Imperfect Love (15 page)

Between bites, he kissed her hands about a million times, as they talked everything and anything; her future plans, as well as what he’d like to accomplish. Holly could listen to him for hours.

She was also impressed with how good a head he had on his shoulders, especially when he started talking about his family again. She only wished that she’d had the opportunity to know what it would be like to have lots of siblings. She’d give anything to meet his family. However, her fear where his mom was concerned and what she’d said in the elevator on Tuesday, still weighed heavily on her mind. It was one of the reasons why she wasn’t yet ready to meet them.

The evening was amazing. They’d chatted, drank and laughed so much that time was forgotten. When Holly finally looked around the restaurant, she noticed that they were only one of two couples who still lingered.

She didn’t want the night to end, and that made her wonder why on earth time always flew when one was having fun.

Jake broke into her musings. “There is no way I’m going to be able to drive tonight,” Jake said, rubbing his eyes.

Holly’s amusement showed; she knew exactly what he meant. Her head had that spinning feeling, but it felt good. She’d let all her worries go, even if that only happened when she spent time with Jake. He really made her feel free and alive.

“Do you think they still have rooms available?” Jake asked, a huge smile adorning his face.

“You want to stay the night?”

“Why not? I’m the responsible sort, and it doesn’t hurt that I always carry an extra bag of clothes,” he hiccupped, bringing Holly to tears.

Was he really drunk?

Jake guffawed right along with her.

“I’ll go find out,” she said, scraping the chair backward. When she stood, she felt somewhat unsteady, and as she made her way to the restaurant’s reception her legs started wobbling. She immediately grabbed one of the chairs at another table to steady herself. This brought about more laughter from the both of them. The couple at the other table, however, didn’t find it the least bit humorous and looked from Jake to Holly like they were mad.

“Please accept my apologies.” Holly nodded in their direction. Professionalism and politeness had been drilled into her—into all employees—by Marabella. She couldn’t let her boss down, no matter what the occasion.

She stumbled, although she tried her best to keep her back straight, all the way to the front desk where Cindy still sat. She was playing games on the computer while she waited for the remaining couples to leave.

“Sorry. We’re keeping you up,” Holly mumbled.

Cindy gave her a huge smile. Leaning in, eyes huge, she whispered, “You never mentioned he was
that
gorgeous!”

“I know, right?” Holly smiled from ear to ear. “Do you know if there are still rooms available? We are horribly drunk and in no condition to drive, plus, we’d probably get lost either way.”

Cindy snorted, raising an eyebrow and giving her the ‘look’. “Are you going to score tonight?”

Holly blushed but pulled herself together, fast. Too much alcohol never ended well. “Stop it,” she hissed.

Winking, Cindy said, “I’ll phone and find out.” Her finger hit the button so fast that Holly wasn’t sure if she dialed the front desk’s number correctly.

“Do we still have any rooms available?” she asked. “For two… okay, great… almost done, yep. It’s for Holly.” Whatever the comment on the other end of the line was, it made Cindy laugh.

Hanging up, she beamed at Holly. “Lynette says there are a lot to pick from, but that you make sure you guys are out before ten. We are fully booked tomorrow.”

“Great! Will do, thanks, Cindy.” Holly turned, but this time took her shoes off before making her way back to Jake.

She heard giggling at her back. “Enjoy,” Cindy teased.

Holly waved her off. When she neared their table, she noticed that Jake had just settled the bill and was chatting to Peter.

“Holly is like a sister to us, so please take good care of her.”

That’s so sweet.
“Thank you, Peter.” She made her way to his side and leaned on his shoulder.

“Any time. Did you enjoy yourself tonight?”

“Too much. Thank you.” Holly practically fell into her chair.

Sniggering, Peter thanked Jake for the tip and bid them both a good night.

“Okay, it’s sorted. Luckily there are a few rooms available. Only drawback is that we have to be out before ten tomorrow.”

They got up to leave, but Jake paused to rub hard at his face. “I haven’t been this woozy in a very long time. I hope I’m not coming down with something.”

