Rachael
They’d stalled long enough. Rachael only agreed to this date because Jake said he’d come clean about his odd behavior the other night and why he didn’t want to talk about his sister. If they were going to have any kind of relationship, she didn’t want to learn about the skeletons in his closet later on. She wanted everything up front.
Now. No more secrets.
Or maybe he wasn’t interested in a relationship. If not, then she had no business knowing his family’s secrets. Torn between her nosey self wanting to know Jake’s past, and not wanting to force him to talk about something very personal, Rachael sighed. She’d only touched the surface about her past with Dylan. How could she be so hypocritical, forcing Jake to talk about something that troubled him so deeply?
“I think this was a bad idea.” She stood and picked up their tray, dumping the trash in the barrel before stacking the tray in the pile by the takeout window. When she returned, Jake still sat on the rocks, making no effort to get up. “I apologize for hitting you and for prying into your personal matters. It’s none of my business.”
All six feet of sexiness rose and stood toe-to-toe with her. Rachael had to tip her chin up to look at him, his gorgeous eyes shielded behind his glasses. What else did they cover? Her heart pounded at his closeness. He smelled like Christmas and ocean. And trouble.
He took his glasses off and hooked them in the collar of his shirt. Slowly, he reached out and slid her glasses off, tucking them in the deep pockets of his shorts. “What if I want to make it your business?” he whispered into her mouth before making contact, their lips softly touching. His arm came around and pulled her in to his body, one hand resting on her hip while the other cupped her cheek.
Dear God. Jake sucked her bottom lip between his then released it, tracing it with his tongue. Her hands could no longer stay numb at her sides. Afraid to wrap her arms around him like she really wanted to, Rachael placed her palms on his chest, feeling the powerful curves of his pectoral muscles and the rapid beating of his heart.
Her mouth responded to his. There was no keeping it still. She darted out her tongue and played with his, enjoying the loud moans vibrating from his body. Her toes curled into her flip-flops and she pressed harder into him.
“Damn.” Jake pulled his lips away and rested his forehead against hers. “You make me forget we’re in a public place.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. And keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Making me forget.” They stood like that, forehead to forehead, until their breathing steadied. “Let’s go for a walk.” He took her hand and led her down the tiny path in between the rocks and the sea grass until they reached the flat sand.
They walked hand in hand for nearly a mile before he broke the spell, his fingers falling limp in hers. “Julia has Diffuse Axonal Injury.”
“What is that?”
“Brain damage.”
“Oh. Wow.” Rachael and her siblings had lived through an array of emotional and physical abuse, but they were all healthy. She couldn’t imagine the strain on Jake’s family. “Was she always…how did she…?” Wanting to know the details but knowing how personal and heartbreaking they must be, Rachael conceded. “Jake.”
They stopped and she turned to face him. “If it’s too much, you don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry for prying.”
He tightened his grip again. “You’re not. It might actually feel good to talk to someone about it. But I need to keep moving.” He squeezed her hand and pulled her along. “To answer your first question, no. Julia was not born this way. She lived twenty-three happy and healthy years before the accident. An accident I caused.”
“Oh, Jake.” Rachael couldn’t go on any further. She slipped her hand from his and wrapped her arms around his taut body, resting her head on his shoulder. “How horrible for all of you.” She didn’t let go, not even when he kept his arms at his side, ignoring her hug. “You can’t blame yourself for an accident. It’s obvious how much you love your sister, and I could tell by the look in her eyes that she loves you too.”
“You’re just going to take it at face value? That the accident wasn’t my fault?” He reached back and removed her arms from his waist.
“Did you intentionally try to hurt your sister?” Knowing he wasn’t anywhere near the same kind of man as her ex, she could safely ask that question.
“Maybe I need to sit.” Jake headed toward an outcropping of rocks. “Or you need to sit. I don’t know.” He paced in front of the rocks, keeping his back to Rachael. She finally sat and waited patiently for him to continue.
