Wild Fling or a Wedding Ring? (5 page)

Her mouth dropped open, making Jake’s curve.

“I. Am. Not. Married.”

M
OUTH
dry, head swimming, Cali stared dumbly. “You’re divorced?”

“I prefer single,” he offered, with an all too amused wink. “It has a more pristine ring to it.”

She’d just verbally assaulted the starring member in the hottest memory of her life, humiliated herself with gross misunderstanding, and there Jake stood, as stylish and smooth as the sleek hotel room itself, arms crossed, staring at her expectantly. Waiting for an apology, she supposed. Deserving one, possibly. Probably.

Finally, she let out a huff and reluctantly met his eyes. “This is awkward.”

“Isn’t it, though?” Again with that smirk.

So he wasn’t married. That was good. But somehow the knowledge did little to alleviate her tension as his gaze slipped down to her mouth and then back up to her eyes.

That was bad.

She might not have earned the unsavory title of Other Woman, but she wasn’t out of the woods. “Amanda still thinks of you as her sister’s husband.” Or possibly she’d earmarked him as intended for her own use. Either way, mouth-staring was a serious breach of etiquette.

“I assure you, she does not.” He sounded confident, but men could be obtuse when it came to seeing, or not seeing, what was right in front of their faces. Like a sister-in-law’s crush.

Cali needed to look away, because the arrogant curve of those lips she’d test driven the night before was doing things to body parts that wanted in on the action.

No!

Regardless of Jake’s proven ability to deliver on the promises he was making without words, she shouldn’t be eyeing him as anything more than a ride to her new place. He was off-limits.

“Settle down, Cali. We didn’t actually sleep together, so you can stop hyperventilating and turning beet-red every minute and a half.”

“I am not—” Clearing her throat, she glanced down at the carpet, across to the low-profile coffee table and couch, then up to the recessed lighting. Anywhere but into his eyes. Suddenly that shame she hadn’t been able to muster a mere hour ago was on hand and in abundance. She’d
begged
Amanda’s brother-in-law for kisses. Revealed her desperation by admitting to how long she’d been without. And then used him until she—oh, the humiliation.

“How’s that feeling?”

Her head snapped up to see Jake jut his chin toward her injured arm.

Cali glanced down, almost surprised by the patchwork of Band-Aids. “It’s fine, thanks.” Honestly, it barely registered. “I suppose I owe you an apology.”

His thumbs hooked into the pockets of his jeans. “We both jumped to conclusions. Let’s just forget about it.”

That seemed fair, but with his body so close to hers she wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Which had her temper kicking back into gear. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” she demanded.

“That I was divorced?” He chuckled, shaking his head. “It
didn’t come up last night and I didn’t realize you thought I was married this morning. Why didn’t
you
just ask?”

“Amanda calls you her brother-in-law. She raves about you—and I’ve never even heard of this Paulo before.”

“Well, Amanda and I have been friends since we were kids. More like family, really, even back then. And she doesn’t particularly care for Paulo, though as far as I know he’s a decent guy.”

The whole situation was absurd, and yet Jake was staring down at her, his Prince-Charming-gone-bad smile spreading by the minute. Irritating her. She was writhing with discomfort and he looked immensely entertained. The nerve! “Are you having fun?”

Something in his expression turned serious. His endlessly blue gaze washed over her, drawing her in deeper as his fingers moved to the side of her face, brushing lightly over her cheekbones. His chest rose on a long, slow inhalation before he answered. “Not nearly as much as I’d like to.”

The air was charged. Suddenly the comfortable suite Cali had spent the night in felt claustrophobic and confining. Her breath sucked in as Jake closed the distance between them. She should stop him, say something, only her mind had disconnected from the body that leaned forward, aching to touch. A million things ran through her mind. Laughter and need. Frustration and desire. Tastes and textures from the night before that made her mouth water and her pulse jump.

His lips stopped a scant breath from hers. Their eyes locked, held.

“Just one.” It was neither question nor command. Just the deep rasp of Jake’s warning an instant before his mouth closed over hers.