“You should’ve stuck with what you had to drink the first time. Mixing is never good.”

“It’s your fault,” he accused her.

Lifting an eyebrow, she asked, “Did you have a good time?”

He looked at her, frowning. “That’s a no-brainer.”

“Then I’ll take the blame.”

Jake chuckled, shaking his head.

“I think it’s best we call one of the valets to sort out your car,” Holly stated.

“They do that here?”

“Of course. We go the extra mile.” She smiled.

“Be right back.” Jake turned and headed toward Cindy. Holly followed and when she reached them, Cindy was on the phone. She looked flushed, but Holly knew it was because of Jake’s presence. He had that kind of effect on women, including her.

Jake wrapped his arms around Holly and rested his forehead on hers.

“All sorted. Leave your keys with me. Holly knows where the room is. It’s not a long walk down, but I could organize you a golf cart if you’d like?” Cindy addressed Jake, batting her eyelashes at him. She was such a flirt.

“Great, thanks. But there’s no need to disturb anyone. We’ll walk. It’s not like we don’t need the fresh air.” He took his keys out of his pocket and dropped them on the desk. “Thank you for tonight, it was really amazing, and please let Marabella know I said thanks for everything,” Jake spoke over his shoulder on their way out.

“I sure will.”

Holly just gave her the eye, glancing over the same shoulder. She knew Cindy too well and it was a given that she’d have something to say in parting, something that would make Holly blush horribly.

Cindy bit hard on her lip to suppress a smile, but Holly winked. “Bye, Cindy.”

“See you Monday.”

THEY WALKED THE 500 METERS TO THE lodge in what felt like seconds. Holly laughed as Jake stumbled slightly over rocks and other debris scattered along the path.

“You seriously that drunk?” she asked, holding her hand out for him.

“Did you really have to take me through the canyon?”

“It’s not that bad. It’s a short cut, unless you want to walk for half a kilometer that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction.

“Canyons are fine.”

Holly shook her head slightly, while Jake used his phone’s screen light to see where to walk. Unfortunately, she completely missed one of the rocks. Her shoes flew into the air, and a shriek left her mouth as she fell over the rock. She’d always hated that rock and had told Marabella many, many times that someone was going to break his or her neck one day.

“It’s not near a path, Holly, so if you are too lazy to walk around, break your neck.” Marabella’s voice echoed her usual answer every time Holly had complained about it.

Jake picked her up. “Are you okay?”

“You can laugh,” Holly said, “I’ve seen my ass so many times over that stupid rock.”

Jake chuckled. “You want me to carry you?”

Holly broke out in a fit of giggles. “You want us both to break our necks?”

“I’m not that drunk.” And to prove it, he picked Holly up and threw her over his shoulder as she shrieked.

Her knee ached; she knew it had been scraped, and she’d probably ruined her beautiful black satin number, too. It had cost her a fortune, so if it truly was ruined she would cry.

“Which way, Miss Shortcut?”

“Go left,” she mumbled while hanging upside down. See could see a huge welcome sign surrounded by rock and African décor right outside the entrance.

Jake put her down gently and just before they walked inside, he bent down to look at the huge hole the rock had torn in her pants. “We should look at that.”

“Just as long as it doesn’t hurt, you can do whatever you want,” she said without thinking, blushing the minute the words left her mouth. Thank heaven she’d stepped in front of him and had walked a few steps.

“Me? Hurt you? Never!” he admonished in a playful tone as he followed her inside.

Lynette’s eyes looked like saucers when she saw Jake, but then she smiled at Holly, which soon turned into a chuckle on noticing the huge hole in her pants.

“You must be Jake. I’m Lynn.” She held her hand out to Jake. He took the proffered hand and shook it gently.

“Manly hands, too. They can rub over my body any time,” Lynn mumbled under her breath, but not so low that Holly didn’t catch every word. Lynn got they eye in return.

“Okay, here is key fifteen.” She handed Holly a huge key holder with three keys dangling from it. “You do know where fifteen is, Holls?”

