One Touch Read online

  He walked over to the huge windows that showed off her prize view. It was the main reason she had bought the decrepit little house and spent every hard-earned cent doing it up.

  "It's a magic view, Cassie."

  "I like it.” Her attention was not on the view, however. She was too busy gazing at Jake's back. She was mortified when he spun around and caught her.

  "Right then. Show me what you're needing.” His voice slipped into the sexy basso profundo she recognised that seemed to ripple through her like melted chocolate. Her only other experience with it had been when he was sexually aroused, and a discreet glance downwards confirmed her suspicions.

  "Does everything you say have to have a sexual innuendo, Jake?” She nailed him with an exasperated glare.

  "That's only the way your mind interprets it, Cassie darlin'."

  Oh, you've got that right, she thought to herself, and turned quickly to hide a blush.

  "Right. This is where I want the deck built.” Walking over to the huge windows, she opened her arms expansively to take in the whole wall where the huge windows now stood. “I want to be able to walk out into the view, not just look at it.” He nodded to infer he understood.

  Leaning forward as far as he could, he peered out the window at the long, sloping yard below. “The land drops away pretty sharply down there. Have you thought about closing in the supports for the deck to build another room underneath? At a quick glance you could probably have a granny flat down there. That extra room would certainly add some value to the house."

  "That's a great idea. Now why didn't I think of that?” She risked a smile at him. “I hadn't thought any further than the deck, but it would be great to have some more space. It's a bit cramped up here.” She turned, but then glanced back at him. “You want to see the rest of the disaster? It's pretty bad, but perhaps you can come up with some more good ideas.” And she led him through the other rooms, pointing out the old bathroom with the ancient, discoloured tub. “I think this needs a bit of modernising,” she said. That was an understatement. The bath looked as old as her Great Aunt Ethel.

  Finally, she led him into the main bedroom. She heard a sigh behind her and turned, looking at him curiously.

  "It's what I love about these old houses. The master bedroom is always huge."

  "Huge enough for you to build me an ensuite in here?"

  "Sure. If I run it along this wall,” he said, the professional now in command as he ran his hands over the wall, “it can share the plumbing from the bathroom. No problem. Jaysus!"

  At his exclamation, she turned to see him looking up.

  The high ceiling above the bedroom belonged to the part of the roof that had been hit hard during the storm and had taken the brunt of the brick-size hailstones. One look at the bed pushed up against a wall and a bucket in the middle of the floor told him the whole story. No way could anyone get any romantic ideas in here.

  "Sure, well this one obviously has to be a priority, Cassie. Do you have somewhere to sleep while the work is being done?"

  Her eyes followed him as he walked around the room, tapping on walls, looking for and following trails of insidious dampness. Reaching up to the cornice, he ran his fingers along the discoloured seam and then, squatting down, traced the skirting boards to determine the extent of the damage. The denim of his jeans pulled tight across his buttocks as he squatted, the muscles of his back rippling under the thin cotton of the t-shirt as he tapped and felt the panels. Totally out of control, her mind started to dwell on the thought of Jake, naked, his large, full erection springing out from the nest of sandy curls at its base, laying her down on the bed and ... He looks like something out of a romance novel. Oh hell!

  There was a wicked, knowing grin on his face when he turned around that had her wondering if she had actually spoken out loud. “These days I can sleep standing up if I have to.” Offhand it may have sounded, but she was serious. Her tiredness of late had caught her napping at the strangest times.

  "What about the other bedroom?"

  Cass felt a shiver of apprehension flutter through her. A deep breath did little to settle the feeling of disquiet. “That's...” big swallow, “...that's my daughter's room."

  "Your daughter?” His face showed his puzzlement and, more important, his surprise. “You have a child?"

  "Err ... yes."

  "Are you ... married? Livin’ with someone?"

  The blue of his eyes had deepened, to that dark blue of the ocean before a storm.

