As the night ended the sun dipped below the lake and filled the sky with a beautiful array of pinks and purples.
Sydney stood the front porch waving at the vehicles of her family members departing down the street thinking, finally. She loved her family but she was craving alone time with Jake. The cottage had just been a teaser that left her longing for so much more.
Haylee stood on one side of Sydney and Jake on the other. Jake always hung around a little later than everyone else, depending on the Joan/Jake mood. After the wonderful weekend they had, Sydney wasn’t sure if she was ever going to have to worry about their troubled relationship again.
Today, however, she knew he had different intentions then their regular calming and friendly after hours chit-chat.
Sydney wrapped her arm around Haylee’s shoulder as they went back into the house where Joan was pouring herself a mug of chamomile tea to help her sleep. Joan had decided to stay the night in the guest room and she took her tea to go, along with a goodnight hug and kiss from Haylee.
One down and one to go.
Sydney felt like a teenager sneaking her boyfriend into the house unnoticed to play tongue-tag all night. She had more intentions than tongue-tag. At that moment he sent her a look that said he had more intentions than a round of tongue-tag too.
Sydney turned to her daughter. “It didn’t rain.” Go to bed Haylee, go to bed. That was awful, it was her daughter’s birthday. Then Sydney looked at Jake and found a smoldering look that was buckling her knees.
“Mom, it’s never rained on my birthday. Not one day. I told you.” With that comment the thunder roared. All their heads looked out the kitchen window and their laughter mimicked the thunder. It wasn’t raining yet, but it was coming and there was a backyard that still needed to be cleaned.
Haylee gave Sydney a tight hug and kissed her cheek loudly. “Thanks for the party mom. Love you.”
Sydney kissed the side of her face. Finally! “You’re welcome. I love you too.”
“Night Uncle Jake.”
“Night Haylee.”
When Haylee disappeared up the stairs, Sydney turned to Jake and they shared a finally look.
“Hey,” he said, taking a step toward her.
She smiled wider, as if that was possible. “Hey,” she said, taking a step toward him.
“Today has been the longest torture of my life.” His hand caught her waist and pulled her against him and she laughed, gripping the front of his shirt.
“Kiss me already,” she teased but barely got the words out and Jake’s mouth plunged into hers.
A round of thunder tore a strip through the sky.
“First, let’s get that tent taken down before it blows away,” Jake said, already headed toward the back door. Who cares about the tent? We were so close!
The view of his rear caught her attention and she groaned, following behind...but not looking away.
Sydney rubbed the sides of her arms as the cool wind elevated and whipped her dress up. The rain began to fall. She pushed the material down and caught Jake watching out of the corner of his eye. She playfully hit his shoulder, enjoying his sneak-peeks before they both scrambled to grab everything.
The rain started as a light mist feeling good against her body, a cool-down after anticipating her evening with Jake. By the time the tent was folded down and the tables mostly emptied the sky had opened a downpour on them.
Sydney grabbed the last handful and dropped it on the patio table under the protection of the gazebo. Jake dropped the tent at their feet.
They were soaked.
Sydney moved the damp hair stuck across her face as she looked up at Jake. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a shower, unfortunately he was fully clothed. Water dripped down the hardness of his face and his shirt clung to every inch of his torso.
When their eyes found each other, both looking like wet rats, they busted into a loud laughter that had nothing on the deafening rain pounding above them.
Knock on wood, Haylee.
Sydney reached over and pulled his shirt away from his chest for two simple reasons: To touch him and to get the material away from cuddling every muscle across his middle that was making her want to touch him. She wanted to pull the t-shirt right off his body like he had earlier.
“You’re soaked.” She laughed.
“So are you.” His fingers twisted around a piece of her hair and he tucked it behind her ear. His hand lingered at the side of her face.
The humor vanished...her awareness of him increased without warning...again.
Sydney stepped toward him.
Jake stepped toward her.
Sydney swallowed hard.
It was happening.
