Jake shrugged. “And you realize that guys are desperate enough to not give a shit how creepy we sound. We hear ‘naked’ and all bets are off.”
“Which brings us full circle. You want me to trust that you won’t watch when really we both know you will, so let’s get it over with.”
“P-pardon?”
“Stand up.”
He wasn’t really sure he could, or should, for that matter.
“Or sit.” Char moved to straddle his legs. Holy shit, was this really happening? Was she going to—?
“I think you’re under the false impression that I don’t know how guys think.”
“Well I—”
“And because of that little mishap, and you know, for all those times you watched me like the creepy, horny little high schooler you were…”
She grabbed his hands and placed them on either side of her thighs.
“… you don’t get to watch.”
Did that mean he could touch?
She ran his hands from her thighs all the way up her sides, stopping right below her br**sts, and then she lifted his hands to her chest and up to her face. “Feel that, Jake Titus?”
Hell yeah, he felt that.
He felt his eyes flare with desire as his body hummed with need to have her.
“Now you don’t have to watch.” Char stepped away. “You and your perverted little mind can imagine. Now, out.” She pointed to the door and crossed her arms.
Was she serious?
She wanted him to stand? Right now? And actually walk to the door? And close it behind him? Without…
“I’m waiting.” She winked.
Well played, damn it.
With difficulty he rose to his feet and slowly shuffled out of the room. It wasn’t until the door clicked shut behind him that he managed to exhale, and even then he had to lean against the wall so he didn’t collapse in a pool of his own unsatiated lust.
“Things go well?” a voice called from down the hall.
Travis walked slowly toward him and smirked. “Ah, so you’ve finally lost it.”
“Huh?” Was he sweating? What the hell! When had a woman ever affected him like this!
“Your game, skills, wooing magic, ability to charm a nun out of her skirts—”
“Point made,” Jake interrupted.
“So…” Travis crossed his arms. “You and Char, huh?”
Jake was silent.
“Don’t do it.”
“Clearly, I’m not doing anything. That’s the damn problem,” Jake muttered.
Travis swore. “Just… don’t do anything rash before the wedding, okay? I can’t even imagine how pissed Kacey would be if she found out you were trying to dally with her best friend and maid of honor.”
“There was no dallying, believe me.” Was that bitterness seeping out of his every word?
“Good.” Travis slapped him on the back. “Because I’ve already got someone lined up for her. Someone stable who doesn’t date chicks with names like Jak-Jak or Honey.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Jake pushed away from the wall.
“It means,” Travis stepped closer to him, “stay the hell away from her. You just want her because she’s playing hard to get. The minute she makes it easy, you’ll be gone, and I’m going to have to deal with two hysterical women, not to mention Grandma, on the happiest day of my life. Just… Jake, for once in your life, leave it alone, okay?”
What the hell? A pain hit him sharp in the gut. Was it disappointment? Guilt? Shame? He wasn’t really sure, but the last thing he wanted was to continue to let everyone down in his life. He backed away and sighed.
“She’s not my type anyway.”
Travis rolled his eyes. Yeah, he wouldn’t believe himself either, mainly because he was lying his ass off.
“And,” he shrugged. “We’re too good as friends. I wouldn’t want to ruin that. Never actually had a friend that was a girl; I mean we can only count Kacey for so long. I just wanted to do something nice for her birthday. That’s all, I swear.”
“Really?” Travis’s eyes narrowed.
“Of course.” Jake forced a smile. “Besides, you know I love blondes.”
“Travis!” Grandma yelled from the other room. “Couch! Now!”
“No sleeping anywhere near Kacey until after the wedding. Grandma’s orders,” Travis mumbled. “If you hear a man weeping in the middle of the night, ignore it.”
Jake winced. “At least you only have less than two weeks left of torture.”
“Right. Tell that to my—”
“Travis!” Grandma yelled again.
Mumbling an oath, Travis made his way down the stairs and toward the couch. Jake turned back toward the door and knocked.
Char was already in the bed with the lights off. Disappointed, Jake took off his shirt and pants. Clad only in his boxers, he lay down on the bed and pulled the throw blanket over his body.
She had fallen asleep. How could she sleep at a time like this? Wasn’t her body still humming with desire? Did she have no feelings for him whatsoever? And why the hell did he care? With a yawn he attempted to close his eyes and sleep.
Chapter Twenty
Char wiped a warm tear from her eye and tried to keep herself from making too much noise as she sniffled under the blanket.
It was pathetic, really.
She was crying over Jake Titus—again.
Only this time, he hadn’t been rude, just honest. It still hurt like hell. It still made her want to drown her sorrows in ice cream and have a good cry, not that any of that would fix anything.
