Three Days of Rain (13 page)

“That’s exactly so.”

“I bet I could scare you.”

“I bet you couldn’t.”

With one stroke Lily was nose to nose with Jake while he contemplated his words. Despite the coolness of the ocean breeze and comfort of the water, he suddenly felt hot.

She whispered. “Care to wager on that?”

He knew what was coming and she was right, it scared the crap out if him.

Lily leaned in and kissed Jake on the lips, softly at first, then with a bit more purpose. It wasn’t until he allowed himself to close his eyes that he felt the healing power of her kiss. All the pain he’d buried, surfaced. He flinched inwardly at the ghosts rushing to the surface. And, as if she knew, Lily’s kiss deepened. She pulled all his fear, all his pain, forward. Electricity shot through into her heart. When they finally separated, she stared into the ache that filled his eyes and the tears that threatened to overtake them. By the look on Jake’s face, she knew he felt it, too.

The intensity was more than Lily had imagined. Her hand flew to her mouth as Jake pulled back.

His voice quivered. “What was that?”

“I think it was a kiss.”

Staring at her with new eyes, Jake smiled. “I think it was more than that.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Should we be doing this? You’re leaving at the end of the summer. And I don’t know if I—”

Lily placed a finger on his trembling lips. “Shh. It’s okay, Jake. We don’t have to. It’s my fault. I must’ve misunderstood.”

He watched as she tucked a curl behind her ear and replied quietly, “You didn’t misunderstand.”

She whispered gently, “I’m not her, Jake.”

“No. You’re not.”

“C’mon. Let’s get out of the water.”

She swam the few yards to shore in long strokes, then she turned to look at him and held out her hand. As if on autopilot, he joined her on the beach.

He grabbed her hand and, before she could lead him to the blanket, jerked her around. He wasn’t going to let the past interfere with this moment like it had minutes ago in the water. With his hands tangled in her hair, he returned the kiss. This time, the shock of it didn’t hold him back. His skin sang with excitement, his head threatened to explode, and his stomach tightened into a knot of anticipation. It didn’t feel quite as awkward as the first kiss. There was more to it than that. With each touch of her hand, her lips, her tongue, he grew less anxious, less frightened.

Nothing needed to be said as they slowly sank to the sand. Lily matched his intensity with her own. Jake’s weight on top of her covered her like a security blanket as they both let go.

Jake pushed her hair away from her face. She smiled as he kissed her forehead, her eyes, and her nose.

“Not so scary, now.”

Jake returned the smile as he reached down and untied the strings of her bathing suit. “Nah. Not so scary.”

Her hands pulled him towards her. “I’ll have to try harder next time.”

He lifted her to him. “You do that.”

Their eyes locked with an anxious and heightened familiarity for a few seconds. As a small moan escaped her lips, Jake covered her mouth with his.

Neither felt the tide come in. Neither felt the temperature drop as clouds covered the sun. Neither felt the small drops of hesitant summer rain. In those moments, all they knew was each other. No past. No future. Just that moment.

CHAPTER 17

After the rain stopped, Jake walked back to his truck to grab dry blankets, smiling to himself. He changed into the dry clothes he always kept in his truck and tucked and extra T-shirt under his arm. He dropped his head against the window of his car and closed his eyes. He remembered every touch, every kiss, every feeling of the past hour. His heart lifted and opened in a way it never had. He didn’t know where any of this was going, but he vowed to himself to hold on to it for as long as he could.

He turned to Lily’s Jeep and opened the bag in the backseat looking for the jeans she’d said were inside. When he found them, he saw tucked underneath was a small portfolio of photographs and a letter from a magazine based in Atlanta stating how excited they were that Lily would be joining them in September. Caught up in the moments they shared, the fact that she was leaving had fallen away from him. He wasn’t sure if he was enough of a reason for her to stay.

While Jake was at the car, Lily stared at the ocean waves as they rolled in and out. His touch lingered over her like soft feathers. She thought briefly about the fact that her time here wasn’t permanent. The thought pierced her before disappearing behind thoughts of Jake.

