Raging Fires by Candace Camp

Chapter Thirty

Kelli just stared at Jake for a moment. His words were so different from what she thought he was about to say that it took her a bit to process his words. “Start all over again? What do you mean? Start from before last night?”

“I mean from the beginning. I’ve changed, Kell. I’ve not the same irresponsible, egotistical guy I was back then. When you hit bottom, you have to change or just give up. And you know I don’t give up.”

“Yeah. I know.” Kelli nodded. It was because of his dogged persistence that at first she had nursed a little hope that he might come after her when she left him. It had taken her almost a month to let go of the dream of him showing up and telling her that he wanted her more than all that other stuff.

“I’m different. I’ve faced the truth about myself. About football. You. I don’t have the same expectations. I’m responsible now. Steady. I do what I say I’m going to.” His lips quirked up on one side in that teasing way that made her want to kiss him. “I’m even on time. Mostly.”

“Yes, but…”  Kelli trailed off. She wasn’t sure exactly what raised her suspicions; it was just that some little voice in her brain was screaming that whatever he was talking about, it was a bad idea.

“You’re not the same, either. You just said so,” Jake went on persuasively. “We could be like strangers. Forget about all that old stuff.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“Sure it is. You forget the bad throw and move on.”

“Jake… emotions aren’t the same as football.”

“Maybe not, but you can still put them behind you. Give yourself a do-over.”

“I don’t know exactly how this would work,” Kelli said, frowning. “We live together.”

“Yeah, but, see, we could start like strangers sharing a house, like you were renting me a bedroom in your place—except I wouldn’t be pissed off because that room is the size of a postage stamp.”

Kelli tried not to smile, but she couldn’t keep from it. This was always the way he’d talked her into one of his ideas, making her laugh so that she forgot about the all the reasons she shouldn’t do it. Although she had to admit that most of those times had turned out to be fun. “Okay, so we don’t know each other.”

“Right. Or maybe it’s like somebody you haven’t really liked in the past, but then your best friend starts dating her, so you make an effort to like her.”

“So your plan is that we’ll just be roomies? Because we’ve tried that, Jake, and even if we do forget all the old animosity, there’s still the, you know…”

“The really hot sex?”

Kelli rolled her eyes. “The fact that there’s some attraction to each other.”

“But that’s the thing. It’s a new beginning… so it’s the whole process all over again. We could go out on a date. Get to know each other. Check each other out.. Like you’re attracted to me but unsure whether you really like me.”

“Usually, Jake, I like the men I’m attracted to.”

“Did you like me as soon as you saw me? As I remember, you were pretty cold.”

“When I first saw you…” Kelli smiled reminiscently. “I thought you were the hottest guy I’d ever seen—and that you were probably a total player and arrogant as hell. So, yes, I was attracted to you, but I didn’t like you.”

“There you go.”

“I’m not sure what that proves,” Kelli told him. But she could feel herself weakening. That little voice was still in there telling her no, that it was an awfully slippery slope. But… what if Jake was right? What if they could get along now? What if they could have nights like last night and her world wouldn’t implode?  It might be nice to be like Jake, finding things out as you go, setting out without a road map, not worrying about all the things that could go wrong and just having fun. She sighed. “Oh, all right. We’ll go on a date.”

He grinned and took a last drink, then set down his bottle and began to talk about the crowd at the Blue tonight. As if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t just made an impulsive decision that might upend her world.

“Do you always draw that many customers when you have a band?” Jake asked.

“No, this is one of the most popular bands that plays here. But we do always have more when there’s a band.”

“Maybe we should have more shows then. These guys said they could come back in a couple of months if we’re interested.”

“Really?” Kelli said in surprise. “You asked them? They’re usually pretty heavily booked.”

“Well, I didn’t say anything definite. I was just talking to that girl who seemed to be their manager—I think she’s married to one of them—that guy that looked like Voldemort, only with a nose—and she said that she could find an open date.”

Ah, that explained it. He was talking to a female; no wonder he would get an open date out of her. “You mean the guy with the snake tattoo on his left arm? Yeah, that’s Herb. He’s the only one I’ve dealt with before.”

“Herb? Death metal lead guitar, and his name is Herb?” Jake cocked an eyebrow.

“Hey, I’m not responsible for his name. He calls himself something else onstage. I don’t remember what—something that sounds like a wrestler.”

“Destroyer? Death? I’m pretty sure it began with a D. Decimator? Destructo? Defiant?”

