The Right Bed?: Your Bed or Mine?

“My hero,” Caley said with a mocking smile.

Jake’s smile faded. He was short on sleep and tired of this game they played. Why did everything always have to be a challenge? “Am I? After last night, I thought you might not like me anymore.”

Caley shrugged. “I like you. That’s not going to change.”

“I shouldn’t have said those things about your sister.”

She drew a deep breath and sighed, then reached out and touched his arm, as if to reassure herself that they were all right. “I’m as worried as you are. I’m having lunch with her later. I was hoping I’d get a better sense of what she’s thinking.”

“You know, they haven’t had sex yet,” Jake said.

Caley blinked, stunned by the revelation. “Really? They’re both virgins?”

“No. They’ve both had sex, just not with each other. They’re saving it for marriage.”

“That changes everything,” Caley said, her eyes wide. “I mean, I think it’s an admirable concept, but it still worries me. Sex is an important part of a relationship. What if they aren’t compatible in bed?”

“Exactly,” Jake said. “Maybe we need to have one of those—what do you call them—interventions. We’ll sit them both down and make sure they know what they’re getting into and encourage them to do it.”

“But we can’t really speak with any authority,” Caley said. “Neither one of us has been engaged or married so why would they listen to us?”

“And we haven’t had sex,” Jake said. “At least, not with each other.”

“Well, we are older … and wiser. That should count for something.”

Jake considered their dilemma. “You know, we grew up in the same household with our siblings. I guess if the sex was great between us, don’t you think the sex would be great between Sam and Emma?”

“Are you suggesting we have sex so that we can use our experience to break up Sam and Emma’s wedding? What if the sex were great?”

“Oh, it would be great,” Jake said. “I know that for a fact.”

“How?”

“By the way you touch me. And by the way you react to my touch. It would be great between us. Maybe Sam and Emma have that feeling, too. Maybe that’s why they’ve been saving it.”

He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand, running his thumb over her lower lip. Caley closed her eyes and tipped her head back, waiting for his kiss. He held back, if only to prove a point. She wanted him and all he had to do was touch her to make her desire burn. He bent close and brushed his lips across hers.

“See,” he murmured. “I just kiss you and you melt.”

Caley smiled as she looked at him, then ran her hand down his chest to his waist. She brushed her knuckles against the zipper of his jeans. “And what about you?” she asked. “I just touch you and you do the opposite.”

Jake groaned. “All I’ve been thinking about since last night is getting you back in my bed. If I thought I’d have to wait another day to touch you again, I think I’d cut a hole in the ice and jump in the lake.”

“Don’t do that,” Caley teased. “That water is cold and the shrinkage would be horrible.”

He laughed, the sound echoing off the trees. “The way you talk. Do you talk to the other men in your life like this?”

“Right now, you’re the only man in my life. And it’s easy to talk to you.” She paused. “You’re my oldest friend, Jake. I can say anything to you.” She drew a deep breath. “I guess I didn’t realize that until now. We haven’t seen each other in eleven years and it seems as if nothing’s changed. And yet everything has.”

“I know,” he said. “But it’s not all bad.” He kissed her again. “So we’re okay. About last night?”

“I didn’t sleep at all.” Caley leaned back against the hood of the car.

“I didn’t, either. I’m starting to think we’d do a lot better if we slept together.” Jake rested his hands on her waist and stared down into her eyes. “You know you can’t live without me.”

“I know I can’t get my car out of the snow without you,” she countered.

He stepped back and carefully examined the task at hand. But the sound of an approaching car caught their attention and Jake watched as an SUV with police lights stopped on the opposite side of the road. The policeman jumped out of the truck and strolled across the road.

“I thought that was you,” he said. “What’s up, Caley?”

“Hey, Jeff,” Caley called, giving the cop a friendly wave.

“If you tell me this happened while you were talking on your cell phone, you know I’m going to have to arrest you.”

“I’m not used to the snow. I skidded on the curve and next thing I knew, I was in the snowbank.”

“I’ve got a tow chain in the truck. I’ll pull you out.”

Jake watched as Caley gave the guy a dazzling smile. “Could you?” she asked. “That would really be great.”

