Oh, now, that was ridiculous. He was a doctor. A heart surgeon. He saw enough breasts and cleavage on a daily basis that to be affected by a peek down a gorgeous woman’s shirt was ludicrous. He swung the door closed and shook out the fingers that had locked around it.
Enough was enough. She was a woman. He handled women with ease.
Returning to his seat, he forced a casual tone. “Do you mind the top down?”
Cali shook her head then smiled up at the Chicago sky, bright with only a few cottonball clouds strewn above the lake. “Not at all. Days like today are the reason convertibles were created.”
“Couldn’t agree with you more.” He grinned, shifted into gear, and pulled into the traffic headed for the Drive.
Beneath the sun’s warm rays, sandy beaches alternated with rocky shores and grassy stretches of park as they sped north along the lakefront. New buildings with their shining glass and metal knifed up into the vast blue sky, while the blunt stone façades of monuments to old Chicago endured beside them in classic countenance.
Quiet, Cali watched the passing terrain, fidgeting with her fingers. This was crazy. They were both stiff and overly polite, and after last night there was no excuse for it. They’d talked and laughed for hours without a moment’s awkward pause. So they weren’t going to pursue a physical relationship? So what? That didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy the platonic elements of their connection. Today circumstance had thrown them together again, and he, for one, was going to make the most of it.
Jake glanced over at her and, keeping one hand on the wheel, he caught hers with the other. “Cali, I’m the same guy from last night. We had a great time together. It was fun. We’ve agreed sex is a mistake, but we’re both adults. Let’s just relax about it.”
She shifted in her seat, angling toward him. Her gaze touched on his mouth for a moment, and he knew she was remembering the way they’d kissed, but then she met his eyes and her oh-so-serious expression softened into something closer to what it had been the night before.
“You’re right. Last night was so easy, and this morning….” She shook her head, as if wishing she could forget it. “So, friends?”
“Yeah, why not? Friends.” Friends who didn’t have sex, he thought, moving his hand back to the wheel. Even if they did have an arsenal of mind-blowing, explosive kisses behind them. The devil in him flashed her a wink. “Friends with a past.”
She arched a brow at him. “A past?”
“Yeah, something to laugh about so it doesn’t become some uncomfortable, unspeakable, taboo subject everyone dances around and gets all embarrassed about.”
“Oh, that kind of friends with a past,” she answered, her smile spreading. “Sure. Now I get it.”
“All we need to do is make some kind of joke about it, and we’ll be back on track.”
She was quiet for a moment, though the silence wasn’t strained or uncomfortable this time. Then she ran her fingers over the black leather interior of the Mercedes. “So, you pick up all your dates in the back halls of bars?”
Jake barked out a laugh and settled deeper into his seat. “This coming from you? Phone booth?”
“Oh, please.” She flicked her hand dismissively as her lips stretched into that smile he couldn’t stop working for. “I was dragged there.”
“Carried. I’m too smooth to drag anyone anywhere. It was romantic.”
“Not.” Cali snickered. “It was dirty. The good kind. Fun. But definitely dirty.”
Definitely fun. “Does that mean I get a page in your dirty little secrets book?”
“More like a footnote as a once-in-a-lifetime exception to the rule.”
Jake grinned. This was the woman from last night. Fun. Cool.
Friends worked for him. No strings. No mess. No complications. His head was in the right place about it. Now his body just had to get with the program.
Ten minutes later, the elevator doors opened to the seventeenth floor of the Lincoln Park building Cali would be calling home for the next two months. She followed a step behind as they walked to the door marked “17D”. Jake dug into the pocket of his jeans, retrieved a set of keys on a small ring, and flipped them out into his wide palm. “You’ve got three keys. Your apartment door, your mailbox, and this large one is for the gym down on thirteen. It’s open twenty-four hours, so if you get the urge to work off some tension after a long day of espionage it’s available. Parking is on three, and your apartment has a space assigned in case you have a visitor.” He raised an eyebrow. “You know anyone in town here?”
