Jacobe stood slowly and stopped the water. She watched through half-lowered lids as he quickly peeled off his clothes. He slid on a condom then lowered himself into the tub. He took her into his arms and Danielle met his kiss with renewed passion. He flipped their positions until her legs straddled his waist.
Danielle dropped her hands between them, took him into her hands and lowered herself onto his erection. Her body was overly sensitive from his earlier attentions and she moaned in exquisite pleasure with each filling inch. Jacobe took her face in his hands and brought her forward for a kiss, his hips pushing up with each of her downward slides.
He leaned back and stared at her, his gaze possessive. “You’re so damn sexy, Danielle.” His hands slid over her shoulders and down her arms before resting on her waist. “So sexy and all mine.” His hips pushed up hard and deep. “Tell me you’re mine.”
Danielle gasped and clasped his arms. The pleasure was so intense she couldn’t stop a grin from curving her lips. “Yours, Jacobe. Only yours.”
* * *
Several minutes later, Danielle lay with her back against his chest in the tub. The water was still warm and silky, and her body felt just as fluid. She could stay there forever. In his arms, forever. Because she loved him.
“Will you come with me during the play-offs?” Jacobe asked.
The excitement that he wanted her with him was still there, but the concern of giving up so much of her life to follow him made her hesitate. He’d already said he wouldn’t disrupt his life for her. Was she being unrealistic and foolish to consider doing it for him?
“That’s a lot of time away,” she answered.
“Which is why I want you to come.”
She took a deep breath. “Jacobe, I don’t know.”
“Forget it,” he said, and tried to sit up.
Danielle pushed back so he couldn’t get out. “Stop. You can’t get mad when I bring up a valid point.”
“I’m not mad. I’m surprised you don’t want to come.”
“I didn’t say I don’t want to come. I’m telling you that it’s a lot of time away from my job. A lot of time at a very important time.”
“I get it. You can’t leave right now.”
She shifted sideways in his tub to meet his eye. “That, and you’re asking me to disrupt my life, drop everything and follow you around the country. But you describe us as being cool.”
“What are you asking, Danielle? What do you want me to say?”
She wanted him to say he loved her. That he wanted her there not just as a lover but as part of his emotional support. Someone that he could lean on if they lost and who would celebrate any victory with the same enthusiasm and pride he would feel. But Jacobe wasn’t likely to lay out any of those emotions at her feet. Those were the wishes of a woman who wanted to be more to him than she probably was.
“Do you want a cheering section, or me?”
“You, Danielle.” His dark eyes were filled with an intensity that made her heart flutter. An intensity that promised her that one day he would say those words. “Only you. I haven’t had a woman in my life for years. Seeing you the night we made the play-offs. That did something to me.”
The words were a warm, happy squeeze around her chest. There was little else he could say to make her feel any better.
“I can’t make it to all the games, but I will come to as many as I can.”
The tension seeped from his body. The arm around her waist tightened. “Cool.”
Danielle laughed. “That’s all I get? Cool? After all that sulking and pouting.”
“Hey, I don’t sulk,” he said, and kissed her neck. Jacobe ran a hand up her arm and squeezed her shoulder. “Will you stay here tonight?”
It was the first time he’d brought up either of them spending the night. She wasn’t going to Malawi. Wasn’t even going to worry Jacobe with the idea of her going. She wasn’t sure when he’d be comfortable enough to say he loved her, but she felt his feelings for her. They were more than just the feelings a man had for a woman he only considered a lover.
She turned in his arms and straddled his hips. “I’d love to.” When she kissed him she did so with every ounce of love flowing through her.
Chapter 14
“Let’s hear it for the Eastern Conference Champions!”
A roar of cheers went up from the crowd in the Suite, a downtown club where the Gators were celebrating winning the semifinals. Danielle lifted her hand and cheered with them. Jacobe wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her in to kiss her cheek. They were at one of the tables in the VIP section. Kevin and Debra were also there. Jacobe had also suggested she invite the rest of the river rats, who were out on the dance floor enjoying the party.
“This party is amazing,” Danielle said over the music and cheering.
Jacobe lowered his head to speak directly into her ear. “If we make the finals, then the next party will be even better. The Gators haven’t made it to the semifinals in ten years. I’m proud to be a part of it.”
He squeezed her closer against his tall, hard body. The room full of people and the sounds of the music became a distant hum. Danielle snuggled back into him. She could barely hear his moan, but she felt the rumble of it through his body.
“You’re making me want to sneak you out of here,” he murmured against her ear.
She wanted him to sneak her out of there. In the weeks since he’d asked her to attend the games with him, things had been great. No more leaving in the middle of the night, or pretending like they were just “cool.” He still hadn’t said anything in the media about their relationship, which she was okay with, but everyone on the team knew she was Jacobe’s woman.