Sydney felt every one of his fingers digging through her hair and into the back of her scalp. She felt his thumb slowly rub the side of her face leaving Sydney standing...trembling. Grip me more. Rub me harder.
There, deep in his dark sizzling eyes, she saw his raw, hard desire for her and they were both on the exact same page...finally.
Chapter Nineteen
JAKE’S FREE ARM found Sydney’s tiny waist through the dampness of her thin dress and heat scorched at the contact. He watched her blazing blue eyes begging him to make the first move.
Make the move, Stow! You waited all bloody week to get this close to this woman. Hell, you’ve waited over ten years...take her now!
He didn’t care if the lightning took this whole deck down he was not letting this woman go.
Under the lace edge of her dress, that was now dipping lower then before the rainfall had soaked the material, her chest rose and fell with each deep breath she took.
His grip tightened and a tiny gasp escaped her wet lips. In that moment he lifted her and his mouth crashed against hers. She tasted warm like a summer day, soft like a rose petal and delicious like vanilla cake. It didn't take long to go from an unsure caress to passion, exploring the long lost island inside her mouth.
Sydney arched her supple body against him, digging her leg against the hardness between his legs. His mind was lost as her hands snaked up around his neck. He felt one hand stamp a print against his back while the other dug through his hair.
This is actually happening. They were both on the same page, it was perfect.
Jake pulled her body up higher, slipping his hands under her dress and grazing her lace panties as he found her hot, bare, wet back. The smoothness of her skin was amazing beneath his fingertips, the moisture slid his fingers across every area his arms would move him and he couldn’t touch enough of her satin skin.
He hadn't noticed their contact had moved them across the deck until her back, or leg, or his arm...he wasn’t sure...bumped a lawn chair and sent it falling backwards. The collision sent them off balance, out from under the shelter of the gazebo and back into the rain. Sydney let out a low surprised scream grasping the front of his shirt harder and their legs tangled together. They stumbled a dance, but he kept them in an upwards position. When they stopped, she was grinning at him through the rain pelting against her face. He carried her and partially dragged her back under the gazebo.
She smiled at him. “Let's take this to my bedroom.” Her feminine voice was husky and he had a hard time concentrating on the meaning. Then his eyes, as if having a mind of their own, glanced through the glass door at the hall that led to her bedroom. Her most private room where she stripped her clothes away each night and every morning.
“Your bedroom?”
She kissed his bottom lip. “Where do you think this is going?” she teased, lightly biting his lip like she was trying to tug away his confusion. She slanted her head at him. “Do you want to give the neighbours a show?”
His eyes scanned their current surrounding. Oh shit. The little white picket fence enclosing her backyard wasn’t hiding anything. They clung to each other and his arm held one of her legs in the air while the other had her dress halfway up her back exposing her rear end to the neighbours.
No. No, he definitely didn't want to give anyone a show.
Jake scooped her into his arms. She laughed surprised, then trailed kisses down his throat all the way to the bedroom.
Like Sydney’s gentle warm soul, her bedroom was softly decorated in warm creams and accented in light turquoise. The floral bedspread and lace curtains suited the antique white-painted metal bed. Her room was warm and welcoming just like the soft kisses she was generously pressing against every part of his skin like she on an exploration.
Jake shut the door, but before they reached the bed she said, “Just a sec.”
He stopped.
Just a sec what?
Fear claimed him.
Was that it? Was it done? Had she come to her senses and realized what they were about to do?
Sydney reached behind him and pulled a towel off a hook on the door and wiped her face. “A little wet,” she said. He liked the water dripping from her skin. He liked it even more when her seductive hands slowly wiped away any remaining water from his face. Each stroke and each caress was followed by a kiss. Her tongue even ran across his chin at one point, which aroused him to the point he couldn’t wait for her lips to reach his and he took her mouth in his. Tossing the towel behind him she wrapped her arms back around his neck kissing him back. Her warmth, her softness, her sweetness was everything he had imagined plus more. The way her body moved against his and her lips with his own.