It was a simple question, but suddenly Cali felt the possessive undercurrent beneath it and tensed. “No. This move is all about work. Just as well I don’t know anyone.”
“Aside from me that is.”
“Sure.” She smiled feebly, knowing that, friends or not, she didn’t really have time for him either. “Aside from you.”
Jake unlocked the door and then swung it open, standing aside for Cali to enter. “Amanda says this project she’s got you on is a pretty big deal. She’s got a lot of respect for your skills.”
Cali beamed. “Thanks, I’m really excited.” Then, taking several steps inside, she gasped. “This is incredible.” The apartment was spacious, with high ceilings and a glorious bank of windows overlooking the lakefront below. She craned to see down the long hall to the right, before spinning back to check out the kitchen and the fireplace. “My sublets are usually half this size and facing a brick wall.”
Jake folded his arms across his chest, his stance wide. “I don’t think all the Chicago operatives score a sweet pad like this, but apparently there was some problem with the agency Amanda normally uses for temporary housing. This place was available, so…. I’m glad you like it.”
“It’s gorgeous.”
“I agree.” His eyes were on her, moving slowly over her face, her body, and suddenly the vast apartment closed in. Then, just as quickly, his gaze shuttered and shifted to the windows as he crossed the open room to get a better look. “You’ve got a great view out here. The water, the Drive.”
The muscles across his back flexed as he raised a hand to push long fingers through his hair. Hair she’d had her fingers wound in the night before—
What was she doing, watching the way he moved when she’d just agreed to this friends-with-a-past business? It had sounded like a great deal—until the apartment door closed behind them and once again they were alone.
Alone was bad. Eyeballing Jake was worse.
He turned from the window and caught her staring. Whatever it was he’d been planning to say was forgotten as his gaze intensified, heated.
She needed to look away. Get him out of her apartment, out of her space, out of eyeballing distance for sure—but she didn’t move. Couldn’t break the visual contact that seemed to be holding her captive. Her panic rose as she scoured a suddenly vacant mind for anything to say. “Well, thank you for bringing me over. I should start getting settled.”
“Your things haven’t been delivered yet,” he said, his gaze dropping to her mouth, sending her thoughts straight to his kiss and the masculine, seductive taste of him.
No. This was Amanda’s Jackson.
He needed to go.
“Mmm-hmm, right. But I can think about where I want things…once they get here.”
Those blue eyes darkened as if a storm was moving in behind them. He took a step in her direction and her lungs constricted.
“Wha—what are you doing?” she stammered, taking a halting step back.
“You know what I’m doing,” he answered without pretense, matching her retreat with one long-legged stride.
“We—we’re friends. Friends with a past, remember?”
“I’ve reconsidered. Friends isn’t going to work. Not for us.”
“Why not?”
His left hand caught her around the waist. “Friends don’t look at friends the way you’re looking at me.”
“It was an accident! I was thinking about last
night for one second,” she said, her voice rising with her panic. “But I’m done now. Over it. Really ready to move from the past to the present.”
Jake nodded, satisfaction evident in the smug curve of his smile. “Me too.”
She put her arms up to stop him, but they buckled against the crush of his chest as he leaned in to her with a soft, sinking brush of his lips against hers. Somewhere between a taste and caress, the slow stroke of his kiss blanked her mind of anything beyond the gentle suction against her mouth and the stirring need low in her belly.
Her nipples peaked, her body begged to curve into his, but her mind knew better. She had plans. She couldn’t follow her heart or trust the instinct that told her to wrap her arms tight around this man’s neck and hold on.
No! Wrenching away from the kiss, Cali shut her eyes against the temptation of his gaze. “Damn it, Jake! We agreed this was a mistake.”
Jake hadn’t moved; his arms still held her. She forced herself to look up at him.
“It doesn’t feel like a mistake. It didn’t last night either.” His head bowed so that his lips grazed the outer ridge of her ear. “Do you know how hard it was to let you go? How much I wanted to follow you?”
