Chapter 35

Panting, I finally still, my legs flopping down as I have zero ability to hold them up any longer, my body sated and tired. He moves up and over me and gives me a slow, sexy kiss on my mouth, his tongue gently caressing mine with the taste of my completion, a soft, erotic molding of mouths with gentle and toe-curling kissing. He pulls back with a satisfied look in his eye and the hint of a smile, leaning over me like a proud predator surveying its dead prey. I would let him dive in and devour me again to feel this way every second. He bends as though to kiss me but pauses at a knock on the door, his face instantly changing to irritation with a furrowed brow.

“What is it?” he barks at the door. I stifle a giggle at his annoyance; it’s a fate worse than death to interrupt Jake mid-sex. He smiles at me, shaking his head, and jumps up to grab some sweatpants and throw me a towel. I scurry to wrap myself up tightly before disappearing to the walk-in closet, away from the view of the door.

He pulls the pants on and opens the door, keeping it closed enough to conceal the bedroom and me in stages of undress. He talks to whoever is on the outside, but I can only hear mumbles. I wait with my towel around me, unsure if I should dress or if he’ll return to what we were doing. My body feels like liquid; I’m sure if I look in the mirror, I’ll be glowing and flushed and showing signs of having been ravaged. I’m breathless as hell and overheated.

He laughs, and it catches my attention. I love his laugh; it’s deep, carefree, and male, yet there’s a hint of boyishness to his normally husky tone when he laughs. I could close my eyes and listen to it forever.

He shuts the door and turns around to see where I’ve gone, his gaze returning to lust when he catches me still draped in my skimpy covering. I’m surveying my clothes in the closet, deciding whether to get dressed or return to bed. With a hint of disappointment on his face, he inhales deeply as though trying to calm his inner libido.

“We’ll need to continue this later; I forgot Daniel was here,” he says with a grin, and I flush with embarrassment.

~Oh, my God! How loud was I? Did he hear that?~

I’m beyond mortified.

“He’s coming to LA with me, Bella, since you won’t.” He throws me a wary look, but I only nod, not wanting to restart that conversation. I don’t like Daniel much right now; I don’t like his influence over Jake, well, the effect he had in the past, before us, and I don’t like the fact he’s just royally hurt my friend. We still have to talk about that.

I need to show Jake that I’m capable of trusting him. Until now, it’s been easy; we’ve been together every second, and there hasn’t been a need to test the limits of my trust. Going to LA with Daniel will be a test, and it terrifies me. I don’t want my inner doubts and anxieties to affect my relationship with him, with my mind acting as my own worst enemy and obsessing over the man-whore he used to be, especially when he’s going to see her.

“When will you get back?” I ask, trying to steer the conversation to neutral territory to avoid any subject that may let jealous Emma rear her head and show her full ugliness.

“We’ll leave from here at 2 p.m. and take off around four today; it’s about a six-hour flight, so if I leave LA same time tomorrow, I should get home around 2 a.m.” He walks over to me and pulls out a red dress from my wardrobe, the one he chose for me to wear the first time we ever went to his father’s yacht as friends. “Here, I like this on you.” He hands it to me and kisses me on the cheek with a look that says ‘please.’ He knows better than to make demands on my choices, but I don’t mind a gentle nudge if it makes him happy. It’s a knee-length summer dress with a floaty overskirt that he chose for me long ago when I was just his PA; it’s a bit formal for lounging around the apartment, though, and I glance at him quizzically.

“We’re all going out for breakfast,” he answers. “Seems this apartment echoes a little too much, Amore Mio, and Daniel is threatening to come in and hose us down if we keep at it. What can I say? He’s a little jealous that you have all of this.” He gestures down his naked torso with a wink, and I roll my eyes in response. He bends down and grabs the silver sandal wedges I wore with this dress on the yacht; I’m awed at his memory and smile as he hands them to me. The fact he remembered makes me all warm and gooey inside.

He really was enamored back then to remember every detail of my outfit.

I reach in and pull out a soft gray cardigan; it’s short, fitted, and feels like cashmere. It’ll make the outfit a bit less formal and ward against the slight chill in the air. Like the dress, it’s another Donna Moore purchase on Jake’s expense account; she’s his personal shopper for everything Emma-related, it seems.

He turns to the other side of the closet and yanks out his trademark black shirt and jeans, a leather jacket I haven’t seen before with racing badges on one sleeve, and a pair of black laced boots. I love his sexy casual Carrero look more than I like him in suits; it goes better with his youthful, bad-boy image and makes him less intimidating and more approachable. He walks off with his clothes into the bathroom, leaving the door open, and I hear the buzz of his shaver turning on. He never fully shaves, just keeps his stubble trimmed for that sexy, designer look. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without a five o’clock shadow since I met him. Margo, my old mentor and now his PA once more, told me that he feels like he looks like a kid when he shaves it all off and that a clean-shaven, baby-faced look is just so not him anyway. It also doesn’t last as his dark hair and Italian roots mean it grows fast through the day and never fully looks gone, even if he had a wet shave.

