Sweet Dreams (Sunset Dreams Series Book 1) (18 page)

Jake scratches the back of his neck and looks at me. After a moment he says, “How about that room you changed in earlier? Is that okay?”

“That’s fine. I better head up. It’s been a long day.”

“I’ll walk you up. I want to make sure there are enough blankets and all that. Let me turn off the lights.”

Jake turns the stereo system off as I walk toward the foyer. Next he turns off the lights in the kitchen and the living room and then meets me at the foot of the stairs. Motioning for me to walk ahead of him, I grip the banister tightly to prevent myself from tripping with Jake following two steps behind me. When we reach the top, I step aside and let Jake lead us to the room. He enters and turns on the lamp next to the bed as I stand in the doorway watching him check over everything.

“Well, I guess everything looks good here. Let me know if you need another blanket or anything.”

“Okay.”

Jake comes toward me and stops in the doorway. Looking up at him, I notice a crinkle form between his brows.

Why is he frowning?

Jake starts to lean in toward me and time seems to slow down as I hold my breath and feel him leave a soft kiss on my cheek.

“Good night, Jen. Sweet dreams.” Before I can respond, he brushes past me and down the hall as I stand there speechless with my hand against my cheek.

I close the door softly behind him.

His lips were so soft.

This is so confusing and wonderful and miserable.

Ugh, how am I going to sleep tonight?

Chapter Twenty-Six

A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow. Charlotte Bronte

I
toss and turn all night. Jake is down the hall and around the corner from me sleeping or doing God knows what with Amy.

This is impossible. How did I get myself into this mess?

Yesterday was complicated. It was one of the best days of my life being with Jake, traveling around the Amalfi coast. I had so much fun, but it was torture too. The tension inside me was building all day to a point where my whole body felt like a live wire that at any moment could ignite. It’s exhausting holding that in and yet I can’t really get to sleep.

There were so many moments that set me on edge. On the back of Jake’s bike; holding hands by the water; wet in the pool; Jake in a towel, bare-chested in front of me; Jake straddling me on the sofa; Jake’s face in my hair; Jake kissing me good night. They were all magnificently painful. There’s no way I can go back to thinking of him as just a friend, even though that is exactly what he is. My mind keeps conjuring up these thoughts and fantasies that flash across my eyelids.

I sit up in bed.

What time is it? 3 a.m. Oh this is ridiculous.

I flop back down on the pillow and try to force myself to sleep. At some point, even though my mind is racing, the heaviness of my eyelids wins over and I doze off.

I wake up again somewhere around six as the sun starts to rise. Sitting up, I stretch, thankful for the few hours of sleep I managed to get and walk over to the window to admire the early morning light.

I wonder how long I have to wait for Jake to get up and drive me home.

Turning toward the bathroom, I decide to go try and brush my teeth with my finger at least. As I enter the en suite, I notice a new toothbrush on the counter along with toothpaste and a hair brush.

I don’t remember these being here yesterday when I was taking a shower or I would have used the hair brush then.

Going back into the room, I look around, confused. My clothes are neatly folded on the arm of the chair and I walk over to pick them up. They’re dry and smell as if they’ve just been washed.

Jake must have washed my clothes and come and put them in here in the middle of the night. I can’t believe I handed over my bra and panties.

I really hope I wasn’t doing something embarrassing in my sleep. Hopefully he came in, dropped them off quickly and left.

He must not have gotten very much sleep. I’ll probably be waiting for him to wake up all morning.

I take a shower, brush my teeth, and put my hair up in a ponytail. Getting dressed, I leave the clothes Jake gave me yesterday neatly folded on the chair, figuring there’s no way to steal his shirt without getting caught.

Now what?

Deciding to go and search out some coffee while I wait, I make my way quietly downstairs. I think I saw one of those single serving coffee makers on the counter. I can grab my coffee and sit on the deck while I wait for Jake to wake up and take me back.

When I reach the kitchen, I locate the coffee maker on the counter and go in search of a cup. As I open the cabinets, I hear noises coming from a door around the corner. Slowly closing the cabinet, I tiptoe to the door. It sounds like tools hitting the floor and my curiosity gets the best of me. The door is cracked open and I take a peek to see who is out here so early.

Holy sugar plums!

What I witness threatens to ignite the fire inside me that smolders below the surface of my self-control.

