don’t know, Caley,” he said. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“Promise me this,” she said. “Promise me that before either one of us begins a life with someone else, that we’ll meet back here and be together, just to be sure.”
“I promise,” he said. “We can come every summer and we can stay at Havenwoods. No one will know we’re here. And it’ll be just us. For as long as we’re both … free.”
Caley snuggled up against his body, pressing her face into his warm skin. It was enough for now, she thought to herself. She would have time to figure out how she felt, time to see if this need for Jake would fade with time and distance between them. And if it didn’t, then Jake would be there for her. He’d promised.
JAKE AWOKE WITH A START. Caley shook him again and he turned to look at her. “What?” he murmured, rubbing his eyes.
“Wake up. It’s nine in the morning. We overslept.”
Jake rolled over on his stomach and snuggled into the pillows on Caley’s bed. “I’m going to sleep in. I had a late night last night.”
“And what are you going to tell your mother when she finds you missing?”
“I’m going to tell her that I drove into Chicago early to check up on things at the office and then stopped for breakfast on the way home. So we actually have the entire morning to spend in bed. It’s a two-hour drive each way plus an hour at the office and another hour at breakfast.”
Caley smiled. “And what if they see your truck in the parking lot?”
“I parked in back,” Jake said.
“All right. I give up,” Caley said. “We can spend the morning in bed.”
Jake grinned and dropped a kiss on each naked breast. “Good. I knew you wouldn’t need a lot of convincing.”
She curled back up beside him, wrapping her arms around her waist. Suddenly, she drew in a sharp breath. “We can’t stay in bed. We have to fix Emma and Sam.” Throwing aside the covers, she stumbled to her feet, then searched the room for her clothes.
Caley’s hair was wild around her face. She’d gone to bed with it wet and it had dried into a mass of waves and curls. “Emma said she was going to leave this morning. She may already be gone. And Sam has probably spilled the beans to the family. We have to fix that first, then we’ll deal with us later.”
Jake closed his eyes, his mind skipping back to the events of the previous evening. He wondered how long it would take for news of the canceled wedding to work its way through the Burtbert grapevine. Sam was probably sleeping off his hangover, but once he got up, he’d inform everyone of the details—including the roles Jake and Caley had played in the breakup.
Jake tossed back the covers. “What do you suggest we do?”
“I was hoping you’d have an idea. We don’t have a lot of time left,” Caley said.
Jake smoothed his hand over her thigh, then moved higher, wondering if he might tempt her just a little bit. Caley closed her eyes and moaned softly. “Don’t,” she whispered.
“I have to,” Jake replied.
“You have to go talk to Sam,” she said.
He slid his fingers into her dampness. “I will, as soon as I take care of this.”
“We’ll have time for this later,” she whispered. “I promise.”
Jake was well aware of how much time they had left. A week had seemed like forever when he’d first found her in bed with him. But the days seemed to dissolve in front of him until he was faced with the fact that there would be an end to this fantasy.
“Not later,” he said. “Now.” He grabbed her waist and pulled her on top of him, then caught her wrists behind her back. “Tell me you want me.” Jake pulled her down into a long, deep kiss. “Say it and I’ll let you go.”
“I do want you,” Caley murmured. She shifted above him, his hard shaft pressed between her legs. “I do.”
Jake released her wrists, but Caley didn’t move away. Instead, she raked her hands through his hair and returned his kiss, her tongue teasing at his. It was as if she’d sensed his desperation, heard the clock ticking on their time together. It was the end of the summer again, Jake thought to himself. It had happened every year, the waning season stealing her away from him once again. But this time would be different. This time, he could ask her to stay.
Jake cupped her face in his hands and looked into her sleepy gaze. “What are we going to do about this?” he murmured. “Tell me.”
Caley reached for him and a moment later he was inside her. “We can do anything we want,” she said as she lowered herself on top of him. “We’re not kids anymore.”
They made love slowly, building the passion between them with soft kisses and gentle caresses. As he touched her, Jake memorized the feel of her body, the sound of her voice. After she was gone, he wanted to recall every detail. And when they finally surrendered to each other, it was as it had been from the start—perfect.
As she snuggled against his chest, Jake buried his face in Caley’s hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. There were so many things he had to say to her, but he just couldn’t seem to put them into coherent sentences. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him. He wanted to promise her that they’d be together forever, no matter what happened. But he was afraid that saying too much too soon might scare her away rather than bring her closer.
“If only Emma and Sam were doing what we are right now,” Caley murmured. “We wouldn’t need to fix anything.”
“Maybe there’s a way to get them there,” Jake said, toying with a strand of her hair. “If you wanted to plan the perfect seduction, what would you need?”
“You’d have to have a location where you’d be completely alone with nothing to disturb you,” Caley began.
“We have that. Havenwoods. What else?”
“Champagne, good things to eat, a fireplace.” Caley giggled. “Whipped cream, honey, chocolate syrup.”
“You’ve got to have sexy underwear,” Jake said. “I love those, what do you call them, they hold up stockings?”
“Garter belts,” Caley said. “All men love those.”
“Is there anyplace in town where you can get those? And black fishnet stockings. And one of those push-up bras. And a thong.”
“I can see your evening at the strip club has made you an expert. Most women think those things are trashy. They want something pretty, feminine … but sexy.”
Jake crawled out of bed, then grabbed his boxers and pulled them on. If he didn’t get dressed, he’d never get out of Caley’s bed. “I’ll buy the champagne and the groceries. You find the lingerie. Then you get Emma and I’ll grab Sam and I’ll meet you at noon at Havenwoods. We’ll lock them in and we won’t let them out until they work out all their issues.”
“And what will we do?”
“We’ll sit back and wait,” Jake said, “and hope that at least some of our sexual DNA is pumping through their veins.”
A knock sounded on her room door and Caley bolted upright, her eyes wide. “Yes?”
“Caley? It’s Emma. I’m packed and I’m ready to leave. I was hoping you might take me to the airport.”
“What time is your flight?”
“It’s later this afternoon. But I want to go. I don’t want to see Sam.”
“Just give me a minute,” Caley said. “I’ll meet you downstairs. We’ll have some breakfast.”
“All