“I’m here to serve,” he said with a crooked grin. He looked over at Jake and nodded. “Hey, buddy, you can be on your way. I’ll help the lady with her problem.”

Caley turned to Jake. “Well, that saves us both some time. Aren’t we lucky he came along?”

Jake felt a surge of jealousy course through his body. The reaction stunned him. He remembered feeling that way when they’d been younger, when she’d turned her eyes toward other boys. But Jake had assumed he’d outgrown that particular emotion. “You know each other?”

“That’s Jeff Winslow. You remember him. He used to work at the marina. He lived in town. He’s the police chief now.”

“That’s Jeff Winslow?” As a teenager, Winslow considered himself the Casanova of the precollege crowd. He had girls falling at his feet and, according to rumor, he usually picked them up, seduced them and then tossed them aside for new conquests. The guys used to tease him that he’d have to take a second job in order to pay for the condoms he used. “Yeah, I remember him.”

“He stopped me the night I got into town. I was talking on my cell phone. He let me off with a warning.”

“You can’t go out with him,” Jake said.

Caley gasped. “He hasn’t asked me out.”

“He’s planning to. I can tell by the look in his eyes. And you can’t go out with him. He’s a player.”

“You know, you used to tell me who I could and couldn’t date when we were kids and I used to listen to you,” Caley said. “But I’m a big girl now and I can run my own life.”

“That’s because you were too naive to see what guys really wanted.”

“It’s no wonder that I remained a virgin until I got to college. I was seriously beginning to develop a complex.” She paused. “And I know exactly what you want. So see, I have learned a few things.” Caley shook her head. “One moment, you’re trying to talk me into bed and the next, you’re acting like my big brother. No wonder I’m so mixed up.”

“I don’t want to be your big brother,” Jake said.

“Then stop telling me how to run my life.”

God, she could be so stubborn at times. Was she this way with all men or was it just him? “Well, I guess you don’t need me or my advice. Officer Jeff can take care of all your needs. Automotive and otherwise.”

Caley stared at him. “What is this? Are you jealous?”

The accusation stung, even though it was true. Jake trudged back up to the road and Caley trailed after him, stumbling in the deep drift that the plows had pushed aside. He grabbed her waist and helped her through the snow, then brushed off her pant legs when she reached the pavement. “I gotta go try on my tux. I’ll see you later. Good luck with Emma.”

“Jake, I—”

“I’ll talk to you later,” he repeated. He strode back to his truck and hopped inside, then skidded out on the road, heading towards town. There were moments when he wondered what he found so fascinating about Caley Lambert. She seemed to go out of her way to exasperate him. If she thought for even a moment that he was dictating to her, she’d dig in her heels and refuse to move.

No, he didn’t want to act like her older brother! He had far more carnal interests than that. He looked at her as a woman, a beautiful, sexy, desirable woman. And he wanted her to see him as a man, not that guy who used to drive her crazy every summer.

How could he alter the dynamic of a relationship that seemed as if it were carved in stone? How could he make her see that they’d be so good together? He didn’t want her to forget the past. That’s what made things so easy between them. He just wanted her to see that they weren’t kids anymore.

Things had changed. He’d changed. And he was ready to give her all she’d wanted all those years ago. Only this time, he could give her more than just one night of clumsy lovemaking and empty promises. This time, it could be a beginning.

“WHERE’S HE GOING in such a hurry?”

Caley stared at Jake’s truck as it roared off down the snow-covered road. “He has an appointment in town,” she murmured.

Jeff watched as he drove off, frowning. “He’s speeding. Too fast for conditions. He’s lucky I don’t chase after him and slap him with a ticket.” He walked around to the back of the car and hooked the chain to a metal plate beneath the back bumper. “So, are you and him—”

“Together? No,” Caley said. “We’re just … old friends.”

“You know, he once threatened to beat the crap out of me if I did more than kiss you on our date.”

“I guess you weren’t too scared of him.”

Jeff grinned. “Hey, I knew why you went out with me. It wasn’t too hard to see what was going on between you two. He made things pretty clear.”

“No,” Caley said. “There was never anything. He was just … like an older brother.”