Jake is lying down, in the garage, on his back next to the bike as he works on the tire. He’s in a pair of jeans, no shirt, no socks and his abs flex as he shifts to get a better angle. He has a wrench or something in his hand with smudges of grease on his fingers and forearms, and I watch him in all his greasemonkey glory while the drool starts to pool in my mouth. I debate whether or not I should announce myself, but before I can make a decision, his eyes meet mine in the reflection of the chrome on the side of the bike and I know I’m caught.

“See something you like?” he asks, tightening a bolt or whatever he’s doing that is causing his abs to ripple and his triceps to flex.

Busted.

Embarrassed I stutter, “Umm, yes, no, I mean, I heard someone out here and came to see what was going on.”

Jake sits up, grabs a rag to wipe his hands on, and smiles. “Just fixing the tire.” He stands and there’s a swagger in his step as he stalks closer to me.

It’s obvious he knows I was ogling him and he’s working it.

Sweet mother, look at his chest.

He’s totally using my word vomit from yesterday against me. Darn it.

His arms, his abs, gah!

I’m starting to sweat. It’s so hot in here all of a sudden.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night so I decided to come down and get this done. What are you doing up so early?”

“I didn’t get much sleep either.” I try to look him in the eyes, but it’s really, really tough.

“Was everything okay? Were you too cold or something?”

“Too hot!” I realize I said that out loud and try to recover. “I mean no. I was fine, the room was fine.”

Jake throws the rag on the floor. “I’m done. Let me grab a quick shower and we can go, yeah?”

“Sure, I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

Jake walks past me and I swallow the giant lump in my throat. My stomach somersaults and I decide maybe coffee isn’t the best thing right now. Sitting down, I put my head back on the sofa, close my eyes, and try to get this anxious feeling under control. After a few minutes, I wander over to the glass doors overlooking the yard and admire the view while I wait.

Ten minutes later, Jake comes down the stairs at a jog. “Ready?”

“Ready.” I grab my bag off the kitchen stool I left it on yesterday and follow Jake out to the garage.

We get back on the bike and I hold on to him tightly as he drives us back toward the coast. The morning air is cold, but it refreshes me and clears my mind, putting me back in control of myself and my hormones. By the time Jake pulls up to the
pensione
, the tension in my body is gone and I feel like I can function as a normal human being again, instead of some sex crazed maniac ready to pounce.

Jake cuts the engine and I get off the bike, adjusting my bag across my shoulders.

“What are your plans for today?”

“I don’t know yet. Right now my immediate plan is coffee.”

“Me too.” Jake gets off the bike and looks down the road. “There’s a bakery down the road that should be open already. Let’s go get that coffee.”

“Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”

“No.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours. Bob Dylan

J
ake and I both order espresso and a warm roll and we sit at a little table by the window. “I had a good time, Jake, thanks.”

“Me too. I’m really glad I ran into or almost ran into you,” he says with a wink and takes another sip of his espresso.

“Yeah, I mean what are the odds?” I eat my roll as Jake quietly eats his. We both watch the people outside, opening up their businesses, getting ready for the day. When we’re finished, Jake and I walk back to the
pensione
in relative silence.

This is it.

The goodbye.

I walk as slowly as possible to prolong his company.

As we approach the front stairs, Gino walks out with a box of something in his hands. He sets it on the ground and addresses me. “
Signorina Jen, buon giorno! Come stai
?”

“
Va bene
, Gino,
grazie
.”

“
Signorina
, my daughter gets married today!” Gino announces with a proud smile on his face.

“Congratulations, Gino. That’s wonderful,” I say with a pat on his arm.

“You must come to celebrate with us tonight. You and your friend. Six tonight we start the celebration in the courtyard, yes?”

“I would love to.
Grazie
.”

“
Bravo
, I busy now, but I see you later.
Ciao
.” Gino picks his box back up and hurries past us.

Looking back at Jake, I begin the unavoidable goodbye. “Well…”

“It was great seeing you, Jen.”

“You too, Jake.”

“I don’t want to let so much time pass before the next time we talk, all right?” Jake leans in and gives me a hug. I squeeze him back, trying not to let any tears slip out of my eyes. I feel his head turn as he kisses my cheek briefly. “See ya around?”

I smile at him. “See ya around.”