by Calista Fox
Table of Contents
Title Page
UNTIL JAKE
From the Author
More Praise for UNTIL JAKE
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
About Award-Winning Author Calista Fox
From Calista Fox
UNTIL JAKE
(Originally Published by Ellora’s Cave Publishing in 2008. Updated for Current Publication.)
Calista Fox
www.calistafox.com
www.facebook.com/calistafox
www.twitter.com/calistafoxbooks
UNTIL JAKE
By Calista Fox
From New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Ashley: “UNTIL JAKE is a sexy treat with a super-hot hero who gets the heroine’s (and the reader’s) heart pounding. Enjoy a nibble!”
Just about every woman has been propositioned by a construction worker. Kate Hampton is about to turn the tables on a hot, hunky one named Jake…
Kate Hampton’s dry spell, following a humiliating breakup, is about to end when she sets her sights on a rugged, much-younger man. It’s only meant to be a one-night stand. But Jake’s steamy brand of loving repairs her damaged ego and ignites her passion. Yet there’s more to this man than meets the eye, leaving Kate to wonder if she really can try to love again...
From the Author:
This was my very first Ellora’s Cave title back in 2008 and it won Best Novella of the Year from Romance Reviews Today-Erotic. Needless to say, I was stunned and thrilled! I was also so proud to have NYT Bestselling Author Jennifer Ashley mention UNTIL JAKE in her workshop on novella writing at a Romance Writers of America’s national conference and provide a cover quote for the re-release. Readers have fallen for Jake, and I hope you will, too!
More Praise for UNTIL JAKE
La Petite Mort (Highest Rating) from Romance Reviews Today-Erotic
“Sizzling lust turns to even hotter sex as Kate and Jake discover they’re made for each other. Kate initially resists their relationship going beyond one night, but the more she’s around Jake, the more she realizes they just might have a chance at a match made forever.
This is a pleaser from Calista Fox and I strongly recommend readers of contemporary romance pick up their very own copy of UNTIL JAKE. It well deserves the La Petite Mort award given to outstanding erotic romance.” ~Holly Tibbs
5 Angels from Fallen Angels Reviews
“Hat’s off to Ms. Fox for getting my attention and never letting it go throughout this whole story. I loved the fact that the story was short and could be read quickly and it drew me into it and I made a very real connection with the characters. Aside from the very hot sex scenes the connection that the characters made with each other was very real and powerful. I love a story between an older female and a younger man and this one was absolutely perfect. I will be seeing what else Ms. Fox has written and I urge you to do the same.” ~Missy
4.5 Hearts from The Romance Studio
“Until Jake is a smoothly satisfying book that the reader will enjoy! The emotions and desire the author portrays between Jake and Kate will grab the reader with a powerful blend of affection as well as a sizzling attraction that can't be denied. The plot is intriguing, a fun ride with the tables being turned on the hunky construction worker. Even though this is a quickie read, the author does a wonderful job of providing enough background information to please the reader and enough lavish details that will keep them turning the page. Kate's boss Maggi makes a great secondary character that helps the story reach its potential.
This is a highly satisfying read that will leave the reader hot and bothered. Readers will also enjoy the intense love that shines from these two people that brings the book to a close.” ~Shannon
Until Jake
Copyright © 2016 by Calista Fox
Edited by: MARCOMM
Published by: MARCOMM
Cover art by: MARCOMM Copyright © 2016
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Chapter One
“Well, hell-o there, hot stuff,” Kate Hampton all but purred as the hunky blond construction worker she’d been eyeing all week came into view.
“For the love of God,” Maggi Silver whispered as she leaned over Kate’s shoulder and also stared out the second-story office window. “Would you look at that?”
“I’ve barely taken my eyes off him in five days.” During which time Kate’s irritation over losing her coveted San Diego seascape from within the newly developed Liberty Station commercial and residential area had diminished considerably. All because of the rugged Adonis she’d recently discovered.
“Now that’s what I call a primo vista,” Maggi cooed.
“You said it, sister.”
The newest structure being added to the business park was little more than a stone’s throw away, with a small courtyard separating it from the building that housed Kate’s office. Which put Mr. Hardbody in Kate’s direct line of sight.
“So this is why you’ve started eating lunch at your desk,” Maggi mused.
“Blame me?”
“I don’t know, Kate,” her boss said, a bit tentatively. “This is so…un-PC. I mean, really. Ogling a construction worker all day? And one who looks to be a good ten years younger than you. He’s a baby, for Christ’s sake.”
Kate tore her gaze from the current object of her desire and said, “When have you ever known me to be PC? And what does age have to do with it? I don’t want to marry the guy. I want to fuck him.”
Maggi’s jaw fell slack. Kate laughed. “Oh, come on! What’s wrong with being honest about it, Mags? I haven’t had sex in nearly two years.” Not during—sadly—her engagement to Ken or after—sadder yet—their breakup.