Kelli laughed. “Dissonance would fit.”

Jake grinned, his dimple flashing. “Yeah, it would. Anyway, I didn’t promise her anything. I told her you’d have to make the decision.”

“That’s great. I’ll get on it tomorrow.” Kelli rotated her shoulders and neck.

“Your muscles sore?” Jake asked, watching her.

“Yeah, some. I’m out of the habit of carrying those trays. Or maybe it’s just that I’m older.”

“You don’t look older,” he told her.

Kelli snorted. “Yeah, right. I still look nineteen.”

“Okay, maybe you look a little older, but you look good. Better, even.”

“So you’re going to flirt with me now?” Kelli asked.

“That’s not flirting.” He shrugged. “I’m just being honest.”

Kelli decided to redirect the conversation. “Anyway, it’s not my neck that hurts the most. It’s my feet. These concrete floors are killers.”

“Yeah, I remember. And I used to do this.” He moved his chair closer to the one where she’d rested her feet and reached down to untie the laces of her work boots and pull them off. Setting them on the floor, he picked up one foot and began to massage it.

Kelli thought she ought to pull her foot back and tell him to stop, but it felt too good. She let out a groan of satisfaction. Which she realized sounded way too much like a woman in the throes of passion. It made her blush. But the truth was that the flush rising in her face had less to do with embarrassment than with the feel of Jake kneading the soles of her feet. Every circle of this thumbs, deep and slow, sent desire sizzling up through her, gathering into a heavy ache low in her abdomen. She couldn’t keep from remembering the way it had always ended back when he used to do this.

He set her foot down and began on the other one. Kelli thought that before long she was going to melt down to puddle. The ache had become a throb, tightening her nipples and raising all the nerve endings in her skin. She needed to stop this, take back control.

She straightened, tugging her foot away from him. “I thought we were going to start with a date.” Her voice came out far too breathy, and she had the feeling that the sharp, accusing gaze she aimed at him instead turned into something filled with hunger. Jake smiled slowly. There was no mistaking what the look in his eyes meant.

“Well, hey,” he said, spreading his arms out. “This is a date.” He gestured toward their plates on the table. “We’ve had dinner, and now we’re here conversing over drinks. And wait...”  Jake rose and dimmed the lights, so that the bar was now lit with a low mellow glow. He continued into the kitchen and returned with one of the emergency candles for when a fuse blew. “And candlelight.” He lit the candle, dripped wax onto a jar lid and settled the candle in it. “We even have music.” He pulled out his phone and thumbed through it, and the sound system popped to life. Jake smiled at her. “See? Our first date.”

Kelli had to laugh. “You are such a goof.”

“Yeah, but you’ll keep me around to massage your feet.”

“It might be worth it,” she agreed. Kelli pulled her feet down and shoved them back into the boots, retying the laces

Jake stood up and came around to her, holding out a hand. “How about a dance?”

Heat snaked through her as she thought of the last time they danced… his hands, his kiss, the way she melted inside. “Better not,” she murmured, but she gave him her hand anyway and followed his gentle tug out onto the floor. “Remember, we don’t know each other well, so keep your hands to yourself.”

“Ah, Kell, after we’ve had this fine dinner? And a concert? Talking over drinks? I’m getting the vibe.”

“The vibe?” She grinned.

“Yeah, you know, when you’re thinking, hey, this chick is super-hot, and she likes me.”

“That’s not what I’m thinking.”

“You’re right; that’s me,” Jake conceded. “You’re thinking, ‘Wow, this guy is a hunk and so smooth. Famous and a bad boy, too, but the good kind of bad, you know. What more could I want?’”

“Wow, I’m thinking a lot more than you. But, then, I guess that’s typical.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay. No groping while we’re dancing. How’s this?” he pulled her closer, his hand at her waist. His other hand curved over hers, enclosing it, and held it against his chest, folding around her.

At least it wasn’t the same song they’d danced to at their wedding. Weddings. She couldn’t have taken that. But his arms were around her, his body warm against hers; she could feel his breath on her hair. The song was slow and smooth, a woman’s voice caressing the notes. And everything about it felt so, so good.

It’d be easy to melt again, but this time she knew it would end up in bed, and even though she’d agreed to his weird scheme, she was going to take it slow. Give herself time to think when she wasn’t tired and her defenses down.

“I never danced in work boots before,” she said. “It feels clunky.”

“Just don’t step on my toes.”

“Your toes are hard to miss, given that your feet are enormous.”

