Loving Jake (Almost Perfect #1)

Chapter 6

SIX

Kimberly walked down the stairs with slow, methodical steps. Her hair, still damp from her shower, was pulled tightly into a braid that kept falling over the front of her right shoulder. Her white running shoes made soft taps on the tile floor as she approached the kitchen with less than eager steps. She had been mentally preparing herself for this moment for over two hours. Actually, she wearily admitted to herself, it was more like seven if she considered the hours she had spent staring at her bedroom ceiling until dawn.

As she neared the kitchen, she heard the clinking sound of metal hitting ceramic. Jake was definitely awake and in the kitchen, most likely eating his daily bowl of cereal. She took a deep breath upon entering the room, trying desperately to calm her inner trembling. “Good morning.”

Jake glanced up from the newspaper he had spread out on the kitchen table. “Good morning.” He glanced up at her, and the heat of his gaze went straight to her heart. Just as quickly, he returned his attention to the newspaper, and her spirits plummeted .

“There’s still plenty of coffee left,” he commented without looking up again.

“Thanks,” she mumbled with a forced brightness. She walked over to the refrigerator while avoiding a glance in the direction of the sink area. She didn’t think she could ever look at the kitchen counter again without being reminded of last night. A flush burned its way up her neck and rested upon her cheekbones as she tried to erase the intimate scene she and Jake had created on that piece of white quartz.

She pressed her eyes closed as the events of the previous night flashed through her mind for the thousandth time. She tried to push away the feel of his fingers slowly, erotically, unbuttoning her blouse to let it fall carelessly at their feet, while he aroused her as no other man had ever come close to doing. She shook her head and opened her eyes. A shiver crawled over her skin as she opened the cabinet and reached inside for a coffee cup. Even hours later, she could feel the warmth of Jake’s breath on her neck, which caused her insides to go weak. She clenched the ceramic mug in her hand, desperate in her desire to force the erotic sensations from her mind.

She poured herself a cup of coffee with shaking hands. Relax, her conscience scolded. If Jake prefers to act as if nothing transpired between the two of you last night, that’s okay. He just needed time to come to terms with his feelings for her, that’s all, she mentally argued. Who cares if you laid awake until the sun first peeked over the horizon, your body aching with unfulfilled desire? Or that a mere glimpse of his mouth reminds you of his gentle, moist lips caressing you into an impassioned frenzy?

“Stop it.”

“What’s that?” Jake asked as he turned another page of the newspaper.

“What? Oh, nothing.” She brought the coffee cup to her mouth and sipped from it. The shrilling sound of her cellphone echoed through the kitchen, and she practically flew across the kitchen to grab it from its charger.

“Hello?” She listened patiently to the caller for several seconds before she replied.

“Why no, Linda, I haven’t forgotten about George’s birthday party. I’ll definitely be there.” She walked across the kitchen to the refrigerator with the cellphone cradled between her ear and shoulder and looked out the window. “Yes, of course. I will make sure to bring my camera so that we’ll be able to capture George’s surprise on film.” She watched Daisy chase a rabbit across the yard, relieved when the small creature escaped under the fence into the yard next door.

“Jake?” she repeated and caught her cellphone right before it fell out of her hand. “Why, um, yes, he’s staying here.” Reluctantly, she glanced at him. Jake’s head shot up from the newspaper at the sound of his name and he arched a dark, questioning eyebrow in her direction.

“Well, I don’t know if he’s available, Linda. I guess you would have to ask him,” she suggested with a smirk in his direction. “Except he’s not in,” she amended, in response to the pleading gesture he shot her.

Jake let out a large sigh of relief when he heard her next words, and she wanted to tell him that he owed her, but she bit her tongue instead. “Sure, I’ll give him the message. Thanks for calling, Linda. I’ll see you on Saturday.”

“Thanks,” he replied once she disconnected the call, relief evident in his voice.

“Don’t be too grateful; you’re not completely off the hook. Linda called to invite us to George’s thirty-fifth birthday party at the Oaks Country Club this Saturday night. I told her that while I would be there, you would have to let her know.” She sat down at the kitchen table, her earlier uneasiness now replaced with thoughts of her sister and her big mouth .