“I got your jeans,” he said, coming up behind her. “I also grabbed one of my shirts for you to wear. It’s long sleeved so it should keep you warm enough. And a couple of extra blankets.”

“I thought I had you to keep me warm.”

She stood as he handed her the clothes. With a grin on her face, she said, “I’d ask you to turn around but I guess that ship has sailed.”

She took off her bathing suit and pulled on her jeans, all the while keeping eye contact. He reached over and buttoned them for her as she slipped on his T-shirt.

He kissed her gently. “You keep doing that, you’re gonna be the death of me.”

Her laugh covered him. “We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

“Probably not. Are you hungry? I brought some sandwiches. Hopefully the short rain didn’t ruin them.”

“I would love a sandwich. I brought some beer.”

She popped the caps off two bottles and handed one to Jake as he passed her a sandwich. They sat comfortably on the dry blanket across from each other, legs crossed. Jake rested his hand on her knee.

“So what’d you do today? You said you had errands.”

“What? Oh yeah. Well I wasn’t really running errands, per se. I took a drive south along some lonely road and took some pictures for my uncle. His birthday is coming up and I wanted to get some new photos for him to hang up on the wall. The ones there now are shots from Connecticut. I thought he’d like something local.”

“Those pictures are amazing. I always wondered about the niece that sent them to him. I’ve looked at those pictures for years. You have a real talent.”

“Thanks. I do mostly landscapes, nature, stuff like that. I got some beautiful shots today, then I kept driving to some small little town about an hour and a half away.”

“Did you take pictures there too?”

“A couple but actually I went to a few stores. I saw an amazing camera from the early 1900s that I was gonna buy.”

“Did you buy it?”

“Nope. Changed my mind. Bought something else instead.”

The twinkle in her eye caught Jake’s attention.

“What’d you get?”

She pulled her knees under her and leaned back on her heels. “Well, actually, I bought something for you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I saw it and thought of you immediately. I’m not sure if you want it or need it, I just wanted you to have it more than anything.”

He reached out to clutch her shirt. “Really? You didn’t have to buy me anything.”

“I know. And that’s exactly why I did. Now close your eyes.”

“It’s here?”

She chuckled as his eyes darted around, looking for the gift. “Yes, now close your eyes.”

He did as she asked and she laughed at the goofy grin plastered on his face. She crawled over to the blanket she had set aside now damp with rain, uncovered the guitar, and gently placed it on his lap. “Now, open your eyes.”

Shock rang through him as he saw what she had done. “You bought this?”

“Do you like it?”

He was quiet as he ran his hands over the wood. His smile disappeared and she wasn’t sure if she’d done the right thing. It wasn’t her place to force something on him that he’d obviously given up.

She cast her eyes down in embarrassment. “That’s okay if you don’t like it. I just thought, well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.”

As she reached to take the guitar from his lap, he placed his hand on hers. She didn’t lift her head as he slowly pulled the strap around his neck. The guitar felt comfortable and safe in his hands. He’d forgotten the escape that music brought him, the energy it gave him.

“Lily.”

“Jake, you don’t have to. I know it’s not my place—”

“Lily, look at me,” he interrupted and she finally lifted her gaze to meet his. “No one has ever bought me anything like this.”

“But you don’t play anymore.”

“I haven’t had a reason to play in a long time. Maybe it’s time I tried again.”

“Really? You really like it?”

“I love it. Thank you.”

“I wasn’t sure. I mean, you and I are, I mean we’re just...”

He finished her sentence. “Friends?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

He pulled the guitar strap off his neck and leaned toward her. “I kinda thought, after what just happened, we were more than that. At least I was hoping we were.”

Shifting her body closer to his, she responded, “I’d like to be.”

“Good.”

His fingers outlined her jaw and his eyes fell towards her mouth.

She planted her hands on the blanket as she moved to her knees. As he fell slowly to his back, she covered his body with hers.

She softly kissed his eyelids, ran her tongue along his jaw, before settling on his lips. His eyes locked on hers and when their lips met, they both felt everything around them disappear. When they each slowly pulled away, the want they’d felt for the other morphed into need.