  Anger flared within her. “What? Did you think I'd sleep with you if I was involved with someone else?” she asked indignantly. “Not that it's any of your business, but no, I'm not married, not involved. Single mum.” As mad as she was, she figured the truth was probably best. At least that answer wouldn't come back to bite her on the butt later.

  "Okay. I just need to know if I have competition."

  His gaze was steely now, determined.

  "Competition? What the hell are you talking about?"

  "You and me. One night wasn't enough, Cassie. Never has been."

  He moved a little in her direction and for one breathless moment, she thought he was going to grab her, but he stopped and stared stonily down at her, as if daring her to disagree.

  Well get used to it, buster, because there is no “you and me." As much as she wanted to say it, she just couldn't be that harsh. “I'm sorry, Jake. But that's all there can ever be. I have responsibilities."

  "Oh, we're back to that again, are we? You better be findin’ another excuse for holding me at arm's length, darlin', ‘cause I don't intend to take no for an answer."

  She opened her mouth to say something, but snapped it shut again when she saw the steely look in his eyes that said arguing was futile. Did he have to be so damn pushy all the time?

  "Good. Well then, I'll get onto measuring this up right away..."

  She stood there mutely.

  "...unless you have something else you're wanting to show me."

  "Err, no. I'd better get back to work too.” Showing what she considered to be amazing control, she resisted the urge to follow him around like a lost puppy.

  "Do you work from home then?"

  "No, Sydney Uni. I'm an assistant lecturer there."

  "Smart as well as sexy. You're a temptation to any man, darlin'."

  For her piece of mind, she left him to it and went back to her essays, as if marking student assignments would get her mind off him. The sound of Jake, humming as he worked, sliced through her tenuous concentration. She gritted her teeth and placed her hands over her ears in exasperation.

  * * * *

  Thinking to make some sketches for Cassie of the designs he had in mind for the remodelling, Jake ducked out to his truck for his large sketchpad. He cast a glance at her sitting at the table, her head bent over the paper she was reading. Jake couldn't help admiring the way tendrils of her long brown hair escaped the little clip things and fell in soft waves over her shoulders, coming to rest on the edge of the table. There was something particularly erotic in seeing a woman naked with nothing to cover her except her hair. Just like Eve. He'd be damned if that didn't turn him on every time. He loved long hair on his women. Not that Cassie was his woman yet, but now that he had found her again, she damn well would be if he had anything to do with it.

  When he'd stood at her door today, he had been ready to barge his way in if he had to, and find out why the hell she had run from him that morning with no goodbye, no note, no bloody nothing. It had eaten at him, the not knowing. And considering the way Cassie had snuck out, he'd suspected that if he left it up to her, he'd never see her again.

  That single touch in the hallway had been enough to send the blood racing through his body.

  Of course, he wanted to bed her again too, although that was only the half of it. Christ! He'd been able to think of little else except that since the night of the wedding, and his cock had been threatening to rear its head since she blushed so prettily at him today.
It had taken all of his resolve to keep it under control. Now, however, there was no hiding it—it pulsed in his pants like it had a life of its own. Well, just you forget about it, Boy-O! he told his throbbing cock. He flinched as he attempted to reposition the bulge more comfortably in his jeans, but jeans weren't designed to accommodate a good nine inches of straining erection—not so it wasn't sticking out like a bloody signpost.

  Not even the thought of Cassie having a child was enough to cool his desire for her. She mustn't be more than a baby, surely. At least that explained all the kiddie drawings stuck up on the fridge. It was strange, he thought, but normally, the thought of getting involved with a single mum would have been enough to make him run a mile. Kids complicated things. Kids were permanent. Hell, it had been Sandy pushing for them that had been the catalyst for them breaking up. More than anything else, it had made him realise he and Sandy were not going to make it the whole nine yards. He wanted kids, badly, which would shock his mum and Liz to no end if they knew, but just not with Sandy. Or any other woman he'd met. Not till Cassie. When he eventually became a father, he wanted it to be with the woman he intended sticking to for the rest of their lives. And he knew who that was going to be. Convincing her was going to take some doing. He could see that a mile off.