She pulled away again licking her lower lip. “Jake?”
“Yes?”
“Take me to my bed,” she whispered.
It would be my pleasure.
Jake did as she asked and laid her down across the ruffled bedspread. Her hands pulled his collar down while settling his legs between hers, his arms on either side of her. If they were going to do this, he was going to take his time. She deserved to be loved.
His hands ran through her long blonde locks and grasped the back of her head. This woman deserved only the best.
Chapter Twenty
SYDNEY’S BODY MELTED with Jake above her, running his fingers through her hair and lightly kissing her lips, her nose, her forehead... She wanted him to run his mouth across every inch of her naked body. Naked, they needed to get naked.
Her hands touched the sides of the face she cared so much about, the stubble tickling her fingers. He bent down and took her mouth again, plunging his tongue to taste hers. He tasted delicious, like beer and cake wafting with the smell of his cologne which was driving her body wild for him.
Her hands slipped under his wet black shirt and touched his hard sculpted torso. That touch alone was going to put her over the edge and they weren't even undressed yet.
Naked.
Sydney tugged on his shirt. He took her hint and, with a devilish smirk, ripped it away, pausing above her. He was gorgeous, but she already knew that from days they spent at the beach. Alone in her room the intensity of his body tremendously increased. When she was finished gawking, not satisfied but only beginning, she found his eyes staring at her like it had been her shirt ripped away.
She grinned.
“Hey,” she said in a husky low tone.
A grin tugged those hard chiseled features. “Hey.” He was so damn sexy.
“I'm still dressed.” Even though she knew her dress was up around her waist, her legs craved to touch his bare skin under the denim he was wearing.
One of his sensual hands touched her leg as far down as he could reach slowly tracing a hot line to her outer thigh. It was breathtaking as his hand slid over her underwear, stopping to tug at them, but leaving them in place, outlining her stomach, and sliding her dress up.
“We can fix that.” He leaned down and kissed her stomach. She sucked in a deep breath, pressing her head against the bed and arching her stomach at him for more. He pushed her dress over her breasts and his hands followed, rubbing and gripping. She could get used to his rubbing and gripping. His mouth wasn’t far behind, kissing the lace of her bra covering her mounds. As he began to pull the dress over her shoulders so she would naked, exactly where she wanted to be, a loud thumping stopped him.
They stilled.
No, no, no. Whatever it is go the hell away!
They listened. It repeated wild hard thuds against her front door.
No, no, no.
Jake pulled her dress down.
No!
In a quick motion he stood up and left her alone on the bed.
No!
He held his hand out and she pouted as he pulled her onto her knees.
Who was at her door? Whoever it was she was going to skin them alive.
She was his height as she kneeled in the bed with him standing beside her. He was reaching for his shirt but Sydney wasn't ready to part from him so she pulled him to her and found his lips.
“Let them get it,” she said against his mouth, referring to Haylee or Joan.
He chuckled against her. “What happens when they come looking for you?” He pulled away grasping her hands in his and holding them between their lips. “And, I'm here?” He kissed her knuckle. “In your bedroom?” He kissed the next. “Half naked?”
“I wish you were totally naked.”
He chuckled again. “I wish you were totally naked.” He kissed her nose. “Go get the door.”
“I don't care what they think.” She kissed him again. All she cared about was keeping his shirt off his body and...she unbuckled his belt and was unzipping his pants when his hand caught hers.
“Yes you do. And if you keep heading down my pants, I’m going to lose my restraint and...” He pulled away. “Go answer the door, Syd.” He said it so softly, so genuine. But she was leaving him, leaving this cloud they’d finally created and fear she recognized that went hand-in-hand with this man was trickling into her stream of thoughts.
“Don't leave,” she whispered, but it came out as a plea.
More wild pounding at the door. Really? What was so important? And where was everyone else who lived in this house?
