Raging Fires by Candace Camp

Chapter Twenty-three

Jake turned in at the Blue Shack, trying to decide what he should say when he met Kelli. He suspected that she was going to be pissed at him about last night. No reason for her to be—she kissed him first and what was he supposed to do after that?—but that was generally the way things went. At least she couldn’t accuse him of being late to take Toby to the vet; he was at least fifteen minutes early.

As he pulled up in front of the house, he saw that Kelli’s car was gone. So was the dog. She’d taken Toby to the vet without waiting for Jake. Yeah, she was pissed at him. Well, let her. Kelli might have wrapped herself around him last night, but she was still Kelli and she was going to bitch at him.

Jake got out of the SUV and closed the door with more force than was necessary. He’d been stupid the last few days, thinking she was like the old Kelli, laughing and joking with him, talking to him about her problems, roping him into one of her dopey, soft-hearted schemes. Maybe he was just oblivious to what was really going on, too insensitive and self-centered, like she always said. He’d been enjoying it so he figured she was too.

He was starving, as he usually was after a workout, and he made himself a protein shake. As he drank it, he tried to prepare a defense to whatever she was going to say. Knowing Kelli, she’d be mad at herself for losing control like that, for letting her hunger rule her, sweeping aside all her rules and her dislike of him. She’d hate it that she had been the one who broke the rules; worse, she’d hate that he knew exactly how much she wanted him.

Jake smiled to himself. Yeah, that was pretty gratifying, actually. However much she didn’t like him, didn’t want to like him, Kelli still melted in his hands. They’d hardly gotten started, and she was already rubbing herself against him and letting out that little low moan that he knew meant she was close to orgasm.

He loved making her come, feeling her flood over his fingers, seeing that heavy-lidded satisfied look on her face, hearing that funny little sound she made, a sigh that was almost a groan, having her push against him as if draining every last drop of pleasure she could.

Okay, this was not helping. He was supposed to be figuring out how to respond to whatever she was going to throw at him, not daydreaming about Kelli. He should concentrate on something else, something very non-arousing. Like the stadium steps. Or traffic jams. Or Kelli’s angry face. Although, sometimes her mad face was kinda hot, too.

Jake gulped down the last of his shake and washed out the glass. See, Kelli? I can be neat and orderly. That’d hold him for a while. So… if Kelli was mad at herself for losing control, she’d get mad at him because he was the one she’d lost control about. Didn’t make any sense, but then neither did getting pissed off at a cornerback because he intercepted a pass you’d waited too long to throw, and Jake had done that plenty of times.

But there was no way she’d say she was mad because he was too hot and tempting. So, it’d be something else. Like she’d wanted ‘to talk about it’ but he’d taken off. That one was easy; he didn’t leave until after she’d been sulking in her room for two hours.

Or maybe it’d be that he was gone all night, and he didn’t even text her to tell her where he was, and she was worried. He’d gone over to talk to Kowalski, who seemed to be the guru of the team even though his own relationships were basically toxic. Kowalski hadn’t had any sage advice, but he had had plenty of beer and Madden 2004, which was the best Madden video game and the one Jake had played all through middle school. The more he drank, the harder it got to play the game, but then Gramps was knocking them back, too, so it was a pretty even, though bumbling, contest.

Jake hadn’t been wasted, but he had had enough he probably would have blown an intoxicated on a breathalyzer. Which was the sort of jackass thing he would have done in the past that made him too big an off-field risk for many teams. So Jake’d just stayed in the guest room.

That was all reasonable, right? Mature, even. Of course, he could have texted her to let her know where he was, and he hadn’t. And since the reason he hadn’t called her was because he was pretty pissed off at her for getting him all worked up and then running off, leaving him desperate to finish what she’d started, he didn’t think that was an excuse that would help.

And, really, why was he bothering to come up with a reason Kelli would accept? It wasn’t like he had to get along with her. That was definitely a benefit of a fake marriage, right?