Fingers tightly gripped her thighs as he pulled her knees to either side of him. Straddling him, she sat up and slowly pulled off her shirt just as the sun was setting behind her.

He moved his hands up her body. She took them in hers, interlocking her fingers in his, and leaned forward to place them on either side of his head.

Her whisper was almost imperceptible. “No touching. Not yet.”

She released his hands, then her fingers played with the buttons on his shirt as she lowered her mouth to kiss every inch of skin she uncovered.

He tensed as she littered his chest and stomach with soft kisses before stopping at the top of his pants. She ran her tongue along his waistband, softly biting his hipbone, while working the button free.

Jakes hands flew to her shoulders and he pulled her to his face, cupping his hands around her cheeks.

She giggled with naughty anticipation. “I said no touching.”

“I know what you said.”

He dropped his hands to her jeans, easily opened them, and began to coax them below her hips.

Half-heartedly attempting to pry his hands from her, she laughed. “You don’t follow directions so well. You’re supposed to wait for me to give the okay.”

Jake shifted his weight so they rolled over with him on top of her.

On the brink of losing control, he buried his face in her neck and gently cupped her breasts in his hands. “I don’t want to wait.”

Her body responded to his tongue on her stomach. When his hands finally pulled her jeans away, he tossed them to the side and settled himself between her legs.

She reached down and slipped his pants over his rear and he kicked them off. She shifted to allow him inside and it was his turn to smile wickedly.

“Oh no. Now it’s your turn to wait.”

She lost control as he explored her body with his fingers. Her head exploded with pleasure as his mouth took over. And just as she thought she’d die from his touch, he crushed his mouth over hers and plunged inside her. The sun winked away, promising a new beginning.

CHAPTER 18

In the morning, Jake awoke first, tangled under the warmth of her body. Contentment washed over him as he studied her face, soft with sleep. He felt alive and free and finally awake.

He’d wondered if God had gone away or if he was just losing his mind, and he’d begged for a sign that he’d be able to feel again. For every day of sun and warmth, he’d felt at least two of sadness. Just as he became comfortable with the thought that hell would have to freeze over before he’d have feelings again, Lily came into his life. Full of energy and spirit, and without an ounce of pretension, she’d slowly taken over the void left in his heart.

Then again, where he came from, a man didn’t become a fool for love after only one night. But this wasn’t just sex. He truly felt the closeness they shared. As he lay on the beach with her hair in his face, with locks of curls swimming in the light breeze, he thought of her plans to move down to Georgia and wondered if she’d take over the world. And if he’d ever feel this good again.

He shifted, careful not to wake her, and reached for his pants. Standing, he pulled them up before bending to reach for the guitar. Holding it out in front of him, he realized the gift was an invitation to move forward. But he knew he couldn’t, not without letting Lily all the way in. Not without telling her everything.

Lily woke to the sound of Jake strumming the guitar. The melody was soft and beautiful. She lay there for a few minutes with her eyes closed, allowing the music to fill her.

When she finally sat up, holding the blanket to cover herself, she saw him deep in thought with his eyes closed and a pencil between his teeth. After a moment, he took the pencil from his mouth and leaned down to scribble on a pad of paper.

“Whatcha writing?”

He looked up and smiled. “Good morning. Something just came to me, and I wanted to write it down. I didn’t have anything to write with so I took this out of your car. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course,” she said as he shifted over to kiss her. “Can I hear more?”

He grinned sheepishly. “Sure. If you want.”

“I want.” She lay back down on the blanket and listened to him coax out the melody.

“No words?”

“Some. But I have to organize them first. For now, I just have the tune in my head.”

After a few more minutes of playing, Jake put the guitar down and lay on his stomach next to her.

She turned to look at him. “What’s the last song you played?”

His voice suddenly hoarse, he replied, “It was a lullaby.”

“Did you write it?”

“I did.”

“I’m sorry.”

Wrapping her hair around his fingers, he said, “No need for you to be sorry for anything. Do you have any plans today?”