Recovering from a state of boneless lethargy, Sasha managed to sit up just as Jake scooped up his clothes and disappeared into the bathroom, his pale buttocks in stark contrast to his lightly tanned thighs and darkly tanned back. Shoving her hair from her face, she glanced around for her clothes, pulled on the minimum and hurried upstairs.
By the time she reached the bedroom, it had occurred to her that a little later on, the guestroom might make a fine nursery. She could clear out the flea market and estate-sale finds she’d been storing there, maybe roll on a water-based paint—something in pink, with a border of Disney characters dancing across the top….
Just outside the door she stopped and closed her eyes. You idiot! Won’t you ever learn? Never invest what you can’t afford to lose. Her second husband, who hadn’t bothered to practice what he preached, had taught her that.
Obviously, the lesson had been wasted.
Eleven
Jake left while Sasha was giving the baby a bottle. Fled the scene might be a better description. He felt like a deserter, but there was no way he was going to be able to get his mind back on track while she was tipped back in the big leather armchair, her bare feet on the coffee table, with his tiny granddaughter cradled in her arms. How any woman could manage to look sexy and maternal at the same time was a mystery to him. One he couldn’t afford to dwell on, not when a single whiff of her hand lotion and he was rarin’ to ride again.
He’d tried telling himself it was only sex, but there was no “only” about it. Nothing about Sasha Lasiter could ever be called “only.” That’s what made it so damn scary. He had known—all right, he had sensed—that there was something special about her right from the first. Why else would he have been snapping pictures of her even though they were evidence of nothing except that here was a beautiful woman.
And now things had gone too far to turn back, even if he’d wanted to turn back.
But before he could deal with any new beginnings, he had some old business to finish.
Hearing him drive off, Sasha felt like throwing something at him. “See you later,” he’d called out as soon as she’d settled down with the baby. The coward!
Oh, he’d be back, she wasn’t worried about that, but for what? Her or his baby? And what about after he took his baby home to his drab white-on-white house? What then? Would she ever see him again?
Setting the bottle on the coffee table, she eased the baby onto her shoulder. “Well, you’ve gone and done it now, haven’t you, Sally June?”
Talk about jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
Jake wasn’t like all the others. That didn’t mean he was perfect, it just meant that she had a whole new set of rules to learn. Unfortunately, despite all her experience, she’d jumped headfirst into the game without knowing where the boundaries were, what the stakes were.
No point in blaming it on Fate—not unless Fate had a terrific sense of humor. If anything, she’d have to blame it on a pink, spike-heeled, ankle-strap shoe. That’s what had started it all.
She sighed, inhaling the sweet baby smell, taking comfort from the tiny warm bundle that fit so perfectly in the curve of her bosom. As much as she wanted his baby, she wanted the man even more. It was more than sex, although that had been unbelievably good. The chemistry between them was…explosive was the only word she could think of to describe it.
But it was far more than that. Right from the beginning there’d been something about the man that had fit into a hollow she didn’t even know she possessed. Like two halves of a whole. Like two lovers reunited after lifetimes of being apart.
“Heaven help me,” she whispered as she headed upstairs with the sleeping infant, “I’ve gone and done it again—fallen in love.”
The next time the phone rang she was rinsing out a few tiny garments. Wiping her hands on her skirt, she grabbed the receiver. “Lasiter residence.”
“How come you’re answering like that?” Marty asked.
“Oh, hi. Because if it’s a client, I’m not in, not until I can work out a baby-sitting schedule. Are you calling to sign up for a time slot?”
“Dream on. I’ve got my own business to run, remember?”
Sasha sighed. “I know that, I was only joking.”
“Tired of playing mama so soon?”
“No way, but I’ve got an appointment at the beach tomorrow at three that I’d really like to keep. It shouldn’t take but a couple of hours. How about it, can you spare Faylene that long? Tomorrow’s your day, isn’t it?”
“With Kell building our new addition on to the back and customers in and out the front, cleaning’s hardly worth the effort, anyway, so Faye’s free. Speaking of big events, did you get Jake lined up for Monday? I called earlier, but I guess you were out.”
“Sorry, it didn’t come up again after y’all left.”
There was a long silence, and then Marty said softly, “Aw, honey…. You want him for yourself, don’t you?”
Avoiding a direct answer, Sasha said, “You know what? I don’t think Lily’s all that interested in meeting anyone new. You know those letters Faye says she gets every week? Maybe she’s already involved.”
“And maybe they’re from her maiden aunt. Anyway, it won’t hurt to expose her to a few candidates.”
