According to them, the rainbow had taken their memories away, and it took Jake a few years to remember. When he’d finally remembered, he’d tried to get the rest of the family out, which took a long time. He ended the story by saying that Grandma Mara, Ben, and everyone else Jamie knew about had lost their memories and that was the reason as to why they weren’t there. But they would eventually remember, and then Jamie would get to meet them.
After dinner, Holly walked back to the cabin with Jake. He grabbed her hand in his and kissed her knuckles every few steps.
“So, I guess Mara will not be getting her memory back?”
“No. And it’s nothing less than she deserves,” Jake said flatly. The lack of emotion in his voice shocked Holly.
“Jake, Jamie loves her just as much as she loves you. She should get to know her other grandmother.”
“Well, Holly, the feeling isn’t mutual. I did this to protect Jamie, not my mother.” He kissed her on her head as he pulled her closer to him, holding her in his arms for a moment.
Holly felt his body relax against hers. She breathed him in, then pulled away, and they continued back to the cabin in silence.
When they reached the cabin, she and Amelia headed upstairs to give Jamie a bath. She eventually left Amelia to it, letting her dress Jamie in her pajamas, and walked to the room Jake had said they would be sleeping in. He was there, packing a bag.
“Leaving so soon?” she asked, leaning against the doorframe.
Jake turned to her with a grin. “No, we are.”
“Jake—”
“C’mon, Holly. Your mother and my sister are here. Jamie is in good hands. Just come with me. Please?”
Her heart hammered a little. “Where?”
“You’ll see, it’s beautiful.”
“Of course it must be beautiful,” she said, walking over to the bed. Sighing, she helped him pack extra clothes into her backpack.
“That beautiful bikini, too. Don’t ask, it’s a surprise.”
She looked at him and shook her head, but couldn’t help the smile that crossed her lips.
They made their way back downstairs and had a drink with Bernie and Leo. When Jamie rubbed her eyes and tried to stifle her yawn, Holly scooped her up and took her to bed. Jake followed and helped her put Jamie in bed. He had the honor of tucking her in, kissing her softly on her forehead.
Holly watched him for a moment, then left the room. She hoped—wished—it would become a nightly ritual. She still wasn’t sure if it had been a good idea to bring them into Jamie’s life. What if Jake changed his mind? She tried to relax, and when Jake came downstairs with the packed bag in his hand, her heart fluttered. She pushed her doubts aside. All she could do now was hope for the best.
She smiled at him when he made eye contact with her.
“Enjoy,” her mother said without taking her eyes off the novel she was so engrossed in.
“You already knew about this, didn’t you?” Holly asked.
Jane smirked. “Yes, we spoke about it earlier. Just go, it will be great for you both.”
Holly groaned. “Fine, let’s go.”
Jake took Frank’s rental and drove to the docks. Holly’s eyes widened when Jake led her to a stunning yacht.
“What is this?”
“Nothing less than you deserve.” Jake grabbed her hand and kissed it, then helped her aboard the yacht.
“We’re sleeping here tonight?”
“Believe me, it’s the epitome of luxury.”
“Spoiled brat,” Holly said, rolling her eyes.
He laughed and kissed her as she climbed over the railing.
Her jaw dropped when she took in the beauty of the yacht. It was simply gleaming. There was a hot tub on the deck, which explained why Jake had told her to bring her bikini.
Servers greeted them with champagne in flutes, then led them to their room on the lower deck.
The room was spacious, not at all what she’d imagined a room on a boat would look like. The bed was large, and her stomach fluttered with butterflies at the thought of what they’d be getting up to on it.
Back upstairs, they made themselves comfortable and watched as the yacht left the docks.
Jake pulled her into his chest. “I know you think this is too fast, and I haven’t even spoken to you about what is going to happen tomorrow.”
“My mother mentioned it.”
“Are you okay with me moving to Seattle?”
“You hate Seattle
“I hate being apart from you more. I’ll just learn to love Seattle.”
Guilt swirled inside her. “Jake…I’m sorry for everything.”
“Sorry for not phoning me, you mean?”
“That as well.”
“You have nothing else to be sorry for, Holly. I understand why you ran. I would have done the same if I had been in your position. Why did you close your Facebook account?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
He smiled. “If I said that I looked at Facebook once a day, hoping that you’d reinstated it, I’d be lying—I looked multiple times a day. I never lost hope or the strength to find you. I just couldn’t do it in the open. Up until last night, I was a mess, Holly. Don’t ever leave me like that again. Speak to me face to face, you hear?”
She nodded stiffly.
“You seem to have done just fine without me, though,” Jake said, stroking her arm.
“You don’t know half of it.” She snorted.
Jake shook his head. “You made a great future for yourself. You’re a fourth-year medical student.” He chuckled. “Did you secretly hope to run into me again?”
“No. Hell, if I wanted to run into you, it would have been a piece of cake. I managed to dodge every single medical conference whenever I heard you or any of your family would be attending. I even manage to hide during the lecture you gave at the university.”
“Seriously? You were there.”
