The Right Bed?: Your Bed or Mine?

“Fumble!” she shouted.

Teddy was right behind them and he picked up the ball and started toward the other end zone. Jake turned and dropped Caley into the snow, then ran after Teddy, but Caley grabbed his leg and pulled him down. When he was lying on his stomach in the snow, she crawled on top of him, straddling his hips, and watched as Teddy scored.

She bounced up and down as she cheered for her brother, the movement causing a definite reaction on his part. Cursing softly, Jake rolled over and dumped her into the snow, picking up a handful and rubbing it in her face.

“You are such a bad sport,” Caley cried, grabbing a fistful of snow and throwing it at him. She wrestled him to his back, pinning his arms on either side of his head.

“Kiss me,” he murmured.

Caley frowned. “Not here. Everyone will see.”

Jake brushed the snow out of her hair. “Where? When?”

“Later,” Caley said. “After dinner.”

“Meet me at the boathouse,” he said.

Caley shook her head, then got to her feet, running back to her team. She turned around and looked back at him once, smiling, teasingly taunting him. “You’re gonna lo-ose,” she sang. “You’re gonna lo-ose.”

She did a little dance, wiggling her backside, and Jake chuckled. God, she was sexy. As he watched her walk away, he thought about what it would be like to have an entire night alone with her. To have all the time in the world to seduce her. To slowly undress her and touch her body and make her moan with pleasure. She’d been the stuff of his adolescent fantasies. But now, the things he dreamed about doing with her—to her—weren’t things he could have even imagined back then.

“Jake!”

He glanced up to see Brett staring at him. “Look alive,” his brother shouted. “Keep your head in the game.”

They played for exactly an hour and, in the end, the trophy went to the Lambert family on a last-minute touchdown pass from Evan to his wife, Marianne.

As they walked back up to the house, Jake lagged behind, his gaze fixed on Caley. He wondered how things might have been between them if he had accepted her offer that night eleven years ago. Would they be here, in the same place, still lusting after each other? Or might they look at each other with embarrassment or regret rather than anticipation and excitement?

Maybe things had worked out exactly as they were supposed to that summer. But what happened between them this week was still in the hands of fate. And it would either begin or end in the boathouse tonight.

DINNER WAS A BOISTEROUS EVENT with both families sharing chili and corn bread in the Burtons’ huge family room. After dinner, Jake and Caley joined Sam and Emma in a game of Monopoly, but Caley could barely concentrate. Jake had taken to playing a game of footsie beneath the table, running his stocking foot over hers in a very seductive manner.

Caley kept her gaze focused on the board, trying to control her wildly beating heart. There had been men in her life who had touched her in the most intimate of ways and she’d barely reacted. All Jake had to do was rub her foot and she felt like tearing his clothes off and jumping his bones.

“Park Place,” Sam said as Emma landed on his property. “Let’s see. That will be twelve hundred dollars, please.”

Jake chuckled as he scrutinized Sam’s stash of cash. “Looks like you almost have enough for that motorcycle you want to buy.”

Sam shot his brother a cold look and Emma immediately frowned. “What motorcycle?”

“Sam’s going to buy a motorcycle after you get married,” Jake said as he straightened his property cards. “Our mother wouldn’t let him, but once he’s married, she can’t say anything since you’d be in charge.” He fixed Emma with an inquisitive gaze, waiting for her response.

Caley thought it was an odd turn in the conversation. She sent him a frown and he just smiled and began to count his money.

“You can’t get a motorcycle,” Emma said. “They’re dangerous. I won’t let you.”

“But, Em, it would be practical. We can’t afford two cars. And the gas would be cheap.”

“No,” Emma said stubbornly. “I won’t allow it.”

Sam straightened, his expression growing petulant. “What is that supposed to mean, you won’t allow it? You’re not my mother.”

“Sam should be able to make his own decisions,” Jake murmured.

