on, being around you was pure torture.”
Caley smiled, satisfied with the admission. So the infatuation hadn’t been unreciprocated. Oddly enough, that did make a difference. Why not make both of their fantasies come true? “So what else were you thinking about?” she asked as she dropped a line of kisses across his chest.
He pressed his mouth to her shoulder, gently biting as he kissed her. “I wasn’t very experienced back then. I was still technically a virgin. But I thought about what you’d look like naked.” Jake pulled up her T-shirt and trailed a line of kisses from her belly to a spot beneath her breasts.
Caley sat up and straddled his hips, then slowly pulled her T-shirt over her head. She remembered doing the same thing eleven years ago. But then, she’d been so nervous her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. Now, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world, to crave his touch, to offer him more.
Jake smiled as he reached out and cupped her breast in his hand, teasing at her nipple with his thumb. And then, in one easy motion, he sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his mouth against her neck. He trailed kisses from her collarbone to her breasts as he unhooked her bra. Finally, he drew the hard nub of her nipple into his mouth.
She arched back, holding her breath as he pulled her back down with him. Caley remembered how fascinated she’d been with his body, watching it change from summer to summer as he slowly became a man. She was as desperate to touch it now as she had been then. Grabbing the front of his shirt, she worked at the remaining buttons, then brushed it off his shoulders until his chest was completely bare.
She drew back, staring at him as she tossed aside her bra. Her fingers lazily following the line of hair that ran from his collarbone to his belly. Now he was fully formed, his shoulders broad, his body lean and hard, a body only a woman could appreciate.
Caley bent forward and pressed a kiss to his chest, then gently sucked on his nipple. What began as curiosity had now taken on a very intimate feeling. He groaned softly, then murmured her name. A shiver skittered over her exposed skin. Her breath caught in her throat.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“No,” she lied.
He chuckled softly, grabbing her by the waist and pulling their bodies together in a warm embrace. They kissed for a long time, hands touching, mouths tasting. It was everything she’d always thought it would be, yet more. It wasn’t just about sex, it was about … trust.
He ran his hands through her hair, then pressed his forehead against hers. “Spend the night with me.”
“Not here.”
“Where then?”
“At the inn. We’ll have more privacy there.”
“What about Emma?”
“Her room is on the second floor and mine’s on the third. There’s a back stairway. I’ll let you in and no one will know you’re there.”
Jake kissed her forehead, his lips warm and damp. “Have you talked to Emma yet? I mean, about the wedding.”
Caley shook her head. “No. I told her I’d meet her for lunch tomorrow and I thought we’d have some time then.”
“What do you think about this marriage? Do you think they’re ready?”
“No!” Caley frowned, pushing up on her elbow. “Not at all. They’re so young. I thought I was the only one who had concerns. Everyone is just so thrilled that our families will finally be related. But no one is even thinking about what will happen if the marriage doesn’t work.”
“I agree,” Jake said. “I don’t think they’re ready.”
Caley crossed her arms over his chest and stared into his eyes. “You started that fight between them on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Someone has to shake some sense into them.” He paused. “We need a plan. A coordinated effort between the two of us. If we go at it from both sides, maybe we’ll be able to convince them to wait.”
“I don’t think they’ll consider waiting. Everything is moving so fast and I’m sure they feel they’d be disappointing the families.”
Jake reached out and brushed her hair away from her temple, his gaze skimming over her face. “I talked to Sam this afternoon and he’s just going along with what Emma wants.”
Caley gasped. “You think she talked him into this?”
“Maybe. I can’t imagine he really wants to get married. What guy in his right mind would want a wife at twenty-one?”
“Well, he’s the one who asked her,” Caley said. “If he didn’t want to get married, why did he ask?”
“She probably pressured him,” Jake said.
Caley pulled out of his embrace and sat up, stunned by his comment and eager to defend her sister. “Emma wouldn’t do that.”
“I’m just saying that usually women are the ones who press for the wedding,” Jake said.
“And you come by this knowledge how?” Caley asked. “Have you been manipulated into an engagement recently?”
“No, just the opposite. Every woman I’ve ever met has had marriage in the back of her mind. Come on, even you’ve thought about it. Wondered what it would be like if you and I … you know.”
Caley scrambled off the bed. Marrying Jake was the last thing on her mind! And if he thought she had any designs on his future, he was sadly mistaken. “I think this was a mistake,” she murmured, crawling off the bed. She searched the floor for her bra and T-shirt.
“Come on, Caley, don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to imply that—”
“No, I understand,” she said as she pulled the shirt over her
