Inked on Paper (23 page)

Chapter Forty-Four

Presley

When Jake asked me to go to dinner before we headed out of town, I had to admit that I was nervous. Although we’d had an amazing day, which was about to morph into a weekend away, part of me was thinking that I needed to take a break from him. Perhaps take a little time to get my thoughts straight before I allowed myself to get too carried away.

As it was, this guy was winning me over left and right. Everything he said, everything he did… I liked him. A lot. But something told me that I needed to keep some space between us. It was a vibe I was getting from him, I think.

Granted, it was possible that I’d freaked him out with the conversation this morning at the coffee shop. The whole happily-ever-after bit had sounded somewhat on the crazy side, even to me.

And then there had been my reaction to the women who had asked for his signature at the bookstore. Sure, I’d seen the way they had looked at him when they’d recognized him, and yes, it had been a little off-putting at first. When he’d instantly brushed me off as though I didn’t matter, I’d been tempted to call a cab to pick me up.

But then I realized he hadn’t brushed me off. I’d been the one who had stormed off. Those women had been enthralled by him, hugging him, asking for pictures and autographs, and I had allowed them to push me right out of the way. Admittedly, it had brought back some bad memories. But the truth was, those women had been incredibly nice, not pushy at all, but still, I’d reacted badly.

“Hey,” Jake whispered, squeezing my hand as we pulled up to the restaurant. “You okay?”

I forced a smile. “Fantastic.”

“Stay put,” he commanded, then got out of the car, waving one of the valets away after handing over his keys and taking a ticket.

A second later, he was at my door, opening it for me, then offering a hand to help me out. The gentlemanly thing wasn’t something I was familiar with, but I had to admit, I could get used to it.

Once we were inside, Jacob gave his name to the hostess, and she beamed up at him before grabbing two menus and leading us to a table in the back. I followed her, with Jake’s hand on the small of my back, trying not to let my mind wander to the conversation we’d had that morning at the coffee shop. Part of me was embarrassed that I’d gone off on a tangent about happily ever after. It wasn’t like I’d been thinking about it.

Okay, so I’d been thinking about it, but not in the I’m-eager-to-see-if-this-morphs-into-happily-ever-after kind of way. I liked Jake. I enjoyed his company, enjoyed looking at him, even enjoyed talking to him. But I didn’t expect anything from him. And I knew I’d sounded ridiculous, so I was grateful that he’d changed the subject. Then, we’d spent the better part of the day together, having fun and talking.

Now, though… Well, now we were going to sit down for a romantic dinner, and the conversation would likely be more intimate than it had been, which made me incredibly nervous.

Jake pulled my chair out for me and I eased into it, thanking him. He took the one on my right.

“Can I get you something to drink tonight? We’ve got an impressive wine list.”

Jake looked at me and I shook my head.

“No thanks on the wine, but I’ll have an iced tea,” Jake told the waiter.

The man glanced at me and I asked for water.

“Are you all right?” Jake asked, his voice low.

I knew I owed him an apology. Considering we would be spending the weekend together, I figured it would be best to get it out of the way now. “I’m sorry about today.”

Jake frowned.

“About my freak-outs.”

He still looked confused.

“At the coffee shop this morning. The happily-ever-after stuff.”

His eyes lit with recognition.

“And again at Book People. I shouldn’t have reacted the way that I did.”

“Did it bother you?” he asked.

It was the same question he’d asked me earlier in the day, and although I’d told him no, he deserved an explanation. “The truth is yes, but not the way you think. It wasn’t you or those women that bothered me. It just brought back some bad memories and I panicked a little.”

“Adrian?” he asked.

It was my turn to frown. The last person in the world I wanted to talk about was Adrian, but I decided to answer anyway. “Yes. Since he’s somewhat of a local celebrity because of his band, there were numerous times when he shoved me aside. A few times he even got a little too cozy with some of them.”

“I would never do that to you.”

“I know that.” And I did. Jacob Wild wasn’t that kind of man. And he damn sure wasn’t Adrian.