Caley gave him a swift kick beneath the table and he winced.

“Ow!” he cried. Sam and Emma looked at him and he forced a smile. “Cramp. To much football in the snow.” He snatched up his money and handed it to Caley. “I’m going to cash out now.”

Caley looked back and forth between the glowering expressions on Sam’s and Emma’s faces to the smug smile on Jake’s. He’d started this argument on purpose. “So am I,” Caley said.

“Jake is right,” Sam countered. “I’m an adult. I should be able to do what I want.”

“Who’s going to pay for this motorcycle?” Emma said. “Not me. And if you think you’re going to use any of our wedding money, you’d better think again.”

Caley quickly stood and followed Jake to the kitchen. He set his glass in the sink, then called out to his parents, who were playing cards with Caley’s mother and father. “I’m going to go down to the boathouse and see if I can get the heat going. We’re going to need the extra room.”

“And I’m going to head back to the inn,” Caley said. “I have to make some calls. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Their mutual exit caused no undue interest. Jake helped her on with her jacket and they walked out the front door together.

When they got outside, he grabbed her hand and drew her along with him, toward the path down to the lake. “Jake, maybe we should—Where are we going?”

“The boathouse. I could use some help getting the heat going. You can hold my tools.”

Caley laughed, then fell into step beside him. The crisp night air heightened her senses and she felt her heart skip, knowing what would happen once they were alone. Caley had never considered herself a very passionate woman. She’d always been able to control her desire. But with Jake, she seemed to be constantly fixated on sex.

Though she had good intentions of playing it cool, everything fell apart the moment he touched her. Her rational side could come up with an entire list of reasons why she shouldn’t sleep with Jake. But then her pulse began pounding and she felt a tiny bit lightheaded and her brain stopped working entirely. It felt good to just let go, to feel something so strongly that it completely consumed her. She hadn’t felt like this since that night with Jake on the beach eleven years ago.

But was she really ready to do this? For the past few months, she’d felt an emptiness inside her, as if her life had ceased to make her happy. It would be easy to fill that emptiness with Jake. And maybe she would feel better for a while. Still, Caley didn’t want to believe that she needed a man to be happy. She probably just needed really good sex.

At least she was now old enough to know the difference between desire and love. If she did surrender to physical attraction, Caley would be able to control her emotions. Jake was the last person she would allow herself to love. In truth, he was the only man she’d known who had the capacity to break her heart. And that made him dangerous.

And yet, she wasn’t afraid. Instead, she felt liberated. She could finally act on her desire for Jake and explore just how deep it ran. She didn’t have to pretend anymore. He wanted her and she wanted him, and neither one of them had to deny it.

The shadow of the Burtons’ boathouse, built into the slope of the shoreline, loomed at the edge of the lake. The lower level held the Burtons’ small sailboat and their vintage motorboat, but the upper level was a small apartment that they often used for guests. It was fully furnished with a bed and a sofa and a small kitchen and bath. The windows had been shuttered for the winter, giving the place a cold and uninviting look.

Jake held her hand as she carefully climbed the snow-covered stairs. Caley glanced back over her shoulder to see the trail of their footprints in the moonlight. “They’re going to know we were out here together,” she said.

“I just asked you to give me a hand,” Jake said. “It was a perfectly innocent request.”

Caley took a ragged breath and clenched her fingers inside her jacket pocket. Just the thought of running her hands over his body, of having the freedom to touch him, to undress him, made her mind spin. She knew what would happen when they were alone and she wasn’t afraid. All she could feel was an overwhelming anticipation.

When they reached the landing, Jake pushed the door open and then walked inside. She followed and heard the door shut behind her. The moment it did, Caley felt his hands on her face. His lips met hers and a heartbeat later they were lost in a deep and stirring kiss.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” he murmured against her mouth.

“What were you thinking?” she asked, her breath coming in quick gasps.

“About what would happen once we were alone again.”