His arms circled tighter, holding her against him in a way that warmed her from the inside out.
Thank God he hadn’t followed. She wouldn’t have been able to resist, and then everything today would have been that much worse. She closed her eyes. As if it wasn’t bad enough already.
She’d been breaking her rules since the minute he’d sat down beside her at the bar. Begging for an excuse to sidestep the careful plans she’d laid. And now, what if Amanda found out? She had a second chance at her career and she couldn’t blow it on some feel-good fantasy. “That was last night. When I thought it was only last night.” When she’d thought Jake nothing more than a few moments’ indiscretion, free and clear of ties to her work or future.
The muscles surrounding her tensed, as though her admission somehow bothered him. Well, too bad.
Jake let her go and stepped back a pace. “Cali, I see the way you’re looking at me—”
She cut him off with a slash of her hand. There was no room for pride here. “I don’t get out much, okay? You’re an attractive guy and I’m not immune. But that doesn’t change the fact that I have priorities higher than my libido.”
Finally some straight thinking she could feel good about, even if the look of frustrated aggravation on Jake’s face was something she couldn’t. He studied her from beneath the grim set of his brow and then nodded. “I get the priorities, and I already told you I wasn’t looking for something serious—believe me, I’m not—but this attraction. It’s intense. You think you can just ignore it?”
She bit down on her lips, drew her arms across her chest. She had to. He was a risk on too many levels. Because of Amanda’s feelings. Because of her own. He was a risk she wouldn’t take. “I can and will. I’m sorry, Jake. Starting tomorrow I’ll barely have time for a glass of water, let alone getting swept up in whatever chemistry there is between us. Trust me, that’s just how these assignments go. We probably won’t even see each other again while I’m here.”
Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he cocked his head. “So, out of sight, out of mind, then?”
“Yes.” The ache in her chest would be gone as soon as he left. It would work. She just needed him to go. To vanish into the city and let her focus on her goal.
“Okay. Good luck with the project.” Jake smiled that easy smile at her, hoarding all the confidence in the room as he offered a no-hard-feelings wave.
“Thank you.”
He stopped, as if struck by a thought, and turned back. “If you have any problems or questions, just knock next door. 17E.”
“Who lives there?” she asked as she went for her purse to jot down the name.
“I do. It’s my building. Take it easy, neighbor.” He grinned and walked out.
Her purse clattered to floor at her feet as Jake shut the door behind him, his low chuckle cut off by the latch.
CHAPTER SIX
IT WAS Wednesday, and dusk had fallen as Cali jostled her laptop and messenger-style briefcase, pushing backward through the swinging door into the fluorescent lit convenience Mecca known as the Snappy Convenience Store. Bells rang above her head, announcing her entrance.
“Amanda, hold on one sec.” Phone pinched between shoulder and ear, she snagged a plastic basket from the stack and descended into the third aisle.
Her boss groaned through the line. “Good Lord, what are you doing?”
“Sorry, sorry,” she answered, moving by rote toward the international snacks. “Just picking up some supplies. Okay, so I’ve looked into the discrepancy we picked up this morning. The numbers are off—I know that much. But what kind of delay we’re facing I won’t be able to tell you until I’ve met with Reynolds to get a better understanding.”
“He should be arriving back from Atlanta this evening, and I’ve left messages in addition to yours. Keep me in the loop on this one.”
“Will do.” Cali stifled a yawn.
A quiet laugh filtered through the line. “You sound ready to drop. Have you gotten all moved in at home?”