The waiter returned with our drinks and we ordered. Since I wasn’t familiar with the restaurant and didn’t want to go through the whole vegan spiel—trying to figure out what had eggs, what didn’t, what had dairy, what didn’t—I opted for a salad, dry.

Jake ordered a steak, and when the waiter disappeared, he took my hand in his.

“So, how do you know Josie?” I asked, wondering if I sounded as jealous to him as I did to myself.

“She’s a friend of my sister, Paige. When I came back to Texas, my editor, Liz, insisted that I get an assistant to help me take care of things. When I told Paige, she mentioned Josie.”

“She’s young?” I tried to phrase it as a question.

“Twenty-six, I think. She used to work in a salon with Paige.”

“Paige does hair?”

Jake nodded. “She’s really good, but she’s had issues keeping a job. Her ex likes to interfere, get her in trouble.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, well, what can you do?”

“And Abby?”

Jake met my gaze. “Abby’s fifteen and she’s technically the reason I came back to Texas.”

I didn’t prompt him to continue, but I continued to watch him, hoping he would. I had gathered that his reasons for coming back had been personal based on our conversation at the ice cream parlor the other night, and I secretly hoped he would open up to me a little.

Jake sat up, took a drink, then rested his elbows on the table, his full attention back on me. “A year ago, Abby attempted suicide.”

I tried to hide my shock. That certainly wasn’t what I’d expected to hear him say.

“Paige called me and asked me to come back home, so I didn’t hesitate. Abby needed all of us there to support her, to help her through the tough time.”

“How is she now?”

“Much better.” His face softened and I could tell he was relieved about that. “They diagnosed her as being bipolar. She’s on medication, which made a huge difference, and she’s in counseling still. It’s been a long year.”

For some reason, I felt as though I needed to share a piece of myself with him, so I took a sip of my water, then told him the story of what had happened with Adrian. I hated rehashing it, and he was the first person I’d told about how Gavin had called and sent me over there, but it felt good to get it off my chest. However, I didn’t bother to tell him that I’d kept the secret from Gavin about the real reason. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted anyone to know.

“And you’ve had a mental block since?” he inquired.

I nodded.

“Sounds like we’re two of a kind.”

I smiled at that, not sure what to say. Jake was right, though; we did have quite a bit in common. Or we seemed to, anyway.

“I know I put you on the spot with Josie,” he noted, placing his hand over mine, “but I want you to know, I’ll gladly get a hotel room for the weekend. We don’t have to go to the cabin.”

I shook my head. “I want to go. I think it’ll be good for me.” It would possibly give me a chance to clear my head enough to draw something. I really needed to or I wasn’t going to make the deadline for the art contest. Though I’d been thinking less and less about it as the days passed.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I squeezed his hand and met his eyes. “I really like you, and quite frankly, I’m looking forward to it.”

Jake’s eyes heated. “I’m looking forward to having you to myself this weekend.”

Yeah, I was looking forward to that, too.

Chapter Forty-Five

Jake

Dinner had definitely been a good idea.

And now, a couple of hours later, after we’d walked through my condo and made a list of all the furniture I wanted to get rid of, after I’d packed a few things for the weekend, after I’d dug out Cat’s carrier, then manhandled him into it and grabbed his food, after we’d gone to Presley’s so she could do the same, after an hour drive,
and
after we had made a pit stop at the last grocery store we would pass on the way, we finally pulled down the long, winding road that led to Presley’s cabin.

Although she said no one had been there in months, I could see the lights were burning brightly from the inside, and I figured maybe she had called ahead, or perhaps she had one of those fancy phone apps that turned everything on, including the heat.

Hopefully the heat.

“This is perfect,” I said absently.

“For?”

I glanced over at her briefly, smiling. “I was just thinking that this is the type of place I’ve been thinking about buying. A place I could visit when I needed time to myself.”

“Well, it’s definitely good for that.”

