CHAPTER SEVEN
NIKKI
†
THE LAST PERSON I expected to see that night was Jake. I’m not kidding. If you’d given me a pen and paper and told me to write a list of all the people I didn’t expect to see that night, then he’d have been right up there, second only to my deceased grandmother.
But, there he was, looking gorgeous with his short dark hair and now sporting a beard, which I thought was damn sexy after seeing the one my brother was trying to pull off. His tanned skin made mine look like I’d simply been kissed by the sun, whereas he’d been full-on ravaged by it.
That grin and that dimple in his right cheek … goddammit, I’d hoped he’d have grown out of it by the time I was old enough to stand within ten feet of him again and not feel like my heart was plummeting through my stomach towards the floor.
I knew there was a very slim chance he’d come to the wedding. Of course I’d thought about it when I wondered who was going to be Brandon’s best man but after he told me he’d chosen Clea’s brother, Chester, to be just that, I figured that Jake was probably hacking his way through a jungle somewhere, machete in one hand and camera in the other as there was no way Chester was Brandon’s natural first choice.
When he told me he was the principal photographer for Woke magazine, I pretended to be surprised. There was no way I was going to let on that I bought every copy of that darned thing and even got the digital copy, too, just so I could follow his work. I’d spend any free time I had, be it on a plane, a train or a taxi into the city on my way to an appointment, swiping through the magazine on my iPad, trying to imagine him behind the lens; the camera pressed to his face, one eye closed as the other peered through the viewer.
I knew he’d been to the jungles of Borneo, the Australian outback, the salt flats of Bolivia, the gold mines of the Witwatersrand. He’d been privy to some of the most incredible natural phenomena as the pictures of the Northern Lights had proven. And, everywhere he went in the world, I followed him, pretending in the earlier days that I was with him on his travels, seeing what he was seeing. As time went by, though, and the young eager teenage mind of mine became focused on my career, reality won out, and I settled for simply subscribing to his blog and reading about his life along with the other thousands of subscribers.
His blog hadn’t made mention of his return to the States, though. I guessed he must have been a little behind with the updates but, naturally, I couldn’t question him on it because then he’d know that I’d been semi-stalking him all this time.
Instead, I reminded myself to act surprised when he talked about visiting places I knew very well he’d been to because, let’s face it, he’d just saved me from a creepy weirdo; he didn’t need to think that I was one, too.
As the engine of the huge bike throbbed loudly as we rode out of the town, I was grateful that he couldn’t hear my heart beating over the din. I wondered whether he could feel it, though, as my chest leaned against his back, and my arms had to loop around his waist so that I wouldn’t fall off the bike. I perched my toes on the sides, hoping that my expensive nude pumps wouldn’t fly off onto the road when I’d only worn them once.
He seemed to know where he was going, and I knew from the short cab ride that we weren’t going back to the resort. But, I wasn’t worried. Not for a second. I hadn’t seen the guy in seven years but I already trusted him like I did my own brother, only I knew I’d never feel anything like I did at that moment had I been holding onto Brandon for dear life.
We rode for twenty minutes or so before we turned off the road onto a dirt path and then we were climbing, a steady incline of several hundred yards, deeper into the forest. He turned right as though coming back the way we came, but I saw that we were perched on the edge of a rock jutting out into the night. He switched the engine off, and the bike dipped to the right. He kicked out the stand and turned his head to look at me over his shoulder.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said, unclasping my hands from around his waist and realizing from the marks I’d left on my own arms that I’d been holding onto him a lot tighter than I thought. “Do you know where we are?”
“Sure. I’ve been looking at maps of the island,” he said. “I knew that this little place was here, and I heard it had amazing views of the ocean. Also, the stars are really clear because there’s no air pollution.”
He looked up, surveying the night sky and frowned. “It’s a little cloudy,” he observed. “If those clouds pass, though, behind them there’s a whole blanket of stars.”
With his hands on his hips, looking up, he looked like an explorer, navigating by the stars. All I wanted to do was sit there and stare at him, but I had to avert my gaze so I didn’t look like a drooling idiot. After all, he was my brother’s best friend. It would just make for a silly situation.
He stood up and hopped off the bike with one effortless move. He turned towards me, and before I could do the same, he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me off the seat, picking me up high into the air without much effort. I let out a little cry and grabbed onto his shoulders. He slowly lowered me until my feet touched the ground. As he did, I slid against his hard body, my hands still holding on to his broad shoulders. He didn’t let go of me. Instead, he slowly leaned his head down, and I held my breath.
“I think you’d want to pull down that little dress of yours before I move away, love. I don’t know you well enough to see that much of you, yet,” he whispered, the soft hair of his beard tickling my cheek.
