Chapter Eight
Phoebe never should have agreed to let Jake pick her up for their day of house viewings. She should have taken her own car. Instead she’d found herself saying yes, he could swing by at nine a.m. And since she’d printed all the listings last night, she didn’t need to go to the office, and he pulled up to her house on time.
She climbed into his truck, only too aware of his enticing masculine scent in the small confines of the front cab and how delicious he looked in a pair of jeans, a faded gray tee shirt, and his sexy sunglasses on his eyes.
She’d chosen her normal cream-colored suit for the showings, wanting to be her professional self. She smiled at him. “Good morning. Ready to go see some houses?”
He nodded but he didn’t tear his gaze from hers, leaving no doubt that although she’d put on her professional armor, he liked what he saw.
“So how was the rest of your weekend?” he asked.
“Good. I slept in yesterday, and by the time I woke up, Jamie had stopped sulking over the fact that I said no to getting a dog. I called that a win and it was a good day.”
He laughed, one arm on the top of the steering wheel. “I hear you. Callie and I spent the day at our town pool, even though she can’t get the cast wet, then I took her for pizza and brought her back to her mom’s.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It was. Speaking of Callie, I wanted to get her and Jamie together next weekend. Is he free?”
She knew his schedule by heart. “He has a baseball game on Saturday afternoon at two. He’s free after and on Sunday.”
He paused in thought, then asked, “Would it be okay if I brought Callie to the game? It might be a good icebreaker if he’s in his element. At Callie’s age, she’ll be happy just being with me for the day and doing something different.”
Phoebe thought about it and nodded. “That should be fine. I think he’d like you to come see him. And I know he can’t wait to meet Callie.”
“Good. We can go for dinner after,” he suggested, putting the car in drive.
Oh no. Going out as a family? That was a dangerous thing for her too eager heart. “Don’t you think you should take your children out together?” she asked, meaning alone together, just the three of them, without her added to the mix.
He rolled his shoulders in an easy shrug. “That’s what I’ll be doing. You’ll just be joining us,” he said, obviously not wanting to take no for an answer.
And she really didn’t have a good reason to push the issue and refuse… so she remained silent.
Her worry about getting too immersed in his life was her own concern. He wasn’t aware of her fear that she’d get too invested and then he’d leave her for his ex or some other reason in the future. And she wasn’t about to explain it to him now.
“So where’s the first house?” he asked, changing the subject.
Relieved, she gave him directions as he drove, and they pulled up to a small center-hall Colonial. “So this one was built in 1965, but it has had a lot of renovation done in the last few years. The kitchen and the bathrooms are remodeled and the roof is new, which is always a good thing.”
She had a key, and the family, knowing she was bringing a potential buyer, had made themselves scarce. She found the family being gone helpful so her client could feel free to say anything they wanted in the course of the showing. Of course, sometimes the seller was home and her buyer spoke their mind anyway, which was always an awkward situation and was why she encouraged the sellers to go out during a visit.
“I suppose new is good,” he said. “Although considering the business I’m in, I don’t mind doing work to get the place into the shape.” He parked at the curb and glanced up at the house.
From the street, it gave an impressive first glance. The shrubbery had been well maintained and the driveway recently sealed. She wasn’t sure why this family was looking to move, but they’d be turning over a beautiful house when they sold.
They walked through rather quickly. “The bedrooms are upstairs,” she said as they climbed the stairs.
The minute he walked into the master bedroom, he shook his head. “Way too small. I’d be claustrophobic in here,” he said with a full-on shudder.
She encouraged him to look at the rest of the house anyway, but soon they were back in the car.
He blew out a breath. “Next?” he said, laughing.
She smiled and sorted through her papers. Based on his reaction to this place, she chose one that was the complete opposite.
She directed him to their next home, on the other side of Rosewood Bay. “Now this one was built in the late 1970s, and it has been updated, just not recently, so it’s dated and will show age. I’d tell most people they have to have vision for this house, but I think you already know that. And of course, the price reflects the lack of added value over the years.”
“Let’s see,” he said, excited, clearly not discouraged by the datedness of the property.
They walked into the home with white-painted shingles on the outside and black shutters on the windows. Inside, the hardwood floors were in good condition, as she pointed out to him, and he walked into the large kitchen, smiling at what he saw.
“These old cabinets are easy enough to replace, but look at the size of this room.” A large round table sat in the corner with five chairs around it. At a glance, it was a lot bigger than the last home.
“I can see us in here,” he said and her body jolted at the word us.
He had to have meant him and the kids, so she didn’t call him out on it, because she could see herself here, too, sipping coffee in the morning while looking out at the wooded landscape.