I could hear the sadness in Presley’s tone and I figured she was missing her dad. I had noticed when she talked about him, she tended to get a little glassy eyed. It was nice that she had this place, though; it would give her the opportunity to get some solace as well as reminisce about her father.

“So, why haven’t you gotten a place like this?” she questioned when I pulled the car up to the front.

“Since I’ve been back from New York, I’ve put all major purchases on hold—other than my condo—until I figure out what I intend to do in the long term.”

“Oh. Are you thinking about moving back to New York?”

“No.” And that was the truth. I had no intention of leaving Abby. Although I didn’t see her every day, I fully intended to be around if she needed me. We’d spent a lot of time together in the past year, talking and having fun. I didn’t want that to stop.

“Well, maybe you’ll find you like it and get one of your own,” Presley said, grinning up at me.

She was right, this would be a test of sorts. I’d get to see whether or not it would work for me. Only, for this trip, I wasn’t sure that was going to be all that easy. Focusing right now, on anything other than Presley, was the last thing on my mind.

As though sensing we were at our destination, Cat let out an angry cry, making me laugh. “I think he’s letting us know he’s done traveling.”

“I guess so.” Presley glanced into the backseat, but not before stifling a yawn.

It was evident she was tired; then again, it was getting late. It was closing in on ten o’clock, and since we’d had a late night last night and an early morning, it didn’t surprise me.

“Well, I guess we should go in,” I told her, shutting off the engine.

I climbed out of the car, grabbed the suitcases and the cat carrier from the backseat, while Presley grabbed the grocery bags, then we made our way up to the front door. Setting the cat carrier, with a very pissed off Cat inside, down on the porch, I waited as Presley fished the key out of her pocket, then slid it into the lock.

It only took a few minutes for me to deposit our things on the kitchen counter, putting the cold food into the refrigerator while Presley did a walk-through to check it out. She returned to let me know that everything was in its place, so I took a step back and let a very disgruntled Cat out of his carrier, then joined her in the living room.

“This is nice,” I said. “You said your dad moved here after you graduated from high school?”

“Yeah. He didn’t want to pull me away from the kids I grew up with, so he had waited. But the minute I was across that stage, I think he called the Realtor.”

“I can see why he would like it here.” It was peaceful.

“In the daylight, there’s a great view of the lake.”

I was definitely looking forward to checking that out tomorrow.

Presley yawned again and tried to cover it with her hand.

“You look tired,” I told her, moving closer and placing my hands on her shoulders.

“I am,” she admitted. “Not sure why.”

I knew why. We’d had an eventful day, and if I had to guess, she wasn’t sleeping much based on the things I’d heard Gil and Gavin say. Taking her hand, I led her to the leather sofa. She dropped down beside me, her eyes on me the entire time.

I stared at her for a moment, contemplating my next move. “Come here,” I said softly.

She didn’t hesitate, scooting closer, so I helped her along, reaching for her, then lifting her up and over my legs so she was straddling me. I’d spent the entire evening aching to touch her again, wanting to feel her mouth on mine, her soft, smooth skin beneath my palms.

Sliding my hands into her hair, I stared up at her.

“Presley…” Once again, I was at a loss for words, but I knew I needed to say something.

Nothing came out.

Pulling her head down, I brushed her lips with mine, inhaling her. And when she settled on top of me, I felt my heart slam into my ribs. Her arms tangled around my neck, her mouth melding with mine, and I knew I was royally fucked.

This woman did something strange to me and I didn’t know what to do about it. The only thing I knew for sure was that she wasn’t like the others. She wasn’t the one I wanted to fuck on the couch and then send on her way.

When her hips began to rock, my cock nestled between her soft thighs, I knew I was well on my way to losing my mind, so I reached for her hips, stilling her. Much more of that and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.

Pulling my mouth from hers, I met her gaze.

She smiled sweetly. “You can sleep in my bed.”

“With you?” I asked, watching her closely. I knew where this would lead if we went that route, and I knew Presley was exhausted.

