The meeting flew by. I felt like I’d met a kindred spirit in Tracey—we were both passionate about fashion, and it hadn’t hurt that she seemed to genuinely like my designs. Jake stayed discreetly in the background.
Tracey offered to buy the designs outright. That way, she’d be responsible for having the garments made up with consultation from me about details like color, and she promised they’d be on sale as soon as possible.
Then it was over and, with a flash of her broad smile and the exchange of contact details, Tracey was rushing off to another meeting.
I packed up my sketches, still filled with the buzz of excitement. “That wasn’t as scary as I’d expected. She’s lovely.”
Jake was putting the clothes back in their bag. “You had nothing to worry about because your designs are good. They speak for themselves.”
I put a hand on his arm. “Thanks, Jake. And thank you again for this opportunity. It means a lot to me.”
“As I said last night, I think I’m getting the better end of the deal.” He gave me the full throttle version of his slow, sexy smile and my heart stopped.
Annoying habit, that.
It was jumpstarted by my phone ringing, and I rummaged through my bag until I found it.
“Annalise, it’s Adam. I’ve just had a good look at your Mini.”
“Hi, Adam. How is she?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jake look up at his friend’s name.
“Not so good. It’s going to need a lot of work and, frankly, it’d cost more than this car’s worth.”
My gaze drifted to Jake’s, in search of reassurance, and he met it with a calm, steady gaze. “More than she’s worth?”
“My best advice is to sell it off for parts and buy yourself another car.”
“Oh.” I watched Jake move closer, as if ready for action. “Um, when do I have to decide? I mean, can she stay there while I think about it?”
“Well, I can put it out the back, but we’re pretty busy, so I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know as soon as you can.”
“Yes, of course. Thanks, Adam. I’ll be in touch.” I disconnected and stared at Jake. “He wants me to euthanize Mindy.”
To his credit, he didn’t smile. “So I gathered.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I got that part, too.” He reached out and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Look, how about that coffee? I still haven’t had one since you offered at your place, and you look like you could use a cup.”
“Sure.” I took a deep breath and put my phone back in my bag. “Here?”
“What about a café? I’ve been here long enough for today.”
…
Jake
I took Annalise to my favorite café, uncomfortably aware I’d chosen it to impress her.
“Like the view?” I asked when we were seated with our coffees.
I watched her gaze sweep from the tall eucalyptus surrounding us to the beach with its pristine white sand and blue crashing waves. “I love it. I’ve lived my whole life here and I didn’t know this place existed.”
“A fact that suits us more than the owners, I’m sure. Most people want a convenient place for coffee and aren’t willing to drive this far from the tourist trail.” That very fact was what drew me back regularly. I much preferred spending my days like this and going in at night to examine the workings of my office, or spending the weekends traveling from store to store to monitor the grass roots of the business. Maybe I just hadn’t been born to be a nine-to-five businessman. More likely I’d been born for the water.
I refocused on the azure ocean. The lure of the waves never lessened. Some of the happiest times of my life had been spent out on the water. Not in competitions, usually on my own or with Adam.
“Do you miss the competitions?” Annalise asked.
I kept my eyes on the water as I answered. “Not as much as I miss the friendly surfing with Adam.” I wasn’t surprised our thoughts were both on surfing—since we’d been spending time together, we often seemed…in sync.
I withdrew my gaze from the water and looked across the table, allowing my focus time to adjust to the light of the café. “Surfing is a solitary pursuit, but it’s great to have someone to talk to afterwards. Someone to marvel at the big waves with. I miss that.”
“Do you see much of Adam now?”
I emptied two packets of sugar into my coffee and stirred slowly. “Yeah, but it’s for family get-togethers, or when Kelly takes pity on her lonely brother and invites me over for a barbecue.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Somehow I’ve never pictured you as lonely. At least never short of female company, anyway.”
A jolt ran through me as I registered her words. I hadn’t brought her here so she could feel sorry for me. Or see me as a womanizer. Time to regain control of this conversation. I took a deep breath and smiled. “Can you surf, Annalise?”
“No.”
“Never tried, or tried and failed?”
“To be honest, Kelly and I used to mess around on your old boards in the shallows, and I was a spectacular failure.” Her nose wrinkled in that cute way it did whenever she was embarrassed or unsure.
“You need a teacher. Preferably the best.” This was better, back on solid ground.
“And I take it you’re the best?”
“I’ve got trophies and my own surfing school to prove it.” I winked and was rewarded with a laugh. Annalise had a great laugh—tinkly and feminine, yet still genuine. “Would you like a lesson now?”
She hesitated. “That doesn’t fit into the deal we made.”
“I know, but we’ve done some good work, so we deserve some recreation time. Time out for fun.” The more I thought about it, the better the idea sounded. Out on my turf. Or more precisely, off the turf. And I really wanted to share this with her. “Come on, it’ll be great.”
I turned on the charm and smiled—it’d seemed to work for me a couple of times with her already.
She nibbled her bottom lip then sighed. “Oh, all right. If you promise I won’t drown or make a fool of myself.” She lifted her chin, but pulled that lip back between her teeth.