“I don’t think so,” Jeff said as he walked back to his truck. “I’m pretty sure the guy was in love with you.”

Caley stepped out onto the road, puzzled by Jeff’s revelation. How could he have gotten all that from a simple warning? Still, Jake had admitted as much, only she thought he’d been teasing. What if it was true? What if his feelings had run much deeper than she ever suspected?

Jeff hooked the chain to his truck. He slowly pulled it taut. A moment later, her car began to move as it was gradually drawn back onto the road. “That’s good!” she shouted.

Jeff parked the truck. He walked to the front of her rental car and examined it. “No damage,” he said.

“Thanks.” Caley reached for the door and Jeff quickly opened it for her. “I’m lucky you came along.”

“Hey, there’s a good band playing out at Tyler’s tomorrow night. We could catch some dinner and then head out there. I mean, if you aren’t busy with family stuff. And I promise I won’t try any funny business.”

Caley hesitated. There was absolutely no spark between her and Jeff, and she didn’t want to lead him on. Besides, if she wanted sparks, she had the Fourth of July fireworks in Jake. “I’m trying to spend some time with my sister.”

“Yeah, I heard she was getting married. Your mom told me when I saw her in town yesterday. That’s a surprise. Little Emma Lambert and Sam Burton. Hard to believe they’re old enough to get married.”

“Maybe Emma and I will stop by and check it out,” she said. A girl’s night out might make her sister reconsider getting married. She had far too many oats to sow yet and Tyler’s Roadhouse was known as a single girl’s paradise.

“Well, then, I’ll see you if I see you. I know the guy at the door. Just give him your name and he’ll let you in without the cover charge. You drive careful now, Caley. I don’t want to catch you in another snowbank. If I do, I might have to toss you in jail.”

He opened her car door for her and she got inside. As Caley drove off, she glanced in the rearview mirror. Jeff Winslow was an attractive guy. And now that she was single again, she ought to have been flattered that he’d turned his attention to her.

Caley had never put much stock in sexual chemistry, but now she finally understood what it was all about. When she and Jeff sat in the same test tube, nothing happened. But when she got mixed up in a beaker of Jake, the combination erupted into heat and passion and uncontrolled need.

There was a strange connection between them, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Something was drawing them together, a power that was impossible to resist. And with every moment that passed, Caley wondered why she even bothered to try.

Her phone rang and Caley reached to get it out of her purse. But then she drew her hand away. For the first time in her professional life, she didn’t want to think about work. She didn’t want to answer some silly question or explain some figures on a report. She just wanted to be left alone for a day. Grabbing the phone, she switched it off, the Mozart tune ending prematurely. She’d deal with work later. And besides, the last thing she needed was a ticket courtesy of Jeff. She had more important things on her mind.

Her thoughts returned to Jake. There was one major fear holding her back, a fear that she would repeat past mistakes. What if they did have sex and what if it was the most wonderful experience of her life? And what if she fell in love with Jake all over again?

Those feelings had been buried so deep for so long that she’d thought they were gone. But the moment he’d kissed her, they’d floated back to the surface. Caley was much stronger now, but Jake had the capacity to sweep her off her feet, to make her lose touch with reality and reason.

She drew a ragged breath. Though it was frightening, this power he had over her, it was also liberating. When she was with him, she could let go and enjoy herself. For the first time since she was a teenager, she looked forward to getting up in the morning. While she was here with Jake, she didn’t have to worry about all the public relations fires she’d have to put out in the course of a day, all the upset clients and curious reporters and skittish stockholders. She could relax and just be herself.

Why was it that Jake was always a factor in the choices she made? She’d gone to school at NYU because she thought it would impress Jake. She got a job in public relations because Jake had once told her she was good at solving problems. She’d worked herself ragged in the past seven years because, deep inside, she wanted to prove that she didn’t need Jake in her life to be happy.

And where had it gotten her? Caley sighed softly. Right back to where she started, still chasing after Jake Burton. But this time, he was chasing after her, as well. And she now had control over what happened between them—until, of course, he touched her. Then all bets were off.

“That’s the problem,” Caley said. “I can control my attraction for Jake as long as we aren’t close to each other. But I’m so attracted to him, I can’t stay away. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

BY THE TIME she got back to the inn it was nearly noon.

