Burned (14 page)

“Can you please just leave?” Jake urged her.

“Tonight?” she pressed. “Will you call me tonight?” Her eyes flicked to me yet again, this time with blatant annoyance.

“Fine.”

She reached over and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll be waiting.” With that, she twisted around on an extremely high heel and sashayed out of the café.

“Huh,” I said. “Looks like she forgot her ice-cream.”

Jake gave me a wry look because we both knew she hadn’t really come in for ice-cream.

“Maybe I should’ve listened to her messages,” he said glumly. “Then I’d have a better idea of what she wants.”

I laughed as I shook my head. “Oh, Jake. I think it’s perfectly clear what Darby wants. She wants you. She wants you
bad
.”

He opened his mouth to protest. He snapped it shut again, deciding not to bother.

I forced a smile but really, I didn’t like this situation. Not at all.

Jake dropped me off at the beach house. He left again, claiming he wanted to check on his apartment. I thought probably he wanted some privacy as he talked to Darby. I was sure he didn’t want me to overhear any more of their conversation. I was fine with that. I’d already heard enough.

The moment I walked through the front door I realized the house was reminiscent of a sauna. We’d left the windows closed because the hazy sky had threatened rain. The rain never came, but the heat of the day had lingered. We’d left the air conditioner off because it seemed like a waste to run it when we were going to be gone all day.

I slipped out of my sandals and then went straight to the thermostat. I knew from experience that it would take awhile for the house to cool down enough to be bearable. Sweat trickled down my temple. I went to the bathroom and scrubbed my face free of make-up. The cool water felt good. Calming.

I twisted my hair into a tight knot, restraining all of the strands that had worked their way free throughout the day. My clothes felt sticky so I changed into my bikini and tugged on a lightweight sundress.

I felt a bit better but the temp in the house remained almost suffocating.

I was listless after he dropped me off. My perfect day with Jake had been marred by Darby’s appearance.

I wanted to talk to Holly but I knew she was enjoying her time with Max at the wedding reception. I knew she’d take the time to talk to me, but I didn’t want to be
that
friend. The one that was suddenly over the top needy. I could’ve called Paige, too. She knew Jake far better than either Holly or me. I didn’t feel it was right to bother her, either.

I tried to fight the feeling of restlessness but it was a losing battle. I managed to stay inside the beach house for all of fifteen minutes. I pulled open the fridge, contemplated a chilled glass of chardonnay, and decided on ice water instead. I poured myself an oversized glass and then walked down to the beach.

It wasn’t late, but the sun had already set. Shadows and silhouettes floated lazily in the distance. Though it was still hot and muggy, the breeze coming off the ocean was refreshing.

An achy feeling took up residence in my stomach when I thought about Jake leaving me to call his ex. I liked him more than I cared to admit. I had for a while. It was easier when the feelings were unrequited, but thinking maybe he liked me too, that changed things. But now it felt like maybe they were about to change again. He had a history with Darby. A long one.

What if he did more than call her?

I took a few gulps of my water.

What if…what if he didn’t come back to the beach house tonight?

It wasn’t like he owed me anything. Not really. We’d gone on two dates. Did today even count as a date? Sure we’d laughed, held hands, even shared a kiss or two. But we were hardly exclusive.

We were just starting to really get to know each other.

Knowing he had a history with Darby? It sucked.

I released an aggravated sigh and let my head crash against the back of the Adirondack chair. It wasn’t my smartest move and I probably would’ve groaned in pain if not for the distraction.

“Rough night?”

My head swiveled around in time to see Jake settling into the matching chair. I hadn’t heard his footsteps, muffled by the sand and drowned out by the crashing waves. He leaned forward, arms crossed and elbows resting on his knees as he eyed me up.

“What are you doing here?” I squirmed into a more upright position.

“Well, last I checked, I live here. At least temporarily.”

“Right,” I said with a sharp nod. “I just wasn’t expecting you.”

“At all?” His eyebrows shot up. “Did you think I was going to stay at my apartment? It’s not quite done.”

