Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m going to just grab a shower while I’m at it.” I glance around the room and motion to the couch. I also didn’t think to make sure I got a room with two beds. “I’ll get them to send up some blankets and pillows. It’s already pretty late, so I may just turn in once I shower.”
“Okay, yeah,” Caroline stretches and yawns. “Walker wakes me up all night, so I’m always ready for bed. It’s kind of nice to be away from the bed and breakfast for a night. I can skip my nightly rounds and cleaning and just pass out.”
I dig out some clothes and pause at the door to the bathroom. Caroline is bent over her suitcase to pick out some clothes to sleep in. I’ve been doing a pretty good job of it before now, but I can’t help staring at her ass as she bends down. She’s still just wearing those jeans, but I can see the outline of her panties through them. My brain does an admirable job of calling up several memories of what she looks like naked.
I feel myself stiffen at the memories of her taste and the scent of her skin–the way she moved under me and felt with my hands on her. The feeling of her walls tight around my cock.
I also can’t help calling up the memory of the kiss at the B&B in front of Peter. I was only doing it to screw with the guy and sell the lie a little. But damn. It had been one hell of a kiss. I spent more time than I’d like to admit thinking about it on the plane ride, too.
I push it all down and let the door click behind me.
Bad idea, Jake.
I told myself from the start to keep this platonic. We’re just former lovers doing a favor for each other. Caroline and I closed the door on romantic possibility already, and I don’t need to imagine what it would be like to open it again, even if it’s just a crack.
I undress and get in the shower, letting the warm water wash over me.
I take my erection in my fist and pump my hand up and down, thoughts of Caroline filling my head. I think of the way her lips were always colder than mine at first but warmed up quickly. I think of the sound she used to make when I’d first slide my fingers against her or how she liked it when I pinned her wrists down on the bed.
Fuck.
I finish quickly, clean myself up in the warm water, and try to sort through the tangle of thoughts that threaten to take hold of me and never let go.
I walked in on the conversation between Peter and Caroline, overheard them, and acted before I stopped to think. My history with Caroline made me want to protect her. It was only after the fact that I realized I could also stand to benefit from this arrangement. And it’s only now that I realize how quickly this could get complicated.
My attraction to Caroline never wavered. Not one bit. I just felt the emotional push she gave me when she found out she was pregnant. It came right around the time of that bullshit scandal with Sophie Gray, too. I was pissed at the world for multiple reasons, and finding out the woman I was hoping to call my own eventually let a guy knock her up was the last thing I wanted to hear.
And now look at us…
I shake my head and shut off the water. I have a bad feeling this won’t be the last time I have to fuck my hand to get her out of my head. But I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Caroline in the realm of fantasy. Losing her once hurt enough. I’m not about to put myself in a position to go through that again.
7
CAROLINE
Walker’s grunts and soft cries wake me. I look at my phone, blinking through bleary eyes as I try to make out the time. Eleven… Only an hour after I laid down to sleep.
I scoot out from the blankets, lift him up, and let him latch on to my breast. I look cautiously toward Jake, then lift up my knees to cover myself a little as I feed him.
Jake’s huge form takes up most of the couch. He’s lying on his back, one hand behind his head and the other dangling to the floor. Even beneath the blankets, I can make out the shape of his long legs and toned muscles.
I drag my eyes away, feeling silly for staring at him, especially as he’s sleeping. Part of me wonders why we can’t just agree to be grown-ups and share a bed. It’s not like we never slept together, after all. It wasn’t even as if we had some big blow-up and angry end to our not-relationship. He just… drifted away once I got pregnant and let him believe it was somebody else’s baby. Go figure.