She should have been able to resist. Pull away. Turn her head. At the very least ride it out with stoic indifference and
a stiff lip. Anything! Except the familiar blade of his tongue teasing the seam of her lips—the coaxing pressure of a kiss barely begun—had her opening to him, trembling. Lost. Instantly desperate for his taste. Her body heated, tightened and went lax all at once as he slipped between her teeth. Stroked slow and deep, and dragged a helpless moan from the depths of her desire.

Jake angled his head, and she melted against the hard planes of his body, let him fill her with his claim. Gave in to the heady rush of energy that surged like molten desire through her veins. It burned and branded, scorched with an irresistible heat that made her want to scream.
More.

His hands moved over her, hot and demanding, pushing over the swell of her breast, teasing the beaded tip of her nipple with his palm, grasping the base of her bottom to pull her closer to the hardening contours of his body. Hungry lips pulled at the tender skin beneath her jaw, found her earlobe and sucked. “What is it about you?” he growled into her curls.

Her breath coming in ragged bursts, Cali’s eyes opened as his gruff demand penetrated her psyche. What was it about
him
? Last night had been an honest mistake, but today there was no excuse. She knew who he was. Knew he was Amanda’s… Amanda’s… Well, whatever he was, he was Amanda’s. Or at least that was how her boss saw it, which was all that should matter to Cali.

She pushed at Jake’s shoulders. Tried not to think about replacing her hands with her mouth to nip at the solid muscle beneath. “Jake. This is a mistake.”

His gaze bored into her. If he’d sunk back into the kiss she would have been lost. Utterly. But instead he searched her face, her eyes. Holding her rapt until the smoky hunger dissipated and once again the clear blue sky stared down at her. “You’re probably right about that.”

Cali nodded, still unable to look away, still held in arms so strong and secure she’d nearly melted in them.

His lips brushed against her temple and then he pulled back, his face composed, pleasant. Unreadable. “Let’s get you over to your new place.”

Top down, radio off, Jake rolled to a stop beneath the hotel’s awning. He’d gone for the car while Cali organized the last of her files and folders and checked out, allowing him a moment to get a grip on the uncharacteristic impulses laying siege to his brain and various organs to the south.

Neither of them needed the complications jumping into bed would raise. Rationally, he knew that. Only it seemed his response to Cali wasn’t entirely rational.

Gripping the black leather-encased wheel, he shut his eyes and tried to ground himself. Women didn’t go to his head like this. Ever. Sure, he was susceptible to their allure in a general, appreciative kind of way, but he was a pragmatic guy. He didn’t do the stupid thing. Didn’t throw caution aside for a good time—not anymore. Life had consequences. It was a lesson he’d learned the hard way a long time ago, and one he didn’t forget. So why was he even thinking about a woman who A: kept turning him away, and B: came with strings?

Well, the answer to A didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out. Her reluctance to get involved made her safe. She wasn’t interested in a relationship—she’d said it flat out at the bar—and yet she couldn’t quite resist him. So he wouldn’t have to worry about her planning their wedding the first time he got her into a bed. Which made her ideally suited for a fling. Throw in the fact that she was leaving within a few months’ time and it
almost
negated B. The strings. She worked for Amanda.

In his business, a part of his life—Amanda who already tied him to too many things he’d prefer to let go.

Definitely not the kind of hassle he needed.

He shook his head and caught a glimpse of motion from the corner of his eye as Cali pushed through the revolving doors and stepped out into the fresh morning air. A gentle breeze caught a few auburn curls that had slipped free of their tie, framing her face in a soft show of light, color and motion.

His chest tightened, his groin quickly following suit.

Hell.

Didn’t matter. She looked good. There was some chemistry. So what?

The big head was in control and it was telling him to ignore the little head’s apparent unflagging interest. He wouldn’t give in to the persistent itch that had him speculating as to what it would take to get Cali beneath him, because, logically, he knew he was better off keeping things hands-off.

The only place he had to get Cali was into her apartment.

Jumping out of the car, Jake rounded to the passenger side to help her in. “All set?”

“Yes, thanks.” She settled back, reaching for the seatbelt over her shoulder. The fabric of her top pulled taut with the twist of her body. She crossed to fasten the belt, and the swell of one creamy breast pushed forward as the deep vee of her halter offered a tantalizing view into the shadowy hollow of her cleavage. A rush of blood straight to Jake’s head was followed immediately by its plummet south, to the usurper beneath his belt.