“Apparently, Linda called Catherine, who was on the other line with Carly, who mentioned your present residence. I would have felt just terrible if Jake had been staying with you, and I failed to invite him to George’s party ,” she mimicked in her best imitation of Linda’s sweet drawl. Even though she loved her sister-in-law, her thoughtfulness tended to get on her nerves, particularly when they extended to inviting Jake to George’s birthday party.

Jake winced before standing up and pushing his chair away from the table. “Oh. I, ah, better get going. Gramps is expecting me, and I’ve yet to go out for a run this morning.” He placed the cereal box back in the cabinet and then rinsed his dishes off in the sink. “Any plans for today?” he asked. He opened the dishwasher and placed his bowl and spoon inside.

“None other than a day spent at the park with Daisy,” she answered and took a sip of her coffee, her head buried in the front page of the newspaper. She intentionally mimicked his earlier behavior, aware that it was childish on her part, but she didn’t care. She was hurt, and he deserved to know it.

“Then I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” she responded distractedly, determined to keep her voice as uninterested as possible. She waited anxiously for the sound of the front door to close before she dropped her head to the table and onto her folded arms.

“How could he act as if nothing happened last night?” she cried out with a pound of her fist onto the tabletop. He was as cool as a cucumber this morning, while she was forced to hide her visibly shaking hands underneath the kitchen table. “Men.” She clenched her teeth together. If she said anything to him about last night, he might accuse her of being suffocating, and if she didn’t, he might think last night didn’t matter to her. What to do next was the million-dollar question of the day.

She stood up and placed her empty coffee mug in the sink. She needed a distraction and decided that a day in the park, with her camera and Daisy in tow, was actually the ideal solution.

Jake entered the park and within minutes, he spotted Kimberly’s red and black checkered blanket sprawled out on the grass near the pond’s edge. As he approached the spot she had chosen for her day’s outing, he noticed it was littered with the remnants of a half-eaten lunch. A camera bag, an empty Butternut Bread package, and dog biscuits also laid scattered across the blanket. “She has to be around here somewhere,” he murmured. He raised his hand to shade his eyes, hoping as he did to find her amongst the park’s many visitors.

When his initial search failed to find her, and unable to believe Kimberly would leave her belongings unattended for any length of time, he scanned the park area for a second time. His eyes darted across the short width of the pond to the opposite side from where he sat on top of her blanket.

He found her.

A familiar pain settled in the pit of his stomach as he watched her. Although they had been living together for over a month, he was still amazed by his reaction each time he saw her. The once shy, black-haired kitten, as he thought of her as a child, had transformed into a mysteriously exotic feline. A tightening formed in the region of his chest, near his heart, as he watched her brush her long braid back over her shoulder. She squatted near the water’s edge with her camera in hand. She should be the one being photographed, not a flock of ducks.

He recalled the one glimpse of her this morning that he had dared to take, when she was on the phone with her back turned to him. He felt his blood pressure rise in response to the mental image that formed in his mind. As if a pair of black cotton yoga shorts that molded themselves to her narrow hips and tightly rounded buttocks wasn’t enough to drive him over the edge of insanity, a UCLA T-shirt that ended at her midriff and exposed nearly all the creamy skin on her stomach had forced him to make a hasty retreat from the kitchen. He had lied this morning, for lack of a better excuse, to leave the house. He had been up and out for a run in the predawn hours because thoughts of her caused sleep to elude him. The torture he had inflicted upon himself with an additional five miles this morning was well deserved, although neither run had cleared the prior evening’s events, or the desire that had come with them, from his mind.

He watched Kimberly toss several pieces of bread to the squawking ducks with one hand, as she snapped pictures with the other. He could tell, despite the distance, that she had little success in getting the ducks to come within less than a few yards of her. He chuckled as he tried to figure out why she would think the ducks would come anywhere near her with Daisy seated beside her.

He imagined her trying to explain to the ducks, in a soothing voice no less, that the salivating beast at her side was harmless and that she and Daisy were simply there to take their picture. He laughed again and decided that he could watch her forever. Damn, there was that word again. “Forever. Why does it keep coming up when I am trying so hard to push it away?” he asked himself in a tormented breath. The continual torture he put himself through, day after day, had to stop, and he had proved it last night with her. He had lost all control the moment his lips had brushed against her skin, and if Daisy hadn’t interrupted when she did, well, he didn’t want to think about the remorse he would be feeling today. He needed to place some distance between them, and yet, he found himself unable to do it. Even with the best of efforts, he couldn’t convince himself that it was simply a coincidence that they were at the park at the same time this afternoon.