I realized I should stop talking while I was ahead. No sense in admitting to him that I’d feared he would end up with Darby. Now that he was sitting beside me the thought seemed preposterous.

I decided a subject change was a much wiser move.

“How is the apartment looking?”

“The new flooring is in. So that’s good. It’s probably the cheapest vinyl he could find. But it’s new and the place is one step closer to being ready to move back into.” He wistfully looked over his shoulder at the beach house. “It’s going to be hard going back to that dump after staying here.”

I nodded and wondered if it was awful…growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth and then ending up with rusty cans at your feet, catching water that streamed in through your leaky roof.

“It won’t be forever,” I said. “In fact, from what you’ve told me, it sounds like it might not be long at all. Once you have your internship behind you…” I left the sentence hanging because the possibilities for him were endless.

“Right. I should have an actual paycheck. After everything I’ve been through, I can definitely handle a few more months.”

He leaned back, looking relaxed. His fingers strummed against the armrest of the wooden chair.

I glanced out at the ocean. The air out here had grown nearly as oppressive as the air inside the house. Though it wasn’t terribly late, the night was uncharacteristically dark. The sky was dappled with full, heavy looking clouds that blocked out the stars.

“I’m really sorry about earlier,” Jake said.

I turned to look at him once again. “What?”

“Darby,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry she showed up. I should’ve figured she would eventually. She can be pretty tenacious. It should’ve occurred to me that she would hunt me down.”

“So,” I began hesitantly, “can I ask how your phone call went? Did you get everything worked out? Do you think she’ll leave you alone now?”

“I didn’t actually call her,” Jake admitted.

For a moment I wondered if he was telling me the truth.

“I contemplated it. I finally decided I don’t have much to say to her. I did, however, send her a text,” he admitted. “I told her to give back the ring, then we’ll talk.”

“You told her you’d call,” I reminded. “At the café? You told her you would call her. Tonight.”

He shrugged. “I had to say something to get her out of there.”

“You lied,” I said lightly.

He shrugged again. “And she dumped me barely a week after I almost died. Guess I’m not feeling a whole lot of remorse.”

“Even though you have such a long history with her?”

He shook his head. “That almost makes it worse. It makes me wonder how I was so blind for so long. I mean sure, I knew that she wasn’t the most compassionate girl, but I didn’t realize she had it in her to be heartless.”

“So there’s no going back?” Despite everything he’d already said, I needed the assurance.

“No,” he said firmly. “No going back. I could never be with someone that I can’t trust. I wouldn’t trust her to not break my heart again. You know, how could I trust her not to bail when things got tough? Or when something simply didn’t go her way?” He scoffed, a disgusted sort of scoff. “She left me over
money
. She said that wasn’t it but she couldn’t offer me a better explanation. Everything was okay up until she found out I no longer had an inheritance. Then I was nothing to her.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to say what she’s up to now. It could be because Braden broke things off. Maybe she’s just bored.”

“Maybe she really does miss you,” I suggested.

“Whatever the reason is,” Jake said, “I have to say that I really don’t care. I’ve moved on. And,” he said as he stood from his chair, “I think you and I should move on from this conversation.”

He reached for my hands and tugged me to my feet. I smiled as I lightly crashed into his chest.

“What do you think we should do instead?” I asked.

He smiled at me, his face vaguely illuminated by a distant porch light. He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. My skin stuck to his where we touched. The mugginess in the air clung to our bodies.

“It’s too hot to do much of anything,” he admitted. “But I can think of a few things.” With his hands around my waist he started walking us backwards toward the water.

“I like this idea,” I said. I wiggled out of his grip and grabbed the hem of my dress. “In fact, I changed into my suit because I’d planned on taking a dip.” I tugged my dress over my head and tossed it aside. I motioned toward the water with what I hoped was an inviting smile. “Join me?”

“Definitely.”