He cupped her face with his warm hands, still shirtless, pants unbuckled and kissed her hard. “I'm not going anywhere,” he told her. “I promise.”
With his promise, she scrambled from her bed, cursing so very unlike her all the way to the front door.
Someone better be dead. She scolded herself because that was a terrible thought.
She should have changed her damp dress, but hopefully this was a quick open and shut, send them away and get back down to Jake, kind of visit.
As she unlocked the door, her eyes glared up the stairs with a huff of annoyance, again very unlike her to get agitated so easily. Neither Joan nor Haylee could answer the door?
A stick-thin woman had her back to Sydney staring into the driveway where a vehicle was idling. Even from this view the woman looked sickly thin wearing tattered, dirty clothes and when she finally turned, Sydney’s mouth dropped.
No. Only the thought came out sad, long and disappointed rather than annoyed. Her forgotten worries returned, slamming into her stomach with such a force it almost knocked her backwards. A woman she’d never met, but a woman who she knew all too well.
Why today? Why right this moment?
The same brown eyes that Sydney had just left in her bedroom stared at her, tear-stained, mascara running and spaced-out. A shaky hand raked through a long overgrown mess of black and grey hair, greasy and unwashed for what appeared to be days...maybe weeks, possible months. It was disgusting and the wind was blowing her unclean smell right into Sydney’s nostrils, chasing away the manly scent of Jake.
Sydney didn’t want to speak. She was tempted to shut the door and convince the man down the hall, whom she knew this woman was looking for, that it was a wrong house call. But it wasn’t her place to intervene, even if her fear was accumulating by every twitch this lady made.
“Can I help you?” It was so forced Sydney hardly recognized her own voice.
“I'm looking for Jacob Stow.” Of course you are. Her voice shook. She was
strung-out on drugs and by the looks of the marks across her arms they were seriously bad drugs.
“Jacob?” the woman called past Sydney, as if Sydney was going to hide him from her. The thought had crossed my mind lady...more than once.
Jake’s mom sent her a glare as if she read her mind and Sydney wondered if she should be more cautious of this lady instead of upset that she was standing on her door step. Sydney had never met Jake’s mother, but she’d met Adalyn and, digging through the roughness of this lady, Sydney could see some of Adalyn in her.
What were the odds that after promising not to leave her, the very woman he left her for in the first place showed up on her front step just as they were about to engage in what would change the title of their relationship? Seriously, what were the odds!
Wary of inviting this scruffy looking lady in, Sydney did so anyways, but not without doing a quick scan of what was in hands reach, in case this lady decided to grab and hide. Beth was Jake’s blood, his family. She was also a drunk, drug addict who no doubt would steal if Sydney turned her back, but what choice did she have?
When Sydney glanced toward her bedroom she saw Jake standing in the hallway. She also saw that all feelings, emotions and thoughts of Sydney were erased from his face. He stared solely at his mom, unmoving and uncertain. She just lost the game. Oh, stop it...what would your reaction be to ten years of nothing then your mother shows up on your doorstep looking like this!
When Beth saw Jake her face softened, as much as it could with drinking wrinkles and drug open boils. “Jacob,” she called with a little wave.
Jake walked down the hallway carrying himself strong and solid, handsome and clean. He didn’t look at Sydney, not once, and a defeated sadness weighed heavily in her chest. Sydney’s fears stood in her hallway, in the form of Beth Stow.
Sydney climbed the stairs to go check on Haylee and give Jake and his mother privacy. She didn’t...couldn’t...go back to her bedroom where his smell combined with her wet sheets would be too much combined with the fears of whatever was about to unravel.
“What are you doing here?” Jake’s hard voice followed Sydney as she turned at the top of the stairs. Hard, but underlying with concern and love. The big ruff, tuff guy had that soft spot in his heart for his mom, no matter how awful of a person she was. As much as that scared Sydney, it also warmed her heart because his love for the people in his life was unconditional.
Lakeshore Love: The McAdams Sisters (By The Lake Book 3) Page 13