He sat down, trying to decide whether he should flip through the channels or be responsible and study his playbook. He didn’t really want to do either. Finally, he opted for the playbook, but he was happy to set the iPad aside when he heard Kelli’s car pull up in front of the house. Her old junker still had that death rattle when you cut it off—no one could fix that car, only ward off its demise for a little while longer—and the walls of this house were too thin to shield you from any sound.

Jake stood up and went to the front door. Might as well face this head on. He was bored enough that an argument with Kelli sounded appealing. As he stepped out onto the porch, Kelli got out of the car. Toby burst out of the car after her, not waiting for her to open the other door.  He barreled up to throw himself against Jake, planting his front paws on Jake’s chest and trying to lick his face. Then he immediately dropped back down onto all fours and gave a hearty sneeze all over Jake.

“Gee, thanks, Tobe.”

The dog whirled and took off as quickly as he had arrived. He ran around the yard about five hundred times at top speed. Jake turned to Kelli, who was looking frazzled. “Rough day, huh?”

Kelli snorted. “Oh, just another afternoon at the vet’s with a dog that’s scared of a Yorkie but will fight to the death not to have his temperature taken.”

“Sorry.” Jake started to point out that if she hadn’t taken off early, he would have been there to help her, but he swallowed the words. Kelli was going to bitch at him about last night soon enough. Why start an argument early? Besides, Kelli looked she’d had a hard enough time at the vet’s already. “What did they do to the poor guy? Aside from sticking a thermometer up his butt—which I have to say, I would have objected to myself.”

That statement got a little smile from her, and as they walked into the house, she said, “Well, he’s been chipped, vaccinated for rabies, Bordetella and distemper/parvo, and we got a six-month supply of heartworm and tick preventative.”

Jake whistled. “How much was it? I’ll Venmo you.”

“Jake… you don’t have to pay for everything,” Kelli told him. “I’m fine with paying it; I’m the one who kept him.”

“Hey. Toby’s my man,” Jake protested. Why was she always so against him buying stuff? “He promised he’d take down Princess Fleek for me.”

Kelli laughed. “Not if today’s any indication.”

She went into the kitchen and knocked around for a bit, getting a glass of water and eating some of those weird veggie chips she liked—which, to be fair, were better than the rice chips, which tasted like… well, like nothing. She was wasting time, working up to something; Jake knew the signs. So by the time she came out of the kitchen with a serious expression on her face, Jake was braced for the lecture she was about to give him.

Kelli lifted her chin, looking him in the eye, and said, “I thought a lot about last night, and I want to apologize.”

Well, he hadn’t seen that coming. “Uhh…”

“What happened was my fault.”

Was he hallucinating? Had he entered an alternate universe? And what exactly was she apologizing for? “Kelli, it’s okay.” That was vague enough, right?

“No, it’s not. I wasn’t paying attention, but, looking back, I can see all the things I did wrong. I didn’t keep my distance. I should have realized where it was heading. And I certainly shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“I didn’t mind.”

“Seriously?” She put one hand on her hip, looking at him quizzically. “I laid down all these rules and then I was the one who broke them? You don’t resent that?”

“It’s kind of funny, actually.”

“Jake. I’m being serious here.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

“So I’m sorry. That’s all.” She was looking exasperated now. Did he have a talent for pissing people off or what? “And I wanted to tell you that I’m not going to do it again. If we got started, it would just lead to an even worse mess. It was stupid.”

Maybe so, but, damn, it sure had felt good.

“So.” She nodded, looking like she didn’t know how to end the conversation. He sure couldn’t help her there. “Well, then… I’m going to go back to work.”

Kelli walked out of the house. Jake went to the front door and leaned against the door jamb, arms folded, watching her walk away. Okay, so she was right. The idea of them hooking up was stupid. Supremely stupid.

But it wasn’t like stupid had ever stopped him before.