“Just a moment, honey,” he said, reaching for the packet beneath his pillow. Quickly rolling their protection into place, he nudged her knees apart and settling himself in the cradle of her hips, entered her with one smooth stroke.
Gritting his teeth at the mind-blowing tightness surrounding him, he leaned down to capture her lips with his as he slowly began to move within her. But the tension building between them was like a wildfire, untamed and out of control. Each movement, each kiss, fanned the flame and drove them ever closer to being consumed by the passion.
When Heather suddenly arched up to meet him and he felt the immediate tightening around him, felt her feminine muscles cling to him, he deepened his strokes. He held her close and watched in awe as the ecstasy overtook her and she let go.
With his own release close, he moved into her again. He felt Heather suddenly tighten around him one more time and cry out his name. The mind-numbing realization that he’d brought her to a second release sent him over the edge. As he surged into her one final time, shock waves so strong they reverberated throughout his entire being shook him.
Easing to her side before he collapsed on top of her, he gathered Heather close and held her to him as they both tried to catch their breath. Shaken by the intensity of what they’d shared, Jake knew for certain that he’d never experienced anything as meaningful as their lovemaking. But even though he wasn’t at all ready to try to put a name to what he was feeling, he wasn’t fool enough to try to deny that it existed, either. And that should have made him nervous enough to jump out of his own skin. It was a mystery to him why it didn’t.
“Are you all right?” he asked, kissing the top of her head where it rested on his shoulder.
“Mmm. That was incredible.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” When she yawned and snuggled against him, he smiled and tightened his arms around her. “Why don’t you get some sleep, honey? It’s been a long day and the week has just started. We have about half a dozen more parties and receptions to attend before all of this is over.”
“That many?”
“Unfortunately.”
When she started to get up, he tightened his arms around her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She tilted her head up to look at him. “My room.”
“I don’t think so.” He reached over to turn off the bedside lamp. “I want you right here.”
“But—”
“I want to wake up with you tomorrow morning and make love again.” He brushed her lips with his. “I can’t do that if you’re in one room and I’m in another.”
She nibbled on her lower lip and he could tell she was waging an internal debate with herself. “Jake, I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”
He knew she was afraid of getting in over her head. Hell, he was in uncharted waters himself.
“Please spend the night with me, honey,” he pressed. “Then we’ll take this one day at a time and see where it goes.”
She stared at him for what seemed like forever before she finally nodded. “I’ll stay tonight, but that’s it. And when your family arrives in a few days, Mandy and I are going to move back into the carriage house.”
“Why?”
“Because by my calculations, you’re going to need our bedrooms to accommodate everyone.”
“This suite is huge,” he said, thinking fast. “We can move Mandy’s crib in the sitting room and you can sleep with me.”
She stubbornly shook her head. “I told you, I’ll only stay with you tonight. And we will move back to the carriage house in a few days.”
He could tell she wasn’t going to concede the issue. But he didn’t like the idea of not having her with him, in his house, in his bed.
“All right,” he finally agreed.
Apparently satisfied that he’d given up, she laid her head on his shoulder and in no time he could tell that she’d drifted off to sleep.
As he lay there holding her and staring at the ceiling, determination filled him. Hickory Hills was her and Mandy’s home and they belonged right where they were. And he was certain he could come up with some reason for them to stay in the house. All he had to do was find it.
Chapter Seven
“Heather isn’t gonna like this,” Daily said, looking uncertain.
Jake gave the boy an encouraging smile as they carried the sofa from the carriage house and loaded it onto a truck. “You let me worry about Heather. Just make sure you don’t drop your end of this thing.”
After she, Clara and the baby had left to go into Louisville for lunch and shopping, Emerald had called, prompting him to enlist Daily’s help in emptying out the carriage house. Heather was probably going to throw a fit about it, but once he explained everything, she’d surely understand. The place needed to be repainted and recarpeted, and it wouldn’t hurt to have some of the furniture replaced. He’d intended to make some of the renovations for her anyway, just not quite this soon.
But when Emerald finally returned his call to tell him she was accepting his invitation to attend the race, she’d asked for downstairs rooms for herself and her assistant, and in doing so handed him the perfect excuse to keep Heather and Mandy in the house with him when the family descended upon them in a few days. Due to Emerald being somewhere in her mid-seventies and her assistant, Luther, being every bit as old, she’d reminded him that climbing the staircase in the mansion might not be a good idea for them. That’s when he’d come to the conclusion that the one-level carriage house was the perfect solution.
“How long before the painters get here?” Daily asked, interrupting his thoughts.
As they turned to go back inside for the last pieces of furniture, Jake checked his watch. “They should be here any time. We’d better get the rest of this stuff loaded on the truck and take it to the storage unit, so the men can get started.” He was having to pay double the normal rate to get everything done in time. But in the end, it was going to be well worth it.
Daily looked almost as nervous as the night he’d tried to sneak out to see his girlfriend. “Have you figured out how you’re going to keep Heather from finding out what’s going on until everything’s finished?”
“I’m not.” Jake laughed at the boy’s horrified expression.
“She’s gonna kill both of us when she finds out,” Daily said, shaking his head. “It’s been nice knowing you.”