clothed in his habitual black, with no apparent concessions to dressing up for their night out—although he didn’t need to wear fancy clothes to draw a woman’s eye. Not when he exuded charisma simply by breathing. Add to that, he had the intriguing persona of a man who’d been around musicians for most of his life and had seen it all…group bust-ups, wrecked hotel rooms, drink, drugs, groupies and corrupt management…and had lived to tell the tale. Jake had been there, done that, and worn the T-shirt.
Sighing, Caitlin smoothed her hand down over her jeans and couldn’t help wondering what people would see in her when she finally took to the stage to sing. Would they quickly categorise her as just another starstruck wannabe? A wide-eyed innocent without much experience of anything at all? If they did, then they couldn’t be more wrong. How could they know the narrow escape she’d had from the kind of destructive relationship that most mothers of daughters had nightmares about? Consequently, she was far from ignorant about the pitfalls that awaited girls who were too trusting, who kidded themselves that they could ‘fix’ a partner’s problems simply by loving them enough. Caitlin had found to her cost that that was one of the biggest lies believed by women.
Jake must have sensed her shudder and he turned his head in surprise. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, I’m fine.’
Obviously deciding not to pander to any sense of insecurity she might be feeling, he drawled, ‘I trust your clothes aren’t going to turn into rags if I don’t get you home by midnight?’
He was, of course, referring to her habit of turning in early if she could. Caitlin’s cheeks seared pink with embarrassment. Early nights free from anxiety had been denied her in the days when she’d waited up for Sean, praying he hadn’t got himself into more trouble. If she’d had a pound for every prayer she’d uttered in those two harsh, unhappy years she’d be a rich woman.
When he hadn’t come home when expected Caitlin had hoped the police hadn’t got him in a cell somewhere, or that some drug dealer he owed money to hadn’t beaten him up, or worse. When he’d lied to her yet again, let her down or stolen money from her, she’d prayed hard for the strength to cope—still foolishly believing that she could somehow rescue him from the dark road he’d been intent on travelling down. But when he’d started to bully her, threaten her and finally hit her, she’d dug deep for the strength to end the relationship before it ended her.
The bottom line was she wasn’t about to apologise to Jake for something that had been an important part of her emotional recovery, no matter how much he scorned her early nights.
‘There’s about as much likelihood of that as you turning into Prince Charming any time soon,’ she muttered.
To her astonishment, she actually detected a smile on Jake’s lips. It was only slight, and a less sensitive person might have missed it, but she was so intimately attuned to the man’s every unconscious gesture and nuance she couldn’t help but be aware of it. It did funny things to her insides that ‘almost’ smile of his, not to mention other sensitive areas of her body…
Pursing her lips, she stared determinedly ahead of her as a sudden fierce shower of rain sheeted the windscreen’s glass, temporarily obliterating the view until Jake switched on the wipers.
‘And there was I, hoping we’d get a clear night with a romantic moon and starlight,’ he quipped.
‘Is that really what you were hoping for?’
Lifting a shoulder, he smiled again, this time more freely. ‘Why? You don’t think I have it in me to be romantic?’
The remark immediately threw her.
‘How would I know? I don’t know you well enough.’
‘Then it’s clearly time for me to do something about that, don’t you think?’
He didn’t turn his head to look at her. The provocative words were simply left hanging in the air between them, like a small but lethal incendiary device.
Urgently feeling the need to change the conversation to something far less dangerous, Caitlin asked, ‘So, who’s the band we’re going to see tonight? You didn’t tell me.’
‘They’re called Ace of Hearts. The lead singer is Nikki Drake and I’d really like you to see her. She isn’t what you might call the best singer in the world, but what she lacks in vocal range she more than makes up for in her performance. It’s electrifying. She lives and breathes the band and it shows.’
‘And you’re hoping that I might pick up a few tips?’
The rain ceased as suddenly as it had started, and as the wipers squeaked redundantly across the screen Jake’s brief azure glance at Caitlin was like a heat-seeking missile that went straight to her womb.
‘Sure,’ he answered.
Jake was amazed that he’d even got the word out. Whenever he caught sight of Caitlin’s bewitching face—whether by design or by accident—he was all but struck dumb. Ever since he’d kissed her he’d been filled with an insatiable desire to know her intimately. As far as he was concerned, not having to share her company with anyone else tonight was like being given the keys to heaven.
For a man that prided himself on always being in control of situations, his feelings for this woman were unravelling him. If he didn’t act soon to counteract the danger then the walls he’d built around his heart, brick by brick, would come crashing down and render him helpless. Whilst he would do everything in his power not to let that happen, there was no reason why he shouldn’t take Caitlin to bed to help get her out of his system…was there?
‘Do you know her well? Nikki Drake, I mean?’ she probed.
Hearing the curiosity in her voice, Jake smiled. He smiled because he detected the unspoken question that she really wanted to ask, which was How well do you know her? Although he’d never been remotely attracted to Nikki, he couldn’t help but experience a certain male satisfaction at the idea that Caitlin might be a little jealous.
‘I know her well enough. But then, I know a lot of people in my business,’ he drawled.
Not for the first time Caitlin realised that Jake was a man of few words. But, whatever he said, there was always a wealth of meaning behind it that often required some serious detective work. Then again, perhaps she should just go with the flow and not worry too much about what he meant. Jake was Jake: enigmatic, taciturn, not giving an inch. She’d better get used to it if she was going to make a half decent job of working with him.
But what she wouldn’t give for him to one day speak about her in the same admiring way that he spoke about Nikki Drake… She was feeling ridiculously jealous of the woman when she hadn’t even seen her or heard her sing yet.
‘Then I can’t wait to see her,’ she remarked, hoping that the amiable smile she gave would convince him that she meant it.
* * *
There wasn’t a single gaze in the room that wasn’t trained on the sexy strutting singer onstage. A small shapely blonde, her blue eyes heavily outlined with thick black liner, her generous mouth painted with bold red lipstick, Nikki Drake held the mike as if she owned it and commanded the small raised stage with every sexy thrust of her hips, every husky note that she sang.
Her slender body was encased in tight black satin and a wide scarlet belt was cinched tightly round her impossibly tiny waist. Her creamy breasts were clearly enhanced by the loving support of a daring uplift bra Sex on legs, as her friend Lia might say.
The performance was riveting. While the music throbbed around them Caitlin experienced an adrenaline rush like nothing she’d ever experienced before at a live concert. Was this how Jake wanted her to look? Commanding, sexy, wearing tight, hard-to-breathe-in clothing specifically designed to highlight every curve, every undulation? Unashamedly putting everything she had on show?
Her throat was dry from the combined heat of wall-to-wall people crammed