Cake: A Love Story (14 page)

Jake nodded, smiling.

“Whew, I think I could have gone without hearing that little story,” I grinned.

“Yeah, well you told me your poop and puke story yesterday so now we are even.”

“Yeah, true. So tell me something, less gross, that I don’t know about you, Jake McKallister?”

Jake thought about it for a few seconds then his face turned serious. “Okay I can tell you one secret but you have to swear you’ll never ever repeat it.”

Instantly I was extremely interested. Any secret of Jake McKallister’s had to be noteworthy. “I swear.”

“Because if you tell anyone I would be so pissed.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” I promised.

“Okay…oh God…this is so embarrassing…I’m just going to blurt it out…I watch The Bachelor.”

I gasped in mock horror. “The Bachelor…oh Jake, no.”

“Shhh…someone will hear you,” Jake whispered and put his finger to my lips. “I have all the seasons…including the Bachelorette.”

Damn he was just so cute. Trying to keep the smile off my face, I proclaimed, “I’m sorry, Jake. This is just too much for me to comprehend. I think I need to leave now.”

Jake pulled me into his arms unexpectedly. “Don’t go.” He stared down at me with such heat I thought I might melt in his arms.

“I’m not going anywhere…trust me,” I whispered.

Jake smiled at this. “Good.” He whispered back.

“And, you know, it’s not like you’re the only one with a shocking secret. I have one of my own actually.”

“Oh really?” Jake replied as he pulled out of the hug with a smile on his face and looked down at me with interest.

“Well it’s not as scandalous as your Bachelor admission but I feel like I need to be honest with you,” I said with a serious tone in my voice.

“Okay,” Jake responded, sounding a bit worried.

“Do you want to know what my secret is?” I asked him.

“I’m not sure,” Jake replied. “You don’t have a penis or anything, do you?”

“What?” I gaped before bursting out with laughter. “No…not that big of a secret,” I exclaimed, smacking him in the arm as I continued laughing. “How would me having a penis be less shocking than you watching the Bachelor?”

“I don’t know,” Jake laughed. “You got all serious and I got worried.”

“So naturally your first thought was that I was a tranny?” I shot back, laughing.

Jake shrugged as he laughed.

“You’re funny,” I continued giggling.

“Okay so the suspense is killing me…what’s this big secret?”

“Well, now I don’t even want to tell you because you were expecting something grand.”

“No, please,” Jake begged.

“Okay,” I said and looked at him skeptically. “But you can’t make fun of me okay?”

“No promises,” Jake announced. “Just spit it out.”

“I collect banana labels.”

“You collect what?”

“Banana labels.”

“Banana labels?” Jake repeated like he hadn’t understood correctly.

“Yes.”

“Okay hold on. Let me just make sure I’m hearing you right. You collect the little labels that you peel off bananas?” Jake asked, barely controlling his amusement.

“Yes.”

Jake looked at me like I was crazy then burst out laughing.

“You said you wouldn’t laugh at me.”

“No I didn’t. And that…oh my God Casey…that is hysterical. I mean that beats my secret hands down,” he claimed, laughing.

“Shut up,” I replied but I was enjoying his amusement on my behalf.

“And you collect these labels, why?” Jake asked.

“When I was a kid my mom was looking at a banana and she said that it was from Ecuador. I’d never even heard of that country so I researched it. I thought it was the coolest thing that I was eating fruit that came from another country. After that I always checked where the bananas were from. If it was a new place I would learn as much as I could about the country and then I would peel off the label and paste it to a piece of paper with a whole written overview of the country. Pretty soon I had so many I had to put the labels in a binder.”

“You have a binder even?” Jake questioned in a raised voice.

I nodded.

He burst out laughing. “Oh God…Holy crap. That is hilarious! I love it.” Jake said shaking his head. “You’re seriously one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met in my life. I’ll never be able to look at a banana sticker again without thinking of you,” Jake revealed, smiling widely. I laughed with him, enjoying the moment.

“Well we can’t all be as interesting and talented as you are, Jake. The majority of us were only gifted with mediocre skills.”

“Says the girl who knows the square root of every number,” Jake replied.

“Yeah because that is a noteworthy talent,” I laughed. “You, with your beautiful voice and creative mind, moving a room full of strangers to tears and mine, cold and calculating, eliciting a room full of yawns from uninterested onlookers. You’re probably an artist too, aren’t you?”

Jake smiled coyly.

“I knew it!” I laughed. “Do you paint or draw?”

“Both.”

