by Miranda Lee
She couldn’t help it. She laughed.
‘Don’t you dare laugh at me, you cheeky minx.’
She smiled instead and said, ‘Yes, Jake.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
IT WAS LIGHT when Abby came to consciousness, turning over on to her back and stretching before glancing over at the sleeping male form next to her in the bed. Jake was lying on his side, his back to her, his breathing deep and heavy.
She smiled in memory of Jake’s reluctance to let her go to sleep, even when it was obvious he’d exhausted himself making love to her. The only time they’d stopped was first at six-thirty so she could take her Pill and then when he’d ordered room service around eight, a huge seafood platter which they’d devoured together in record time before getting back to devouring each other.
Abby picked up her phone from the bedside table and checked the time, surprised to find that it was after nine. They’d finally gone to sleep around two, so both of them had had a good seven hours of sleep. Still, no need to wake Jake yet, she decided, rising quietly and going to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she turned on the light and took a good look at herself in the large mirror.
Not only was her hair a total mess—she really should have put it up before that last shower—but she had faint bruises on her breasts.
‘Goodness, Abby,’ she said, sounding slightly shocked. ‘You look like a woman who’s been well and truly ravaged.’
‘And didn’t you just love it,’ she answered herself in a low sexy voice which wasn’t at all shocked.
The new Abby realised there was no point in pretending. Given she was unlikely ever to come across a lover like Jake again, she aimed to take full advantage of his erotic skills—plus his gorgeous male body—whilst she had the chance. If she had to have her heart broken by him at some stage in the future, then she was going to enjoy herself in the meantime.
Though how long that meantime lasted was anybody’s idea, she accepted with an inevitable lurching of her silly female heart. Okay, so he’d asked her to go overseas with him next year. And he had sounded as if he meant it. But that could just have been a wild impulse on his part. He could change his mind tomorrow. Or next week. Or next month. It was only mid November. All she could rely on was today. The present. This moment.
‘That’s it, kiddo,’ she told herself firmly. ‘Live for the moment. Now, go wake up old sleepyhead.’
With her body buzzing from wicked resolve, Abby returned to the bedroom and climbed in under the sheet next to a still unconscious Jake. She didn’t hesitate, snuggling up to him with her naked front pressed up against his back, her left hand free to travel at will over his body, much the same way as he had done to her in the bath. He stirred slightly the moment her fingers brushed over his nipples, but shot awake with a raw gasp when her hand moved further south.
‘You have a beautiful penis,’ she murmured. ‘Nice and long. And so silky up here.’
He made a strangled sound as she ran her thumb pad over the engorged tip.
‘You like that, don’t you?’ she crooned, another echo of what he’d said to her when he’d teased her at length in the water. ‘But you’d rather I do this with my tongue, wouldn’t you?’
When he swore she laughed. ‘No, not this time, Jake. This time you’re going to let me have my wicked way with you.’
It surprised Abby how in control she felt, her own needs firmly in check as she set about making him lose control. She loved it when he called out her name as he came, blown away by the satisfaction she felt as his whole body shook.
But alongside the satisfaction lay the certainty that she would not feel this way with any other man. The realisation hit suddenly that she loved Jake—loved him in the way she should have loved Wayne, but hadn’t. The thought sent tears into her eyes, tears of guilt and regret and true sadness.
The old Abby might have fallen apart at that moment. The new Abby was a far tougher creature. She told herself firmly that she’d gone into this affair with her eyes open and it was a little late to start becoming maudlin. So she gathered her emotions, blinked away the tears and lifted her head.
It was impossible not to look at him. Impossible to stop her emotions suddenly getting the better of her. How awful it was to love someone the way she loved Jake without being able to tell him.
Jake was taken aback when he saw she was on the verge of tears.
‘Abby! Darling! What is it? What’s wrong?’
‘Oh, God,’ she cried, then burst into tears.
Stricken with remorse over he knew not what, Jake cuddled her close, searching his mind at the same time for the reason behind her tears.
‘Tell me what’s wrong,’ he said as he cradled her face and rained kisses all over it.
She made a choking sound, closing her eyes at the same time.
‘You wanted to do that, didn’t you? I didn’t ask you. You wanted to. And I loved it. Truly I did.’
Still, she said nothing, just buried her face into his shoulder and wept.
‘Please don’t cry, my darling.’
She opened her still wet eyes then and just stared at him. ‘Don’t call me that,’ she blurted out. ‘I’m not your darling.’
Jake didn’t know how to respond. Had her husband called her his darling? Was that it?
‘What do you want me to call you?’
She closed her eyes again as she shook her head. ‘Oh, God. I’m so stupid.’
Jake sighed. He wished he knew what was going on in her head. But he’d never been good at reading women’s minds. Females could be complex creatures. Maybe she was hormonal. Maybe her period was due. All he knew was that he hated seeing her upset, her tears calling to something deep inside himself which was impossible to control. His heart actually ached with the need to make her feel better.
‘Abby… I hate seeing you like this. I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong. I want to be your friend as well as your lover. I want you to feel that you can tell me anything.’