“I was secretly cursing and lusting over you at the same time,” she said on a laugh.
“Why didn’t you just throw a fucking pencil at me or something?”
“And explain my actions to your biggest fan afterward? He would’ve killed me. He was already suspicious of who Jamie’s father was. But I couldn’t bear to tell him because he hates the person Jamie’s father is, but loves Jake Peters.”
Jake groaned.
“I’ll sort it out with him. He has what it takes to fill your shoes.”
Jake looked at her quizzically. “In what department?”
“Not that department.” Holly laughed. “Neurology. Like I said, he’s your biggest fan. He’s going to die a thousand deaths when he finds out you’ll be working at Seattle Memorial.”
“You’re going there next year, right?”
Holly ran her fingers over his arm. “Well, I hope so. There are rumors that they’re going to lose their teaching status. But my mother believes with someone like you there, they might not.”
“I’m a horrible teacher.”
Holly scoffed. “I doubt that.”
“Just as long as you’re one of my residents.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Holly made a gagging sound. “No, I’m not into disgusting brains.”
“Okay. Then what makes Dr. Scallanger tick?”
She blushed. “Exactly that.”
“Really? Cardiology?”
“Yeah. Though that wasn’t my purpose in pursuing medicine. I wanted to be like your father. I had big plans; I wanted to try figure out what exactly had gone wrong with his shake, and I also wanted to help women who found themselves with my condition. But then, he crushed my dreams when he brought out that other miracle drug of his. Cardiology seemed to call to me after that. For the past two years, I’ve been learning under Dr. Sommers. He took me under his wing and I kind of became his hands.”
“Seriously? The Dr. Somers?”
Holly nodded, a grin spreading across her face at the awe in his tone.
“I
bet he taught you his heart massage technique.”
“Oh, it’s a big secret,” she replied seriously. “And, of course, the old man almost had a coronary when I gave him a blow job in exchange for details, so my lips are sealed.”
Jake shook with laughter. “I bet.”
Holly laughed with him. She loved the sound of his laughter. It was real laughter, belly laughter, contagious laughter. This was her Jake.
“You really need to consider it, Holly.”
“Consider what?” she said.
“Teaching me that technique. My mother is very secretive about it.”
“Well, that depends.”
“Anything,” he said in a seductive voice and lower his head to hers.
Their lips touched and she melted into the soft and gentle kiss. Her ears buzzed. She wanted more, but Jake broke the kiss.
“You want to try out the hot tub?” he said roughly against her lips.
Holly swallowed down the lust burning inside her. “Sure, why not? After all, I came here to take a break.”
“From what? The hard work hasn’t started yet.”
“I have a huge test on Tuesday.”
“I’m sure if you are Dr. Somers’ hands, you’ll ace the test.”
“Now you sound like Frank and my mother.”
“It’s the truth.”
They went below deck to change into their swimming costumes. Holly grabbed her bikini, then walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She heard Jake mutter something, but she couldn’t make out what it was. Then she heard his laughter. Quickly, she disrobed and pulled on the two piece.
He wasn’t in the room when she emerged from the bathroom. Grabbing a towel, she headed back upstairs to the hot tub.
He was already sprawled out in it, and typical Jake, he whistled as she approached.
Her cheeks flushed with heat. “Oh, shut up.”
“What?” he asked innocently. “Your body is to die for.”
The heat in her cheeks spread over her face. “Whatever.”
As soon as she was in the hot tub, Jake immediately pulled her closer with his feet until she was right beside him. He kissed her, his tongue flicking over her lips until she opened her mouth.
“You want something to drink?” he asked when he pulled away to catch his breath.
“Why not? It’s the one night I can get wasted.”
“So not going to happen tonight.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Oh, yeah? And why’s that?”
“It’s too humid.”
She laughed. He probably had other plans that would sober her up. She caught sight of the staff member entering and made to pull away, but his reflexes were faster and he held her in place.
“Believe me, they’re used to worse.”
“Your strawberries and cream, and oysters with champagne, sir,” the guy said as he transferred the decadent treats from his tray onto a portable tray placed within reach of the hot tub.
“Oysters?” Holly looked at Jake, eyebrows raised to such an extent they almost touched her hairline.
“They’re delicious. Have you never had them?” Addressing his staff member, he said, “Thank you, Barry. That will be all for now. Please make sure we’re not interrupted?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Oh, I have.” It wasn’t what she’d meant. Oysters were nature’s Viagra, or so it was believed. “What’s on your agenda, Dr. Peters?”
“Just the usual, wine and dine,” he said slyly, then kissed her quickly. “And hopefully, the best sex in the world.”
She let out a soft giggle.
“Don’t tell me my hopes are too high, because we almost did it last night at the pool.”
“What can I say, I’m a slut when it comes to you.”
“That’s my girl.” He smiled and kissed her again.
They enjoyed the strawberries and cream, and talked some more. He drew her around so she was directly in front of him and between his legs. She rested her head on his shoulder. Every now and then, he placed featherlight kisses on her shoulder.