It’d been a huge blow to her ego—not to mention her libido—when she’d learned her extremely successful fiancé was only interested in her as leverage. An asset to his on-fire career, particularly when they’d attended high-society events and hob-knobbed with the West Coast’s most prestigious law firms…and a parade of potential clients.
She’d been an escort. Nothing more.
Because, as it turned out, Ken Stoddard already had a lover.
An equally successful, equally male lover, to be exact.
A secret lover, which was why Ken had needed Kate on his arm.
Following that horrifically humiliating, gut-wrenching debacle, Kate had decided to rule out marriage altogether. She was thirty-six years old with a great career in marketing. She had a mortgage and a BMW, a handyman on speed dial, girlfriends to have dinner with and she could buy her own Tiffany jewelry, thank you very much. There really was no reason for a steady man in her life.
Except for that wee problem that had cropped up of late.
Kate desperately needed to get laid. And no, the battery-operated device in her nightstand drawer didn’t count. Unfortunately for her, those little bunny ears were no longer getting the job done. Kate required hard muscle and hot flesh pressed against her naked body. The weight of a man on her, settled between her legs. Or stretched out beneath her. It really didn’t matter as long as he knew how to use the equipment God had given him.
As Charlotte York had once declared, sometimes a girl just needed to be fucked.
And Kate had a feeling her Adonis was the perfect man to scratch her itch.
“God, he’s beautiful.” Maggi’s voice cut int
o Kate’s thoughts.
“Yes, he is.” Kate could practically feel the drool pooling in the corner of her mouth, along with the moisture dampening her panties. This guy didn’t leave a dry thong in his wake. Kate was thoroughly enjoying the voyeuristic guilty pleasure he evoked, conjuring fantasy upon fantasy as she watched him work.
No doubt, a man who looked like this one would be uninhibited and adventuresome in bed.
Oh, yeah.
This guy would want it downright dirty.
Precisely what Kate needed.
All week she’d thought of little else than what it might feel like to have his hands on her breasts and his tongue on her clit.
Biting back a moan at the mere thought of sweaty, headboard-banging sex with the god outside her window, she said, “Wait for it...” Her already racing pulse kicked up a few notches. “This is my favorite part…”
It was mid-afternoon and the sun was blazing down on the courtyard. The Adonis unbuttoned his faded chambray shirt and peeled it off his magnificent torso.
“Holy hell—” Maggi began. Then on a strangled sigh, she added a very indiscreet, “Ooohh, my.”
Both women took in the mouthwatering display of all his tanned and toned glory, presented right before their very eyes. Kate had never seen perfection of this magnitude in real life. His chiseled face was one thing, with an edgy look from the scant line of stubble along his strong jaw. His heavily muscled physique was something Olympic male gymnasts would kill for—a body Kate craved to crawl all over, licking and nipping her way up to his neck or down to his cock.
His broad shoulders gave way to rock-hard biceps that flexed mightily when he hoisted a two-by-four. She let out a long, lustful breath.
The women were rewarded a few more seconds of the tantalizing frontal view—a wide, expansive chest that would be difficult for Kate to take her eyes off of were it not for the fact that his corrugated abs commanded her attention. She didn’t quite make it to the bulge between his legs before he turned away. Didn’t matter. Her gaze had lingered on the button fly of his jeans for days.
Yes, indeed, seeing him stripped down and fully erect was what she really wanted.
As he sauntered off, away from the courtyard, she was gifted with another tempting visual. The man had one hell of an ass. His faded Levi’s fit him sinfully well. Kate had decided right around eight-oh-five on Monday morning that she didn’t need an elitist attorney in a three-piece suit to light her up.
She’d thought she was only attracted to professional business types.
And then this guy had crossed her path.
“His butt should be on the cover of women’s magazines,” Maggi said. As usual, her thoughts ran the direction of Kate’s. “It’d do wonders for any flailing subscriptions and would sure as hell make the grocery store line a personal favorite. I’d be shopping every damn day of the week.”
“It should be on any product targeting females. I don’t care what it is. I’d buy doohickeys and thingamajigs in mass quantity if the boxes came with that guy’s ass on it.”
“This is so wrong,” Maggi reluctantly contended, because despite the sentiment, her voice was filled with gratification over their playful letching. She’d likely be drumming up her own fantasies this evening.
“But it feels so good, doesn’t it?” Kate cajoled.
“Hell, yes.”
Kate grinned mischievously. She could easily envision herself on her knees before the Adonis, taking his thick cock deep in her mouth, eliciting a low groan from him that would make her even hotter. He’d shove his hands into the long strands of her auburn hair and coax her to draw him in further, suck him harder. And she would, because he was the kind of man she’d do anything to please. To make him beg for more. To make him explode as she swall—
“Hey! What’re you doing?” she cried out. “I can’t see!”
Maggi had stepped in front of Kate and her pretty brunette boss/soon to be ex-best friend if Mags kept this up propped her hip against the edge of the desk, effectively blocking the sight of Kate’s afternoon delight. It was like tossing a chain smoker’s last cigarette into a wet and muddy gutter.
