Isle of Sensuality (13 page)

Other sounds came back into focus and he noticed Sean’s boat pull up next to them. He handed Caitlyn’s unconscious form to Sean, who heaved her out of the water and wrapped her in a blanket. Jake pulled himself onto the front and his gaze sought out Caitlyn. Though the salt stung his eyes like daggers, he couldn’t look away from her. They needed to get her to a hospital. Now.

* * * *

“Are you certain she doesn’t need to go to a hospital?” Jake asked the doctor for the fifth time.

Sean had immediately called an ambulance. The paramedics had given Caitlyn a once over and declared she hadn’t been under the water long enough for any serious damage to have been done. Instead of taking her to the emergency room—which Jake had insisted upon—they’d advised that she go home and rest. Jake hadn’t been convinced so Sean arranged for one of the doctors to come to the island and examine Caitlyn. Now he was leaving.

“Like I said, Mr. Campbell, Miss Hart was only under the water for a few moments. All the fluid has been removed from her lungs. She may have chest pains for a while and the bump on her head will hurt, but all that is required is rest.”

Jake frowned at the doctor. His English was slightly accented, but the man seemed to know how to speak the language fluently.

“What if she has a concussion?” The knot of terror in his gut had barely eased since the diagnosis. There was still so much that could go wrong.

“If Miss Hart shows signs of dizziness, nausea, or confusion, call me.” The shorter man handed Jake his card. “Please try not to worry too much, and let her rest. She has had quite a traumatic experience.”

With that, the doctor left and Sean left with him to escort him back to Rio. Jake immediately returned to Caitlyn’s room. His breath caught in his throat and his stomach fell to the soles of his feet at the sight of her. She looked so tiny and vulnerable, lying under piles of quilts and covers on her bed. With her face pale and lips still tinged blue, all the worry and tension knotted inside him again.

Sinking down on the wooden chair at the side of the bed, he asked, “How are you feeling?”

“My head’s sore,” she said, her voice little more than a croak.

Jake swallowed. “Would you like some water?”

Caitlyn nodded and tried to sit up. He lifted the glass of water from the bedside cabinet, slid down next to her, and pulled her up so her head was resting in the crook of his arm. When he held the glass to her lips she sipped at the liquid and winced. A slice of pain stabbed his heart. He rubbed the thick sweater covering her stomach—one of his old jumpers he used when he jogged along the beach in the mornings. It seemed to swallow her whole.

Now that she was there, in his arms, and he was assured she was safe, a blinding anger swelled in his chest. “I told you not to do the scene,” he ground out through a clenched jaw. “You could have been killed.”

Caitlyn tilted her head to look at him. Her eyes grew wide and her face even more ashen. Jake could feel her whole body tremble, and he cursed himself for losing his cool. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. Hell, but he was furious. What had she been thinking?

“Sorry.” He cradled her trembling body in his arms and dropped a kiss to her nose. “I thought you were going to die,” he whispered against her hair. A shudder ran through him.

“Jake…” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

He pressed his mouth to her lips briefly and felt the coolness of her skin. “The doctor said you should rest. I won’t be far.” Jake laid Caitlyn down and tucked the mound of blankets around her. “I’ll check on you in a while. Try and get some sleep.”

Caitlyn nodded. Her eyelids heavy as she offered him a strained smile. Jake forced his lips to curve before he turned and left her in the room. The stress of the last few hours had drained every ounce of life from him and he felt like his legs might give way at any moment. But he had to stay awake and make sure she was okay. He headed to the kitchen in Caitlyn’s villa in search of coffee. Jake had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Chapter 9

Caitlyn had never been so tired or cold before. Her blood trickled through her veins like treacle. To roll over onto her side was an effort she could hardly manage. She didn’t bother to move unless she absolutely had to. The pain in her chest and throat reminded her of the events of the day and she couldn’t help waking up every time.

She didn’t remember anything after jumping off the boat until she started coughing up the burning saltwater from her lungs. The dark in between scared her, but Jake told her when he’d come in throughout the day to check she was okay, that it was him who had pulled her from the water. The thought he would do that made her heart swell with emotion.

When she opened her eyes, Jake came into focus next to her bed. Her lips hitched up. Over the past day he’d been by her bedside every time she woke up. Although she could do without the throbbing pain in her head or burning sensation in her lungs, she liked the idea of being looked after. It was a nice change.

“How are you feeling today?” Jake asked. The dark smudges under his eyes made Caitlyn wonder if he’d slept at all.

“Better,” Caitlyn said. Her throat felt like it had been rubbed down with grit.

When she reached out a heavy hand toward the bedside cabinet, Jake jumped up and brought the glass to her. His free palm rested against her forehead for a second and his eyes wrinkled with concern. “You still feel cold.”

“I’m okay, really.” Caitlyn pushed herself up until her back was propped against the pillows. She then reached a hand out to take the glass. Jake ignored her feeble attempt to reach for it and maneuvered the rim of the glass to her lips. She took a sip, and noticed the pain wasn’t quite as bad as it had been. Earlier, the sensation in her throat made it feel like someone had scratched the inside with needles. Now, there was only a slight sting.

Once she’d had enough water, Jake put the glass back on the table and returned to the chair. She’d never seen him move so slowly, nor had she seen his eyes as strained around the edges. He needed rest.

“I’m really okay. You can go and get some sleep.”

Jake frowned. “You’re the one who should rest. Your body’s been through hell.”