“Of course you do! I’m a terrible artist. Even my stick figures end up with extra appendages.”

Jake grinned, enjoying my joke, “That’s okay. You’re good at other things.”

“Oh really?” I smiled. “Like what? I’m very interested.”

“You’re good at making me laugh.”

“That’s not difficult,” I said rolling my eyes. “You laugh all the time.”

“With people I know, yeah, but not with people I’ve just met.”

“Seriously?”

Jake looked at me in surprise. “You know who I am, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know that I’m not exactly known for my sense of humor.”

Stunned that Jake would be so blunt, I struggled to find the right words. This guy was so misunderstood. I’d only known him for 24 hours yet I knew enough to know that he was so much more than what was reported in the media.

“You want to know the first thing that I noticed about you at the restaurant last night?” I asked.

“Okay,” Jake replied, looking interested.

“You throw your head back when you laugh.”

“So?”

“So, that is how I can tell if a person has a good sense of humor or not. And you, my friend, have one.”

Jake stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“What else have you figured out about me, Casey Caldwell?”

“Honestly? Not much. You’re not the easiest person to read.”

Jake nodded.

“Is that intentional?”

He smiled.

“See that’s what I’m talking about!” I laughed. “Are you trying to be ambiguous?”

Jake stared at me a second like he was contemplating whether or not he should answer my question, then his shoulders drooped a bit and he said, “It’s a defense mechanism. Sorry.”

I stared at Jake. His honesty floored me. This guy continuously surprised me. “Don’t apologize,” I answered. “I find your mysterious ways intriguing. Figuring you out is like a puzzle.”

Jake grinned his sexy little smile then he bent down and whispered in my ear, “You want to put a few pieces together?”

His hot breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine. Excitement coursed through me. Was this really happening? Was Jake actually inviting me into his life…the real one…not the life that people had imagined for him?

“Yes please,” I replied, breathlessly.

Then, all of the sudden, Jake’s expression changed completely. He stared at me with a fiery look then leaned in close just inches from my face leaving no doubt what he wanted. The heat between us was smoldering. I eagerly awaited the kiss I was being promised. Jake’s lips lingered just above mine, making me want it even more. But as with everything else about this guy, I never knew exactly what to expect. Jake always seemed to keep me guessing. And this was no different. Most guys would have been halfway down my throat by now but Jake was in no hurry. Instead, he teased me with the promise of something more. The wait was agonizing and thrilling all at once. This boy knew how to seduce a girl. When his lips finally touched mine a bolt of electricity surged through me, travelling straight to my pleasure spot. I actually groaned. No guy had ever elicited that strong a response in me with just a single kiss. Of course this was no ordinary kiss…and no ordinary guy.

Jake’s lips lingered on the same spot, elongating that first contact. I felt weak in the knees. Then he started kissing my upper lip in a slow leisurely fashion before moving on to both. His style was unhurried and seductive and it was making me crazy. I wanted to devour him but he controlled the kiss. I was trembling. Our bodies were pressed into each other. I was lost in him. And then he went in for the kill. Our lips were locked in a passionate kiss. I was taking him in greedily. His hands were on my face. Mine were in his hair. I was tingling all over. It was an incredible kiss, like nothing I’d ever experienced before. When he finally pulled away, my head was spinning and I actually felt a bit faint. We both kind of stood there, stunned by the raw and powerful chemistry between us. I leaned into him for support.

Jake’s gorgeous eyes were all I could see. I stared at him in awe for a minute before throwing myself at him, kissing him passionately again. This time I was in control, which meant, of course, that the kiss was totally out of control. I was animalistic in my approach, although Jake didn’t seem the least bit turned off by my intensity. He matched me action for action. I thought I knew what passion and lust was until I met Jake McKallister. This guy took me to new levels.

Jake left my lips and kissed behind my ear and down my neck. My body was shaking. “Oh God,” I replied, breathlessly.

He worked his way around until he was back at my lips. This time his tongue got in on the action. But he was in no hurry, Jake’s tongue lazily wandered around the entrance making me want to beg him for more. In fact, I wanted him to devour me. This kiss was rocking my world. My legs wobbled. Every nerve in my body tingled as I pushed against him. I felt like I could do him right there, without caring who saw. I was never so careless with my virtue but Jake did something for me that no guy before him had ever done…he made me weak with lust.

