She’d never paid much attention to physical beauty before, but then she’d never been with a truly beautiful man until now. Now, every detail, from the hard muscle of Jake’s abdomen to the soft dusting of hair across his chest, intrigued her.
She ran her hands back over his chest, watching as his growing erection pressed against the front of his boxers. He pulled her toward him and kissed her, cupping her backside in his hands and moving his hips against her. Emboldened, Caley reached down and wrapped her fingers around his shaft, hot and hard through the soft fabric.
Jake’s breath caught and then he moaned. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not sure,” Caley said. And she wasn’t. She was just following her instincts. It didn’t make any sense and in the rational world, she might have been appalled at her daring. But when she and Jake were together, the normal rules didn’t seem to apply.
“How does it fit?” the salesclerk called.
“It fits good,” Jake replied, his eyes closed, his face a mask of pleasure. He wasn’t talking about the clothes. They fit—her hand, his shaft, his hands, her backside. Everything seemed to fit perfectly.
“Can I see?”
“No!” they both said.
Jake looked down at her through passion-glazed eyes and smiled. “Is that why you came here? To torment me?”
“I—I came to talk about Emma,” she admitted, realizing how far off track she’d wandered. She hesitantly drew her hand away.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “Touch me.” Jake brushed his lips across hers. “I’m sorry I acted like such an ass earlier. I was out of line. Do you forgive me?”
“For what?”
“For what I said. For the way I acted. For being a jerk and leaving you out on the road with Winslow.” He sucked in a sharp breath and moaned. “If you keep doing that, there will be consequences. Very messy consequences.”
“Sorry,” Caley said. “Maybe we should continue this later?”
“Maybe that would be best,” he said. “I’m not sure I want our first time to be in a fitting room.” He glanced down. “This is definitely going to affect the fit of my trousers.”
Caley giggled. She sensed that sex with Jake would be amazing, heart-stopping, a powerful experience. But she also knew that it would be fun. And Caley had never really had a lot of fun in the bedroom. Sex had always been fraught with so many expectations, many of them never fulfilled. She was curious now, anxious to learn how it might be with Jake. “Maybe I should leave?”
“No, just give me a few minutes. I just have to focus on something else.”
“Our plan,” she said. “We need a plan. I talked to Emma and she’s having doubts. I don’t think she’s ready, but she won’t be the one to call it off.”
Jake glanced around. “You know, this fitting room thing is pretty hot. It’s like a public place but it’s still private.”
Caley gave him a soft punch on the arm. “We’re talking about Emma and Sam.”
“I don’t want to talk about them. I’d rather talk about us. What are you doing this afternoon? I have something to show you.”
Caley looked down, then rolled her eyes. “All you think about is sex.”
“No. That’s not true. And that’s not what I was planning to show you.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. “Let me take care of this first.” He opened the fitting room door and pushed her out.
The salesclerk was standing outside, a disapproving scowl on his face. “He’ll be right out. I’m just going to wait up front. You have some very nice leather chairs.” She forced a smile, but the man’s expression didn’t waver.
Ten minutes later, Jake joined her at the front of the store. He took her hand and walked out with her and when they reached the street, Caley turned on him. “You have to stop making me do those things,” she said.
“You used to be such a daredevil,” he said. “What’s happened?”
“I’ve grown up,” Caley said.
“I dare you to kiss me, right here,” Jake said. “In front of everyone.” He looked around at the nearly empty street and then shrugged. “All right, in front of that woman with the poodle.”
“Where are we going? You said you wanted to take me somewhere.”
“I don’t know if I should,” Jake teased. “You’ve lost your nerve. I’m not sure this Caley would be up for what I have in mind.”
She grinned, then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Her tongue slipped between his lips and Caley used every ounce of her feminine wiles to arouse him again. “I’m just a little out of practice,” she said. “The only daring thing I do is dodging cabs when crossing Fifth Avenue.”
Jake grabbed another kiss, then pulled her along to his SUV. Caley really didn’t care where they were going, as long as it was somewhere quiet and private where they might continue what they’d started in the fitting room.
4
“WHERE ARE WE GOING?”
Jake glanced over at Caley and smiled.
After their rocky start that morning, Jake wondered whether he and Caley were doomed to spend their time revisiting the past.
They’d been such good friends growing up, doing everything together, climbing trees and exploring the lakeshore, fishing and swimming. But once they’d started to see each other as more than just good buddies, their relationship had grown strained. Though they’d still spent the majority of their time together, they had often been locked in a battle of wills, each of them trying to one-up the other.
Caley had used the stubborn determination he’d fostered and made a success of herself in a highly competitive field. He, in turn, had internalized her absolute confidence in him and used it to build his own business from scratch.
He’d never really thanked her for being such a good friend. But he didn’t want to do that now. Instead, he wanted her to look at him as something more than a friend. He wanted to get back to that place, to that day right before they’d started looking at each other with teenage lust in their eyes. If he took them back, then maybe they’d be able to turn things in a different direction.
“I’d just like to know what this thing you’re going to show me is.”
“A surprise,” Jake said. “Are you always this impatient? Or do you just hate surprises?”
“Both,” Caley said.
“You’re going to have to relax. You’re not in the big city anymore. Take a breath, chill for a while. Enjoy the beautiful day.”
Caley’s phone rang and
