rabbits,’ he said. ‘Lovers. Once is never enough for lovers.’
‘Once! How about one times twenty? I didn’t know it was possible to have so much sex in one weekend.’
‘Amazing, isn’t it?’
Angelina glanced up into Jake’s grinning face and took a mental photo of it for her memory bank. He looked so handsome today. And so happy.
She doubted he’d look quite so happy once he found out about Alex.
‘What?’ he said, his grin fading.
It constantly surprised Angelina, the way he seemed to pick up on her inner feelings, without her having to say a word. It was almost as though he could read her mind sometimes. He certainly knew whenever she wanted him again.
Unfortunately, this was almost continuously. She simply could not get enough of him. Even now, she wanted him to take her home. She wanted him to strip her off and lace her into that decadent-looking corset and do whatever it was he had in mind to do to her whilst she was wearing it.
Hopefully, he couldn’t read her thoughts. She seriously needed this breather so she could think.
‘What is it?’ he repeated. ‘Tell me true.’
‘Nothing much. I was thinking how handsome you were. And how much I like you with short hair.’
‘And I like you with long.’
She flushed as she thought of what he had done with her hair on one occasion last night. He really was a wicked man.
No, not truly wicked, Angelina conceded. But seriously naughty. A very good lover, though. Very knowledgeable about women’s bodies, and totally uninhibited when it came to using that knowledge. How on earth was she going to find the strength to tell Jake about Alex, when it meant she would have to give up his lovemaking?
Because it was all going to end once the truth came out. If there was one thing the last twenty-four hours had proved to Angelina, it was that Jake only had one need for a woman, and that was as his sexual partner. His plaything. Even his calling her his lover just now was telling. Why not girlfriend? Lover had that for-sex-only connotation about it.
No, Jake hadn’t changed in that regard. His aim had been to sleep with her. And now that he had, any complications would have him running a mile.
And Alex, let’s face it, she thought, was one big complication.
‘What a shame today has to end,’ she said with a sigh.
‘Does it have to?’
‘Time marches on. Nothing can change that.’
‘You could always stay the night with me, go home tomorrow.’
She was seriously tempted. If she’d been in bed with him at this moment, with his hands on her naked body, she probably would have said yes.
‘Sorry,’ she said crisply. ‘No can do. I have to get back home tonight. Work tomorrow.’
‘Yeah. Same here. I’m due in court first thing in the morning.’
‘On that case you told me about?’ Angelina asked, grateful for the opportunity to get her mind off sex. ‘The lady who’s dying of lung cancer?’
‘That’s the one. I have to deliver my closing address.’
‘Are you ready?’
‘I should hope so. I’ve been living and breathing that case for months.’
‘Do you memorise your speeches?’
‘Not really. I do write my ideas down. But I never try to remember them word for word. That’s the sure way to go blank and stuff it up. No, I prepare well and then I talk from the heart. You do make the occasional stumble over words that way, but the jury never minds that, if they know you’re being sincere.’
‘I hope you win,’ she said with feeling.
‘Don’t worry,’ Jake returned with a little squeeze of her shoulders. ‘We will.’
Angelina abruptly jumped to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s walk some more. I want to go see St Mary’s Cathedral.’ And she yanked a groaning Jake to his feet.
‘More walking? Can’t we just sit here and cuddle?’
‘You’ve had more than enough cuddling for one weekend. Up!’
‘Wow. I like it when you’re bossy. Would you like to be on top when we get back to my place?’
‘Get that bag and come on!’ She was already off, walking in the direction of the cathedral, not giving him the opportunity to take her hand again.
‘Oh, look!’ she exclaimed when they emerged from the park directly across from the main cathedral steps. ‘There’s a wedding car just arriving. Let’s go over and watch, Jake. I love watching weddings.’ Anything but going back to his place yet.
‘Why?’
‘Because!’
‘That’s no reason from a girl who says she doesn’t want to get married.’
‘I don’t want to be an astronaut, either,’ she argued, ‘but I like watching their exploits.’
‘I suppose you could compare marriage to flying into space.’
‘It’s certainly a risky venture.’
‘But risk can be exciting.’
Angelina arched her eyebrows. ‘This, from a man who said he never wanted to get married?’
‘Maybe I’ve changed my mind.’
Jake saw the shock reverberate in her eyes. ‘You…you don’t mean that,’ she said stiffly.
Jake immediately regretted his possibly ill-judged words. If he rushed her, he might lose what he wanted most. After all, this was just their first weekend together. Best stick to sex for now.
‘Never say never about anything,’ he remarked nonchalantly. ‘That’s my motto.’
‘For the record, I never actually said I would never get married. I just said it wasn’t a priority of mine.’
Jake felt heartened by the carefulness in her wording.
‘That’s good,’ he said with a smile. ‘I like a girl who keeps her options open.”
Her hitting him playfully on the arm broke the tension he’d foolishly created.
‘I’m just a sex object to you, aren’t I?’ she accused.
‘Absolutely. So, do you want to go look at this wedding, or do you want to go home? Don’t forget, we’ve only got four hours before I drive you home. We’ll have to set off by eight if I want to be back in Sydney by midnight. I’m a Cinderella kind of guy when I have to be in court in the morning.’
‘Decisions. Decisions.’
‘Yeah, life’s a bitch, isn’t it? So what do you reckon? Which is it to be?’
Angelina knew he thought she’d opt to go home. And she wanted to. She wanted to so much it was criminal.
All the more reason not to.
‘I think it would do you good to see that there is more to a relationship than just sex. That couple in there are about to promise to love and cherish each other till death them do part.’
‘Until divorce them do part, don’t you mean?’
‘You’re a cynic, do you know that?’
‘Takes one to know one.’
‘Point taken. But I still want to see the wedding,’ she said firmly, and walked over to press the button that would