Suddenly Jake’s phone buzzed, startling us both. He ignored it until it stopped. We kissed through the intrusion. A minute later the phone started buzzing again. Jake and I separated slightly and he pulled out his phone to check who was calling and then returned the phone to his pocket. He jumped right back into our kiss. I pressed up against him. Just as we started getting hot and heavy again, Jake’s phone buzzed for a third time.

“Fuck,” he groaned as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. This time Jake answered it.

“Hey, what’s up?” he answered, slightly out of breath. There was silence before Jake said, “Okay, I’m on my way. Thanks.” Jake ended the call and turned to me. “They are going to have some games and cut the cake. We have to get back.”

Chapter Eight

Jake

I held Casey’s hand while we walked back. I don’t know why. I just did. It felt comfortable. It felt right. She smiled up at me with such a happy, trusting look. I wanted to wrap her in a hug. She made me feel so…I don’t even know how she made me feel…all I knew was that I liked it. A lot. Things were getting more complicated by the second. My emotions were all over the place. How was I just supposed to walk away from her after that kiss? It rocked my world.

Up until tonight, I’d never really found kissing to be very enjoyable. For some reason, to me, kissing seemed more intimate than sex. But I did it anyway because it was a means to an end. Girls wanted at least some foreplay…a little reassurance that they weren’t totally being used. So I did what I thought was necessary to get them into bed. Usually it didn’t take much before they had their legs wrapped around me and we were going at it. Of course, I wasn’t totally selfish. I made it worth their while; if for no other reason than I had a reputation to uphold. Over the years I’d learned what satiated a woman and I did my best to insure she would walk away feeling compensated.

Yeah I was using them; but, hell, they were using me too. Women didn’t go after me because of my winning personality. They went after me because I was a rockstar. For whatever reason, nothing turned women on more than a bunch of sweaty guys up onstage belting out song after song. Hey, I didn’t make the rules. I just took advantage of what I’d been given. And as brief as the encounters were, they were mutually beneficial. I got my rocks off and they got bragging rights with their girlfriends. Win-win.

But that kiss had nothing to do with the rockstar. That was all me…and all her. It wasn’t a trade off or a means to an end. It was genuine emotion. The first real kiss I’d ever had in my life. Was it really possible to meet someone and just know they are the one for you? I’d always thought that was crap but now I wasn’t so sure. What I did know was this was not the last time I was going to kiss Casey Caldwell.

Chapter Nine

Casey

As we walked back to the reception, Jake took my hand. No words, he just reached down and grabbed it. And instead of being awkward, it was like our hands molded into one. The connection I felt to Jake at that moment was electrifying.

Just before walking back into the reception hall Jake dropped my hand. “I have to go back to my family for a bit. Can I find you later?”

“I would like that,” I responded.

“Okay. See you soon,” he smiled and then walked back into the hall and headed straight over to his family. Before reentering myself, I tried to smooth down my hair and my dress. I was in a serious state of disarray. It looked, and felt, like I’d had sex. I was slick between the legs and wanted nothing more than to lock myself away with this sexy man I’d just met. So much for playing hard to get! How had Jake been able to reduce me to a quivering fangirl so easily?

The wedding party separated by gender for the garland and bouquet toss. I went through the motions but I wasn’t really connected to what was happening. In fact, I almost got hit in the head by the bouquet and watched, impassively, as women went after it like their lives depended on it. I, for one, didn’t feel like I needed the bouquet. I’d already won the biggest prize at the wedding…the affections of an amazing guy who kissed me like he meant it.

I watched Jake with his brothers. They were having so much fun. For his part, Jake seemed to have completely disengaged from our balcony kiss. I wasn’t so lucky. The memory of it clouded my mind. I wanted more. I felt desperate to get back to him. I hated being that girl. I’d always prided myself on being independent and levelheaded when it came to guys but Jake, damn, he was like a drug. This must be what it felt like to be addicted. My head was spinning when Sarah and two other bridesmaids cornered me.

“What the hell, Casey? You know I like Jake. Why are you doing this?”

“Yeah, totally uncool, Casey,” Julia piped in.

“Wait, what am I doing?” I replied.

“Oh please. You know damn well what I’m talking about. You’ve been throwing yourself on him since the second you met him. It’s actually pretty pathetic.”

“No more pathetic than your half-assed attempt to lure him in yesterday.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sarah questioned with venom in her eyes.

“It means…you don’t have dibs on him Sarah. Jake is a big boy. He makes his own decisions and can choose who he wants to hang around with.”

“How can he choose when you’re monopolizing all his time?”

