connection, not diminished by time, but strengthened. She could never be just a physical release for him. Sex with Caley would have to mean something. But what?
Jake groaned, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “It’s just too complicated,” he muttered, repeating her words. But it didn’t seem at all complicated in his mind. In truth, seducing Caley felt like the most natural thing he’d ever done.
How long had he been searching for a woman just like her, a woman he could feel entirely comfortable with, a woman who didn’t try to make herself into something she thought he wanted.
Jake had seen it all—the sexpot, the girl-next-door, the doting wife, the perfect mother of his children. They’d all tried to be something they weren’t. He’d known Caley so long that she couldn’t hide behind a facade. And if she tried, he would see right through it.
“Just take it slow,” he told himself. He’d been able to resist her when he was younger and far less experienced with the opposite sex. It shouldn’t be that difficult to bide his time.
His mind flashed back to an image of Caley, straddling his waist, tugging her T-shirt over her head. Jake’s fingers twitched as he recalled the feel of her flesh beneath his hands, the taste of her skin, the scent of her hair. He drew a ragged breath and tried to banish the image from his mind and focus on something else.
He noticed a car ahead of him on the road and slowed, but the sedan wasn’t moving. Instead, it was tilted at an odd angle. As he approached, Jake realized the car looked familiar—as did the figure standing at the front bumper. He carefully pulled over, then hopped out of the truck.
The moment Caley saw him, she turned away and shook her head. “Don’t even say it,” she muttered.
“Who taught you to drive?” he teased.
A reluctant smile broke across her face. “You did. Remember? You took me out in that old Cutlass you bought, then proceeded to yell at me for the entire lesson.”
“You’ve forgotten everything I taught you, grasshopper,” he teased, running his finger along her cheek. This time Jake fought the urge to kiss her and instead moved to the front of the car to examine the situation.
“We didn’t cover ice and snow, if you recall.”
“And how are you planning to get your car back on the road? By sheer force of will?”
“Maybe you could give me a push?”
“Not gonna work.” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets. It took every ounce of his willpower just to keep from touching her. He never remembered her hold over him being this strong, but it must have been. How had he managed to say no the night of her eighteenth birthday? He shook his head. “It’s going to take an hour of shoveling and two or three guys to get you out of this snowbank. I can go back home and get a chain and see if I can pull you out. Or I’ll get Teddy and my brothers and we can shovel and push.”
“My hero,” Caley said with a mocking smile.
Jake’s smile faded. He was short on sleep and tired of this game they played. Why did everything always have to be a challenge? “Am I? After last night, I thought you might not like me anymore.”
Caley shrugged. “I like you. That’s not going to change.”
“I shouldn’t have said those things about your sister.”
She drew a deep breath and sighed, then reached out and touched his arm, as if to reassure herself that they were all right. “I’m as worried as you are. I’m having lunch with her later. I was hoping I’d get a better sense of what she’s thinking.”
“You know, they haven’t had sex yet,” Jake said.
Caley blinked, stunned by the revelation. “Really? They’re both virgins?”
“No. They’ve both had sex, just not with each other. They’re saving it for marriage.”
“That changes everything,” Caley said, her eyes wide. “I mean, I think it’s an admirable concept, but it still worries me. Sex is an important part of a relationship. What if they aren’t compatible in bed?”
“Exactly,” Jake said. “Maybe we need to have one of those—what do you call them—interventions. We’ll sit them both down and make sure they know what they’re getting into and encourage them to do it.”
“But we can’t really speak with any authority,” Caley said. “Neither one of us has been engaged or married so why would they listen to us?”
“And we haven’t had sex,” Jake said. “At least, not with each other.”
“Well, we are older … and wiser. That should count for something.”
Jake considered their dilemma. “You know, we grew up in the same household with our siblings. I guess if the sex was great between us, don’t you think the sex would be great between Sam and Emma?”
“Are you suggesting we have sex so that we can use our experience to break up Sam and Emma’s wedding? What if the sex were great?”
“Oh, it would be great,” Jake said. “I know that for a fact.”
“How?”
“By the way you touch me. And by the way you react to my touch. It would be great between us. Maybe Sam and Emma have that feeling, too. Maybe that’s why they’ve been saving it.”
He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand, running his thumb over her lower lip. Caley closed her eyes and tipped her head back, waiting for his kiss. He held back, if only to prove a point. She wanted him and all he had to do was touch her to make her desire burn. He bent close and brushed his lips across hers.
“See,” he murmured. “I just kiss you and you melt.”
Caley smiled as she looked at him, then ran her hand down his chest to his waist. She brushed her knuckles against the zipper of his jeans. “And what about you?” she asked. “I just touch you and you do the opposite.”
Jake groaned. “All I’ve been thinking about since last night is getting you back in my bed. If I thought I’d have to wait another day to touch you again, I think I’d cut a hole in the ice and jump in the lake.”
“Don’t do that,” Caley teased. “That water is cold and the shrinkage would be horrible.”
He laughed, the sound echoing off the trees. “The way you talk. Do you talk to the other men in your life like this?”
“Right now, you’re the only man in my life. And it’s easy to talk to you.” She paused. “You’re my oldest friend, Jake. I can say anything to you.” She drew a deep breath. “I guess I didn’t realize that until now. We haven’t seen each other in eleven years and it seems as if nothing’s changed. And yet everything has.”
“I know,” he said. “But it’s not all bad.” He kissed her again. “So we’re okay. About last night?”
“I didn’t sleep at all.” Caley leaned back against the hood of the car.
“I didn’t, either. I’m starting to think we’d do a lot better if we slept together.” Jake rested his hands on her waist and stared down into her eyes. “You know you can’t live without me.”
“I know I can’t get my car out of the snow without you,” she countered.
He stepped back and carefully examined the task at hand. But the sound of an approaching car caught their attention and Jake watched as an SUV with police lights stopped on the opposite side of the road. The policeman jumped out of the truck and strolled across the road.
“I thought that was you,” he said. “What’s up, Caley?”
“Hey, Jeff,” Caley called, giving the cop a friendly wave.
“If you tell me this happened while you