Drawing a deep breath, she led the way through to the family room, which had a fireplace and a full wall for a television unit, then passed through a small formal dining room.
“So no stairs, which some people find a plus,” she said as they headed to the back of the house since it was a one-story structure.
“Here are the kids’ rooms,” she said, stepping aside so he could enter the first one. Although small, it wasn’t too tiny. There was a dresser and twin bed, but plenty of floor space, and should he want a double bed, he could go that route. The same for the next bedroom.
“And here’s the master,” she said. “The beauty of this is that it’s been added on to over the years.” The far wall had a row of windows overlooking the wooded area, which was beautiful, especially in the summertime, which it now was. “So it’s fairly large. And it has an office attached.”
He walked through, studying the room in silence. She waited, giving him time to take it all in.
“This layout is perfect,” he said at last. “And because it’s a one-story, there’s easy potential for adding on over the years.”
She nodded. Only someone with money to renovate or vision and ability would fall in love with this older home. It needed some TLC, which she knew he could provide.
“I like it,” he said, sounding excited. “Can I see the backyard? I want there to be room for a swing set and a place for the kids to play.”
She smiled. “Of course.” She led him out back, which he fell in love with, again for its potential. There was a patio, which had seen better days but had room to expand and make it larger, and an empty grass space before the woods for the play structure he wanted, and he was grinning as they walked back to the truck.
“Let’s see what else you’ve got but keep this one in mind.”
They spent the next few hours seeing a total of four more homes, none which suited him better than the ranch.
She discovered that when he was ready, Jake could be impulsive. He told her to make an offer at a number he named below list value because of the renovations needed.
Since she had paperwork to do for him, she expected him to head toward her office or her house so she could get her car, but he drove in the opposite direction instead.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“It’s lunchtime and I don’t know about you but I’m starving. Do you still like Chinese?”
“Yes, but—”
“But you have plans? Somewhere you need to be? I was under the impression you’d blocked the day off for me. I know you had more houses to show me if I’d wanted to go.”
She pursed her lips. “Yes, but you didn’t.”
“So let’s eat.”
Her traitorous stomach chose that moment to growl in a very unladylike manner.
“And I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, laughing.
He stopped at a takeout place on the way to his apartment, because, he said, it was the best Chinese food around. She let him choose for them and soon they were back in his apartment. She couldn’t forget the last time they were alone here, what had happened between them, and how much she wanted a repeat performance despite common sense telling her otherwise.
Instead of sitting at the small kitchen table, he loaded up the boxes on the table in the family room, set chopsticks that came with inside each box, and told her to dig in.
“Remember when we learned to use these together?” She laughed, recalling the night the Dawsons had brought home cartons just like these and handed out the chopsticks. “I ended up wearing more than I ate.”
He grinned. “You weren’t all that nimble with them, that’s for sure.”
She blushed at the memory. “You took my hands in yours and hand-fed me until I figured it out.”
“I’m shocked Mrs. Dawson didn’t figure out what was going on between us then.”
She paused, the lo mein halfway to her mouth, surprised he’d brought up that part of their past. Maybe he really had made peace with everything. If so, he’d found it easier than she had.
She finished her bite, then met his gaze. “I’m—”
“Do not say you’re sorry. It’s over and I don’t regret anything we did together.”
“Me, neither,” she admitted.
While they finished their Chinese food, which was, as he’d promised, among the best she’d ever eaten, they talked about lighthearted things.
“Tell me something about you I don’t know,” he said while eating his General Tso’s chicken.
“Hmm.” She thought about things she’d learned about herself after she’d left foster care. Uplifting things. “Oh, I know! I found out that my sisters and I were named after things in the solar system.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “It’s one of the things my mom told her when Aunt Joy found out about us. Apparently, before her parents threw my mother out and things went bad, Mom was smart. She loved science. I was named after the outermost moon of Saturn, Halley for Halley’s Comet, and Juliette for a moon of Uranus.”
“Fascinating,” he said. “Seriously.”
“What about you? Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
“Hmm. Well, there’s this. Prison left me claustrophobic.”
She blinked, lowering the chopsticks into a box of food. “Jake, I had no idea. When you reacted that way to the small bedroom, I didn’t realize.”
He shrugged. “It was a dark room in that house and small. No reason to willingly put myself in a place I’m uncomfortable. This apartment is small but it’s bright, with a lot of windows. That was a requirement and it’s why the house I love works so well. The view of nature and the trees… nothing like a dark, damp cell.”
On impulse, she reached over and pulled him into her arms, offering him what she could, comfort and warmth.
He hugged her back. “It’s fine. I wasn’t looking to bring you down. Just offering some insight,” he said, pulling back.
