Flirting With Forever by Kim Boykin Page B

was better to ask you than just do it.”
    I nodded. “Do you really think he’ll show up?”
    “I don’t know. I just want to be prepared.”
    I spent the rest of the flight worrying about Jim having had so much fun wrecking my old life, he thought he’d give my new life a go. But if he was really as humiliated and embarrassed as Marsha said he was, why would he bother? Between my small advance and our investments, he had a little over a million dollars cash he’d stolen, albeit legally. He’d taken everything, for now at least, and if he screwed this tour up, when we did divorce, he’d get half of nothing. No, Jim Jordan was playing golf on a very expensive golf course somewhere at that very moment. I was sure of it.
    The plane landed and most everyone powered on their cell phones. Jake’s rang immediately. He didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with Tara in Chicago, so he pretended the call wasn’t from Lou.
    “Jake Randall.”
    “So, how’s the shit show?”
    “We’re in Chicago, waiting to get off the plane. What do you want?”
    “Tara’s not ready, but you already know that.”
    “In your opinion.”
    “I would like to have seen more of you, Jake.”
    “Do you have a point?”
    “I called Dick McGregor at Janzen this morning and gave him my assessment. I told him Tara Jordan was out of her league, and he should be ready for anything.”
    “That wasn’t your place.”
    “They have a lot of money invested in this disaster. Dick’s a friend, I thought he deserved to know,” she paused. “I did it for you, Jake.”
    “Go fuck yourself.” He ended the call just as it was time to deplane.
    “Who was that?” Tara asked following the line of passengers in front of her.
    “It was nobody.”
    They checked into the hotel, this time without adjoining rooms, but that didn’t matter. He opened the hotel room door and threw his bags on the bed, along with his cell phone. Tara stood in the doorway, looking at her key to the room across the hall. He wanted to yank her into the room, close the door behind her, and not resurface for a couple of days. If she didn’t open that door soon, that’s exactly what he would do.
    My body was a jumbled mess. He was just a few feet away, and already I missed him. My body hummed at the sight of him, revved when he casually touched me. By now, I felt like I was going to explode if Jake Randall didn’t make love to me.
    Was he right from the beginning, and this wasn’t a good idea? Could I change his mind? Was I even ready for this? But I didn’t want to be separated from Jake, not by a hotel room, not by anything. My hands trembled as I swiped the keycard in the lock. I pushed the door open. “Stay with me, Jake.” I barely got the words out before he swept me up in his arms, kicked the door closed behind us, and deposited me on the bed.
    From the first day I met Jake Randall, I’d dreamed about what that first moment would be like. I’d imagined undressing him slowly, opening him like a present. Taking our sweet time until we came together. But going slow was impossible. We were starving for each other. I’m not even sure how we took our clothes off, I just knew that Jake Randall was inside me and nothing else mattered. He was raw, powerful, with the same feral need for me that I had for him.
    “Two things.” Jake pressed tiny kisses along my jawline to my ear. “I promise it’ll last longer next time, it’ll be better.”
    “Better might kill me.” I tried to slow my breathing. “What’s the second thing?”
    Jake didn’t say anything for a minute; he rolled onto his side to face me. Sweaty and gorgeous and way better than my fantasy of him on a horse. “We—I didn’t use a condom.” The bottom fell out of the rainbow. I couldn’t look at him. “Whatever happens, Tara, it’ll be okay. I promise.”
    I didn’t feel young and feral anymore. I felt old, way older than forty. “Jake, I wanted kids a lot. But I can’t get pregnant.