“You randomly have purple ties hanging in your closet?” That was good, a joke, teasing...keep it up. Platonic, not sexual. Platonic, platonic, platonic!
Jake bent down closer to her and she felt their casual interaction being engulfed by sexual tension.
Oh man, this closeness sent her thoughts right back to his king-size bed!
“You'd be surprised what you can find in my closet.” His low husky tone was a staple the corresponded with the mysterious persona he retained and it swooped into her stomach and slammed every inch of her body into hotness overload.
Double oh man!
She forced a friendly chuckle, accepting his firm hand and climbed into the limo. She collapsed on the leather wrap-around seat like it was forty plus degrees out there. She waved her purse across her warmed face creating a breeze and doing the same with the edge of her skirt to generate a cool breeze for the throbbing below.
She was grateful when Haylee and Joan were too busy in their own limo world to notice how flustered she was.
Darn it. How was she going to focus on her new plan when she found herself wondering exactly what surprises she would find in that mans closet?
Chapter Two
YOU'D BE SURPRISED what you can find in my closet? You'd be surprised what you can find in my closet! What did that even mean?
Jake Stow had the urge to slam his fists against the top of the limousine after allowing such a lewd remark to pass by his lips. Especially with the shy, reserved woman he respected enough to know would not enjoy such suggestive risqué play of words...or would she? He couldn’t say he knew for certain she wouldn’t enjoy the playful and intimate banter. He was certain it wasn’t her type of teasing, but then again, he wasn’t her type either and he could remember her really enjoying him.
Instead he opted for pausing at the door and resting his arms on the rim. His hands were still hot from her touch. He’d noticed when he took her small, smooth, delicate hand in his that the sun had given her light skin a little color, but not nearly as dark as his own. Sydney burnt under the sun like a roasted marshmallow over a fire and she slathered on the sun protection all year round. He also noted his hands didn’t want to let go of hers, giving him the distinct knowledge that he was in dire need of a moment to himself in order to regroup his thoughts.
The gathering clouds coming from above the lake were invading the clear sky. There was a storm on its way and he wasn’t talking about the one brewing in his pants: hot, wild and out of control for the blonde beauty, trying to be cool yet doing such a poor job he almost laughed. He didn’t dare in fear of embarrassing her even further. Jake found it adorable how easily embarrassed Sydney became and the way color blushed her skin. How her face framed every emotion and she would sometimes lose her words behind those luscious lips.
Why hadn't lightening just shot from the sky and struck him down before he'd said, You'd be surprised what you can find in my closet.
He groaned.
It would seem as though his tongue had missed the memo regarding subtly. Why had he felt the time was right to bring it to Sydney’s attention that he was interested in perusing more with her than just the solid friendship already between them?
He wasn’t looking for friends with benefits either. Hell no, he would never look at Sydney like that...no man should. Sydney was a woman worth giving it your all or getting the hell out of her life altogether.
That thought terrified him, he couldn’t imagine a life without Sydney in it, but he could sure envision a future with this woman. Smiling, laughing, touching, and being together...always. Not like the last four months, since that night, and she’d been avoiding him like he was a contagious disease.
After confessing her love one night, then running away the next morning, she’d left him stumped...did she love him or not? Did she want to spend the rest of her life with him or not? Had the extreme amounts of alcohol she’d consumed been responsible for everything she confessed or had they been the tools she needed to say the true words she meant?
He needed to know!
From the way she’d checked him out on her walk to the limousine in her ever-so-indirectly kind of way, he assumed that her drunken mouth had spout off the truth buried deep down...he hoped anyway.
When he finished scolding himself with a warning and reissuing the original plan...tastefully and slow, Jake climbed into the limousine beside Sydney.
She smiled at him and pulled the lace edge of her dress over her knees as far as it would stretch. That only made his thoughts turn to her legs...and he loved her legs. Porcelain pillars of smoothness with a tiny dip behind each knee and a long scar along her outer thigh that was only visible when she wore one of her dresses that swayed, clung, dipped and stretched just right, especially when she used to reach for beer glasses above the bar. Ah, the good old days.
