LITMIR.BIZ

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dark eyes searched her face. “Oh, Ali-cat.” He breathed the nickname he’d given her the first day he walked through the door of Gran June’s house. She and Darcie had been freshmen and Jake the good-looking senior at Webster High School.

      That same day Ali had lost her heart to Jake Hawkins.

      “What am I gonna do without her?” he finished.

      You’ve got me, she wanted to cry. “You’re gonna get through it, Jake.” She tried to sound wise for twenty-three.

      Ali heard Jake’s strangled sob. “I can’t. Darcie was the only thing…”

      She crossed the porch. “Don’t, Jake. It’s going to be okay.” Ali wanted to believe what she was telling him. And as much as she loved her sister, she hoped Darcie stayed away a long time. Jake deserved to be loved by someone other than a selfish woman who only used people. Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him. “I’m here,” she whispered.

      Before she knew what was happening, Jake pulled her into his arms. “I hurt so damn bad,” he choked out.

      They clung to each other in silence.

      Then Jake placed a soft kiss against her hair, and a shiver ran through her body. Ali started to pull away, but he refused to release her as his mouth continued to caress her temple. Slowly his lips moved to the side of her face.

      Suddenly things began to change. She felt his breath on her cheek, then his tongue traced the corner of her mouth. She stood still in his arms, letting his lips roam her face. They were no longer just consoling each other. There was a desperate urgency in the tightening of his embrace, in his rapid kisses. The need to share their pain, to console each other, took over.

      Her gaze rose to meet his. The silent plea in his eyes made her breath catch. He needed her. For the first—and maybe the only—time he needed her. Was there anything wrong with answering his need? She had loved Jake for years. If only for one night, she wanted to pretend that he loved her.

      “Oh, Ali-cat, I shouldn’t be doing this.” He started to pull away.

      With a shaky smile, she moved her hands up his chest to circle his neck, refusing to let him go. “You need me, Jake,” she said, her voice trembling. “As much as I need you.”

      Jake hesitated a second as if trying to rationalize what was happening. Then finally his head lowered, and his mouth captured hers. The second their lips touched, Ali’s blood turned to liquid fire. Jake’s kiss was demanding, hungry, and when Ali opened her mouth, his tongue moved inside, stroking and caressing until her legs nearly gave out. He pulled back and planted kisses along her jaw. She almost cried for the loss, but he quickly found his way back to her waiting mouth.

      Then he raised his head, his expression one of shock and disbelief. She was afraid that he would push her away. Instead, his mouth closed over hers again in another heated kiss, then he moved back and murmured, “Ah, Ali-cat, we shouldn’t be doing this. Damn, you taste so sweet….” He kissed her again and pulled her against his body.

      Ali was light-headed by the time he broke off the kiss.

      “Tell me to stop.” His breathing was labored. “Before it’s too late to make you leave.”

      Ali had never expected to hear those words. Though she knew she looked enough like her sister to be a substitute for Darcie, she didn’t care. “I don’t want to leave, Jake.”

      He released a groan and kissed her again, then led her through the French doors into the cottage. Instead of going to one of the bedrooms upstairs, he guided her to the sofa in front of the fireplace. She trembled as his mouth found hers again, as he lowered the zipper of her royal blue taffeta bridesmaid’s dress, then slowly pushed the fabric off her shoulders.

      Ali pulled his T-shirt off, and her fingertips traced the solid wall of his chest. His hands were busy, too, removing her bra and freeing her breasts. She cried out in pleasure as his mouth closed over her nipple. Then he trailed kisses down her stomach until he reached the barrier of her panties. He raised his head. Their gazes locked in the dim light, and she could see the questioning look in his eyes. The next move was hers.

      The silence seemed to stretch out forever as he stared at her. The guilt ate at her, knowing his heart belonged to Darcie. Jake would never be hers. But she didn’t care; she wanted this one night to remember. To feel what it was like to be loved by Jake Hawkins.

      Leaning forward, Ali pressed her mouth against his. He kissed her gently, then with a low groan he pulled her to him, his body hard and demanding as he claimed her. And for a little while, in Jake’s arms, the rest of the world seemed to disappear. There were no promises or words of love shared, only desperate need as they reached out for each other again and again.

      Finally he slept and Ali watched him.

      Sometime in the night, she heard him murmur Darcie’s name. Her heart ached with love for this man, but she knew he could never return it. Jake Hawkins belonged to another.

      Her sister.

      Ali huddled close to his warm body, dreading the dawn. It came anyway.

      The sun rose over the lake, its soft light wakening her. Alone, she sat up clinging to the blanket that Jake had pulled over them during the night. Jake stood in the doorway, dressed, his expression closed—or was that regret?

      Oh, no. Don’t say anything, Jake. Don’t take last night away from me.

      Jake combed his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, Ali. I had too much to drink and…”

      Pulling the woolen blanket up like a shield, she struggled to hide the pain tearing her apart. “It’s okay, Jake,” she lied, her heart aching. Had she been so stupidly naive to think he could care for her once his immediate pain had passed?

      He took a step closer to the sofa, but stopped. “No, what I did last night was not okay. I used you. I had no right.”

      Her heart pounded in her chest, and she fought back her tears. Please, Jake, just hold me. But the look in his eyes told her he wanted to disappear, to run from the shame he believed he’d caused her.

      “I’d better go. Are you going to be okay?”

      No. She was never going to be okay again. She’d lost her best friend. She’d lost Jake. Things between them could never be the same. “I’m fine.”

      He stared at her. “You sure?”

      Ali nodded, praying he’d leave before she broke down and begged him not to.

      He started through the door, then paused and looked back at her. “Ali, I never meant for anything to happen.”

      “I know,” she whispered.

      “I’m sorry, Ali.” He disappeared through the door.

      She sat unmoving, frozen with emptiness. She heard his car start, then the grinding of the transmission as he slammed it into gear. She closed her eyes against the angry sound.

      He drove away, taking her heart and hopes with him. She got to her feet, then walked through the door to the porch railing. On the ground below were the clay pots, broken and scattered like the pieces of her heart. She lifted her gaze. The lake appeared cold and blue in the growing light of day. Clutching the blanket to her chest, she breathed in Jake’s elusive scent trapped within the weave. A tear trailed down her cheek, a hot, stinging reminder that she’d been a fool to wish for miracles.

      “Goodbye, Jake,” she whispered, knowing he’d never return to a town he hated, a father he despised or a woman he would never love.

      Chapter One

      Jake Hawkins was back.

      The nearly two, long years since she’d last seen him faded away as Allison Pierce leaned against the railing in the elevator and sucked in a long, slow breath, trying to fight off the claustrophobic feeling that threatened to engulf her. It

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