“I’ve been thinking about something,” he said, reaching over to his towel. “And before you protest, it’s not the one I got for this weekend. It’s actually one I was supposed to have gotten rid of a while back, but I could never bring myself to do it. I kept it in a bag I almost never use, and for some reason, I decided to use that bag this weekend.”
“What are you talking—”
He interrupted her by placing the finger of his left hand on her lips, and brought his right hand up so it was directly in front of her eyes. When she registered what she was looking at, she gasped. A velvet box sat in his palm, the top flipped open, showing a lustrous, diamond ring nestled within its folds.
Holly gaped at the sheer beauty of the ring. Her breath seemed to have left her, and she was sure her heart had stopped beating.
“Holly, I didn’t lie when I said I wanted to propose to you. I bought this four years ago, and as you can see, I couldn’t get rid of it. What do you say?”
Was he asking her to marry him? He was. And she so desperately wanted to say yes, but he had planned to propose to Kate this week, and now he was proposing to her. It was all a bit too sudden, too fast.
She looked deep into his eyes. What she saw within their depths was hope.
“You know this is how it was supposed to have been four years ago.”
She swallowed. “Yeah…but your timing sucks.”
He frowned. “You’re already engaged?”
Smiling, she shook her head. “Jake, you brought everyone here to propose to Kate,” she said sadly.
His face fell.
“If you really want me to marry you, I will. But you’ll have to ask me another time. Not here, not now. Not on the night you planned to propose to another woman.”
Jake pursed his lips. “How much is this going to cost me?”
“I’m not a materialistic girl. I thought I made that clear the first time we met.”
“Fine, I’ll think of something crazy.”
“Oh, I know you will.”
She brushed her lips against his, then wrapped her arms around his neck.
“If this weekend wasn’t so messed up, would you have said yes?”
“In a heartbeat,” she whispered.
“So, technically, you are saying yes.”
She chuckled nervously. “Technically, yes.”
“So in my heart, I can say that you are my fiancée.”
“Whatever you want.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You just won’t wear the ring?”
“Not yet, no.”
“That’s all I wanted to know.” His mouth crashed against hers and she straddled him as he untied the knots of her bikini straps.
“Jake.” She chuckled against his lips when she felt her bikini top loosen around her breasts. She crossed her arms over her chest to keep the top from falling down.
“It’s just us.”
“And the staff,” Holly muttered.
“Barry has his instructions. No one will bother us. Where is your sense of adventure, woman?”
Holly glared at him playfully. “The last time we tried a tub, it was a mess.”
“It wasn’t a hot tub.”
He kissed her again and pulled the fabric away from her breasts.
With her next breath, her bare breasts pressed against his sculpted chest, and she entwined her arms around his neck again.
He trailed kisses down to her breasts, lavishing each mound with his tongue, before he kissed her mouth again. He pinched her ass cheek with one hand as his other came up to tweak her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. The lust that had been dormant in her belly sprang to life and she ground against his erection, groaning when he pressed her down onto him.
“You remember him?”
“Got a flashback last night,” she whispered, her eyes shut. “Let’s go down to the room, please,” she begged, the need to have him inside her s
o overwhelming that it consumed her.
“Whatever you want, future Dr. Peters.”
She giggled. Those words sounded fantastic coming from his lips. She’d always thought she’d be Dr. Scallanger.
He lifted her off him and handed her a towel.
She got to her feet and wrapped the towel around her body, then snatched up her bikini top as she stepped out of the hot tub.
They practically ran to the room. The second the door closed behind Jake, he yanked the towel from her body.
Her breast was in his mouth as he walked her backward to the bed, and as soon as the backs of her knees touched its edge, he gently pushed her so she fell onto her back.
His mouth abandoned her breast only to latch onto the other one quickly, licking and sucking on her nipple as he now kneaded the other one with his hand.
Holly moaned, arching her back so he was pressed tighter against her. In response, Jake groaned, but his mouth never left her.
How badly she’d ached for him all these years. And now he was right here. She couldn’t explain how it felt to think of him as her fiancé. Finally.
He moved down her stomach, his lips caressing every inch of her. A million goosebumps flashed over her skin with the softness and the pure seductiveness of his mouth.
Her need for him intensified when he reached the waistband of her bikini bottom, his breath warm against her skin.
Hooking his fingers into the sides, he tugged, and she lifted her hips in assistance. Grunting his satisfaction, he eased it down her legs, his mouth tearing away from her skin as he got to his knees to pull them completely off.
His heated eyes scanned her body, a sexy grin playing on his lips when he raised his eyes to meet hers.
“Just like in my dreams, nothing’s changed, except for this little line here.” He kissed the small, faded scar.
Holly shivered when he swept his tongue over the spot, then his mouth moved lower until it hovered over her clit. He flicked his tongue out, grazing it, and then he sucked her clit into his mouth, pulling and tugging before he slid his tongue along her folds to enter her, thrusting into her over and over until she groaned with pure pleasure.
Fuck, it felt amazing. How she’d missed this. Him.
He traced a path back up to her clit, her legs tightening around his head. His tongue was skilled.
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