“Uncle Jake have you seen what this thing does!” Haylee called from the far end of the limo where she and Joan were seated.
Jake hadn’t looked into the extras when he’d rented the limousine. He simply requested top-of-the-line for up to fifteen people and the driver had picked him up in this stretch Expedition SUV. He would have been more interested in the extras if the anticipation of seeing Sydney hadn’t occupied his every thought. He swore if they didn’t talk soon he would end up accidently ordering another four cases of flowery scented Gewürztraminer wine for the restaurant instead of the chardonnay the tourists preferred.
When Jake shook his head, Haylee proceeded to demonstrate the lights above them before pouring each of them a drink, non-alcoholic, which he’d requested because they were picking up Sydney’s dad who was a recovering alcoholic. He couldn’t even give away the excess gewürztraminer wine.
“Jake we didn't need anything this elaborate,” Sydney said, her voice rising and lowering with Haylee’s turn of the volume button. “We didn’t need a limo at all.”
“My niece is graduating...with honors,” he announced loudly enough that Haylee would hear him and he winked at the young version of Sydney. Haylee possessed the brains of everyone in the limo combined. “This is a huge deal.” He lowered his voice to Sydney. “Besides we’re picking everybody up.”
“Everybody?” she asked surprised.
“Your family. We can’t let them to show up in their vehicles when we all arrive in style.” He slid his arm across the back of the seat, and crossed one leg.
Sydney didn’t hide her surprise or delight at including all her family. “Way too much.”
“Can I take this to the dance?” Haylee asked.
As Jake said, “Yes,” Sydney said, “No.”
Haylee smirked at the two to see who was going to bow down first. It was usually Jake, but he had the feeling he could persuade Sydney just this one time and hopefully he could get some alone time with Sydney out of the deal.
“It’s rented for the whole night,” he said.
“Jake!” Sydney cried. “It's too much.” Her reaction didn’t surprise him given that Sydney wasn’t a materialistic woman. That was one of the things that he found attractive about her...one of the many, many things. Right now, he was finding the way the hollow lace was teasing the flesh along her neckline and playing peek-a-boo, dipping low before the silk lining hid the mounds that rose with each inhaled breath, very attractive.
He saw Sydney’s hands searching the back seat for a buckle, which distracted his mind from going any further into what was under her dress. There were no seat belts and once she realized it, a tiny frown found her neutral painted lips. Ever since the accident, Sydney had a fear about vehicles. He almost regretted renting the limo as he watched her eyes dart around, with panic slowly rising, as they pulled away from the curb and onto the road.
“I hired a photographer for family photos at the beach after the ceremony, since everyone will be dressed up,” Joan said, establishing a motive for the transportation. “Then back to the Cliff House for supper. Renting the limousine was the logical thing to do, Sydney. We needed t
ransportation for all of us.”
Joan made up for Sydney’s lack of material items, being materialistic in all sense of the word. Her daily attire, weekend visits to the spa and professionally decorated mansion on the cliff illustrated it. However, she wasn’t a lazy woman and five days a week she showed up for the lunch crowd at the Cliff House and managed into the late afternoon.
Jake suspected she did so to feel closer to his dad. Jake always felt closer to his dad when he was working in his father’s last investment. Spending a life of buying, selling and renting out properties across the country, the Cliff House had been Henry Stow’s final investment. After a long and highly demanding career, he’d been ready to settle down, retire and spend the rest of his life at the Cliff House with his family. Henry died just as his dream had begun and Jake hadn’t been there.
Guilt devoured Jake’s insides instantly. Remorse and blame were always on the edge of his emotional avalanche whenever it came to his dad’s death. His attempts to ignore it usually went unnoticed, ready to consume his whole body at the thought of his father’s death.
“It only makes sense that Haylee take it to the dance with a guaranteed safe drive home,” Joan continued, brushing her hair from her shoulders and sending Haylee an encouraging smile.