He hadn’t even fooled his grandfather this morning into believing his thoughts were anywhere but with Kimberly. Grandpa Zack had sensed his eagerness to be somewhere else five minutes after he walked through the door. Gramps had repeatedly asked where Kimberly was, blaming the questions on his old age and failing memory, rather than his sly perception and knowledge of his grandson.

Jake watched her in the distance, and the memory of her soft, welcoming lips eagerly returning his kisses the previous night taunted him. He rubbed his palms together and was reminded of the warmth of her silky skin beneath his rough, callused hands. He never imagined finding a woman whose body felt so right against his, her feminine curves fitting perfectly against him.

He had to stop thinking about her. Each day he spent with her, he felt himself falling deeper under the mystical spell she wove around him; each time, she came closer to taking ownership of his heart. If only he were more like his brother, Zane, and able to leave his emotions out of a relationship. A love them and leave them kind of guy: that was his brother.

Years ago, baffled by his brother’s ability to walk away from some of the most beautiful and interesting women Jake had ever met, he had asked Zane, after one of his brother’s many broken affairs, how he did it. Giving him with a rakish grin that Jake was sure was part of his appeal, Zane had confided, ever so eloquently, that love stinks. In Zane’s opinion, it was better to get going while the going was good, or you would find yourself with a broken heart and a pile of credit card bills.

Kimberly stood up and stretched her long limbs, and Jake ached with frustration. He decided with a renewed determination that Zane couldn’t be more right. Jake needed to be moving on and soon, as love did, indeed, stink. A smile creased his tanned face, until moments later when he felt his lips freeze in place and his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He wiped his palms on his thighs as he took a deep gulp of air. Love? Love stinks? No. He couldn’t be in love with Kimberly. Lust, sure, but love, no. He knew better. Love, no way, it was not for him. He was not in love with Kimberly.

He ran his hand through his wind-swept hair, determined to return home before the cause of all his reckless emotions spotted him. He looked up and then swore under his breath, as he caught sight of Kimberly waving at him. She was halfway around the small pond, Daisy trotting happily behind her.

“Jake, what are you doing here?” she asked hesitantly when she approached him. She gracefully folded her long, slender legs under her, and she sat down next to him on the blanket.

“I was out for a walk and saw your stuff. I thought I’d say hello.”

She retrieved two bottles of water from her cooler and held one out to him. She took a sip of water and then smiled back at him.

Jake gladly accepted the bottle, eager for the cold water to cool off his conflicting emotions. “Thanks.” He took a long drink of water, glad for the distraction it provided him.

She sipped from the bottle of water as her gaze wandered to the sky. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Her gaze was dreamy, her chestnut eyes following the path of an eagle soaring overhead.

“Yes,” he replied truthfully, unable to tear his eyes away from her.

Kimberly gazed back at him with a puzzled look in her eyes. “I thought you already went for a run today?”

Two actually, he mentally replied. “I did. However, after visiting my grandfather today and making a few phone calls when I returned home, I found myself with some free time. I decided to take a walk to the park.”

“Oh.”

“I spoke to Zane.”

“Really? Where is he, anyway?” She rested her hand on Daisy’s back, absently petting the dog lying at her side.

“The Philippines. He and his team are returning home soon. His plans are to be back in the Bay area by the end of October,” he paused momentarily before continuing, his gaze wandering over to the pond. “Who would ever believe Zane Taylor would become a plastic surgeon, treating children with severe challenges? Amazing, isn’t it?”

Kimberly rested her hands on her lap. “I don’t know, Jake. You forget that Zane was only a year ahead of me in school, and from what I recall, he was only too eager to play doctor with my friends and me.”

Jake laughed. She was more than kind with her description of his brother’s sexual prowess. “That’s Zane for you. He always loved a pretty girl.”

“I don’t think love is the word I’d use, Jake,” she added with a wide grin.

Jake swallowed the last of his water, grateful to not have choked on the cold drink. “No, I guess you’re right.” He chuckled and placed the empty bottle inside her cooler.

“I’ve decided to give up my apartment in New York.” His gaze remained focused on the pond off in the distance. He placed his hand on Daisy’s head and ruffled her hair, while he looked out over the water.

“Really? Why is that?”