He waited and finally, when she opened her eyes, her expression was calmer. Or was it resigned?
‘It’s not you,’ she said. ‘It’s me. You haven’t done anything wrong. I love what kind of lover you are. I’ve had more fun with you this weekend than I’ve had in years.’
Jake pulled a face. Now she made it sound as if he was shallow. Yet he felt anything but shallow when he was making love to her. Perhaps because that was exactly what it was. Making love. Not just having sex. Jake could no longer pretend that he wasn’t becoming seriously involved with Abby. He’d avoiding falling in love in the past because he didn’t want marriage and children. What Jake hadn’t realised was that true love could not be avoided. It just happened. If truth be told, he’d been half in love with Abby from the moment he’d hugged her that awful day, long before she’d stormed past his conscience less than two days ago. Now he was well and truly head over heels.
But of course he couldn’t tell her any of that. Not yet. She didn’t want him to love her. Not at the moment. Perhaps one day, when the time was right, when he was sure that she returned his feelings, he would declare his love and they would find a way to spend their lives together. Not marriage. Though perhaps a child eventually, if that was what she ever wanted. Jake still wasn’t thrilled with the idea of becoming a father but one child might be manageable.
‘So why were you crying just now?’ he asked.
Abby shrugged. ‘This will sound silly but I was feeling guilty that I couldn’t give my husband the pleasure that I obviously give you. Wayne deserved better than a wife who didn’t really love him.’
‘You did love him, Abby,’ he reassured her. ‘I know you. You wouldn’t have married him if you hadn’t loved him. Maybe it wasn’t a mad passion but it was love all the same. It wasn’t your fault that the physical chemistry between you wasn’t right. It wasn’t his fault, either. But tha
t’s all in the past, Abby. You can’t change what happened in your marriage and it’s a waste of time to beat yourself up over it.’
‘You’re right,’ she said, nodding. ‘I can’t change anything that’s already happened. All we have is the present. I decided earlier today that I want to live in the moment from now on. That’s what you do, isn’t it?’
‘To a degree,’ he replied carefully. ‘I do make some plans for the future when required.’
‘You mean like when going overseas.’
‘That’s a good example. You can’t just show up at the airport and take the first available flight. You need to do things first.’
‘Like get a passport,’ she said, her eyes looking marginally happier.
‘Indeed,’ he said, smiling.
‘I’ll get straight on to that first thing next week. And I might do some more clothes shopping at some stage. I don’t want you ever feeling ashamed of me.’
Jake was truly taken aback. ‘I would never be ashamed of you.’ But it did occur to him that women thought differently to men on matters of fashion.
‘You should go clothes shopping with Sophie. She would know exactly what you need. I tell you what; I’ll ring and ask her to take you.’
‘Oh, no, don’t do that. I can’t afford the sort of clothes your sister would show me.’
‘Yes, you can. I’ll give her my credit card. It doesn’t have a limit.’
‘I can’t let you do that!’ she exclaimed.
‘Why not?’
‘Because…because…’
‘I’m a very rich man, Abby. I want to do this for you. Please don’t say no.’
‘I shouldn’t let you.’
‘Don’t be silly. I’ll ring her and tell her you need a new wardrobe to cover every occasion. Now, no more objections. I insist. And another thing, you have to ring your sister tonight and tell her about us.’
Abby groaned. ‘I really don’t want to, Jake.’
‘And I don’t want to keep on being your secret lover,’ he growled. ‘I certainly don’t intend to spend every date with you wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. The world is going to find out about us sooner or later, Abby, and there’s nothing you can do about that.’
‘I know,’ she said with a sigh. ‘But at least we have today before that happens.’
‘Don’t you believe it. That receptionist last night was probably on Instagram and Twitter within seconds of our booking in. You can’t keep anything a secret these days, not if you’re in the public eye. You just have to not care what people think or say. People that don’t matter, that is. Family is different.’
‘Are you going to tell your family about me?’
Jake smiled. ‘I won’t have to. Sophie will. But, speaking of family, I want you to join us for our harbour cruise on Christmas Day.’
Dismay filled Abby’s face. ‘I’m sorry, Jake, but I can’t do that. I’ve already invited Megan and Timmy to spend Christmas Day with me and I would never disappoint them.’
‘I see,’ he said, thinking he should have known. Olivia would have dumped her family like a shot if he’d asked her to be with him on Christmas Day. But Abby was not Olivia. She was unique. A woman in a million. ‘Well, there’s no reason why they can’t both come on the harbour cruise with all of us,’ he said. ‘There’ll be plenty of room, and plenty of food. And lots of other kids for Timmy to play with.’
‘That’s incredibly generous of you, Jake, but I’m not sure Megan will want to come.’
‘Why’s that? Is she shy?’
Abby laughed. ‘Not exactly.’
‘Look, when you ring her tonight, just ask her.’
‘What if she says no?’
‘Then I’ll ring her and ask her myself. I’ve been told I can be very persuasive, when I want to be.’