“Ah, I wish.” At the sound of the doorbells clanging, Cali shot a quick glance to the front of the store and stopped short, her breath leaking out in a slow hiss. Jake Tyler strode in and, shirt collar open, cuffs rolled, offered a warm greeting to the clerk behind the register. Distracted, Cali made her way deeper into the aisle, shoulders hunched in an attempt to avoid his notice. For days she’d been unsuccessfully trying to dodge Jake. She’d peek out into the hall to make sure he wasn’t there, only to cross his path twenty minutes later, running at the lakefront. Hustle through the lobby to catch a closing elevator, only to find him standing at the security desk, ready to throw some frustratingly engaging line her way that had her laughing before she could think to stop. Escaping the flash of that cocky grin was proving to be an exercise in futility. Though one she couldn’t quite regret. He was fun.
“Hello?” Amanda’s voice through the line pulled her back to the now. Her job, her boss. Even when he wasn’t trying Jake got in the way. “You wish what?”
“There was some mix-up,” she answered quietly. “Half my things ended up in Washington. I’m supposed to be getting them this weekend, but it’s been a long week so far.”
“What are you missing?”
“The furniture all came, which was great.” She knelt, flipping through the assortment of cellophane-packaged dry snacks. “But whatever went into a box didn’t. So pretty much…well, everything.”
“Wait—you don’t have dishes? Cooking equipment? Clothing?”
There wasn’t much to do about it. The truck was in another state. “I bought some new clothes and a few essentials.”
“Did you tell Jackson? He could help you out with some supplies. He could help with anything you need while you’re there. The man has a million skills.”
Yeah, like kissing, and long, intimate conversation. Cali closed her eyes, hating this feeling that she was betraying her boss, a woman who had given her the break—a second chance to prove herself—that no one else would grant. “Uh, I haven’t seen much of Jake.” Peeking around the corner, she let out a relieved breath to see him pulling a few bills from his front pocket for what looked like a current affairs magazine. Almost done. “Honestly, don’t worry about it, Amanda. I’m not the first person in history to spend a week surviving on microwave meals and plastic forks. It’s as good an excuse to skip cooking as you can get.”
“Ever the optimist, huh?”
Cali rolled her eyes, thinking about the blue streak she’d cursed that very morning when faced with the single pair of heels she’d brought. “That’s me.”
Papers shuffled in the background and Amanda’s voice returned, sharp and professional. “Okay, well, hang in there and get back to me on the timetable when you have something.”
&
nbsp; “Will do, Amanda. You can count on me.” Cali disconnected the call and reached back to tuck her phone into her pocket. The bags slung awkwardly around her shoulders slipped forward, the shifting weight pulling Cali to her knees with a muffled grunt. Scrunching her eyes closed, she forced a calming breath before snatching a pouch of Japanese trail mix from the rack and dropping it into her basket.
Dinner.
Even a microwave meal was too labor-intensive after the day she’d had.
Pushing back to a crouch, Cali moved to stand—only to find herself lifted to her feet. With a gasp, she spun. “Jake!”
“Krissy up front thought someone was crawling around back here. What are you doing on the floor?”
She blinked, feeling the hot lick of humiliation in her cheeks. “No—but—I wasn’t crawling—”
He chuckled, waving her away as he smoothly stripped her of the heavy briefcase. “Just weighted down by your cargo, huh?”
Nodding, she reached to reclaim her bag. “Yes, but you don’t have to carry that for me.”
He raised a brow at her, and she had to acknowledge how much better she felt without the weight of the overloaded bag. “Well, thank you.”
“Welcome. We’ll walk back together.”
Jake took a step forward, but Cali found herself rooted to her spot. Her limbs unwilling to follow.
“Jake—”
He turned, noting her stagnated progress with a downward pull to his mouth. “Take it easy, Cali. I’m just carrying your bag.”
“I know.” And yet her feet refused to move.
“So what’s the problem?” He watched her, awareness glinting in his eyes. “Unless you don’t trust yourself in the elevator with me.” His brow was raised in subtle challenge and she had to look away, unwilling to acknowledge her fear of being trapped together for seventeen floors in a tiny box that took her mind straight back to a phone booth flooded with jazz and need. An unwelcome wave of heat washed through her belly, frustrating her to the point where she had to clench her fists before daring another look at the man who spurred such intense reactions.