“Will you two stop,” Debra said, looking between Danielle and Jacobe. “I’d tell you to get a room, but I’m afraid that you’ll actually leave me here with this one.” She pointed to Kevin.
Kevin laughed and raised his glass to Debra. “You’d love to be alone with me.”
“Oh no, my mama taught me why I never should be alone with a guy like you,” Debra replied, waving a finger.
Danielle grinned at the exchange. Debra was a fan of Kevin, and he had flirted with her constantly since Danielle started hanging with the group, but Debra had told Danielle she wasn’t ready to be the next woman to have Kevin’s baby.
“Whatever,” Kevin said. His sly gaze slipped to Jacobe. “I guess you’ll be paying up pretty soon.”
Jacobe’s body stiffened. Danielle glanced at him. He shook his head at Kevin. “Not quite there yet.”
“What’s that about?” Danielle asked.
Jacobe smiled and kissed her forehead. “Nothing. Kevin just jumping to conclusions.”
She had a feeling it was more than that but dropped it. Kevin sipped his drink and winked at Danielle. She got the feeling she was missing something.
“Hey, look who just got here,” Isaiah interrupted.
Jacobe looked up and his arm around her tightened. She turned to face Isaiah and her stomach dropped.
“Luke?” she said with disbelief. Every time she saw him she was struck by how he seemed to always look like the nice boy next door. Bright smile, friendly gaze and stylish but conservative clothes.
Luke’s smile widened. “Danielle, I didn’t expect to see you here.” He glanced at Jacobe, then back at her. “How are things?”
Jacobe pulled Danielle tighter against him. “Things are great.”
Danielle’s lips pressed together. She could answer herself and didn’t need him to puff up just because Luke was there.
“Things are well. What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to celebrate the Gators’ win. Isaiah and I are good friends. I tried to make it into town for the game, but the flight got delayed. I’ll be in town up to the finals, then it’ll be time for our trip to Malawi. I planned to g
et in touch with you while I was in town. You know we’re really looking forward to having you on board.”
Danielle broke into a cold sweat. She’d assumed Luke’s plans had changed when he didn’t email again. He must have assumed her silence was acquiescence.
Jacobe cleared his throat and shifted next to Danielle. “Going where?”
“Luke is working with Water for Kids on a trip to Malawi to dig wells and provide water filtration for remote villages. They’re taking a few environmental activists to provide guidance on protecting the limited water resources. He asked me to go.”
“That’s great,” Jacobe said. “You always wanted to go on a trip like that.”
“You want me to go?”
“I remember you said you always wanted to work with them. Well, now’s your chance. That’s cool.” He sounded like he was all for it, except he’d pulled away from her.
“It’s settled,” Luke said. “Danielle, I’ll call you on Monday to talk about the details.” He slapped Isaiah on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
Isaiah threw an apologetic look at Jacobe. He didn’t look at Danielle before he followed Luke.
Jacobe slid out of the booth. “I’m going to get another drink, too.”
“I’ll join you,” Kevin said.
Debra turned wide eyes toward Danielle when they walked away. “You didn’t tell him you were going?”
“I wasn’t going. I decided not to go the night he asked me to come to the play-off games. I didn’t think I needed to tell him about the invitation. How was I supposed to know Luke would out me?”
Debra took a deep breath. “What are you going to do?”
Danielle looked at Jacobe talking to Kevin at the end of the bar. He glanced back at her. She smiled. He turned away. A dull ache started in her chest. “I don’t know.”
* * *
Jacobe sipped from his beer and glanced toward the windows. Moonlight glistened off the river in the distance, but he didn’t see it. His mind was focused on Danielle’s lie. That she would plan to leave the country with her ex and not mention it to him at all. He saw her reflection in the glass as she walked up behind him.
“Are you mad at me for not mentioning the mission trip?
“I’m curious about why you kept the trip a secret.”
In the reflection, he noticed her lips pressed together. She looked uneasy, which made him uncomfortable. Had he finally trusted a woman only to be fooled again?
“I wasn’t keeping it a secret. I forgot to mention that he made the offer.”
“That’s a convenient excuse.”
“It’s not a convenient excuse. It’s what happened. Luke emailed me weeks ago about the trip. I wasn’t sure if I was going, but the night you asked me to come to the play-off games I knew I wasn’t going.”
He turned to face her. “You were considering it?”
“I was. I’ve always wanted to do something like this. Of course, I would consider going.”
“You’d go out of the country with your ex-boyfriend even though you’re dating me?”
“It’s a working trip. It’s not like I would be going on a vacation with Luke. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. Because you’re not going.”
Her brows drew together. “Are you forbidding me?”
“You said yourself you weren’t going, so that’s the end of it.”