“Julia and I were close as kids, but when I hit my teens I got into some trouble. Ran with the wrong crowd. My sister didn’t like me not hanging out with her anymore and became a constant thorn in my side. We fought a lot. I’d tell her I was going to the movies with my friends but really I’d be in town. Shoplifting or finding free alcohol. She’d make plans with her girlfriends to go the movies and would get pissed when I wasn’t there with my gang. We didn’t have cell phones yet, so avoidance was easier.”
“My brothers used to do that to me as well.”
“They let you fish with them.”
“Yeah, but they ditched me as well. I think that’s normal sibling behavior.”
Jake shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets. “We stopped talking by the time we were seniors in high school. Julia was part of the National Honor Society kids and I hung out with the losers. The kids who skipped school to smoke pot. The ones who took five years to graduate or decided to drop out.”
Rachael wanted to ask what he found so appealing in that crowd, but kept quiet and let him talk. “She graduated top of her class. Made a speech and everything.”
“You must have been very proud.”
He shrugged and turned away. “Never heard the speech. I was in town getting wrecked on Jim Beam and a line of coke. Never marched across that stage either.”
Her hands itched to touch him, so she sat on them. The Jake Morgan she knew wouldn’t behave that way now, and that was all that mattered. Her brothers had troubled pasts and they worked through it, cleaning up their act and atoning for their wrongs.
“I was the model bad boy. The one mothers warned their children about.” He dug his toe in the sand and kicked a pile into the wind.
She could sense him shutting down and he still hadn’t told her about the accident. “What happened to Julia?”
“She got a full ride to UMass Amherst. Studied business. Got her master’s. Mom and Dad threw a college graduation party for her. I hadn’t seen her in five years. I’d been…busy. Julia insisted on going out with me after her graduation party. We were out in Portland, bar hopping. She wanted to fit in with my friends and they…wanted her.”
Jake let out a sigh and pulled at his hair with both his hands. “We had an argument and to spite me, she took off with one of my friends. I didn’t find out about it until later. When I did, I made my posse come with me and track her down.”
Rachael’s heart sped up, wanting to know what happened to Julia, but not wanting Jake to go through the pain. She got up and made her way toward him, not touching, still giving him his space. He wouldn’t look at her as he kept talking.
“Long story short, I got a call the next morning that she’d been in an accident. She was in the hospital, hooked up to life support. If I wasn’t such an ass that night. If I’d paid attention and didn’t let her leave with Snake…If I’d looked harder for her…” His jaw ticked as he glared out across the ocean.
“You can’t blame yourself.”
“If I wasn’t so messed up she’d be making millions in some corporate office doing her marketing thing.”
“You’ve been playing the If I only game for a long time.”
“Six years.”
The five years he didn’t see his sister probably didn’t feel quite as long as the years since. Clutching at her chest, Rachael
inched closer but Jake shook his head. “Don’t give me the pity look. It’ll piss me off. Don’t tell me it wasn’t my fault. That it wasn’t my hands that…just don’t. Okay?”
Clearly he didn’t want to give her the specific details. The guilt from the past six years had done its damage. Knowing her brothers liked their space when they were dealing with the demons from their past, she attempted to lighten the mood.
“Your mom and sister are beautiful. Doesn’t seem fair that you got stuck with the ugly genes.”
Jake cocked his head at her. The tension slipped away, replaced with heat radiating from his eyes. “I told myself I’d be slow and gentle with you.”
“What if I don’t want you to be gentle?”
He cursed before he kicked Rachael’s legs out from under her and cradled her to his chest as they fell to the sand. She landed on top of him right before he devoured her mouth. His hands clamped hard on her butt, pulling her harder into his body.
Oh, he felt delightful. Hard and rigid. Everywhere. From his six pack abs rubbing against her belly, to the man of steel arms casing around her hips, to the obvious arousal making an impression against her crotch. They fit each other well. Her five foot seven frame nestled in all the right places of his hard body.