There was no one at the desk when she walked in, but Caley found her younger sister at a table in the dining room, a binder open in front of her. She munched on a breadstick as she flipped through the pages.

“Your maid of honor has arrived,” Caley said, pulling out a chair across from Emma.

Her sister looked up and smiled. “Good. I need someone to distract me from all these details. My mind is so filled with minutiae that it’s starting to leak out of my ears. Flowers, music, candles, dinner. I thought we were planning a small wedding, but it’s starting to take on a life of its own.”

Caley sat down, then reached out for the binder, scanning down her sister’s “to do” list. She didn’t understand why brides worried over such silly decisions. “This is the list of music? Go for the Pachelbel’s “Canon” for the processional and “Ode to Joy” for the recessional. Red roses with my bridesmaid’s dress would be too much. White would be better. And not the hybrid roses but the cabbage roses. Vanilla-scented tapers for the candles—you know how much Mom loves those. And surf and turf for dinner, that way you’ll please everyone.” Caley slammed the binder shut. “There, that was easy.”

Emma blinked in surprise. “Caroline Lenore Lambert! You can’t just decide so quickly. All of these things have to be discussed.”

“With whom? Sam? He doesn’t care. I’ve heard that brides often focus so much time and attention on the wedding that they forget there’s a marriage that comes after it.”

“That’s why we wanted to keep this small,” Emma said. “And more manageable. Between Mom and Mrs. Burton, we wouldn’t have had a wedding, we would have had an event. But I don’t want to make decisions just to get them out of the way. I want this wedding to be perfect. So does Sam.”

“So you have to discuss everything with him?”

“No. He’s leaving the details up to me.”

Caley plucked a breadstick out of the basket and munched on the end. “That’s odd. I mean, that he wouldn’t even care. You know how those Burton boys are. They’re so bossy. They have to run everything.”

Caley could see Emma growing dizzy from the change in conversation. Tiny worry lines furrowed her brow and she kept glancing back down at her book, as if all the answers were contained within.

Caley couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, but this marriage would be a life-altering event and if Emma wasn’t prepared then Caley wasn’t doing her job as a big sister or a maid of honor. “If it isn’t perfect then the marriage will never succeed. It’s like bad karma.”

Emma frowned. “Yeah. I guess so.” She paused. “Is it? Is that some superstition I haven’t heard yet?”

“You’re marrying the perfect guy so you have to be perfect in return. So did you solve your motorcycle dilemma? I’d stand firm on that one. Once you give in, he’s going to take advantage and think he can run the show.”

“He doesn’t want to talk about it. He says it’s his decision.”

“Emma, things will only get worse after you’re married. Marriage magnifies problems, it doesn’t make them go away.” It was armchair psychology and a deliberate manipulation but if it saved Emma from making the biggest mistake of her life, then Caley didn’t care. If love couldn’t withstand a bit of poking and prodding, then it would never last.

Caley winced inwardly. It almost pained her to say those words. But maybe that’s why she wasn’t happily married and living in the suburbs with 2.5 kids. Perhaps there was some truth in what she said. She reached out and took Emma’s hand. “Are you really ready for this, Em?”

“I-I’ve thought about postponing,” Emma admitted in a small voice. “But then, I just wrote it off to nerves. Everyone would be so disappointed.”

“This is about you, not Mom and Dad,” Caley said.

“But how am I supposed to know for sure? What am I supposed to feel?”

“Passion, contentment, anticipation. You’re going to spend the rest of your life with this one man. You have to know that when you look at him over the breakfast table in thirty years, that he was and is the only man in the world for you.” Caley sat back in her chair. “If you called it off, Emma, I would stand behind you. I’d help you explain it to Mom and Dad.”

Emma drew a shaky breath and then forced a bright smile. “That’s what you do for a living, right? Take disasters and put a pretty ribbon on them and pretend they never happened?”

“This wouldn’t be a disaster,” Caley insisted. But a divorce in two or three years would be. The families would be forced to take sides and that would destroy the lifelong friendship that they’d all enjoyed.