“Does that scare you?” she asked, her tone teasing.

“Does it scare
you
?” I countered.

“Maybe a little,” she said softly, her eyes smiling.

“I can always take the guest bed,” I told her.

She shook her head, worry lines creasing her forehead. “Trust me, you don’t want to do that.”

“Then I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“I can’t do that to you.”

“Trust me, you can.” I didn’t want to tell her that I’d prefer to sleep with her, because I knew that would be pushing it, and it felt as though we’d reached a milestone at dinner. I’d been surprised when Presley had come right out and apologized for her reaction this morning. Truth was, I’d asked her to dinner to feel her out, to make sure this was what she wanted.

There was no doubt in my mind that we would sleep together this weekend. We’d been moving in that direction for some time now. So, I had needed to know that we were on the same page. If she had issues with what I did, or how it affected my world, I had intended to take her home and then go to a hotel.

“There are clean sheets in the closet,” she explained. “I’ll help you pull out the bed. But first, let me give you a tour.”

It took everything in me to set her on her feet and get up, but I managed. As I watched her, my desire for her at an all-time high, I pushed all of it back and took her hand when she held it out to me.

She led me from room to room on the first floor, showing me the guest bedroom, which was nothing more than a small bed and a dresser. According to Presley, that had been her dad’s bedroom. He’d bought the cabin and given her the master bedroom and bath, taking the smaller room for himself.

Other than that room and the kitchen, there was a tiny bathroom, a utility room, a closet, and a set of stairs leading to the second floor.

When Presley went for her suitcase, I grabbed it, then followed her up the stairs.

“This is the master bedroom,” she said. “It’s the only bed in the house that is remotely comfortable. In there is the master bath. At the moment, it has the only working shower.”

From where I stood, it appeared that the entire second floor was the bedroom and the adjoining master bath, which, combined, were about a third of the downstairs living space. It was cozy. I instantly wondered how Presley and her father had cohabited such a small, rustic space together. I knew a little about teenage girls, thanks to my interactions with Abby, so I got the feeling they’d gone toe to toe a few times. I didn’t want to ask, because I sensed her father was a sore subject for her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take the bed?” Presley asked, turning to look at me.

I could see the exhaustion on her face, knew she would pass out the instant she hit the pillow. The thought of her wrapped around me on that big bed, her legs around my hips…

Yeah, I needed to go back downstairs.

“I’m sure. Anything I should know?”

“The sink and the toilet work in the downstairs bath, and if you really want, you can use the guest room, but like I said, the bed is horrible, and it’s kind of drafty.”

“Got it.”

“Good night,” she said softly.

“Night,” I said, turning to look at her briefly before going back downstairs.

Once my feet hit the hardwood, I released the breath I’d been holding. While I got my bearings, I scanned the room. I really did like this place. I didn’t think I’d be hindered to write while I was here, for whatever reason.

“Hey, Jake?”

I looked up the stairs to see Presley staring down at me.

“Would it be possible to borrow one of your T-shirts? It looks like I left my pajamas at home.”

I swallowed hard and managed to nod. The thought of her wearing my T-shirt made my dick spring to life. I looked down, then reached behind me and pulled my shirt off.

Presley chuckled. “I didn’t mean to take the shirt right off your back.”

I met her halfway up the stairs, passing it off.

“Thanks,” she said softly, clutching the shirt to her chest as her lips met mine briefly.

“Sure thing.” An image of her wearing nothing but my T-shirt formed in my mind, and I turned away, needing to put some distance between us. “Night.”

Knowing that Presley was upstairs, wearing my T-shirt, in bed… There wasn’t a chance in hell that I would be able to sleep, so I checked the kitchen, put down Cat’s food and water bowls, started a pot of coffee once I figured out the machine, grabbed another shirt and my notebook from my bag, and flopped down on the couch with Cat beside me, unable to ignore the urge to do something productive.

Something that didn’t involve me jacking off, though the ache in my balls said that wasn’t a bad idea.

Still. I resisted.