While Jake was dragged into his past, so was Sydney. He watched her face shift, obviously thinking about the accident she didn’t talk about. Her worry was creating pull lines above her gorgeous blue eyes. Eyes that were now glazing over and luscious lips that were drawn in a thin tight line.
“Is that yes...?" Haylee asked, her eyes darting between him and her mother. Haylee was oblivious to the flicker of fear that Jake saw so clearly. “Mom?”
“It would seem like Jake’s got this all figured out.” Sydney rushed the words out with a forced smile.
“Yes!” Haylee’s fists went into the air excited. “I'm texting all my friends. They will so want to come with me and arrive at the dance in a limo.” Haylee flopped back in the seat, crossing her legs while her fingers moved like lightning as she texted away on the tiny device.
Joan also had her cell phone pulled out occupy her time. Jake didn’t see the need to have a cell phone at every moment of every day with access to friends, family and people you don’t really like twenty-four seven. Although his cell phone currently resided in his pocket it was in case of emergencies at the Cliff House. He wasn’t about to pull it out while they were enjoying the luxury of travelling together in an extravagant limousine.
Jake slid closer to Sydney until their bodies almost touched. He ignored the memory of how their flesh felt pressed together and, instead, took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. He was still upset about the frown lines on her smooth face.
“We aren’t leaving town,” he told her reassuringly. “The driver is not going to speed. He will not run stop signs, and it’s not snowing or icy outside.” He tugged at her to sit back and unwind beside him.
These were all factors in the accident that Jake had only heard about after he had returned home. Jake had been coming home to tell his dad he’d been right about his mother only to find a grave instead of the man. Henry had been driving Kyle and Sydney out of town, speeding on an icy road in the middle of a winter storm, when they ran a stop sign, crashing into another car.
“Relax.”
Sydney sent him a frown. “Is it that obvious?”
“Not to those two.” He nodded in the direction of Joan and Haylee, lost in their own world of online social media. They were deaf and blind to Sydney and Jake, who were still holding hands. He liked the feel of his hand cupped around hers and relished even more the gentle squeeze she gave back.
Sydney shifted toward him so her knee rested across his leg and she could face him. “This was really sweet of you. I still believe it’s too much, but...” She glanced over her shoulder at her daughter. “...Haylee will never forget it. Thank you.”
He liked that...big gestures...never forget.
“My pleasure.” He let go of her hand. He didn’t want to but the lines across her face lifted and he knew it was time before the other two noticed. “So, how’s the store doing?”
Her smile widened at the mention of the Old Town & Soap Co., the store she and her sisters had opened the first day of March. It was also the day she had stopped working at the Cliff House full time. The day he really began to miss her.
“Wonderful. We are so busy. We already have a steady clientele of locals and the tourists are adding to our busy days and it’s only the end of May. July and August are going to be crazy. But wonderful.”
“That’s good.”
Sydney leaned her head on the back seat, right against his arm, looking directly at him. “But I miss the Cliff House. I miss the staff and the regulars.”
Sydney had worked there since she was in her teens, so it made sense that she missed everyone.
“There is a position for you anytime you want,” he offered, but knew how important her business was.
She smiled. “I miss you.” This woman had no idea how much he missed her.
“You miss free food.”
Her eyes flew wide open at his teasing. “I do miss the delicious, and free, food your cooks whipped up for us for lunch. But, I am right beside Mrs. Calvert’s and, no lie, her maple sugar muffins are the best home-baked breakfast a girl can ask for.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as though she was smelling one of those muffins right in the limo with them. “Every single morning I sneak over there and dip into one of those warm, melt-in-your-mouth, pieces of heaven.”
“Speaking of food and heaven, don’t forget to pick up a few bags of those roasted peanuts from Hastings Port for me.”
Every first long weekend of the summer, Sydney, Haylee and Joan took Joan’s sixty-six foot princess yacht to Hastings Port. They would be leaving the next morning bright and early, before the sun rose.