“Go ahead and expose all you want to, just—”
Marty, whose intuition had a way of clicking on just when it was most inconvenient, finished the sentence. “Just not your guy, huh? Gotcha, hon. But at this rate we might as well give up matchmaking. We’re running out of bachelors.”
“There’s still Gus and Egbert.”
“You jest. Lily and Gus don’t even speak the same language, and she’s taller and smarter than Egbert.”
“Well, what about that guy at the license bureau, the one with the dimples? I heard he’s single.”
“Ever seen him out from behind that desk? Major spare tire.”
“So? Bob Ed’s spare tire doesn’t seem to bother Faylene,” Sasha reminded her friend.
“Look, Kell’s calling—l gotta go, but you just concentrate on reeling Jake in, y’hear? This time you’ve got yourself a keeper.”
“I have?” Sasha murmured softly after replacing the phone. Then why did she feel like she’d just jumped off a high building without so much as an umbrella to slow the fall?
To say Jake was frustrated was an understatement. Sasha’s landline was busy, she wasn’t answering her cell phone; he had those two installations to do before the weekend, and he finally had a solid lead in the Jamison case. Now all he had to do was prove it.
The trouble was, he couldn’t seem to focus on anything but racing back to Muddy Landing. Back to Sasha and his grandbaby.
Probably a good thing he couldn’t reach her by phone. If he told her he was on the way and she said not to bother, then what? When it came to this crazy business of falling in love, he was years out of practice. Some things got easier the second time around. Some things didn’t.
In the meantime, he had a job to do. Pulling in at Southern Dunes Property Management, he looked around for a white Durango with a personalized license plate. Now that most rentals, including Driftwinds, were booked solid for the season, Jamison and his playmate would have to make other arrangements. Rather than risk his vehicle being spotted where he had no business being, a smart man would park elsewhere and hitch a ride with someone else.
In this case, his lover—who might have a legitimate reason for parking outside an empty cottage.
McIver’s car was missing from her designated parking place. He spotted Jamison’s Durango half hidden by a giant oleander bush. Unless the gentleman was inside the office, three guesses where he could be found.
Make that with whom he could be found. Jake didn’t have to catch them in bed together; all he had to do was catch the two of them together in a place where Jamison had no business being. A smart lawyer should be able to use circumstantial evidence and a guilty conscience as leverage.
When he
walked inside he was carrying a conspicuous envelope that happened to contain his truck registration and maintenance record. The reception area was empty except for a middle-aged woman behind a small desk.
“May I help you, sir?”
“I’m looking for Katie—Katie McIver?”
“I’m sorry, you just missed her.” She looked at the envelope. “If you’d like to leave that here, I could give it to her when she comes in.”
“You wouldn’t know where I could find her, would you? I won’t take up but a minute of her time, but it’s important.”
It was midafternoon when Sasha heard the slam of a car door out in the driveway. Her heart skipped a beat and began to pound as she glanced through the window. She was furious with Jake for staying away so long. He could have called to see how Peaches was doing, if nothing else.
She touched her hair. Determined not to take extra pains, she’d shoved it up and anchored it with a clip, trusting nature and gravity to do the rest. Wearing layered tank tops in pink and orange and a sheer flowered skirt—casual, but flattering—she took her time going down the stairs. No shoes, but a toe ring on each foot.
By the time he rang the doorbell, she was cool and composed. As for the flush on her face, she had no control over that. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she arranged a polite smile. “Well, hi, Jake.”
Polite. Friendly. Palpitations don’t count.
“I thought I’d stop by to see if you needed anything,” he said.
She stepped back, affecting an offhand manner. “Since you just happened to be in the neighborhood?”
They both knew he had no real business in Muddy Landing. He’d already admitted as much. “Should I have made an appointment?”
Sasha shook her head. Maybe she needed a dose of that allergy medication they advertised so much. Not only palpitations, but hoarseness and watery eyes. “You want to see her?” she asked when she could trust her voice not to give her away. “She’s upstairs. I just put her down. She stayed awake a long time after her last bottle.”
Jake cleared his throat. If she didn’t know better she’d think he was as self-conscious as she was. “I, uh—could we talk first?”
Oh, God, he had something to say that she wasn’t going to like hearing. He was taking his baby and leaving for good. “You know, she’s much better off here. Changes can’t be good for her—she’s already had too many.”
“Yeah, I’m with you there.” Jake swallowed hard. She could see his throat working, see the tension in his eyes. “Look, I’m about as far out in left field as I’ve ever been in my life, but Sasha—have I been taking too much for granted? I mean, this is crazy, right? We’ve known each other less than a week.”