I started walking backward, keeping my eyes on Jake. The water was chilly as it splashed against my calves. I barely noticed. Not with my eyes glued to the guy still standing on the beach. I was positive he didn’t have swimming attire on underneath
his
clothes. He didn’t. That didn’t stop him from yanking his shirt over his head and dropping it next to my dress.

I stopped walking as his eyes met mine. Waves sloshed against my thighs, gently bypassing me as they scurried onto the shore. I could barely make out his expression but I wondered if his heart had taken off like mine had. He didn’t hesitate as he went for the button of his shorts. He shoved them off and stepped aside.

Butterflies dive bombed in my stomach. Jake had always been so reserved. I hadn’t really expected him to just strip down without a second thought. His scar stood out, a silver line snaking across his skin under the moonlight.

Water lapped against my backside as he stalked toward me in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and a cocky grin. I took a few more steps backwards, my heart suddenly settling into overdrive. Something about the predatory way he was looking at me kicked in an instinct to flee. I let out a little shriek of laughter, but I had nowhere to go; nowhere but into deeper water. I spun around, not willing to dive under. I was vain, didn’t want my hair to become matted to my head. And as much as my instinct was to escape…I wanted to be caught.

It didn’t take long. I heard a splash behind me. Jake gracefully dove under the water. His hands almost immediately clamped around my waist. His head broke the surface of the ocean and he tugged me off my feet, into his chest. My legs wrapped around his waist as the water swirled around us.

I didn’t exactly protest.

“Hi,” he said with a grin.

“Hi.”

“You looked seriously surprised that I came in after you.”

My hands curled around his shoulders. His skin was slippery so my grip was tight. “I was,” I admitted.

“You think I’d miss out on the chance to have some fun?”

My fingers slid into the hair at the nape of his neck. It was silky even as rivulets of water streamed down my wrist.

“What kind of fun?” I teased.

His hands slid down, around my thighs. My gaze slipped down to his lips. His mouth was mere inches from mind. My body was wrapped tightly around him. The fire in his eyes heated me so that I barely noticed the chill of the water.

He leaned forward, his forehead pressing against mine.

I let out a sigh and then we were kissing. There was no easing into it, no teasing, no light nibbles. It was his mouth over mine. His fingers squeezing into me, my legs tightening around his waist, my body pressing against his, wishing to get even closer.

His fingernails scraped down my back, momentarily tangling in my bikini string. I was tempted to help him out until I realized something wasn’t right. I pulled back and his mouth dropped to my neck, to the sensitive place where the curve of my shoulder began. A hot tongue slid up the back of my neck.

I snapped myself out of my blissful state. Jake’s hands were still both firmly clamped around my thighs. Both.
Both
of his hands. He had no free hands to be toying with my bikini top. His lips were on my neck. Not at the top of my spine. I let out a little shriek. My legs shot down in the water as I shoved myself away from him. I spun, coming face to face with Quigley.

“What the…”

I didn’t hear the rest of Jake’s muttered curse.

I shoved the dog away. “Get out of here!” I shrieked.

His legs sliced through the water. His tongue lolled about. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought his eyes were glinting mischievously. Devilishly. Yes. That was it. That damn dog was the devil!

“Quigley! Here boy!” Jarrett called from the shore.

“Go! Get!” Jake scolded. He grabbed the dog around the middle, faced him toward his master, and gave him a shove, propelling him toward the shore. The mutt looked over his shoulder. Disappointment filled his big, brown eyes.

Too bad!

“Sorry about that!” Jarrett called.

I let out a strangled sound, nowhere near an acceptance of his apology. I did a little shudder as I ducked down in the water, hoping to wash away any residual slobber from the back of my neck. I came back up again and scrubbed at the back of my neck just in case.

Jake let out a roaring laugh. “Well…that was awkward.”

“Ugh, I thought he was you! He grabbed at my bikini string and I thought…” I faded off, shuddered again. “Never mind. I hate that dog. Have I ever mentioned that to you before?” Jake was still laughing as he shook his head. “Well I do. I really, really hate that dog! He has terrible manners!”