“Promise,” I said, still watching her lip, wondering how it’d feel if she bit my lip like that.
A delicious warmth hit my gut as I stood and strode over to pay for the coffees.
…
Annalise
Why had I let him talk me into this?
It wasn’t even a surfing lesson, it was a tandem board ride. We were both kneeling on his long board, me in front, him dipping his hands deep into the water to propel us out to sea.
This positioning was worse than him following my bottom down a hallway, but what could I do? I was a surfboard prisoner.
We’d dropped by my apartment to pick up my swimsuit and a swim shirt. Jake kept a beach kit in his car with his board shorts, surfboard, and towels, saving us another trip to his place. Luckily, because his closet was the last place I needed to take my libido at the moment.
When we were out past the breaking waves he told me to hold on, while he slipped off the back of the board. “I want to show you something. Trust me?”
Now, there’s a question. I nodded.
“Lie down on your stomach.”
I did as instructed but turned to face him. “Jake, don’t we need waves to learn to surf?”
“Waves? What for?” He grinned as he treaded water.
Perhaps I’d been too quick to hand over my trust. “And I’m sure when I’ve seen people learn to surf, they’ve started out on the sand.”
“Miss Farley, this is a personalized class. You should be pleased, having one with the owner of the business.”
His teasing tone was irresistible, and I felt myself slipping under his spell. Caution raised its head, ready to pull me back, but I doused it. After the news about Mindy, I felt like being a little reckless.
I gave him a look of mock-deliberation. “You might be the owner of the business
, but are you as good as the other teachers?”
“Absolutely. For one thing, I’m dedicated to customer satisfaction.” His eyes twinkled.
Looking into those dark pools of temptation, I was glad I’d just banished caution, as it may have stopped me at that point.
I narrowed my eyes, probably with minimal effect since I was already squinting at the water’s glare. “Hmm. So, this is a personalized class to learn what, exactly?”
“You’ll see. Just remember, we said it was more for recreation than anything. Put your head down and close your eyes for a minute.”
“Okay.” Despite my misgivings, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. The board was gently rocking with the movements of the water and I tried to let it lull me into relaxing. Instead, I was still focused on Jake, on where he was and the small issue of him looking at me. Was this my good side? I could never remember which one that was.
I could hear him moving in the water, then stop when he drew level with my face.
When he spoke, it was in a low, hypnotic tone. “Keep your eyes closed and just let yourself listen to the sounds of the ocean.”
Determined to at least give it a try, I relaxed and allowed myself to hear, and, little by little, I became more aware of the sounds of the sea.
The waves crashing closer to shore, the water lapping at the sides of the board, and seagulls calling out in the distance.
“Just hear the sounds and don’t let anything else distract you.”
Easy for him to say. He distracted me at the best of times, but with his half-naked body with all its muscles and tanned skin and only inches from my face, there wasn’t a lot of hope of remaining focused. But I decided I should try to get into the spirit of the exercise.
The more I listened, the more I could discern. I became aware of small rippling waves close by, and the sound of Jake’s breath.
“Taste the salt on your lips,” Jake continued. I ran my tongue over my lips and tasted the salt water that had dried there. It was biting, yet strangely soothing. Even while I was thinking about the salt, part of my mind was aware that Jake was probably watching my lips and had seen my tongue move over them. If I’d been watching him do that, it would have made my pulse spike.
I wanted to open my eyes to see his reaction, but forced myself to keep them closed and refocus on the tang of the sea.
“Smell the ocean, Annalise.” Jake’s low, quiet voice seemed to flow over me. I took in a deep breath, and at first could only recognize the wax of the surfboard but soon caught a hint of something else. Salt on the air, maybe with a touch of seaweed. I hadn’t expected it to be sensual.
Perhaps it seemed that way because it reminded me of Jake? I’d always associated the fragrance of the beach with him, but he had his own distinctive smell—part beach and part him. He must be close enough to smell now, but it was impossible to distinguish anything apart from the strong scent of the water. Next time I had a chance, I’d allow myself the luxury of soaking up his Jake-fragrance.
“Feel the sensations of the ocean.” His voice sounded dreamy, like he was tasting and feeling the ocean himself. Letting another breath out, I turned my attention to what I could feel.
The breeze danced across my skin, lifting the edges of my hair, and I could feel the sun’s warmth through my shirt. I could also feel the internal heat of arousal flowing through my body, making my breasts tingle against the pressure of the surf board and the rest of me call out for him. The intimacy of Jake’s voice, in the low, husky tone was enough; but added to this awareness of my body that he was encouraging, I had no hope. This was fast becoming pure torture.
“Now,” he continued, “imagine yourself becoming one with the ocean.”
Oh, dear God in heaven. There was only one thing I wanted to become one with at the moment and it wasn’t the ocean. What I really wanted was to taste him—his skin, his mouth—and feel him pressed flush against me, and to have him taste and feel me. The two of us together…
Crap, I had to do something.
My eyes snapped open. “Jake, I think I’m getting a bit hot in the sun. I might just jump in the water and cool down.”
I slid down into the refreshing coolness, heart racing, still with the awareness of all my senses. I could feel the water moving my hair around my head and hear the unmistakable sounds of being underwater. After staying under as long as my breath would hold, I slowly resurfaced beside Jake and treaded water.
