“Nothing like being made to feel welcome.”
Jake didn’t feel in the slightest bit guilty for potentially hurting Zack’s feelings, as he was pretty sure Zack didn’t have many feelings anyway. “Don’t you have alpacas to chase out of your care home?”
“How come they never walk into your kitchen? Your door is pretty much always open.”
Jake grinned. “They’re well trained.”
By the timeevening was seeping into the sky, a myriad of oranges and reds casting a glow over the tops of the peaks, Jake had tied himself into some sort of pretzel shaped knot. Not in the physical sense, as he was pretty inflexible, but certainly in some sort of emotional tangle.
Harvey McKay was a decent bloke. He was an electrician, had been married once and divorced – Jake had no idea what happened, but there hadn’t been any scandal around it – and he was a pretty good striker in a game of football. He wasn’t bad looking, not that Jake had ever really judged a man for his looks, but he wasn’t exactly, well,him.
And if Zack was right, two days after sleeping with him, Lainey had gone straight on a date with someone else. He knew other women he’d spent a night with would’ve done exactly the same, but he’d thought that given he wasn’t just a hook-up, what they’d done would’ve meant more.
Jake paced the floor. Had it meantmoreto him?
Before he’d thought too much more about it and his head had imploded, he found himself on Lainey’s doorstep, barefoot and bare chested, because clothes didn’t seem important enough to spend time grabbing.
He opened the door, feeling irritation when he realised she hadn’t locked it, and strode into her kitchen, almost tripping over one of the cats that she’d adopted.
“Lainey?” The house was too quiet. “Laine?” He checked the lounge, the wet room, saw that the door to the downstairs bathroom was open. Upstairs seemed like the only place.
Jake didn’t try to be quiet. This wasn’t about making her jump, or playing another prank. He wanted to know whether she had been on that date, or whether Zack was just being a twat as per usual.
The stairs carpet was new and felt plush under his feet. As he climbed up, he could hear small, familiar sounds. Breathless sounds. Noises that sounded exactly like he remembered from three nights ago.
Jake Maynard had been jealous exactly once in his life. He’d been a teenager, just, and his eldest cousin had told him he really liked the same girl that Jake did. Jake’d never had forgiven himself for that and what it’d caused afterwards. He’d also never let himself feel jealous again. Life was too short. Make your dreams happen because of you; not at someone else’s expense.
So he didn’t expect to feel tight and tense, with blood boiling, as he pushed the door to the room open from where he could hear the sounds coming. He didn’t expect to have clenched fists, and have a ringing in his ears that wasn’t from choking this time.
The door flung open and he marched in.
Then stopped.
And stared.
Chapter Thirteen
There were only two people in that room. One was Lainey, and the other was Jake. Jake whose jaw had hit the floor and bounced.
Lainey who was now sitting up on her bed and frantically trying to cover herself up and trying to use a bright pink vibrator to do so.
Jake blinked then rubbed his face.
She was alone, apart from him. She was on her bed, alone and very, very naked.
Jake’s brain defrosted, relief was nearly as powerful as the lust that darted through his body.
“I can leave.” He was well aware that his eyes were transfixed to the tits she’d given up trying to hide.
Lainey dropped the vibrator. Her eyes were being just as greedy as his, working their way over his body, across his chest and down his abs, to right wheresomethingwas very, very awake.
“Or I can do a better job than that pink thing.” He knew he couldn’t just pounce on her, not without her saying so. He just wanted her to say so.
“Are you sure? It’s pretty good.” She picked the vibrator up again and brought it to between her legs, not switching it on.
Jake stood there, transfixed.
Lainey moved her other hand to her breast, circling a finger around her nipple. Jake growled.