He huffed out a laugh. “You obviously haven’t looked at Kowalski’s. Mine look like a kid’s in comparison.”

“I doubt that. But you have to compare yourself to normal people, not linemen.”

“I’ll let you tell Gramps he’s not a normal person.”

Kelli chuckled. “Gramps has told me he’s not a normal person.”

“He would.” They danced on in silence, the mood like velvet wrapping around them. Jake said, “Remember that time—”

“Nope.” Kelli shook her head, looking up at him. “No memories. We’re strangers, remember?”

“I guess you’re right.” The music ended, but he held her for a moment more before his arms fell away.

“The bar’s closed,” Kelli said. “Time to go home.”

Jake cut off the music and they left, turning off the lights behind them. He took her hand, and they strolled across the parking lot to the house. They stepped up onto the porch and Kelli put her forefinger to her lips, whispering, “Careful, or we’ll wake up Toby.”

“Nah, he’s dead to the world. He had a big day.” But Jake kept his voice soft.

At the front door, Kelli turned to face him, leaning back against the door and smiling up at him. “Well, this is where we say good-bye.”

Jake braced one hand against the doorframe, leaning over her. “And this is when we have a good-night kiss.”

“Hmm. I don’t know.” Kelli tilted her head to one side as if thinking.

“Oh, yeah, you do,” he said in that low, rumbly voice that vibrated through her. “You want me to kiss you.”

She smiled a little. “Maybe I do.”

He leaned closer, stopping when his lips were only an inch from hers. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

Jake’s lips brushed hers. “Really, really sure?”

Kelli poked him in the ribs. “Yes. Get with it or I’m going to change my mind.”

He kissed her, only their mouths touching, his body tantalizingly close, his lips taking hers in a long, slow kiss. His tongue crept along the seam of her lips, teasing them open. He kissed her upper lip, then her lower. Hunger surged in her, growing with each slow movement, until she wanted to grab his sides and pull him into her, but she didn’t because this way was so delicious.

Then his mouth settled onto hers, his tongue sweeping in to tangle with hers, and his arms went around her, pulling her hard against him. His kiss took her, claimed her, and Kelli strained against him as if she could bring them even closer. The slant of his kiss changed, and his hands moved over her body, cupping her breasts, teasing the nipples into hard points, roaming down to the zipper of her jeans and slipping between her legs.

Jake rubbed her through the cloth, his fingers slow and tight against her, using the seam of the jeans to arouse her until Kelli thought she might climax right then and there. She moved against him, and she felt the smile on his lips. His mouth left hers, trailing down her neck. He put his hands behind her thighs and lifted her, and Kelli wrapped her legs around him. His hard length pressed into her where she ached for him to be, frustrated by the coarse material.

Her breath hitched as his teeth nibbled at her neck, and she wriggled against him, as if she could push through their clothes to what she desired. Jake’s breath was rasping in his throat, his skin searing.

If they hadn’t had to separate to move inside, if her legs hadn’t had to let go so she could stand, Kelli knew she would have eagerly rushed into sex, would have taken him inside her, moaning at the way he filled her and digging her fingers into his back.

But when he moved back a little and Kelli slid down to the porch, feeling the door against her back, she recalled what she had decided about how she would give herself time to think over this whole thing.

Her hand went to the door knob, turning it, and she stepped back, but her other hand pressed against his chest, holding him back. “Good night, Jake.” Her breath was ragged. “I had a wonderful time.”

Jake gaped at her. “Are you serious? Kelli, what the…”

“We’ve just met, remember?” Though she, too, was thrumming with unsatisfied desire, she had to smile at his dumbfounded expression. “I’m not the kind of girl who puts out on the first date.”

With that, she closed the door between them. She leaned against it, struggling to get control of her own raging hormones, and listened to Jake cursing and stomping off, then stomping back, until he woke up Toby, who came bounding out, barking.

Finally it fell silent on the porch, and a moment later there was a light tapping on the door. “Uh, Kell? The thing is, I live here.”

“Okay.” She opened the door. “But that’s all. Your rules, your game, Jake.”

He glowered at her. “But I didn’t expect to lose.”

“You didn’t lose.” Kelli had to smile at his disgruntled expression. “It’s just, you know, a rain delay.” She turned, waving her hand as she walked away and saying airily, “Good night.”

“That’s baseball, Kell,” he called after her. “Football teams play through it.”

She turned at her door. “Not when there’s lightning, Jake.” And there was plenty of lightning tonight.