God, please don’t feel the shiver that just racked my body!
I swallowed and quickly wriggled my dress down, which had now bunched up high around my hips. I could feel my cheeks warming as the color undoubtedly flushed my cheeks.
“All done?” he smiled, clearly amused at my little situation.
“Yeah… thanks,” I whispered, clearing my throat and tugging my hair behind my ears. “All done.”
“Cool. Now, come with me,” he said as he moved away from the bike. “There’s a little flat area of rock over on this side if my map-reading skills serve me right. We can sit on it. Just watch your step.”
My pumps weren’t made for late-night forays into the Hawaiian wilderness and, as I stumbled, I reached out my hand. He caught it and he didn’t let go. Instead, he walked me carefully over to the flat rock he promised was there but that I could barely see in the darkness. Gradually, though, my eyes adjusted to the low light. He crouched down and shuffled forward so that his legs dangled over the edge of the rock. “Come on,” he said, wiping clean the area next to him with his one hand. “Join me.”
“Aren’t you scared you’re going to fall off the edge?” I asked.
“Of course not,” he chuckled. “Come on. I won’t let you fall, don’t worry. Only, you might want to kick off your shoes. There’s a good chance you’ll lose one of them and knock out a wild goat or something.”
I laughed and then had to stop laughing and concentrate on not falling over the edge of the rock and plunging… oh, God only knows… how many feet to the jungle below. But, once I was perched comfortably, I could look out properly for the first time, and the view took my breath away.
“Oh, Jake. I can’t believe how beautiful it is up here,” I murmured. “I mean, we already have a great view from the villa, but this is seeing everything in a completely different way.”
“The villa?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “It seems some of us are getting the five-star treatment.”
“We’re the family of the groom,” I reminded him. “Clea’s dad really went to town booking us all into the villas.”
“Yeah, makes sense. I can’t really complain about the accommodation, though. I’m up at the main hotel in one of the suites and, unlike some of the privileged few, I had to pay for my own room,” he jabbed.
“Oh, please. I’m sure you can more than afford it. And, by the way, why aren’t you Brandon’s best man? I really thought that you would be his first choice. He’s not that close to Chester, I know that much.” I was curious about that and asked before really considering that it might not be the best question to have asked him, but I was relieved when he gave his answer.
“He did ask me, but at the time I wasn’t sure that my work schedule would allow it. Since I came back from Thailand, and even though it was agreed that I’d take some time off, my boss has been pushing me to take on another assignment. I wasn’t sure at the time what the hell was going to happen, and I didn’t want to keep Brandon waiting. So, I made the call, and he asked Chester. Besides, I don’t like wearing suits. They tend to make me sweat like a politician on Election Day,” he chuckled, making a deep throaty sound.
Another question plagued in my mind, and I cringed inwardly for even asking it, but I had to know.
“So, did you come here alone?”
“Either that or I left my girlfriend back at the club to take you out for a spin,” he joked. “But, if you must know, I don’t have a plus one.”
“So, you left her at home?” I wanted to slap myself on the forehead for being so damn obvious, but the words had tumbled out of my mouth before I’d even had a chance to stop them.
I couldn’t see the expression in his eyes as he turned his head to look at me, but I could tell that my question amused him as he smiled before answering. “No. There’s no one special back home, either,” he drawled. “I’ve been traveling for so long that I’ve never really thought about settling down with anyone, so there’s never really been anyone serious in my life. What about you?”
“No. Same as you. There’s no one. Mia’s my guest,” I said. “I guess I’m like you in that I’ve been too busy focusing on my career to think about my love life, so, I settled for asking my best friend to come instead. Much to the disappointment of my mom, of course.”
“Oh, your mom!” Jake’s face lit up. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen Caroline. And, I was truly sad to hear about your dad, too. I’m really sorry.”
His voice was soft, and I knew he meant the words of condolences. I suddenly thought of all the times Jake had been over at our house when we were all younger and how my dad was the one to drive him home when his mom called to wonder why on earth her son hadn’t come home yet because he’d spent all day out with Brandon on their bikes. My dad was the one to take him to his first ball game after his own dad had left the family when he was still young.
I was suddenly nostalgic for the old days, the times of our lives when we were so young and carefree that we didn’t have to worry about death, or dying alone, or being a disappointment to our parents because we’re not providing them with grandchildren as quickly as they’d like.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Jake said, placing his hand on mine, linking our fingers together. My heart began to race at his touch. “I’m sorry for making you think about your dad.”
“It’s okay,” I smiled. “It’s just that sometimes I still don’t believe how we all grew up so fast, that’s all. I’m fine, really.”
