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Authors: Elijana Kindel

Tags: #Romance

Emily's Affair (7 page)

BOOK: Emily's Affair
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Lee met Marilyn's catty, green eyes in the bathroom mirror and promptly succumb to a fit of the giggles.

 

Marilyn threw an arm around Lee's shoulder and pulled her close. "You done good, baby doll. Booker asked me to express his opinion and words exactly."

 

"And your opinion?"

 

Marilyn's smile wavered, but her eyes retained the amused sparkle. "My opinion is… you done better than good. He's exactly as you described. Only better." She gave Lee an impulsive hug and kissed her cheek. "Thank goodness, you didn't follow in my footsteps and find the first loser who looked your way." Marilyn released her and pulled a tube of lipstick out of her purse. "But, you still have a lot of work ahead of you."

 

Lee's laughter died a slow death and she sucked in her bottom lip. "What kind of work?"

 

Marilyn took her time and expertly reapplied her lipstick. She pulled a tissue out of her purse and blotted. "You've caught his attention and his interest—which at the moment mirrors your own—in pursuing a purely sexual relationship is written in those beautiful gray eyes every time he looks at you."

 

She glanced over her shoulder and grinned at Lee. "And poor Jake can barely take his eyes off you." Marilyn turned her attention to repairing the shine on her nose. "He probably doesn't realize it yet, but he's the possessive type. The strong and protective man who announces to the world… this is my woman so look but don't touch kind of possessive type."

 

Marilyn snapped the compact closed and spun around to give her pupil her undivided attention. "I'm going to take a chance and guess that after spending one delightful hour in his company, you have just taken one giant step away from one night stand country and one giant leap towards wondering if he might actually be the one you've been waiting for."

 

Lee released a shaky breath and folded her arms over her chest. "Your perception in matters of the flesh is uncanny and quite annoying," she said in a dry tone.

 

"Thank you." Marilyn opened the compact and went about removing the shine from Lee's nose. "I'll give you the same piece of advice my mother gave me. Never, ever let a relationship revolve around sex. No matter how good the sex is. And after one look at Jake, you and he are going to have no problem whatsoever in the bedroom." She finished with Lee and replaced the compact in her purse. "There is no rule in the dating handbook which says that you can't go to bed with him on the first date. There is, however, a rule which states quite clearly that it must be a mutual decision and both parties must be emotionally ready for it. I added the last part for your benefit, by the way."

 

"Emotionally ready for it? I'm not looking to make him fall in love with me. I'm doing this because I've never done it before and it's about time I have." The last thing she wanted to do was get into a relationship. Relationships required trust and commitment and all the things she didn't have to give. Lee would gladly have an affair with him, but letting him into her heart…?

 

No way. Uh-uh. Forget it.

 

"So you think now," Marilyn said. "Don't worry. This is what you've got me for. Honey, I'll be there every step of the way to answer your questions and echo the voice of your conscience."

 

Lee tilted her head back and laughed up at the ceiling. "I think my conscience can handle itself, Marilyn."

 

"We'll see." Marilyn shook her head. "Booker and I are going to call it an early night. The poor baby is about to turn into a pumpkin. Do you want to stay or come with us?"

 

 

 

 

 

Jake watched as Emily hugged and kissed both Marilyn and Booker good-bye. Marilyn waved to him and he returned the gesture. Words were spoken between the three and Jake patiently waited for Emily to come to him.

 

He followed her progress across the room with hooded eyes and held his breath as Emily halted in front of him and tilted her head back to gaze at him with those heart stopping blue eyes.

 

"Booker says you offered to take care of me tonight," she said softly.

 

Her words, while vague in meaning, offered a multitude of ideas for his jaded imagination. Jake jingled her house keys in his hand. "I have been instructed to return you home at a reasonable hour and… to be on my best behavior."

 

Emily stepped forward and smoothed her hands over his chest. The thudding of his heart increased ten fold. "And is that something which is agreeable with you?"

 

"That is supposed to be my question to you," he said.

 

The smile of the goddess on the hunt was back and Emily took the keys from his hand. "Quite agreeable." She went up on her toes and teased his chest with the tips of her breasts then he felt her breath stir the hair near his ear.

 

His hands settled naturally on her waist and he was barely able to control a shudder of need.

 

"I promised Booker I'd be on my best behavior, too. But," she said and he felt her hand travel down to his waist, "I promised that I'd be good after he left. And," she pushed the keys into his pocket, "he hasn't left yet."

 

Her fingers followed the keys into his pocket and Jake groaned. "Sweetheart, have pity on me. There is only so much torture a man can bare."

 

"You started this game, Jake. If you can't hang with the big girls, then—"

 

"I can hang," he replied gruffly. Her fingernails were two seconds away from forcing him to go into the office and change his shorts. It'd been much too long since his last sexual encounter. Jake knew that if it weren't for the fact that he was stone cold sober, he wouldn't have had a prayer of chance holding back ol' Johnny's excitement.

 

Her hand moved inside his pocket. "Hmm, yes you can."

 

Jake caught her wrist and summoned more control than he thought humanly possible, then eased her from his pocket. "Patience," he murmured more for himself than for her. "Good things come to those who wait."