“You okay?” he asked. There was something strange yet intense in his eyes—he must’ve been worried when I bailed out.
“Yes.” I smiled to reassure him, determined to ignore the fluttering from the direction of my heart at the intensity of his gaze. “Why did we do that?”
“I wanted you to experience the ocean the way I experience it.” He ran a hand along the surfboard he was still holding. “Riding the waves is only half of it. The rest is being out here and feeling a connection with the water. There’s nothing else like it.”
“I think I understand.” It was obvious this was important to him, and I was touched he’d shared that part of himself. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
“I wanted to do it.” He smiled, and I felt a sense of connection between us before he turned and patted the surfboard. “Here, hop back on, and I’ll take you in to the shallows to work on your surfing.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather swim in. I could do with the exercise.” And with getting rid of some of the adrenaline and hormones that were coursing through my body, giving me inappropriate suggestions about accidentally bumping into him under the water, then wrapping my legs around him.
I spent an hour learning where to put my feet and how to get from lying down to standing in a fluid movement. Jake was patient and encouraging, coaxing me into trying again each time I fell off.
After one magnificent fall, I laughed and asked, “Do you think I’ll ever be ready for water deeper than my ankles?”
“We all had to risk the deep water some time.” His eyes met mine and held, as if by magnetic force, then he splashed me and grinned. “You’ll be fine. Maybe not today, but one day.”
I grinned back, imagining the unlikely event of me surfing big waves the way I’d seen Jake do it. “You were right, this is fun.”
“But I think you’ve had enough for today. You’re using muscles that aren’t used to it, and, if we do much more, you’ll be too sore to visit Kelly and Mum on Saturday.”
And there was no way I was going to miss that. “Okay, let’s go.”
Chapter Seven
Annalise
I awoke early on Saturday. After a quick breakfast, I started to clean my apartment, needing to give my nervous energy something to do. Rover helped by sniffing everything I threw in the bin, looking behind furniture I moved for lost toys, and hiding under the bed when I vacuumed. By ten o’clock, I had to face that there was nothing left to clean and Jake wasn’t picking me up for another two hours.
I hadn’t seen him the day before, though he’d called to let me know the arrangements he’d made with his family. I’d certainly thought about him, though. And not the schoolgirl thoughts I’d had during my crush. These thoughts definitely had adult content. They involved mouths and hands and nakedness.
Even in my dreams at night, he’d appear, draped across my bed wearing nothing but that smile that drove me crazy. Or he’d be slowly undressing me in his living room with the breeze from the ocean drifting across my newly exposed skin. I gave my head an abrupt shake. This was not a mind-frame I wanted to be in when he arrived. It’d be like putting a picture of a chocolate brownie on the fridge door.
Pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind, I showered, dressed, and picked up my keys. Rover stood on her back legs, pawing her leash.
“Rrrreht,” she kitty-barked.
I smiled indulgently. “Okay, you can have a quick ride.”
She turned a circle on her back legs in delight. I clipped the leash to her collar and led her down the
steps to the Volvo. I did a quick lap of our block, Rover with her head almost out the window, sniffing the breeze, before dropping her home and heading out again to my favorite bottle shop.
After quickly browsing through the racks, I picked out an assortment of white wines to run past Jake. Maybe we could do that after we’d seen his family. That’d be nice, sitting back on a Saturday night with Jake, a glass of white each.
I stopped myself. I had to remember that the only reason he was doing this, the only reason he was even seeing me, was to get the attention of another woman.
Blond Scarlett.
Groaning, I took the wine to the counter.
The cashier packed the bottles into bags and raised his eyebrows. “Big night?”
“Unfortunately, no.” I picked up the bags and walked back to the Volvo.
Once I got home, with my nervous energy gone and replaced by a hollow sadness, I dropped onto my bed. Rover bounced up and down on the mattress, trying to get me to play.
“Sorry, girl. I just need a moment.”
Not to be beaten, she rolled onto her back and twisted from side to side, trying to catch the tip of her tail. Smiling, I watched her upside-down quest. She had such simple needs—no castles in the air for Rover. And the result? Happiness. Rover was happy most of the time. Her goals were achievable: food, walks, affection and toys. Jake, on the other hand, was practically the quintessential Unachievable Goal—my very own castle in the air.
I cast a glance at my dream collage on the closet door. Maybe I needed to add some more achievable goals?
Like Kelly and Eden. Why hadn’t I thought of them before? Of course they should be on there. Jumping up, I rummaged through my drawers till I found a photo of them—all three of us, arms around each other on my sixteenth birthday.
A sense of joy unfurled in my chest. These people definitely should be on my dream collage. After finding some glue, I added them, right at the top of the page. I couldn’t wait to see them again.
Perfect. Now I needed to think of other more achievable things that made me happy. Be realistic. No pipedreams.
Learn from Rover.
I looked down at my watch and realized I only had twenty minutes until Jake would be there. Pleased I’d made progress, I left the collage and rushed to get ready, only just making it when Jake knocked at my door.
The Summer of Jake Page 8