Holly’s expression changed to thoughtful as her mind tried to remember, while simultaneously pointing her finger every which way possible; like she was having a discussion with herself.

“That way.” Lynette eventually pointed in the right direction. “How much, exactly, have you had to drink?”

“Oh, shush. Like you don’t get wasted every weekend.”

“Whatever. Enjoy,” she said.

Holly grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him back out of the main entrance.

“So… it’s not a room?”

“We call them rooms, but they are actually chalets.”

“Is there a shortcut for this one as well, or are we safe?”

Holly burst out laughing again. “We can wait for Luke, if you want. He’s usually parking all the cars this time of night.” She stretched her neck out. “He should be coming this way any minute now with your BMW.”

“You say that like it’s a crappy car. For your information, it’s a really awesome car.”

“Whatever.”

Upon seeing headlights approaching, Holly waved. Luke pulled up and stopped, but all you could see through the windshield was a pair of very white teeth. He loved pretending that he was some rich boy behind the steering wheel.

“You want a lift?” he asked, when he’d rolled the window down.

“Just unlock the door, Luke.”

“Fresh air is good for you, Holly.” He then looked at Jake. “Awesome ride, man.”

“Thank you. At least somebody appreciates a good car.”

Luke chortled as both Holly and Jake climbed into the back. “Holly is very hard to please.”

“Ha-ha,” she said sarcastically.

“Appreciate the head’s up,” Jake joked.

It took all but a short turn to the left and they arrived at the chalet.

She looked at Jake, whose eyes were slightly raised.

Whistling, he said, “Impressive.”

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

“You see?” Luke peered at them in the rear-view mirror, making Jake laugh.

“Thanks for bringing the car around, Luke.” Turning to Holly, he said, “What's the hold up, Bee Puke? Let's go.”

She rolled her eyes, but climbed out nevertheless. Luke bid his farewell after handing Jake his car keys, and then jogged back to the front office.
 

Holly had already tried two of the keys before she finally found the right one and opened the door.

The chalet was beautiful, and someone had already lit a fire in the fireplace. She dropped the key onto the table, when Jake’s hand grabbed her elbow. He turned her around and picked her up in one swift motion, placing her gently onto the table. She looked up into his face and his ice-green eyes bore into hers. She could feel her mouth becoming dry and swallowed hard.

“Now, let’s take a look at that knee.”

She wanted to groan. Jake had such a magnetic pull on her she’d forgotten all about her accident earlier.

“Do they have a first aid kit here?” Jake asked.

“I think there is one in the bathroom.” Holly pointed in its direction. She all but drooled watching him from the back. Almost as if Jake could hear her slobber hit the ground, he looked over his shoulder and winked.

Jake returned a few seconds later with a small first aid bag under his arm pit. Unzipping it, he selected what he needed.

Holly twitched when he first cleaned her wound with some kind of antiseptic, and then applied ointment. And when Jake bent lower to blow softly on her knee, hot flushes coursed over her entire body.

“That should do it,” he stated seductively, whilst looking at her from beneath unbelievably thick lashes. He straightened and leaned closer, their lips barely an inch apart. Her heart beat erratically.

Jake brought his hands up, touching her lips with his thumbs as his fingers feathered over her cheeks. Holly felt like she was on the verge of combusting; her heart beat in her throat, ready to run for the hills, but then she felt herself drown in his amazing eyes.

Jake’s hand slowly reached around the back of her neck. With a slight pull toward him, their lips met, and Holly’s ears started to ring again as his tongue gained entry into her mouth and began a dance as ancient as time itself.

It seemed as if her blood was beginning to boil, and in the pit of her stomach it felt like a bomb was going to explode.

Holly’s hands had gained a life of their own and found themselves tangled up in his hair, but before she could think about what she was doing, her legs followed suit and curled around his waist. She could feel his cold hands on her thighs, but they scorched her flushed skin all the same.