She wouldn’t dwell on it if he didn’t want to, so she merely smiled and said, “Well, I’m glad you shared it with me.”
Then she began cleaning up, determined to get home before she did something stupid, like fall into bed with him again. Because he was just so easy to be with, to like, to keep falling harder for.
She was tying up the full garbage bag when he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She jumped and backed away from the pail. “What are you doing?”
“What I’ve been dying to do since the last time I had my hands on you. Holding you in my arms.” He spun her around so they were face-to-face and her heart began to race.
“Jake—”
He nuzzled his face into her neck, and her knees went weak along with her will to do anything but yield to his touch. Her hands came to his neck and she threaded them through his hair, leaning into him, her breasts brushing against his chest.
“See? Giving in isn’t such a bad thing.”
At the moment, she agreed with him. He reached for her jacket and peeled it off her shoulders, laying it on the counter. Next he grasped the hem of her camisole and slid it over her head, leaving her in her skirt and lace bra.
She pulled his shirt up and off, adding the tee to the same pile as her clothes. She ran her hands up his chest, feeling his warmth and strength against her palms.
“I love your hair down,” he said, reaching up and tugging at the bun she’d made this morning.
In a split second, her professional look was gone, her hair tumbling around her shoulders. “That’s better,” he said, sifting his fingers through the strands and tugging on her scalp in an erotically delicious way.
His hands came to the waistband of her skirt at the same time she reached for the button on his jeans. In seconds they were both undressed, him shedding his boxer briefs with the denim, her wearing only her bra and panties.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he said in a gruff voice.
Her cheeks heated at his blatant perusal. “You make me feel that way.” She let her gaze slide over his body, his thick erection standing at attention.
She reached for him, but he caught her hand, bringing it back down to her side. “You don’t want this over before it begins.”
So she waited and was rewarded when he brushed his thumbs over her nipples, the buds hardening beneath the thin lace. He quickly removed her bra, unhooking the back and sliding the garment off her shoulders. Then, looping his fingers into her panties, he removed them next, taking the time to slide her heels off her feet as well.
She stood naked in his kitchen, completely bared to him and totally aroused.
“I would have left those sexy shoes on, but for what I have planned, you’ll need your balance.”
“Ooh, do tell.”
He grinned, a sexy grin that made her wet, and then turned her around facing the island counter before placing a firm hand on her back and bending her over, her breasts pressing against the cold Formica top.
Arousal pounded through her veins as she turned her head to the side and met his gaze. “What’s your plan?”
He slid a finger along her spine, her back arching, her sex pulsing with need. He hooked a foot around her ankle and spread her legs wider. “There. Perfect,” he said, cupping her ass in his hand.
“Jake,” she said in a trembling voice, her body soft and ready for his.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right back,” he said in a voice she intended to obey.
He disappeared for a few seconds, seconds in which the wait merely heightened her excitement and need. He returned and she heard the crinkle of a condom wrapper, then a groan as he probably pulled it on.
Meanwhile, she was bent over the counter, ass in the air, waiting for whatever came next, taking in shaky, excited breaths of air.
“Now this is a sight.” He cupped one cheek in his hand, squeezing it.
She arched into him, wanting nothing more than for him to fill her.
He came up behind her, his cock at her entrance, her body clenching with need. And then he thrust deep, taking her completely. She gasped at his intrusion, the feeling of him thick and heavy inside her sending spirals of intense sensation rocketing through her.
“Jesus, you’re tight from this angle. You feel so damned good.”
She wriggled around him, squeezing her core around his shaft. “Is that a deliberate tease?” he asked.
“No, it’s a needy wiggle,” she muttered. “Now move.”
He swatted her behind and chuckled. “Relax and let me set the pace. I guarantee you’ll appreciate it later.”
She laughed.
Had she ever laughed during sex before? Relaxed enough to have fun and enjoy the moment instead of rushing to get it over with? Yeah. With Jake, she thought, as he began to do as she asked. And move.
He drove into her, his hands holding her hips, as he took her over and over, her body flying higher with every shift of his hips against hers.
Her body answered his rhythm, and she began to soar, the small contractions racking her body growing stronger with every thrust. She shook and trembled as she grew closer to a climax, which he pulled from her with the next plunge of his thick cock into her sex.
“Jake!” She cried out his name as her orgasm struck, waves of glorious pleasure swamping her.
Her climax triggered his, and he groaned, taking her hard, over and over until he collapsed against her, his large body crushing hers while they caught their breath.
A few minutes later, he pulled out of her, and she felt the loss, her body damp and sated. She reached for her clothes and they dressed in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but she felt herself withdrawing, pulling into herself, the old fear returning.