“Mentally noted,” she promised.
“Possibly more than one bag this time?”
“I will consider it, since you went all out and rented Haylee a limo.”
He laughed. “That’s awfully considerate of you.”
When they reached Kent’s house, the McAdams’ family were waiting on the front lawn in their best apparel, waiting for the limousine they’d all known was arriving. Jake had only wanted to surprise Sydney and Haylee and he’d enjoyed the looks on their faces when they saw him waiting out front. Mission accomplished. He had really enjoyed when Sydney’s tongue ran across her lips. It made him want to dip into her mouth and taste that heaven.
When the limousine pulled to the curb, Joan and Haylee managed out the door first and Jake helped Sydney out before himself. Only for the sole purpose of being a gentleman and having nothing to do with watching her dress rise up her derriere as she climbed out of the limo. Really, it was because he was a gentleman.
Chapter Three
SYDNEY’S FAMILY WERE obviously all aware of Jake’s plan. They hooted and hollered and took turns congratulating Haylee with hugs, kisses, flowers and cards.
Her dad, Kent, and his new wife, Elaine, were at the end of the lineup and stole their granddaughter from the rest of the group for some private time. Kent wasn’t used to sharing Haylee with so many family members now that Sydney’s older twin sisters, Kate and Peyton, had moved back home.
Even Elaine was new to the family and Sydney was glad that her dad had found such an amazing person to live with the rest of his life. She was the same Elaine Patterson who also happened to be Peyton’s mother-in-law. It had been an interesting February. Elaine had the biggest heart and bonded with everyone, including Haylee, without much effort. Her presence was natural, like she’d always been a part of their lives.
Sydney walked to her sisters. Kate and Peyton were tall brunettes, while the youngest Abby, had dyed her dark locks a dirty blonde. All three contained a sass and bluntness about them and never shied away from anyone or any situation. Very opposite of Sydney.
&nb
sp; Even the way they stood now in their gorgeous dresses depicted an attitude that Sydney didn’t posses and usually ended with her mouth hitting the floor in shock. Although she shouldn’t be shocked, since they had always been that way.
“It’s the mother of the graduate,” Kate said, reaching for a hug. Kate was stunning, as always, in a black skirt/blazer combo that fit her curvy frame to a t. Sydney liked the way Kate gathered her hair to the side in a loose braid-wrapped, low bun grazing her neck. She made a note to try that in the future.
“I don’t think that’s actually a title,” Sydney said, relishing in the sound of it anyway.
“Still, it’s worth acknowledging, especially when your daughter is top of her class,” Marc Caliendo, Kate’s husband, and owner of the Caliendo Resort at the edge of town, pointed out. Marc had attended private school and although he had been around since their mother died when Sydney was fifteen, he was raised proper with expectations and appreciated high grades. The tailored suit he wore now was part of his regular attire, unlike Jake, who was sporting it just for this special occasion. Suit, jeans, t-shirt, birthday suit...Sydney appreciated Jake in anything he wore. Although if he had pulled that suit out of his closet...what else was in there?
At the thought of his deep, dark, secretive closet, Sydney’s eyes immediately found Jake who had now made his way over to observe Rosemary, Kate and Marc’s five-year-old daughter, who was an adorable bundle of sweetness. In her lovely pink lace dress she was managing to play a round of ball hockey with Colt, who was a retired hockey-pro.
Rosemary paused mid-swing, caught sight of Sydney and waved. “Hi Aunt Sydney!”
Sydney smiled and waved back. “Hello Rosemary. You look beautiful in your dress.”
Rosemary smiled wider. “Thank you.” Then a mischievous grin, reminding Sydney of the very one Kate had adorned most of their childhood and teenage years, crossed her little face. “Wanna see me shoot a goal? I’m real good. Colt’s been giving me lessons.” Rosemary, the next pro-hockey star.
Lakeshore Love: The McAdams Sisters (By The Lake Book 3) Page 2