Oh, now, that was ridiculous. He was a doctor. A heart surgeon. He saw enough breasts and cleavage on a daily basis that to be affected by a peek down a gorgeous woman’s shirt was ludicrous. He swung the door closed and shook out the fingers that had locked around it.

Enough was enough. She was a woman. He handled women with ease.

Returning to his seat, he forced a casual tone. “Do you mind the top down?”

Cali shook her head then smiled up at the Chicago sky, bright with only a few cottonball clouds strewn above the lake. “Not at all. Days like today are the reason convertibles were created.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more.” He grinned, shifted into gear, and pulled into the traffic headed for the Drive.

Beneath the sun’s warm rays, sandy beaches alternated with rocky shores and grassy stretches of park as they sped north along the lakefront. New buildings with their shining glass and metal knifed up into the vast blue sky, while the blunt stone façades of monuments to old Chicago endured beside them in classic countenance.

Quiet, Cali watched the passing terrain, fidgeting with her fingers. This was crazy. They were both stiff and overly polite, and after last night there was no excuse for it. They’d talked and laughed for hours without a moment’s awkward pause. So they weren’t going to pursue a physical relationship? So what? That didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy the platonic elements of their connection. Today circumstance had thrown them together again, and he, for one, was going to make the most of it.

Jake glanced over at her and, keeping one hand on the wheel, he caught hers with the other. “Cali, I’m the same guy from last night. We had a great time together. It was
fun
. We’ve agreed sex is a mistake, but we’re both adults. Let’s just relax about it.”

She shifted in her seat, angling toward him. Her gaze touched on his mouth for a moment, and he knew she was remembering the way they’d kissed, but then she met his eyes and her oh-so-serious expression softened into something closer to what it had been the night before.

“You’re right. Last night was so easy, and this morning….” She shook her head, as if wishing she could forget it. “So, friends?”

“Yeah, why not? Friends.”
Friends who didn’t have sex
, he thought, moving his hand back to the wheel. Even if they did have an arsenal of mind-blowing, explosive kisses behind them. The devil in him flashed her a wink. “Friends with a past.”

She arched a brow at him. “A past?”

“Yeah, something to laugh about so it doesn’t become some uncomfortable, unspeakable, taboo subject everyone dances around and gets all embarrassed about.”

“Oh,
that
kind of friends with a past,” she answered, her smile spreading. “Sure. Now I get it.”

“All we need to do is make some kind of joke about it, and we’ll be back on track.”

She was quiet for a moment, though the silence wasn’t strained or uncomfortable this time. Then she ran her fingers over the black leather interior of the Mercedes. “So, you pick up all your dates in the back halls of bars?”

Jake barked out a laugh and settled deeper into his seat. “This coming from you? Phone booth?”

“Oh, please.” She flicked her hand dismissively as her lips stretched into that smile he couldn’t stop working for. “I was dragged there.”

“Carried. I’m too smooth to drag anyone anywhere. It was romantic.”

“Not.” Cali snickered. “It was dirty. The good kind. Fun. But definitely dirty.”

Definitely fun. “Does that mean I get a page in your dirty little secrets book?”

“More like a footnote as a once-in-a-lifetime exception to the rule.”

Jake grinned. This was the woman from last night. Fun. Cool.

Friends worked for him. No strings. No mess. No complications. His head was in the right place about it. Now his body just had to get with the program.

Ten minutes later, the elevator doors opened to the seventeenth floor of the Lincoln Park building Cali would be calling home for the next two months. She followed a step behind as they walked to the door marked “17D”. Jake dug into the pocket of his jeans, retrieved a set of keys on a small ring, and flipped them out into his wide palm. “You’ve got three keys. Your apartment door, your mailbox, and this large one is for the gym down on thirteen. It’s open twenty-four hours, so if you get the urge to work off some tension after a long day of espionage it’s available. Parking is on three, and your apartment has a space assigned in case you have a visitor.” He raised an eyebrow. “You know anyone in town here?”