Jake’s tongue didn’t have the same gentle caresses as earlier. He licked and tasted the inside of her mouth, leaving no spot untouched.
Rachael gave as much as she received, grinding her body into his, forgetting they were on a public beach. She felt like a wanted woman who was about to be ravished.
Jake abruptly switched positions, pinning her into the sand and hovering over her body. “Damn. You did it again.”
“Sorry?”
“You make me forget.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“No. Never be sorry. You’re good for me, Rachael Riley. I like forgetting things when I’m with you.”
Truth be told, Rachael forgot about her skeletons when she was with Jake as well. Or rather, she forgot she was insecure and afraid of a man’s touch. Forgot to fear saying the wrong words, wearing the wrong thing, being the wrong person.
With Jake, Rachael could be…Rachael.
“I like forgetting things too.”
“Yeah?” That gorgeous rakish grin erupted. “Like what?”
“Like we’re on a public beach and I was dry humping your body.”
His chocolate eyes turned darker and his gaze landed on her mouth. He licked his lips like a predator getting ready to go in for the kill. Or at least the bite.
Jake kissed her neck and murmured in her ear, “We can be at my place in fifteen minutes.”
Cold water splashed on her—literally. The tide had come in and soaked her lower half. Jake swore before hauling her to her feet. “I didn’t know the tide would be coming in so quickly.”
The cool water brought her back to reality. Rachael wasn’t the type to do pelvic grinds in public. Her girly parts tingled at the memory, so wanting to relive it. Soon. But logic took over and cooled her down once again.
“That’s okay. I should get going anyway. I have to get up early.”
Jake nodded in defeat and took her hand in his. Their walk back to the parking lot was too short. He’d occasionally bump shoulders with her and she’d knock him back, trying to throw him off balance. Once Jake knocked her too hard and she nearly toppled, but he caught her before she could fall. Not that she would have minded him falling on top of her again.
“You’re stronger than you look, Blondie.”
“Don’t you forget it.”
“Doubtful I will. My purple eye is a constant reminder.”
He walked her to her car and engulfed her in his strong embrace. They held on to each other for a long time before breaking free. “I’m not going to kiss you again.”
“Oh.” Her heart frowned, as did her face.
“Come on, Blondie. Don’t make that lost puppy face or I will kiss you again.”
“You say it like a bad thing.”
“It is. I’m trying. Really trying. I pride myself on my self-control, only I seem to lose it when I’m around you. I’m tempted to toss you in my truck and haul your beautiful ass back to my place and show you six ways to Sunday how amazing I think you are.”
“Oh.”
“You’re not the type of girl who goes for my kind, so I need to work a little harder to gain your trust. Prove to you I’m not the same kind of guy who hurt you.”
Rachael’s gut dropped to her feet and she gasped. She wanted to lock away the last five years of her life, to pretend they never happened.
“I won’t ever hurt you. And when you truly believe that, I’ll show you how un-freaking-believable we can be together.” He took her sunglasses out of his pocket and slid the frames over her ears.
No poet could sweep her off her feet like rough-around-the-edges Jake Morgan. He dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head and opened her car door for her.
“See you on the flip side, Blondie.” He winked before jogging over to his own truck.
Six ways to Sunday needed to happen.
Fast.
Chapter Five
Rachael
Between prepping for her first Kids in the Kitchen party and crafting recipes for Rocky Harbor’s Strawberry Festival, Rachael barely had any time to come up for air. Jake had stopped in twice while she’d been in the middle of making strawberry-port jam and couldn’t leave the stove. He’d distracted her with kisses on the back of the neck until she nearly lost her balance and fell into the pot of strawberries. She poured herself the leftover port after he left.
Delighted with the reviews of her strawberry-pistachio tart, she made an extra batch for Mackenzie to sell during the festival. The strawberry and cream éclairs she’d save as a surprise for Saturday morning. With the strawberry pops for the kids tucked away in the freezer, all she needed now was an unbiased taste tester for her new drink recipe.