“Do you see him with me now?” I said dramatically. “No, because I don’t have a leash on him, Sarah. Jake is free to hang out with whomever he wants.”

“And that’s you? Is that what you’re saying, Casey?”

I threw my hands up in the air and sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you. Jake isn’t here now so be my guest,” I uttered, motioning in his direction.

“Right…I’ll be rude and interrupt him when he’s with his family.”

“What do you want me to do, Sarah?”

“Back off!” She demanded in all her mean girl glory.

“No.” I replied defiantly.

“No?” She answered in disbelief.

“No. I like him and I’m not backing off.”

“You act all high and mighty Casey but you’re nothing special.”

“Thanks,” I replied sarcastically. “I appreciate that.”

“You know what kills me? You were the one acting all unimpressed by Jake at the bridal shower. ‘Long hair guys aren’t my type’.” Sarah mimicked me. “Now all the sudden you’re hot for him? How does that happen?”

“There is no sinister plot going on here Sarah. Once I met him I discovered that he’s super cool and that I enjoy hanging out with him. That’s it.”

“Well we would all like that chance to hang out with him but we can’t because you’re draped all over him and not giving anyone else a chance.”

“You had a chance. He wasn’t interested. Let it go.”

Sarah glared at me. “You’re such a conniving slut, Casey.”

“Jake doesn’t think so.”

Sarah stared at me a second before her eyes went big and she mocked, “Oh my God…you actually think he’s into you, don’t you? That is hilarious. What do you think is going to happen here? You think Jake is going to whisk you away on some magic fairy ride? You think you’re going to be his girlfriend and marry him someday?”

Yes. “No. Of course not. I didn’t say that,” I said, flustered.

“You didn’t have to. I can see it in your eyes. Please tell me Casey, you don’t actually think he likes you, do you?”

When I didn’t immediately respond, Sarah laughed out loud, but she didn’t sound happy in the least.

“Oh my God, you’re delusional. I actually kind of feel sorry for you. You understand that he’s a rockstar, right?” Sarah was talking down to me like I was some stupid little girl. I’d never been good at defending myself against girls like Sarah. Boys I could handle, but mean girls…they intimidated the hell out of me. So instead of engaging her any further I turned to walk away but Sarah grabbed my arm.

“I hope you know…he only wants one thing from you,” she said through gritted teeth.

I yanked my arm from her grip and stormed off. The encounter left me feeling shaken. I started questioning the moments I’d shared with Jake. Was that really all he wanted from me…to get me in bed…because if that was what he wanted, it wouldn’t take even the slightest bit of effort on his part. And really, what was I expecting? It wasn’t like we were going to start dating. Jake had been perfectly clear about that.

I found an empty table toward the back of the reception hall and sat down. My feet were aching in the heels so I took my shoes off. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. Suddenly I felt like crying. What was I doing? I was seriously falling for a guy who candidly admitted to me just an hour before that he wasn’t interested in a relationship. By making my ‘no strings attached’ deal with him, I’d basically tricked him into hanging out with me by dangling the possibility of sex in front of him…knowing I had no intention of honoring the tease. I tried to pretend that we could just be friends but the attraction I felt toward him was off the charts. And either Jake felt the same way about me or he was just a master at seducing women…which, given his profession, probably wasn’t too far fetched. Could he just be that skilled at playing women that he was able to bring me to my knees so effortlessly? Maybe Sarah was right. Maybe I was just another notch in his belt.

“Damn you’re hard to find sometimes, Casey Caldwell.” I opened my eyes and upon seeing Jake’s adorable smile, all my self-pity disappeared. I smiled up at him. “What are you doing over here all by yourself? Are you hiding from me?”

“Actually yes.”

Jake’s face changed. He looked confused…like he was trying to figure out what he’d done wrong.

“It’s not you,” I sighed. “I just got bitched out for hogging all your time. Apparently there are other girls here who would like the chance to have sex with you tonight.”

Jake didn’t seem all that shocked by my words which made me feel even more insecure.

“And, despite what happened on the balcony, I don’t sleep with guys on a first date…not that this is even a date…but you know what I mean. So if that is what you’re expecting, maybe you should just go and explore your options…hit up Sarah…she’s a sure thing,” I revealed, finally breathing after my speech. “Plus my feet hurt.” I whined.

Jake stood there silently. I couldn’t read his face. He appeared to be thinking. Was he really contemplating his choice?

“Well, it was really nice meeting you Casey. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime,” Jake said then turned and walked away. My mouth dropped open. It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I didn’t know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t that. I thought we had more of a connection than for him to just dump me so he could find a more willing hookup. What a goddamn jerk!