Through the thin silky material, his touch felt like a thousand tiny kisses caressing the side of her leg. She let out a small groan as he pulled her closer to him. His hands squeezed her ass, hard, which made her grab him around the neck, maneuvering herself even closer.

Suddenly, Jake lifted her off the table and began walking them toward the bedroom. He stopped at the foot of the bed and threw her playfully onto it. This made Holly laugh but when her eyes met his, her insides twisted into knots. His scorching eyes and wicked smile made her burn all over, and when he started unbuttoning his shirt, she didn’t think she could have gotten any wetter.

Holly felt her mouth become dry. Jake was taking his time and she couldn’t stop staring at his perfectly built body, toned muscles and beautiful six pack that had been hiding beneath his shirt.

She swallowed past the hard lump in her throat as he took the two steps he needed to reach the bed, and once his shins touched the bottom, he placed one knee on the mattress and then the other and began crawling toward her in a predatory manner. When their faces were but a breath apart, time stopped as they stared at each intensely.

Seductively, he parted her legs at the knees, moved between her thighs and lowered his body onto hers. Toying with her, he winked.

Holly could feel her teeth biting the inside of her lip as she tried to control her emotions.
Please don’t pass out
, she kept begging in her head. Not that anything of the sort was likely to happen, but this felt like a dream; a fantasy she didn’t want to own up to, and she was scared that it would all puff up in a billow of smoke and disappear.

Jake’s face hovered over hers for a second, and then their lips touched softly. The kiss started off slow, gentle, erotic, but it became aggressive and the lust within Holly wanted her to rip off her own clothes, as well as the rest of his.

All she wanted was to feel his naked body on hers and, hopefully, finally, him inside of her. Thinking in this manner would’ve made her blush for secretly wanting him this badly, but thanks to a margarita, a mojito and some kind of shiraz, modesty flew out the window.

Holly’s hands explored to her heart’s content. They brushed over his pecks and moved gently over the lines of his abdomen.
He must work out a couple of times a week. Could he be any more perfect
?
Her legs, of their own volition, began curling around his waist again, and he finally closed the gap and rested his body on hers.

His hands stroked up her legs, all the way to the sides of her hips. She groaned again as goose bumps shot up all over her skin.

As the kissing intensified so did their shortness of breath, yet neither wanted to pull away. Holly moaned as his erection rubbed against her core and pressed herself harder into him using the strength of her legs.

His hips began to grind, allowing her to reach another kind of ecstasy, the kind that was dangerous. Holly knew she wasn’t going to stop this now.

Jake’s lips finally left hers, moving slowly to her neck, and as his hands played over her hips she let out another groan. Jake reciprocated by grinding even harder.

Shivers ran down the length of her body when his lips went to her ear. “Do you like this?”

She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered, surprised the word made its way out.

Jake kissed her again, tugging and sucking on her lower lip with his teeth. It was driving her insane. His hands left her hips and traveled along the side of her body, moving down and up, and then slowly feathering over her breasts.

Abruptly, he rolled them over so that she was on top. Her lips automatically ran a line down his chest, planting soft kisses everywhere before making their way up to his neck, and then taking his lips again.

Jake spread her legs to either side of his hips and pushed them both up into a sitting position. Giving Holly a smoldering look, he fiddled with the buttons at her throat. When he’d succeeded in undoing the last one, the top part of the suit slid off, revealing her strapless bra.

Jake was a pro at unhooking bra clasps and in under a minute, naked chest touched naked chest, forcing another groan from Holly. She felt her eyes close—simply couldn’t keep them open any longer.

Jake moved them once more, and she ended up on her back again. His lips began worshipping her body, softly kissing and nipping down her breastbone, to the left and right of her ribs, and further down to her stomach. This was repeated on the way back up again, but this time he rubbed both his cheeks first over one breast and then the other, sucking gently on her nipples in between.

Holly loved the fact that it wasn’t a tug-of-war, the way Brandon used to play with them. Her body was on a high, and she didn’t think she could take much more when Jake swiftly moved down again and kissed her on the navel.