“My hair is still wet and your sister will be here any minute now.”
“Oh yeah.” Without moving, he easily freed one hand to reach in his pocket and began texting.
“What are you doing?”
He handed me his phone.
Jane, sleep in my room tonight. I will sleep here with Emi.
He sent the text before anything could be done.
“Too late.” He smiled a wicked smile. “It’s done. Now sleep here with me just the way you are and let’s talk tomorrow morning. I am very tired.” He showered fading kisses upon my face, and I knew there was no way out. I fell asleep comfortably in his arms that night.
The next morning, my body froze from the shock of pain. Yesterday’s activities had crippled me. Once again, I’d fallen asleep with Jake holding me. I wondered how I could give in so easily to spending the night with him when I wouldn’t give in to Max’s attempts all those years. The only answer I could come up with was that I was too tired to push him away—but I knew this wasn’t the whole truth.
Realizing my robe had unraveled itself in the course of the night, I tried to get up but my aching body wouldn’t listen. Eventually I managed to tie the robe around myself, and forced myself out of bed. Jake immediately complained.
“Emi…come back to bed. It was amazing being in bed with you the whole night. Let’s stay a little longer.”
“Jake, we have to meet your family for breakfast. We might be late already. Oh gosh, what will your family think?”
“They will think nothing of our night, and even if they do think something, who cares?”
“I’m hopping in the shower. My hair is a mess from sleeping with it wet. Go back to your room and get ready,” I commanded.
“Can I hop in with you?” he dared to ask.
“No! Go, please,” I begged.
Smiling faces greeted us when we got to the breakfast table. Everyone seemed to be quietly laughing at a joke that Jake and I were not privy to. I felt uncomfortable, and Jake looked smug that he had wormed his way into my bed last night.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” I asked trying to change the silent subject.
“We’re going to the Maui invitational to watch our basketball team play,” Sandy told us.
“Mom, I gotta warn you, Emi’s not a fan of our school.” Jake’s remark brought on a round of boos for me.
“Emily, your school’s playing here as well. We’ll get you tickets to that game. You and Jake can go together,” Jake’s father offered.
“Thank you, but that’s OK. You don’t have to bother. I’d like to spend the day with the family, if that’s all right with you.”
“We would love nothing better!” exclaimed Sandy. I spied an enormous smile on Jake’s face that filled my heart with joy.
Tuesday was no different than Monday—breakfast, basketball game, lunch, scuba, followed by surfing. Jake dove with me while I was having my hour lesson, then he and Nick surfed near me while I had another hour lesson. The Reid children seemed competent in just about every water sport.
Jake saw the exhaustion on my face and rented a cabana at the pool for me to a nap. We walked in and he closed the cabana curtains just enough to protect us from any prying eyes. He traipsed over to my lounge chair and gently pushed me far enough to one side so he could lay down with me. It became apparent this cabana was more for his benefit than mine.
“I thought you were going to let me take a nap.” An accusation coupled with a giggle sounded more like an invitation.
“I’m helping you take a nap,” he grinned, putting his arm under my neck. Within seconds, his free hand cupped my hips and his lips began to travel on my body. He carefully found his way to my lips, and we began to explore each other again. His soft hands refused to listen to my weak complaints as he reached under my cover-up and began caressing my back. I could feel his fingers working around the knot of my bikini. My low moans encouraged his hands, and they soon started sliding down my thigh. He moved my body on top of his and worked on my bikini bottom. I tried to wriggle away and participate at the same time, and he knew that I wanted him as much as he wanted me.
Our acrobatics were too much for the narrow lounge chair and we wound up falling off. I burst into laughter. “Jake, I think this is our signal to stop. Sorry. I don’t want to aggravate you anymore, so let’s forget the nap and go out and enjoy the rest of the day.” I smiled apologetically.
“OK.” He huffed and puffed his way out of the cabana and mumbled something about tonight.