  He wondered if Cassie's daughter looked like her. Dammit. He should have looked for a photo. She'd be a real charmer if she did look like her mum, he grinned to himself. He could just picture the dark curls. Oh yeah, she'd be a sweet one. Of course, she might look like her father, too. At that thought, anger burned within him. Unreasonable anger ... not to mention a hefty dose of jealousy. The thought of some other man ... any other man, touching Cassie, making love to her and drawing those sexy whimpers out of her as she came, riled him up and he clenched his jaw as struggled to control it. Fuck it! He never should have let her walk out of his life all those years ago. If he hadn't been so damn stupid, they'd be together now. That little girl would be his ... theirs, and there would be four or five more besides. At least the other men were all in the past. He intended to make very, very sure that he was the only man touching her from here on in.

  Determined now, he ignored the aching bulge, and filled with a new resolve, picked up his pen again and started to draw, the strokes flowing over the page with ease. Thirty minutes later, he'd outlined the basics of his plans, enough certainly to give Cassie the idea of what he had in mind for the renovations.

  The screen door slammed behind him as he walked back through the house to find Cassie standing, cup of tea in hand, looking out the huge windows at the view of the beach in the distance, overlooking where the deck would go. She looked up as he came in and smiled at him nervously.

  "So, what do you have in mind, Jake?"

  When she smiled at him like that, he felt his heart trip and his pulse start to race. What I'd really like is to rip those clothes off you, darlin', and fuck you till you can't see straight. That wasn't the answer she was looking for, and from the way his jeans were tightening, “Boy-o” was looking to bust out and make a break. Now, what the hell was the question? “Pardon?"

  "The renovations? You made some sketches. Are you going to let me see, or is it a national secret?"

  "Sure. The sketches.” Not trusting his voice at that moment, he nodded to her when she asked him if he would like a cup of tea or a cold beer.

  "Tea's fine.” The last thing he needed was alcohol muddling his already scattered thoughts.

  Setting his mug down when she handed it to him, he laid out the plans on the coffee table. Of course, this meant that they had to sit together on the sofa to look at them. This was a good thing, he thought, except for the fact that her fragrance—a light hint of lavender—kept wafting over him, and when her leg accidentally brushed his, he felt the heat like a branding iron through the denim of his jeans. He was glad he was sitting and didn't have to stand anytime soon, because unless she was blind, there would be no ignoring the state of his erection.

  He shifted uncomfortably, trying to ease the discomfort of his pants discreetly. All his good intentions were undone when she leaned across him to point to something on the drawings, and his eyes followed her arm all the way from her slender wrist to her shoulder, pausing at the curve of her neck and the short, unruly curls that sprang from the base of her hairline. His gaze trailed up the soft skin to the shell of her ear, taking in the wispy strands of hair that floated free from the capture of her hair clip. With great difficulty, he resisted the urge to tuck them behind that cute ear. Up close like this, he could see how soft her skin was, smooth and covered with a light smattering of freckles that travelled all the way down to her ... breasts. His eyes traced the over the sun-kissed mounds, his heartbeat in time with the rise and fall ... rise and fall...

  "Jake?"

  Cassie had noticed his inattention to her questions, and turned to look at him, a query in her eyes. It was hard to look away, but she dragged his eyes up to hers and they briefly locked gazes. He noticed again the beautiful hazel eyes, lightly flecked with sun that sparkled with a sultry humour as she looked back at him. By God, but she was beautiful. What he really wanted to do was kiss her. Her tongue flicked out to moisten her lower lip, and he watched the path it took, mesmerised.

  "Jake? You okay?"

  Fuck! “I'm sorry. You were saying?"

  "The plans for the bedroom?"

  His selective deafness kicked in, so that all he heard was “the bedroom” and his body responded instantly. Yeah ... the bedroom. Now. Naked. Sweating. Sliding inside that hot sheath ... A grin kicked up the corner of those moist lips and he nearly lost it. He looked down as she tapped on the plans. The plans! Shit! “What did you want to know?” He coughed, but still couldn't disguise the huskiness in his voice.