I was so upset that I didn’t even see when Jake stopped a few feet away, swiped a white rose out of a vase, and grabbed a couple of napkins off the table next to him. He then turned around and came walking back over to me with a mischievous smile on his face. It took me a second to understand what was happening.

“Oh my God, that was…oh my god…that was just mean!” I exclaimed loudly. “I really hate you!” I shot my leg out to playfully kick him and he dodged me easily. What I really wanted to do was grab him and kiss him. Jake looked so pleased with himself.

“You were just too easy,” he said stealing my line from last night’s prank.

“You got me good!” I acknowledged, laughing from both relief and happiness. “For a second there I seriously thought you were the biggest jerk EVER!”

“I know. I could see the venom in your eyes. But, really Casey, you had it coming,” Jake defended, shaking his head and smiling. He pulled a chair up close to me, sat down, then handed me the rose. “For you.”

“Ahh…so sweet. Thank you,” I replied, as I smelled the rose.

“Your welcome,” Jake replied smiling then added, “I guess the only thing left to do is take care of your other problem.”

I looked at him confused.

“Give me your damn feet,” he said.

I looked at him in shock.

“What? I’ll give you a foot massage.”

“You’re seriously going to rub my dirty, stinky feet?” I asked incredulously.

“I brought protection,” he revealed and held up the two white napkins proudly.

“That’s…so funny,” I laughed out loud. I swung my legs up and deposited them onto his lap.

Jake wrapped my feet in the napkins and started rubbing them. “And just so you know, I don’t have a foot fetish so this sort-of grosses me out. I’m only doing this to impress you.”

“Well then you’ve accomplished your goal,” I declared. Just then he hit a sore spot in my heel and it felt so good that I actually started moaning and groaning.

“Holy shit, Casey. You sound like you’re having little foot-gasms.”

I laughed loudly at this. “You have no idea how good that feels.”

“I’m getting a pretty good idea,” he commented in amusement.

I giggled.

“So speaking of foot-gasms, Jake, why would you stay…I mean, I took sex off the table?”

Jake looked at me with the slightest smile then said, “I’m not a Neanderthal, Casey. I don’t need to have sex to have a good time.”

“And are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Having a good time?”

“I wouldn’t be here, with your stinky feet in my lap, if I weren’t.”

“Yeah, you’d be in a broom closet with Sarah,” I joked.

Jake shook his head but he was grinning. “God, it’s all about sex with you, Casey”

I laughed. “I know. Sorry. You intimidate me. I mean it would take no effort on your part to get with pretty much any girl at this wedding.”

Jake didn’t refute my claim…probably because he knew it was true. In fact, he was actually giving what I said quite a bit of thought. What am I getting myself into?

Finally he sighed and said, “Sometimes having sex just isn’t worth the consequences.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that with sex comes expectations.”

I waited for him to explain his comment and when he didn’t I said, “And?”

Jake sighed as if he were expected to explain himself to a child. “If I’m going to have meaningless sex with someone I need a quick exit strategy otherwise she’s going to want to follow me around, or worse, talk. In a setting like this, there is no way to disappear after getting it on so sex would not be worth the consequences…get it?”

I looked at Jake stunned. “Wow, you’ve really given this a lot of thought.”

Jake laughed. “I’ve learned from experience.”

“I’m sure you have. So then I guess it’s a good thing we aren’t going to have meaningless sex tonight?” I laughed. “Because I would definitely be following you around trying to talk to you.”

“I know. You’d be the worst,” Jake smirked.

I laughed.

“I’m just kidding. With you, it wouldn’t be meaningless sex?” Jake retorted, laying on the charm.

“Well, you won’t have a chance to find out, now will you BFF?

“Oh, I didn’t realize that that was what we were.”

“Your rules, not mine.”

“My rules?” Jake questioned.

“Well, isn’t it you that has some fancy-schmancy world tour that you don’t want to disturb with a needy ho?”

“Oh right, you’re the needy ho, I forgot.”

“Uh-huh.”

Jake smiled his sexy smile and continued rubbing my feet in silence for a minute before saying, “What if I want to revise my rules?”

“I’m listening.”

“Friends with benefits, maybe?” He smiled seductively.

“Yes but you forget my number one rule…no sex on the first date.”

“What about the second date?”

“I have no steadfast rules about that. But we would have to have a second date to find out and that seems unlikely since you’re leaving tomorrow for Europe.”