He dared to glance into her eyes and saw the hope radiating from them. His response would not be the one she wanted; it never would be. “Zane and I have been discussing it on and off for a while now. Neither of us is ever home much. We’ re always traveling somewhere or spending hours on end at work, yet I have an apartment in New York, and he owns a house here in the San Francisco area. As you know, some friends of his are staying at his place until they complete the renovations on their home,” he added with a smile, and she responded with one of her own that told him they both knew he wouldn’t be living with her if it wasn’t the case. “Anyway, we agreed that I would give up my place in New York since I only rent, and I could move my stuff into his house. He’s tired of trying to maintain the place when he’s gone, and he thinks between the two of us, we can take care of it.” He pushed aside the sense of loss he felt whenever he thought about his inevitable move from Kimberly’s house.

“I’ve decided to go to New York this weekend to clear out my apartment. Zane is going to call his friends and let them know they should expect a few boxes to be delivered. The timing is right, my lease is up at the end of the month, and, well, I might as well, while I have the time.” And I need to put some distance between us. We both need a break, and it’s for the best, he mentally added. Trust me, please.

“Sounds like as good a plan as any.”

He looked at her, and he swore she wanted to say something else, but when she didn’t, he said, “Yeah, I think it will work out okay. Especially since Zane plans to be home in another four or five weeks, and I promised my producer I would be back to work in another month, two at the most. Gramps will be glad to have Zane around, especially while I’m off to the Middle East again for at least six months.”

“Like I said, sounds like as good of a plan as any,” she repeated with a shrug. She unfolded her legs and sat up on her knees and the balls of her feet. She packed her camera back into its case and placed it into a large canvas bag.

Jake admitted he was disappointed by her lack of reaction, but knew it was for the best. He had spent the morning beating himself up over his behavior last night, so her indifference should be a welcome relief. But it wasn’t, and it scared the hell out of him.

“I think Daisy has had enough of the heat. I better get going” she added without a glance in his direction.

Lost in his thought, it took him several moments before he followed her lead and jumped up to help her fold the blanket.

“Thanks, Jake,” she murmured when he offered to carry the cooler and blanket home for her. “Come on, Daisy,” she cooed to the large dog. “Tell the ducks you’ll see them tomorrow.”

“I think they would rather hear her say goodbye, as in forever,” Jake joked and handed Daisy’s leash to her.

“You’re probably right,” she laughed easily, and they walked side by side, along the gravel path that led them out of the park.

They walked for several blocks in silence until Jake finally spoke up a few yards away from her house. “You know, Kim, when you told Daisy to tell the ducks that she will see them tomorrow, it reminded me of something I’ve wanted to ask you about.”

“Yes?”

“I have noticed that you never say ‘goodbye.’ I mean, maybe it’s just a coincidence, but you always say ‘see you tomorrow,’ or ‘talk to you later,’ even on the phone.” He glanced at her, and her expression was amused. “You think I’m crazy for bringing it up, don’t you? Blame it on the inquisitive habits of a journalist. We analyze and take note of everything.” He turned his head to look at her and found her smiling back at him, her dark eyes sparkling.

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy.” She laughed and pulled on Daisy’s leash to prevent her from trampling some flowers. “But you’re going to think I am.”

“Try me.”

“Well, it’s sort of a superstition I picked up from my grandma.”

“Grandma Lily, I presume?”

“The one and the same,” she answered. Her eyes danced with merriment, and he looked away before he became completely lost in them. There couldn’t be a repeat of last night’s performance. He couldn’t let that happen again.

“Anyway, Grandma Lily never said, ‘goodbye,’ nor did she allow anyone else to say it to her. She insisted that ‘goodbye’ was too permanent, like forever, whereas, ‘see you later,’ always promised a tomorrow, you know, like you’d see each other again. It’s crazy, but it’s always stuck with me. I don’t know if I’m superstitious or just acting out of respect for my grandma. Can you tell I adored the eccentric, old woman?” she added with a laugh.

“Yeah, I sure can.” He sighed deeply as they climbed the steps of her front porch. He was disturbed by her explanation. He sensed somehow that it was some type of foreshadowing for their relationship. He placed the blanket and cooler on the kitchen table, and then he mumbled a hasty excuse to Kimberly and retreated to his room. For the rest of the evening, he couldn’t shake off the uneasiness he had felt after their conversation.