“Hey, Blondie.”
“Perfect timing. I need you.”
Jake growled and took two giant steps across the kitchen, locking his lips on hers. Rachael couldn’t help but swoon a little before she started giggling.
“Not the impression I try to make,” he grumbled.
“Sorry. This wasn’t what I had in mind.”
“Oh.” Disappointment was etched across his face.
“Not that I had any problems with your greeting, but I’m on borrowed time. I still have a ton of prep work to do for tomorrow’s party. I wasn’t thinking when I booked it. The town is going to be packed for the Strawberry Festival.”
“That’s good, isn’t it? Good PR?”
“Yes, but I was already swamped with baking for Mackenzie, and now the birthday party.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Try this.” She handed Jake the glass and studied him as he sniffed it.
“It smells like a girl drink.”
“Do they make boy drinks?”
“Yeah. Beer. Whiskey. Scotch.”
“Sexist, are we?”
“Not at all. But this smells like a drink I’d rather taste off of you.” He nibbled on her ear, tracing his tongue across her lobe and down her chin. Her knees buckled and she held on to the table for support. Jake smirked and peered at her over the rim. “What is it?”
“Strawberry-ginger caipirosca.”
“Yeah, no guy is going to drink something he can’t spell, much less pronounce. What the heck is in it?”
“Vodka, muddled strawberries, mint leaves, lime, fresh ginger, and sugar.”
“Have you had any yet?” Rachael shook her head. “You try it first.” He handed her the glass and she rolled her eyes as she sipped.
“Oh, that’s good. Maybe a little more ginger.”
“Let me try a taste.” Jake took the glass from her and set in the counter before leaning in and kissing her. Deeply. His tongue swirled and danced with hers before he sucked her bottom lip. “I’d say it’s perfect just the way it is.�
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He must have sensed her lack of coordination and picked her up, sitting her on the counter, pushing her legs apart with his thighs. Jake slid her forward, her butt nearly hanging off the counter as he scraped his calloused palms up and down her arms, her neck, and into her hair.
“Well, I guess you found her. Looks like I’m not keeping her busy enough.”
They broke apart and Rachael blushed. She pushed at Jake’s chest until he backed away so she could hop off the counter.
“I’m sorry, Mackenzie. It won’t happen again. I—”
“Easy girl. Kidding. Ha ha. Lover boy, you can drop the death stare. It’s not like you were going to get lucky on the counter. Unless…”
“No!” Rachael lowered her head in mortification. She respected Mackenzie and her place of business. She’d been so kind, letting Rachael use the space and selling her food. The last thing she wanted to do was break any type of rule.
“Hey, can’t blame you if you have. Can’t deny the temptation’s been there, just haven’t had the opportunity. I say go, girl. And you, sexy abs.” Mackenzie waltzed closer, jabbing her finger into Jake’s chest. “You don’t hurt my girl. I need her. When she’s pissed she can’t cook worth crap.” Rachael gasped. “Sorry, hun. You know it’s true. You throw random ingredients in a bowl and can’t remember what you put in there.” She placed her hands on her hips and returned her glare to Jake. “And when she’s sad she bakes like a fiend. Right now she’s making all sorts of recipes. It better be because of business and not a broken heart.” Mackenzie looked to Rachael and lifted an eyebrow. “By the look of the lip-lock I broke up and the steam on the windows, I’d say all is well.”
Rachael resisted the temptation to check out the windows. “Wow. Am I that transparent?”
“No. I’m just that good.” Mackenzie clicked her tongue before exiting.
“I’m not gonna lie. She scares me a little.” Rachael picked up the drink and took another sip. It was good, but a touch more ginger and it would be amazing.
“Me too, Blondie.” Rachael’s face heated again when Jake turned his back to discreetly adjust himself. “Listen,” he said, facing her. “I have a meeting with a new client but I really want to see you again.”
Strawberry Kisses (A Rocky Harbor Novel Book 2) Page 7