I dress quickly and brush out my damp hair, blow-drying it fast. The one good thing about my shorter wavy hair is it requires no maintenance. It styles itself. I throw on the most basic of makeup and a spritz of perfume and am ready by the time he walks out of the bathroom, fully clothed and smelling divine. He looks me up and down appreciatively.

“Beautiful, as always, cara mia.” He takes my hand and brings it to his mouth, gently kissing my knuckles in a very gentlemanly fashion. “Have you got everything?” he asks, his eyes focused on mine; today, they look a hazy, softer green with hints of silver flecks, relaxed and happy. I nod, lifting my handbag from the dresser with my free hand, and follow him out of the bedroom into the living room.

Daniel is lounging on a long, low couch using his phone. He has both feet on the leather, even though he’s wearing shoes. He’s dressed in nearly identical attire to Jake; either it’s this season’s hot look, or we have a little bit of imitation going on, and I can hazard a guess that it’s on Daniel’s part.

Throwing him a frown of disdain, Jake yanks at a leg and causes both feet to slide off. I try to shield my smirk; Jake has a lot of pride in his apartment, and unlike most rich New York penthousers, he chose and designed everything from paint colors to furniture. He also keeps the place neat, despite having a housekeeper I rarely see. It annoys him that when Daniel comes over, he treats it like a hotel by leaving stuff around and putting his shoes on the white Italian leather. Even as PA Emma, I dealt with Jake’s bitching fits whenever Daniel stayed with him. I think Daniel enjoys the reaction it causes; they’ve had many a heated argument, with Jake never shy to voice his complaints.

“Ready?” He flicks Daniel’s head as he passes him, and Hunter casually sits up and extends his middle finger at him. The nature of their friendship has always amused me. Jake, still holding my hand, pulls me with him as he leads the way to the door. I catch Daniel looking me up and down and recoil at that slide of eyes over my cleavage and down my legs. My repulsion of the male sex is still intact despite being able to let Jake devour me.

I can’t help it, even though I’ve let Jake do things to me and be with me in so many ways. I’ve learned that he’s the exception to my experiences. Men still make me cringe; I would still recoil at the touch of a strange man, and my skin crawls when they look me over. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that.

We pass two black-clad security men in the outer hall and smile our goodbyes. I catch a glimpse of Nora entering another guestroom further down; she has a vacuum cleaner in hand, off to tend to this apartment and go about her day. I sometimes forget how big this place is.

Jake bristles as Daniel gets extremely close to my rear as we near the door, so close he’s almost spooning me from behind. With his phone in hand, he’s focused on the screen and walking faster than I am, so he isn’t paying attention to my proximity. I sense his body heat so close to me and instantly feel uncomfortable.

“Hey, never heard of personal space?” Jake pushes him on the shoulder playfully, knocking him backward, and pulls me to his other side with a protective arm around my shoulders. He throws a glare at Daniel, less than amused.

“I’m sure if I were going to butt-hump your woman, I wouldn’t let you watch,” Daniel says, throwing a cheeky smile and ducks as Jake swings a hand at his head.

“If you even try to get within a foot of her butt, you’ll suffer like no man ever has,” Jake threatens as he lets go of me and grabs Daniel in a headlock, the two carrying on like teens in a playground. Batting at each other, Jake squeezes a little harder, and Daniel starts to turn puce.

“For goodness’ sake, boys! Children!” I snap as they separate and stand apart, slyly jabbing at each other and pulling stupid faces, acting as though they just got busted by their mommy.

“Asshole,” Jake mutters at him under his breath as he leans toward me and gives me a chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth.

“Dickhead.” Daniel prods Jake in the back and swans past us to lead the way out of the apartment.

They exchange haughty glares, but I know it’s only in jest.

I hope it’s only in jest, anyway.

I get the distinct impression that Jake would never leave me alone with his so-called best friend; there seems to be a distinct lack of trust, and I hope it’s with Daniel and not me. I cast my mind back, trying to decipher if Jake had ever given me a hint that he didn’t trust Daniel, and I falter.

His childhood best friend and ex-girlfriend Marissa betrayed him, so I guess not trusting friends and lovers is ingrained. I know it wasn’t Daniel who betrayed him, as Jake told me he no longer has ties to the man in question, but I guess Jake has deep insecurities, without knowing it, that he can never really trust best friends. I hope he realizes that not all women are like her. I’ve seen hints of jealous Jake, but nothing too concerning, nothing that makes me think he wouldn’t trust me. And I will never betray him.