Kate instantly felt the effects of withdrawal, as though she were missing something more vital than oxygen itself.
How Maggi had found the willpower or good grace to tear her gaze from the sexiest man alive, Kate would never know. Nonetheless, Maggi crossed her arms over her chest and demanded, “Exactly how many orgasms have you had because of this guy?”
Kate’s mind whirled. “Um, not counting the one in the shower this morning? Which I really should credit the detachable showerhead for, though I was imagining Mr. Hardbody’s head between my thighs at the time. And might I add, I’m already giving him huge props for having one hell of a talented tongue.”
“Kate!”
“What?”
“How. Many?”
“Difficult to say…” She waved a hand in the air, more so to get Maggi to move than as dramatic effect. “At least a dozen, I suppose.”
“Kate!”
“What?” Kate stared at her friend, dumbfounded. “What is the big deal? He’s insanely gorgeous and I’m lusting after him. What is the problem with that? I mean, seriously, Mags. It’s about time I found someone who makes my nipples hard and—”
“Okay,” Maggi said in a very controlled voice. “I will validate that your dry spell is borderline inhumane. No woman should go that long without sex. Period.”
“Or an orgasm not delivered by the Cadillac of all vibrators that I had to invest in when I nearly gave myself carpal tunnel while I was with Ken—because ‘it would be oh-so much more romantic and meaningful, Kate, if we waited until we were married’.”
Maggi cringed. “Point taken. But…” She clasped her hands in front of her chest, as though preparing to deliver a very serious sermon to her dear friend with the lost soul. “You can’t live the rest of your days fueled by fantasies. You can’t forsake human contact for tawdry…fantasies. You can’t just…fantasize…about this guy all damned day… Oh, good grief.” She let out an exasperated sigh.
“You’re absolutely right,” Kate conceded. She was suddenly tired of ogling the Adonis from afar.
She needed relief and she needed it now.
It was time to take action!
Jumping to her feet, Kate said, “I’ve got to stop fantasizing—and start fucking.”
* * *
He was a construction worker, for God’s sake. Would it really be so shocking if she just walked right up to him and told him what she wanted? Lord knew enough construction workers had propositioned her in her lifetime.
Why couldn’t she turn the tables?
Kate considered this as she left the office, took the stairs to the first floor and entered the courtyard. Her heart hammered in her chest and she wasn’t the least bit certain what she was going to say to him, but damn it. She was attractive and had a trim body from Pilates. She may be older than the twenty-something stud, but that didn’t matter when a person was this sexually charged. In fact, Kate doubted a woman his age could match her current prowess. Her raging hormones kept her in a constant state of arousal—and he was exactly what she needed to take the edge off.
Making a quick stop at the outdoor snack shack, she purchased a soda and a bottle of water. Then she marched down the cobblestone pathway, the clicking of her high heels echoing her determination.
Not allowing herself to think about the rejection she could receive, she stepped onto the grass and walked right up to the incredibly built man. Who was now using his shirt to mop the sweat from his chest, considering the record-breaking summer temps. Kate’s gaze locked on his breath-stealing bod—endless bronze skin and rigid sinew.
Oh. Yum.
He really was perfection personified.
Working down the lump of desire in her throat, she thrust both hands out and managed to ask, “Thirsty?”
A slow smile split his extremely kissable lips. His electric-blue e
yes slid over her like a fiery caress. Kate’s pulse hitched as the heat from his gaze flamed her skin. An insistent ache started deep in her core.
“Actually,” he said when his eyes met hers, “I am.” He considered her offering, then selected the water. “Thanks.”
Kate opened the soda with shaky fingers and took a long drink, stalling as she attempted to get her pounding heart to ease up a bit. Before she went into cardiac arrest.
She boldly said, “I was getting dehydrated just watching you work. It’s hot out here.”
And getting hotter by the second…
He ignored the bottle of water in his large hand and stared at Kate, as though trying to cut right to the chase and discern what she was up to.
Good. The quicker they got the show on the road, the better!
“You were watching me?” he asked.
“Uh-huh,” Kate brazenly answered as tiny beads of perspiration popped out on her forehead and the back of her neck. Her hair suddenly felt heavy and oppressive. Pushing her free hand beneath the straight tresses, she lifted the strands so what little breeze there was could cool her skin.
His curiosity turned to amusement. “I didn’t realize we had an audience.”
We, who? As far as she was concerned, this was a one-man show. But she didn’t say that. “Hard to not notice when you’re working right outside my window. And since I’ve lost my bay view, I needed something to look at for creative inspiration. So…thanks.”
His grin widened. “Aha. I’m eye candy for the pretty executive.”
She shrugged, striving for nonchalance.
He twisted the cap off the water bottle and took a long swig. Kate’s gaze was glued to his throat as it worked down the water. The overwhelming urge to taste his glistening skin, knowing it would be salty and warm, made anticipation well within her. A sigh of longing bubbled upward, but she kept it from escaping her parted lips.