Abby’s expression was pained. ‘As long as you don’t flirt with her. If you do that, I won’t be too happy. She already thinks you’re God’s gift to women.’
‘In that case persuade her to come yourself. Because I don’t intend to be without you on Christmas Day. I also want to show you off to my whole family, and that way we can do it all in one go. Far better than having to trot you around to everyone one at a time.’
‘You won’t tell them about my background, will you? And my teeth!’
‘Sorry, sweetheart, they’ll already know everything about you by then. Sophie is not renowned for keeping her mouth shut. And why wouldn’t you want them to know about your teeth? They look fabulous!’
‘I wasn’t referring to my new teeth but my old ones.’
‘There’s nothing shameful about having had problem teeth.’
‘Pardon me if I don’t think so,’ Abby said, rolling away from him on to the bed, her body language indicating she wasn’t happy.
‘Okay,’ he said nonchalantly.
‘What?’ Stormy green eyes shot his way.
‘I’ll pardon you. For about ten seconds. You’re the one who said you wanted to move on with your life. Well, the first thing for you to do is not be oversensitive about your past. I want to tell my family all about you because I’m serious about you, Abby. I don’t want you for a fling. Okay, I might not want marriage but I want you in my life. If you must know, I was attracted to you from the first moment I saw you.’
‘You were?’
‘I certainly was. But I thought you were the sort of woman who would want marriage and children so I kept my distance. Regardless of what you think of me, I am not a compulsive womaniser. I would never target a woman who was emotionally vulnerable, which I thought you were, being a widow. But on Friday night you confirmed that you didn’t want to get married again. After that, I decided to hell with resisting temptation any longer. I wanted you like mad by then and decided I was going to have you.’
Only then did Jake realise Abby was looking pole-axed by his confession. He wasn’t sure if that meant she was pleased, or sceptical.
‘That was why I was jealous of Raoul,’ he went on. ‘Now, no more of this nonsense. And no more regrets about the past. You’re living for the moment, are you not? And the moment calls for two activities. Breakfast first. I don’t know about you but I’m starving. Then once we’re dressed, fed and out of here I’m going to do something really amazing.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘I’m going to let you drive my car.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
‘I CAN’T BELIEVE IT,’ Megan said for the umpteenth time since Abby had called her that Sunday night.
Abby sighed. ‘I don’t know why you keep saying that. You were the one who warned me Jake might come on to me if I smartened myself up.’
‘It’s not that I don’t believe he fancies you; it’s all the sex! I always thought you were frigid.’
‘Well, I’m obviously not.’
‘Obviously. At least, not with lover boy. But then, he’s had a lot of practice seducing women.’
‘Jake did not seduce me, Megan. I was with him all the way.’
‘Honestly?’
‘Honestly.’
‘Wow.’
‘He’s asked me to go overseas with him next year.’
‘You have to be kidding me.’
‘I kid you not. I’m applying for my passport this week. Apparently, it takes a few weeks to get it.’
‘This is insane, Abby. You do know that, don’t you? I mean…it won’t last. Men like Jake…they don’t do for ever.’
‘I’m well aware of that, Megan. He was nothing if not brutally honest with me on that score. No marriage and no children. But he claims he does want a relationship with me, not just a fling. So I am going to go overseas with him and nothing you say is going to stop me.’
‘Oh, God, you’ve fallen in love with the bastard, haven’t you?’
Abby sighed again.
‘Jake is not a bastard, Megan. He’s a very nice man. A gentleman, in fact. And yes, I’ve fallen in love with him. But not to worry. I’ve already come to terms with my feelings. I know I’m going to be hurt at some time in the future but I’ve decided not to worry about the future for a while. Or the past. I’m living for the here and now. Jake likes me. A lot. And he wants me. A lot. I won’t give that up just because it might end badly one day.’
‘I’ve never heard you talk like this, Abby. You sound so sure. And so mature.’
‘I’ve grown up a bit since Wayne died.’
‘He wasn’t right for you,’ Megan said gently, bringing a lump to Abby’s throat.
‘I can see that now,’ Abby agreed. ‘I talked with Jake about my marriage and he said I had to let it go. That it was past history.’
‘He’s right. But surely you didn’t tell Jake everything, did you? I mean I know how you hate talking about your miscarriages.’
Abby’s heart immediately squeezed tight in her chest. ‘No, I didn’t tell him about them. He thinks we were trying for a baby but it just didn’t happen. It was more my relationship with Wayne I talked about. I told Jake I didn’t want to get married again.’
‘When did you say that?’
‘I’m not sure. Some time recently. It might have been the day he took me car shopping.’
‘After which he decided it was safe to seduce you,’ came Megan’s dry remark.
Abby rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever.’ Abby hadn’t told Megan about Jake’s declaration that he’d had the hots for her from the day he hired her. Mostly because Megan was too cynical to believe that. But, surprisingly, Abby did. For she could find no reason for Jake to lie to her. Not that it would change the ultimate outcome of their relationship. It gave Abby a real thrill to think she’d captured his interest but he’d cared enough about her emotional well-being not to pursue her at the time.