Emma shook her head. “Don’t be silly. I’m not going to call it off. It’s just prewedding jitters, that’s all.” She grabbed a menu from the center of the table and handed it to Caley. “Here. Why don’t you order something for lunch. I’m going to run up to my room and get the folder from the florist and we’ll discuss the bouquets. The florist needs to know by this afternoon so he can place the order.”

Emma pushed back from the table and hurried out of the dining room. Caley slowly shook her head. The doubts she had before hadn’t been dispelled. If anything, they were now magnified. Emma wasn’t ready to get married, but she also wasn’t strong enough to make the decision on her own. If the wedding were going to be called off, then Jake would have to talk Sam into doing it.

Caley grabbed Emma’s binder and opened it again. It was filled with pictures torn from magazines and neatly scribbled notes. There was a whole section on bridesmaid’s dresses and another on bridal gowns. It was obvious that Emma had been planning for this wedding for much longer than a month and a half. Some of the photos were at least five years old.

Caley groaned inwardly. Did Emma feel the same way about Sam as Caley had felt about Jake? Had she carried a secret crush around all these years? If she had, then trying to convince Emma to wait was going to be a much tougher job than she anticipated.

Motioning to the waitress, Caley stood up. “Can you let my sister know that I had to run an errand? I’ll be back later this afternoon.”

If she and Jake expected to have any effect at all, then they’d better coordinate their efforts. She reached for her cell phone before she realized she wasn’t even sure Jake had a cell phone. How did a person exist in this world without one? Or without wireless computer access and a PDA and a fax machine?

Caley strode to her car, then remembered that Jake had an appointment to try on his tuxedo. The only place in town that rented men’s formal wear was a shop two blocks down and around the corner. Caley glanced over at her car parked in front of the inn and decided it would be faster to walk.

When she arrived, she was out of breath. She walked to the rear of the store and the small section devoted to formal wear. An elderly man with a tape measure around his neck stood in front of a mirror. “Is Jake Burton here?” she asked.

“He’s changing,” the man said, pointing to a nearby fitting room. “He’ll be out in a moment.”

Caley strode over to the fitting room door, opened it and stepped inside. Jake stood in front of the mirror in his boxers and a formal shirt. He saw her reflection and smiled.

“You have a perfectly nice room at the inn and I’m staying out in the boathouse. Why do we keep meeting in fitting rooms?”

“We have to talk,” Caley said. He slowly turned and her breath caught in her throat. His muscular chest was visible, his shirt half unbuttoned, and Caley’s fingers twitched as she imagined the feel of his skin beneath her hands.

Jake reached out and grabbed her wrist, then placed her palm on his chest. “So what is so important that it can’t wait until I’m dressed?” He dragged her hand over his chest to his belly, then left it resting near the waistband of his boxers.

She traced her thumb along the deep cut of muscle that ran along his hip to somewhere beneath the blue-striped fabric. Caley wanted to follow it farther, to explore his body until she knew every plane and angle and curve and indentation. His body was flawless, a perfect specimen of male beauty.

She’d never paid much attention to physical beauty before, but then she’d never been with a truly beautiful man until now. Now, every detail, from the hard muscle of Jake’s abdomen to the soft dusting of hair across his chest, intrigued her.

She ran her hands back over his chest, watching as his growing erection pressed against the front of his boxers. He pulled her toward him and kissed her, cupping her backside in his hands and moving his hips against her. Emboldened, Caley reached down and wrapped her fingers around his shaft, hot and hard through the soft fabric.

Jake’s breath caught and then he moaned. “What are you doing?”

“I’m not sure,” Caley said. And she wasn’t. She was just following her instincts. It didn’t make any sense and in the rational world, she might have been appalled at her daring. But when she and Jake were together, the normal rules didn’t seem to apply.

“How does it fit?” the salesclerk called.

“It fits good,” Jake replied, his eyes closed, his face a mask of pleasure. He wasn’t talking about the clothes. They fit—her hand, his shaft, his hands, her backside. Everything seemed to fit perfectly.

“Can I see?”

“No!” they both said.

Jake looked down at her through passion-glazed eyes and smiled. “Is that why you came here? To torment me?”