 

"How long are you willing to wait?" Her voice was airy, breathless.

 

"Sweetheart, if I can make it through this minute and into the next… ah, damn but you're evil."

 

Her tongue was doing wicked things to his neck at the base of his ear. "How long?"

 

"I'll wait, ah… until my dying breath if necessary. But," he introduced the lower half of her body to ol' Johnny, "I'll pray it won't take that long."

 

"Oh," she gasped. "Jake?" Emily arched her back and her eyes darkened while her hand gripped the back of his neck.

 

"Yes?"

 

"You have two choices at this point and
ohhh
… time."

 

"What are my choices, sweet Emily?"

 

Her fingers massaged his neck as her hips twitched against him. "Ask me to dance or… kiss me and make me do it again." She shivered.

 

Realization, then satisfaction strummed through him. "You're a little high strung tonight, aren't you?"

 

"It's your fault."

 

Jake laughed and, damn, it pained him. "My fault?"

 

A delicious grin curved her lips. "You turned me on then left me to search for the off button all by myself. I haven't found it yet."

 

"Is that so?" He grinned.

 

Emily cocked her head to the side that arched the smooth column of her throat. "Yeah, that's so. What are you going to do about it?" A finger trailed suggestively down his shirt.

 

Then it hit him. Emily was intent on seducing him. She wasn't teasing him. She was torturing him. He liked the torture, but that wasn't the point.

 

The point was that Jake was not into one night stands and fly-by-night flings, no matter how tempting the partner. He'd spent too much time planning and plotting for this moment to let her have all the goods without half the work. Emily was the first woman in a long time who'd stirred these sort of feelings in him and he'd be damned if he'd let her ruin it by sleeping with him on the first date.

 

Jake wanted to savor his first bout of sober dating.

 

"Pay back is hell, sweetheart." He took her by the hand and tugged her into the next room where the music and a dance floor waited for them.

 

She laughed and hurried to keep up with him. "Oh, Jake, you are evil."

 

The band—a local group who dabbled in the swing time horn sound—started up a fast paced, toe tapping, big band tune and Jake hauled Emily into his arms.

 

He pressed one hand to the small of her back and took her hand in his. "You and I, sweet Emily, are going to take things slow. Real slow. And," he moved them to the music, "you can just forget about ever finding the off button."

 

"Oh really?"

 

Jake dipped her. "Yes, ma'am. 'Cause as long as you're with me, you're not gonna need it." He pulled her back to her feet, then—to the amazement of the small crowd gathering on the fringe of the dance floor—proceeded to dance her fool shoes off.

 

No ma'am, she would not need the off button. Jake had plans for sweet Emily. Plans that most definitely did not include wham-bam-thank-you-sirs.

 
CHAPTER FOUR
 

Lee closed her eyes and tasted wave after wave of intoxicating pleasure. A moan rumbled forth from deep in her throat. "More."

 

Jake chuckled. "Greedy. Open wide, sweetheart. Wider. That's a good girl. Mmm, take it all now," he murmured.

 

Vanilla ice cream hit her tongue and her taste buds froze, then died of sheer bliss. "Mmm. Again."

 

"Let her taste it with the strawberry," Nick suggested eagerly.

 

Lee opened her eyes and gave a dreamy smile. "Nicholas, your ice cream is sinful. I'm going to have to spend an extra hour at the gym because of you."

 

Nick beamed. "Wait until you try it with the strawberry. The natural sweetness of the berry will enhance… accent the subtleties of the vanilla bean."

 

"Don't get him started on food talk, Emily," Alex said. "Nicki can talk for hours on the subtle nuances of the vanilla bean and how the wrong amount of sugar and cream can ruin a perfectly good bean." Alex spooned another helping of ice cream into his mouth.

 

Nick ignored his brother and kept his eyes trained on her. The brothers, Lee had discovered during one of the best meals of her life, were a year apart in age with Alex being the elder at thirty-three. There was no doubt that Alex and Nick had the same parents. They were nearly the same height—which was an inch or so shorter than Jake, possessed the same night black hair, and facially were nearly identical. The major difference in their appearance was their eye color. Alex had bright, sky blue eyes and Nick had a blue-green color. She had also discovered during the course of the meal that the three gentlemen had met while working construction for the brothers' uncle.

 

No wonder each of them were built so well.

 

Jake dipped the tip of a strawberry in the ice cream and, with a wicked grin, held it over the bowl for her to come and get it. "To fully appreciate the subtleties of the berry and vanilla you must—in this order—prepare the palette by licking the strawberry, then slowly take it in your mouth. But no biting. Not yet. You must let the taste buds adjust to the cream before you can complete the experience and… bite the strawberry. Ready, sweetheart?"

 

Lee fought the urge to squirm in her chair. Jake's voice did wonderful things to her self esteem and libido, but she would learn to control her physical cravings. She would. Maybe not today, or tomorrow for that matter, but one day in the distant future she might be able to control herself. For right now, she gripped the edge of her chair and greedily leaned forward. Her tongue snaked out and caught a drop of ice cream before it fell to the bar. "Ready."

BOOK: Emily's Affair
13.81Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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