Page 18 of Loving Jake

“And, she snapped at me when I asked about you tonight. Jake, I… I don’t want her to get hurt,” she added with a hint of apprehension in her voice. She stared at the small tick in his cheek, and he lifted his hand to the spot to try and stop it.

“I know it’s a little late to be thinking about that, particularly after I’m the one who thought up the whole scheme of renting a room from her,” she rushed on.

His eyebrows arched high on his forehead. A little late? he wanted to sarcastically retort, but held his tongue.

“I realize now that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. I mean you two aren’t serious, are you?” She chewed nervously on her lower lip, and he turned his back on her.

The moonlight glistened on the perfectly manicured lawn in front of them, and the beauty was lost on him. He laughed harshly and shook his head in a slow, purposeful response. “Nope.” Carly leaned against the railing only a few inches away from him, and his gaze remained unwavering.

“Carly,” he said, his voice distant and cool, “I’m an international journalist, traveling all over the world for months at a time. I don’t have time for serious relationships.”Especially not with a raven-haired beauty that causes my heart to stop and makes it difficult to breathe without concentrating. “Besides,” he replied in hardly more than a whisper and turned his head to look at her, “You know better than anyone that I’ll never remarry. I almost ruined one woman’s life and nearly killed myself with guilt in the process. I won’t let history repeat itself, and please don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about. I know you eavesdropped on our conversation, the night George and I got drunk at Erica and Cody’s wedding, and I poured my guts out to him about my divorce.”

Carly stared into her water glass. She absently swirled the glass around in her hand.

“Carly, look at me. Look at me, and tell me straight to my face that your sister could live her life without children. Do it, Carly.”

Carly lifted her head. Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes. “I, ah, you know I can’t, Jake.” Her eyes darted to the space around his head until they finally landed on his face again. “But I’m not the one you should be asking. If you really care about Kimberly, you should be having this discussion with her, not me.” She reached out and placed her hand on his upper arm. “She might surprise you.”

Jake’s laughter was filled with bitterness. He realized now that coming here this evening was a mistake. Carly was right in her concerns for her sister. He would hurt her in the end, once he walked away from her for good. “Look, Carly. I do care about your sister, and she’s a wonderful person. But that’s it. I like my life the way it is, and Kimberly is not part of it, not beyond that of a friend and a landlord,” he bit out harder than he intended. Feeling guilty for his harsh response, he leaned over to ruffle the top of her hair, as he had often done when she was a child, but patted her on the shoulder instead because she would likelyswat his hand away from her perfectly coiffed hair. “Come on, Carly. Let’s go back inside and join the party.”

Carly searched his eyes for several moments and finally nodded before she followed him back into the large banquet room.

Jake spent the next thirty minutes mingling with party guests. His mood temporarily lifted after his conversation with Carly. He needed to hear that a relationship with Kimberly was impossible, even if the words had to come from his own mouth.

Whether he was purposely avoiding Kimberly, or she was avoiding him, he still hadn’t figured out nearly an hour later. Finally, unable to watch her attention monopolized for another minute by Conner, the identity of her constant companion he learned from another guest, he decided it was time for them to acknowledge each other. After all, they lived together, something Conner surely didn’t know, Jake thought with a smile to himself. His grin was still in place when he approached the pair of them minutes later.

“Hello, Kimberly.” His gaze traveled over her creamy skin and then to the black dress that molded itself to her lean curves. He found it hard to believe that she could be even more beautiful up close than she was from across the room. She was, and he was having a hard time trying to ignore the fact.

“Jake.” Her dark eyes lit up in surprise. “I, ah, thought you were in New York until Monday?”

Jake swore swiftly under his breath. Incredible. She hadn’t even known that he was at the party until now, and he had been in attendance for over an hour. He could tell by the slur in her voice that she had had far too much to drink, and he blamed it on the Nordic giant who stood at her side and had plied her with drinks all night. Conner, even his name irritated Jake. He hated Conner on sight.

He stared back at her without blinking an eye. “I came backearly. I knew how much you wanted me to come with you tonight, and I was determined not to disappoint you.”

He returned her smile with one of his own, although his lacked the drunken twist at its corners that hers had, while irritation emanated from every one of his pores. The confused look occupying her face confirmed that she had had more to drink than he first guessed. He inwardly groaned when she covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a hiccup.

“I apologize.” Jake smiled mockingly at Conner. “I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Jake Taylor. I live with Kimberly.” He held his hand out to the other man, while he ignored Kimberly’s swift intake of breath followed by another hiccup.

“Conner Douglas.” The tall, well-dressed investment banker extended his hand out to Jake, while he inched away from Kimberly.

“Pleasure to meet you. I hope you don’t mind if I excuse myself and get another drink?” Conner turned to walk away, but not before he gave Kimberly a distinctive snort of disgust. Jake hid his laughter behind a fake cough.

“How dare you, Jake!” Kimberly hissed under her breath. “I can’t believe you said that to him. No, I can’t believe thewayyou said that to him. I’m sure Conner thinks that we’re, you know, living together, living together.” She exhaled deeply in an attempt to blow at a large curly lock of hair that had escaped her chignon and now fell softly against her cheek. Jake reached up and pushed the strand of hair to behind her ear.

“You’re not making any sense, Kimberly.” He cocked his head and intentionally gave her a blank stare. “We are living together.”

“Ugh,” she growled in frustration. “You know perfectly well what I mean, and you did that on purpose. Conner has been a gentleman all evening, and you’ve gone and scared him away.”She reached for a champagne glass from a passing waiter, and he brushed her hand away.

“You’ve had too much to drink already, and Conner is not a gentleman.” His eyes narrowed over his brows, and he moved closer to her side. His voice was hard and exact when he spoke again. “From what little I’ve learned about the guy this evening, he goes through women like they are different courses of a meal. Tonight, he chose you as his main entrée.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Jake Taylor! Conner is a business associate of George’s and also a friend of his,” she tartly informed him with a tilt of her chin.

“Who do you think I got my information from?” He sneered at her with a sardonic grin. “You can be so naïve.”

“What did you say?” she practically screeched and placed a hand on each of her slender hips. Her black eyes blazed back at him.

“You obviously heard me, Kimberly. Don’t give me that look. I said you can be naïve, and it’s the truth. You’re dressed in a slinky black slip that exposes more than it covers, and you’ve drunk a gallon of champagne tonight. What do you think Conner had in mind this evening, a chaste kiss at your doorstep after driving you home? Give me a break.”

“How do you know that I didn’t want to spend the night with Conner? Maybe I wanted more than just a chaste kiss at my doorstep?”

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