“Well, let’s change the subject then,” he said briskly, letting go of my hand again when all I wanted to do was have him hold onto it for a little while longer.
“Look. Up there,” he said, pointing up at the sky. “You can see the constellation of Scorpius setting in the southwest.”
I squinted my eyes and scanned the skies, but I couldn’t see what he was trying to point out to me.
“Not getting it?” he asked.
I shook my head. He moved closer, bringing his one arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his chest with the other. His mouth was next to my ear and his breath was warm against my skin as he spoke.
“Look at where I’m pointing. See the pattern of stars curving like a Scorpion’s tail?” he asked softly.
Shit, how could I concentrate on spotting an arachnid’s tail in the early morning sky when Jake was this close to me? Frankly, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass, leaning back against his rock hard chest and breathing him in. He smelled of sandalwood and leather. I felt lightheaded.
“Nicole. You see it?” he asked again.
His question pulled me back to reality, and I blinked as I tried again to see what he was trying to show me. I found it. ‘Yes,” I nodded, feeling like an ass for being so distracted by his closeness.
“It really does look like a Scorpion’s tail,” I said, stating the obvious.
“Sure does. It also really looks like Maui’s Fishhook,” and before I could ask what that was, he explained further, “It’s the hook that Maui used the pull the Hawaiian Islands from the bottom of the ocean.”
We sat there as he spoke about more of the constellations, and I could hear how he clearly loved it. But, I didn’t take much in. I was just too distracted by the sound of his deep voice next to my ear, the heat of his body warming mine and the feel of his hand around my waist.
God, I could have sat there like that forever, listening to his deep voice. It was like a slow caress.
When he pulled away, I nearly fell backward but, thank God, he didn’t seem to notice. I felt cold as his warmth was no longer there against my back. He got to his feet and dusted off his jeans.
“Come, we need to be heading back. It’ll be sunrise soon,” he said, holding out his hand and helping me to my feet.
“Gosh, have we been out that long?” I asked, looking at my watch.
I slipped my feet into my pumps again and then we were back on his bike, my dress hiked up again, my arms once more around his waist. Maybe it was tiredness, or maybe it was simply because it was the end of an amazing night, but I rested my head on his shoulder as we rode back to the resort. He left the bike near reception and we walked along the path to my villa although his room was closer to the parking lot.
“So, here you are, young lady. Back home, all safe and sound,” he smiled.
“Thanks for walking me all the way down here. You know I could have made it here on my own,” I said.
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He moved forward and cupped my face on either side with both hands. He lifted my chin up slightly, forcing me to look him straight in the eye.
I couldn’t breathe.
“I know that, but what would that say about the kind of man that I am,” he said before he slowly started to lower his head. He stopped just inches away from my mouth and I could feel my lips parting in anticipation of him closing that tiny gap before taking my mouth. My eyes drifted shut.
“Get some rest,” he whispered, and my eyes flew open. His mouth twisted into a smile, and I could swear there was a twinkle of amusement that flashed in his eyes just before he tilted my head downwards just enough to plant a light peck on the tip of my nose. He winked, and then he was gone, leaving me there.
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Of all the places he could have kissed me, he picked my damn nose! What was wrong with the man?
The soft pulsating between my thighs mocked me as I stood there shaking, my skin still tingling where he touched my face. I closed my eyes and cursed under my breath before turning on my heel and heading towards the villa.
I took my shoes off at the door and tiptoed to my room, the tiles cold beneath my feet. I quickly popped my head into Mia’s bedroom. She was there, sound asleep and, with relief, I closed the door again and slipped into my own room.
I took off the peach dress, hanging it over a chair. It was too hot to put on anything else. Instead, I lay naked under the thin sheet on top of the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Why didn’t he kiss me?
Surely he could see I was more than willing to let him. I felt stupid. There was no logical explanation for it, but I wanted to cry. I felt so alone, so childish when I really should have been grown up, dating, sleeping beside a man. Sleeping beside Jake.
I imagined him lying next to me, lazily stroking my body, and I ran my own fingers across my stomach, my breasts, down to my thighs. I couldn’t resist placing my hand between my legs and thinking of Jake as I did so, remembering the way he felt as I held onto him on the bike. I allowed my imagination to wander further, seeing the two of us in bed, him taking his time with my body, kissing my mouth, my neck, my breasts, making his way downwards…
I didn’t stop myself, allowing my hands to go where I imaged his fingers would tease. My relief was quick and powerful. I moaned into my pillow, desiring it to be him giving me the pleasure that I just experienced.
God, how could he have this effect on me after just one night?
Afterward, my eyes felt heavy and, within a few moments, I drifted off to sleep.