Closing her eyes Sasha held her breath and uttered a silent prayer. This was not about the baby, this was about—
“Would you like to come in?” she asked.
Leading the way into the living room, she lowered herself carefully at one end of the sofa. Jake took the other end. Her face still felt hot. His was about as pale as someone with a perennial tan could be.
She waited for him to get to the point.
“Look, you don’t have to take it if you don’t like it. I mean, you’ve already got so many. Or we can exchange it. It might not even fit, I wasn’t sure of what size you wore.”
“You bought me a pair of shoes?”
Wordlessly, he shook his head. He turned toward her, one knee hitched up onto the cushion so that the other one was practically on the floor. A shaft of late-morning sunshine slanted through the window to highlight the salt-and-pepper gray at his temples.
He looked gorgeous and sexy and totally out of his depth.
Her heart kicked into overdrive. “Jake, what are you trying to say?” She didn’t dare try to guess. If she guessed wrong, she’d be devastated.
He opened his left hand, and there on his palm was a small jeweler’s box. “I’m doing this all wrong, aren’t I? I should have said something first.”
“Say something now,” she exclaimed.
“Hoo-boy, this is kind of hard to put into words, but here it goes.” He took a deep breath. “You know about me—about Rosemary, I mean. We were young, but I loved her with all my heart. There hasn’t been anyone—not serious, I mean—since then.”
His self-deprecating smile hurt her heart. She closed her eyes until he whispered, “Until now.”
Only then did she dare allow herself to hope, having learned caution in a hard school.
“Sasha, ever since we got together, things have been screwed up. Normally, these things—I mean, you and me—well, it usually takes longer. You know what I mean.”
Slowly, she shook her head. “I haven’t a clue.”
“Okay, let me say this. For the past dozen years or so since I lost Rosemary, I’ve managed pretty well. We’d just started the business, so I could concentrate on that, but mostly I concentrated on Timmy. He was too young to understand why his mother wasn’t there, but as he got older, things got better. You lost a brother, so you know how it is. You don’t forget, but after a while you move on. You know what I’m saying?”
She hadn’t a clue. Yes, she knew what grief felt like. So did he. But that was years ago, and this was now. He was still clutching the ring box. She didn’t even glance at it. Instead she stared him in the eye through her turquoise contacts. If he thought he could just pay her off for services rendered—baby-sitting and otherwise—with a piece of jewelry, she would kill him. Flat-out kill him!
His shoulders fell. He closed his eyes briefly and then said, “I think maybe I’m all alone out here, so how about knocking me in the head and calling Hack to come pick up the body.”
“Jake, what is it you’re trying to say?”
Ignoring her, he continued speaking, as if he had to get it all out before he ran out of breath. “But if you happen to feel anything like the same way I do, then maybe you could wear my ring and we could sort of explore this thing as we go along. Please?”
Oh, yes, oh, yes, oh, yes!
Some men were glib, others needed help. Sasha was nothing if not helpful. “Jake, if you’re trying to ask if I want to have an—an affair, then—”
He shook his head. Her hopes took a sharp dip, then recovered.
“Or I guess we could start out that way if you want to. Sort of take things gradually, get to know each other better. Then maybe in a few days—that is, a few weeks…”
To heck with caution. She reached for his hand. Ignoring the ring box, she pulled him into her arms, knowing she was taking the chance of a lifetime. “I thought you’d never ask,” she whispered.
A few hours later, barefoot and shirtless with his jeans unsnapped at the waist, Jake brought her coffee in bed. “Two sugars and a dash of diet cream, right?”
Sasha sat up and gave him a smug, lazy smile. “This is so decadent, but then I’ve always adored decadence.” Other than her new ring, designed and made by a Nags Head goldsmith, of yellow gold and white, with three small diamonds, she wore only a sated look.
“Is it teachable?”
“What, decadence?” She held open the bedcovers, scented with sex and Odalisque and essence of Jake. “With me as your tutor, you’ll master the art in no time.”
“Hey, let’s not be in too big a hurry,” he said, his voice huskier than usual. “Let’s give it a few decades, shall we?”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7692-9
HER FIFTH HUSBAND?
Copyright © 2005 by Dixie Browning
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*Outer Banks
†Tall, Dark and Handsome
‡The Lawless Heirs
§The Passionate Powers
**Beckett’s Fortune
††Divas Who Dish
Her Fifth Husband? Page 15