  "The skylight, Jake. You mentioned putting in a skylight over the bed. Will that be very expensive?"

  Right. The skylight, not sex. “Em ... no, not really.” Think man, think. “The roof is only slightly cantered, so it won't be too much work. And it will be wonderful to lie in bed at night and look up at the stars, don't you think?” He could picture her now, lying back, his arm around her and her cheek snuggled against his chest as they looked up at the night sky.

  "I guess so."

  There was that smile again. She looked like a flamin’ teenager ... a very sexy teenager, when she did that. He tried to swallow only to find his mouth had suddenly gone dry. He took a gulp of cold tea.

  "And it would sure beat counting sheep to get to sleep,” she mused.

  Oh, darlin'. I can think of lots more pleasurable ways to get to sleep with you than countin’ sheep. “Definitely. That it would."

  With difficulty, he brought his mind back to the plans. They talked over the ideas he had for the rest of the house and by the time they finished, it was mid-afternoon. He rolled up the plans and clipped his tape back on his belt as he stood.

  "I guess I'd better push off.” Which was complete and utter crap, but he couldn't figure out a reason to drag out his visit any longer. “I'll ... em ... get the quotes for this done up and drop them off to you in a couple of days. Will that be okay?"

  "Sure. I'm usually home after three-thirty throughout the week. Drop in anytime. Or on the weekend."

  "Right then.” He couldn't take his eyes off her mouth as she smiled up at him. Her lips were soft and pink, and for a moment he wondered what they would look like stretched around his cock.

  "Is that all, Jake?” She was looking at him curiously, which was understandable considering he was about a footstep inside her personal space.

  "Yes ... no. No, there was something else” His gaze trailed up her face from her tempting lips to her eyes, widened now as he took another step closer, narrowing the gap until little more than a whisper of air could pass between them. “Something that can't ... wait, I'm afraid ... and it's ... important. Very, very...

  "Jake..."

  "Hmmm?” The plans dropped from his hand onto the table, unravelling with a rus
tle when they landed. With both hands he cupped her face, his thumb tracing over the fullness of her bottom lip. Tempting him...

  "Are you going to..."

  "Yes, darlin'?” He grinned as the warm tickle of her breath blew gently on his mouth.

  "...kiss me?"

  "Definitely,” he whispered as he tilted her head slightly to the side, angling his mouth over hers to taste the incredible warmth of her lips against his. “Very definitely.” And allowed his tongue to gently push against the seam of her lips until she opened underneath him. It was warm. It was wet. It was so damn sweet.

  The second he felt her body soften against his, felt rather than heard the soft moan that escaped her, he hardened like a rock. He stepped even closer, his hand trailing down over her back to rest against her firm buttocks, gently easing her body so that it pressed flush against his. His temperature went up a notch when he felt her hand creep around his waist, the fingers settling over his butt. An answering flick from her tongue against his along with the slight pressure of her hand holding him firm, had him deepening the kiss, a tortured groan passing from his mouth to hers. With a strength he didn't know he possessed, he broke away, reluctant to leave the delicious taste of her. One look into her eyes, darkened with passion, and he saw the truth she couldn't run from anymore. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  He ran a thumb over the glistening, swollen skin of her lips. “I'll see you soon, Cassie darlin'.” Real soon...

  Chapter Eight

  He tossed the drawings on the backseat of his SUV, pausing a minute with his head down to try and get himself back under control after the fire Cassie had generated in him, and glanced over his shoulder as a car pulled up. He shut the rear door, and curious, turned to see who it was. A tall guy, kind of on the lean side with close-cropped dark hair, got out of a red sedan and studied him intently, the laughter in his eyes and on his face stilling as he looked Jake over. He knew that look. He was being measured up and checked out. That was fine. Two could play that game. With a sharp eye, he took in the assessing stance of the man. He might be lean, but there was a wiry toughness about him that Jake recognised.