Don’t, she instructed. Just enjoy what you have and don’t feel regret. Just protect your heart.
She only hoped she could follow her own advice, because every time she was with Jake, she lost more pieces of herself to him.
* * *
Jake put an offer in on the ranch house he’d fallen in love with, and after a few days of negotiations, he’d gotten his house. The current owners were eager to sell and retire down south and it hadn’t been difficult to work out a deal. He’d be signing the contract in a few days and close in a month. It was fast, but he was excited to move in and had already started making plans for changes he wanted to do in the house.
He called Phoebe during the week and asked her to help him pick furniture for the kids’ rooms, since he wanted those ready as soon as he moved in. That and the master bedroom. The rest he’d take from his apartment and buy as needed.
Today he was going to pick up Callie to go over to Jamie’s baseball game, then introduce his two kids. His stomach twisted with nerves but he was sure it’d be okay. They were both good-hearted children. Things would work out.
He pulled up to Lindsay’s house and climbed out of the car to collect Callie. He’d taken the extra car he kept for when he had his daughter since he couldn’t put her car seat in the truck.
He rang the bell and Lindsay answered the door. “Jake, she’ll be ready in a minute. Come on in,” she said, sounding subdued.
Stepping inside, he looked at his ex. “Can we talk?”
“Sure. I wanted to ask you something, too.”
He nodded. “Ladies first.”
She sighed. “Fine. Dad told me you bought a house.”
He narrowed his gaze, wondering what her issue was with his purchase. “I did. I figured with two kids, it was time to find something bigger.”
She winced at the two kids remark. Well, tough. She’d have to get used to it. “I just thought, as long as you were renting, that maybe one day…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
He wasn’t about to push her to finish that sentence. Not for a million dollars did he want to hear how she’d hoped they’d get back together.
“Anyway, what did you want to talk about?” she asked when he didn’t pick up on her comment.
“I’m taking Callie to meet her brother today and I wanted you to know.”
Lindsay’s cheeks flushed and she clenched her jaw. “Half brother and don’t you think it’s a little soon?”
He shook his head. “He’s her brother, since I don’t intend on drawing distinctions between my children, and no, I don’t think it’s too soon. They’re kids and they adapt easily. Much easier than adults, apparently,” he muttered, knowing he should have kept his sarcasm to himself but unable to deal with her drama today.
“That’s unfair, Jake. You spring the fact that you have a child with the woman you loved before me and you expect me to just… What did you say? Adapt?”
He counted to five in his head before answering, calming himself down. “Since you won’t have to see or deal with Phoebe or Jamie”—at least as little as he could manage it—“I’m not sure why it matters to you now. Our daughter is a champ. She’ll take the news in stride. If anything, she’ll be excited to have a sibling to hang with sometimes.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You don’t get it,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
“Actually I do,” he said, softening his voice. “And I’m sorry this hurts you, but it wasn’t planned. It wasn’t a secret I kept from you. It’s something I told you about as soon as I knew it myself.”
He paused, letting that sink in.
“So I’d appreciate it if we could all be adults and not take it out on the kids. Be nice if Callie tells you about Jamie. And if you ever meet him, be more like the woman I married.” He reached out and squeezed her arm. “You can handle it, Lindsay. We’re over. You should be moving on,” he said gently.
She didn’t reply, all but ignoring his request. Which didn’t mean she wouldn’t do as he asked, just that she wasn’t going to make anything easy. No big surprise there, he thought, frustrated with her as usual.
“Is Callie going to be with Phoebe?” Lindsay asked.
He wished to God he could lie and avoid this answer. “Yes. I’m taking her to Jamie’s baseball game.”
She glared at him through damp eyes. “Callie, your father is here!” she called out instead of replying.
“Daddy!” Callie rushed to him, dressed adorably in a pair of pink bike shorts that matched her cast and a tee shirt with a bow on the back. Her hair was pulled up in pigtails, and she wore her huge smile on her face. She had a matching pink backpack with what he assumed had her iPad to play with. Although it hadn’t been his idea to get her such an expensive item, Brent had bought her one at Lindsay’s insistence. “I’m ready!” she said.
“Me, too, munchkin. Kiss Mommy good-bye and let’s get going.”
“Bye, Mommy!” She put her little arms around Lindsay’s neck.
“Bye, baby. Be good for Daddy and have fun.” She hugged her and sent her on her way.
On their way to the field, Jake explained to her that they were going to a baseball game, where she was going to meet her brother and Phoebe, in terms she could understand.
“Yay!” was her reply.
Why couldn’t adults be as easy as children?