Friend.
A good friend.
And he liked blondes.
She wasn’t sure why it hurt so much to get rejected again. Maybe it was because of the way he’d kissed her or how sweet he’d been to her today. Then again, it had been her birthday. He was just trying to be nice because it was quite possible, that underneath all that vanity and whorishness, Jake was actually a decent guy.
He just wasn’t her guy.
Careful not to make any noise, Char pulled her phone out from underneath the blankets and texted Kacey.
Excited to meet Jace!
There. Sent. She would move on, because if she didn’t she really would be the crazy cat lady, still waiting on Jake to open his damn eyes and proclaim his undying love. Her chances of that happening were probably just as good as Brad leaving Angelina for her.
With a sigh she set her alarm for six so she could get up in time to run back to her apartment and change for work. Alarm set, she tucked the phone back underneath the blankets and tried to fall asleep.
* * *
The sound of Maroon 5 jolted Char awake so abruptly that she almost fell off the bed. In fact, she totally would have except a warm muscular leg was pinning her to the mattress. Somehow, in the middle of the night, she’d thrashed all the covers off of her body and was now firmly planted underneath 185 pounds of lean male muscle.
Maybe she should just enjoy the moment since it would never happen again?
His breathing deepened. When Char tried to pull free, Jake’s arm snaked around her waist and pulled her firmly against his body.
With a moan he pressed his nose into her hair and sighed. Holy crap. Frantic, she looked around the room, then realized she still had her cell phone in her hand. One-handed she pressed a few icons on her screen and turned on the really annoying alarm clock that made people wake up screaming—you know, payback and all that. She pressed it and held it close to his ear.
The minute the alarm went off his eyes snapped open, but he didn’t move. Instead he stared directly into her eyes as if she was some sort of dream. His pupils dilated and his breathing picked up. Every muscle on top of her tensed. Char could swear she heard his heartbeat as he continued to stare at her.
And then, as if snapping himself out of his stupor, he jerked back and looked away. “Thanks for that wake up call. That didn’t make me want to murder you on the spot.”
“Anytime,” Char snorted. “You were sleeping like the dead.”
“I was warm.”
“You were using me as a blanket.” Char pointed out, standing.
“Women are the best kinds.” He turned over his shoulder and gave her a wink just as she threw a pillow at his head. Drat, he ducked.
“You’re a pig.”
“At least I’m not a tease,” he sang.
“What!” Char marched over to his side of the bed and poked him in the chest. “I’m the tease? At least I don’t run around kissing people saying it’s okay because it’s their birthday!” She made fake quotes in the air with her fingers and scowled.
“You liked it. Admit it. And you’re still a tease. At least I was honest about what I was doing. So I like kissing you? Sue me. I like kissing my grandma, too, doesn’t mean I’m going to—” His face contorted.
“No, don’t stop.” Char crossed her arms. “I really want to see where you were going to go with that one.”
“Oh shut up. It’s early and I’m horny and you’re taking your life into your own hands by even standing that close to me in nothing but a t-shirt and boxers.”
“So now I’m not a tease, I’m just available?”
He shrugged. “If the shoe fits—Cinderella.”
Low blow.
Seething, she made a move to slap him, but he caught her hand and pulled her onto the bed, then rolled on top of her. “Admit it. You were thinking the same thing. Oh look, man-whore of the century wants me; I’ll just have a little bit of my birthday cake early…”
His eyes took on a different color, almost as if he was angry. She tried to push against him, but Jake was like an immovable rock. Every single plane of his body felt like it was carved out of stone, but he was warm, so damn warm it was killing her slowly to even be touching him. He was singeing her to within an inch of her life.
“Fine,” she lied. “I just wanted one taste.”
His eyes flared with anger.
“Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it, too?”
Eyes wide, he swore under his breath and released her, rolling onto his back. “I’ll take you home.”
“What? No snappy retort?” Char asked innocently.
He was silent for a moment, then mumbled something about grandmothers and their manipulative ways before he whispered, “No. Nothing.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!” he yelled.
“Fine!” She pushed him back against the bed and ran toward the door to open it, but it opened before she could get her hands on it.
“Everything okay in here?” Kacey asked, peering around Char to give Jake the glare of death.
“Peachy,” Jake sang from the bed, still lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. “I’m friggin’ fantastic. Just waiting for Char to get ready to I can take her back to the city.”
Char pasted a smile on her face. “I’m just going to go wash some of the man-whore from my body and I’ll be ready to go. Some of us still have jobs to go to in the morning.”
“Heard that!” Jake yelled from the bed.