He tried to walk past her. She grabbed his arm to stop him. Her eyes flashed with an anger so sharp he wouldn’t have been surprised if her glasses shattered. “If I hadn’t decided not to go, are you saying you would have told me not to go?”
He ran a hand over his face. Frustration crawled over every inch of his skin. “I shouldn’t have to tell you not to go. You should know better than to take a trip out of the country with your ex-boyfriend.”
As soon as the words left his mouth and he saw fury on her face, he knew he’d made a mistake.
“I should have known better?”
He reached for her hand. “Danielle, listen—”
She snatched her hand away and took a step back. “I should have known better. Even if I chose to go, that doesn’t mean anything about our relationship. You said you trusted me.”
“I trust you. I don’t trust him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No guy asks his ex to take any type of trip with him unless he has other intentions.” He meant that with everything in him. “I saw the way Luke looked at you. The way he looked at us together. He didn’t like it and he wants you back.”
She threw up a hand and turned away. “Now you’re being ridiculous. Luke and I are just friends.”
“You can’t be friends with an ex.”
“Just because you hate Christy doesn’t mean everyone who breaks up hates each other.” She sucked in a breath and her mouth snapped shut.
Anger, frustration and jealousy seethed through every poor of his body. When she took a step toward him he moved backward.
“I’m sorry,” Danielle said. “I should have brought her up.”
“Don’t be. You said what you meant. I meant what I said earlier. You shouldn’t have even considered going out of town with him.”
“I wanted you to come with me,” she said. “Several athletes are going. That’s why Luke is going. I would have asked you to come.”
“When is this trip?”
“Early June.”
“That’s during the finals. Right after I’ll be preparing to go to Phoenix.”
Her eyes widened. “You are going to Phoenix?”
“The offer they made is hard to refuse.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. If I go to Phoenix we’ll be the team to beat. My chances of winning a championship not just next year but for several years go up. It’s the chance of a lifetime.”
“When were you going to tell me about Phoenix?”
“After the play-offs.” When he was also going to ask her to go with him.
“So it was over when the play-offs ended. You asked me to support you only so you could leave the second you got what you wanted.”
The words to deny her accusations sat heavily in his throat. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he wanted her with him wherever he went, that he was falling in love with her. But he wouldn’t put his feelings out there when she was considering leaving. He wasn’t going to start checking up on Danielle. He wasn’t going to worry about her sleeping around or going back to her ex. He’d been in one of those paranoid situations before. If Luke was who she ultimately wanted, then she could have him. If she wanted to go to Malawi with him, let her go.
“If that’s what you want to believe, then I can’t change your mind,” he said.
“And if you want to believe that me going on this trip means I’m going to betray you the way she did, then you do that.” She grabbed her purse off the couch. “I think I’ll spend the night at home tonight.” Then she left.
Chapter 15
The town council chamber was filled to capacity. A hum of excitement filled the room from the multiple people waiting for the meeting to start. The waste-water provider was answering several tough questions the council posed to it based on the letter and comments submitted by the River Watchers before they gave any approvals for local permits.
“I think the council may deny this,” Debra said after she and Danielle finished talking to a few of the residents of Crescent Acres. Since the council meeting was at six o’clock many of the residents had come out in support.
“I hope so. We’ve brought enough attention to the issue. There are a lot more people interested in protecting the river than there were before.”
Thanks in a large part to Jacobe. The times he’d brought up the River Watchers, their website and social media accounts receive
d a huge jump in hits. He may not have actively campaigned against the permit, but his knowledge of the subject when asked helped. The full council chambers was proof of that.
Danielle scanned the room again though the effort was useless. She would know if Jacobe was there. The buzz of conversation would have increased by now. She hadn’t spoken to him privately since the argument. She still went to the semifinal games that were local. As Debra said, “Why waste good tickets?” He acknowledged her presence at least, but he didn’t ask her to wait for him and hadn’t asked her to attend the away games. Pain and anger were a constant clash inside her. He had said he trusted her, trusted her to know better.
A man and woman entered the council chambers. Hot, uncomfortable tingles rushed across her skin. “I don’t believe it.”
Debra looked up. “What’s wrong?”
“My parents are here.” They spotted her a second later. With hesitant smiles, they walked from the door of the chambers and over to her and Debra. Her mom had cut her hair, and her dad had more gray at his temples than before. The changes were a reminder that she hadn’t seen them in a year.
“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?”
Adele’s smile appeared confident, but her eyes were uncertain. “Tonight’s a big night for you. We missed the cleanup and the gala. We decided to come to the council meeting to show our support.”
Debra touched Danielle’s elbow. “I’m going to go sit down.” Her smile was encouraging before she walked away.
Danielle focused back on her parents, shock and happiness swirling in her like a whirlpool. “You didn’t have to do that. I could have come home this weekend and let you know how things went.”
One More Night Page 29