Caitlyn’s mind raced back to her sixteenth birthday, just over eight years after her mother’s death. She remembered trying to stay out as late as she could, knowing Amanda was at a sleepover. Unfortunately, the icy winter air became unbearable and she went home early to find her father too far gone in his grief and a bottle of cider. He’d beat her so thoroughly that night Caitlyn had been unable to get out of bed for a week. It was the worst she’d ever received from him.

“I’ve had worse,” Caitlyn told Jake. His eyes lit with curiosity, so she racked her mind with something to distract him with. “You said you ran your father’s company after your parents died. How old were you?”

His eyes flickered with emotion for a second before he hid it. “I was eighteen when they died. In my last year of high school.”

Caitlyn’s eyes widened. “I thought you said your brothers were younger. How much younger?”

Jake shifted in his seat and his shoulders stiffened. “Both were under sixteen. I had to apply to be their guardians.” He shrugged his shoulders, but Caitlyn could see how stiff the gesture was. “I ran the company until Tom finished university, then I left.”

Caitlyn frowned. “So how did you become an actor?”

“You’re full of questions today.” Jake laughed and shook his head. She was glad to note that his posture was less rigid. “It seemed like the opposite of what I was doing. The freedom of it all, the traveling, appealed. As did the money you can make. When Tom started university, I took night classes at the local acting academy. Tom and I always made sure someone would stay home for Sam. He was…a bit of a handful.” Jake grinned wide, his eyes glittering with memories.

Caitlyn’s heart went out to the boy who’d lost his parents so young. Why did she ever think he was irresponsible? When it mattered, Jake had done the right thing by his brothers, all the while making sure that they had a company to inherit.

“What happened to your parents?” she asked.

His face morphed into an empty mask. Only his eyes gave away the pain he still felt. Caitlyn longed to hold him tight and take the pain away somehow.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s okay. They were in an accident. Sam was in the car too. He’s lucky to be alive.”

A lump formed in her throat. She reached out a hand and he clasped his fingers around hers. Caitlyn squeezed, silently offering comfort.

“What about your parents? Do they live in LA with you and your sister?”

Caitlyn stopped breathing and her heart thudded wildly in her chest. No one knew about her past, not even Amanda knew the extent of the beatings. Caitlyn always made up excuses for being hurt. But Jake wasn’t asking that, only asking where they were.

Plus, he’d saved her life today and shared a part of his past with her. Surely she could do the same. “Our mother died when I was eight.” She paused, wondering how much to say. “Our father didn’t take it very well. He turned to drink and lost his job. When I turned eighteen, I received my inheritance from my mother. It wasn’t very much, but enough to move to LA. Amanda came with me, and we haven’t looked back since.”

She realized that not telling Jake the whole truth made her sound like a bad daughter. He didn’t look at her like she was a horrible person though. He looked at her with an expression she’d never seen. “That must have been tough.”

Tough.
It was, but that part of her life was behind her now. She nodded her agreement.

“Why did you get into acting?” he asked.

Caitlyn racked her brain for a way to explain so she wasn’t lying; she still wasn’t willing to admit the mess her life had been. “I wanted to support Amanda through college so she didn’t have to spend her inheritance once she was old enough to get it.” It was true, but there were hundreds of jobs she could have done. “Plus, I liked the idea of getting to be someone else, even if it was only for a little while.”

His warm hand cupped her cheek. Caitlyn pressed her head into it. “You’re amazing just as you are, Caitlyn Hart. Don’t ever change that.”

It must have been the sincerity in his eyes along with the beautiful words that did it. One minute she was firmly in her drained body, the next she was falling. Hard. Her heart swelled with an emotion so powerful she couldn’t even lie to herself anymore. She loved Jake. She’d probably loved him for weeks. Now though, the thought of loving him wasn’t as terrifying as it had been, especially since she knew he was capable of being so caring and responsible.

Her lids grew heavy and she allowed herself to be pulled down into a peaceful sleep. They may just be having a fling, but he cared about her too. Enough to risk his life to save hers. Enough to share some of his past. A smile curved her lips as unconsciousness stole her.

* * * *

Jake’s mobile vibrated in the pocket of his shorts and he stifled a groan. Slipping it out, he checked the number on the screen, already knowing who it would be. Tom. He raked a hand through this hair and hit the
reject
button. Between his brothers and Caitlyn, he’d already been roped into doing something he didn’t want to. This time he was going to put his foot down.

“Are you okay? You look tense.” Caitlyn’s voice sounded from behind him and he turned around. She stood in the door frame, her hair wet from the shower and darkened to deep cherry curls, and a white towel wrapped around her body. A dart of heat shot straight to his groin, but he ignored it. Caitlyn was hunched over and held the door frame for support. She was still weak.

“How are you feeling today?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

Hell, his body was rigid with all the conflicting emotions being in close contact with Caitlyn had surfaced. Their heart-to-heart the other day had made him feel things he didn’t want to. When she told him how she’d lost her mother, and effectively her father—through drink—his chest had tightened and emotions he couldn’t name flooded him. None of which he wanted to analyze too closely. Except, of course, lust, which was a given and the more prominent of them. So Jake had made a vow to himself that he wasn’t going to ask her any more questions. They were having a fling and already it seemed to have gone far beyond that.

Caitlyn’s forehead wrinkled. “I’m fine. How about you?”

Jake inhaled deeply and turned back to the salad he’d been preparing for her lunch. He’d snuck in some chicken and parma ham, hoping it would build up her strength. “Tom’s called a few times.” He picked up a tomato and knife and began to chop.

He heard the sound of Caitlyn’s footsteps across the tiled floor. She stopped behind him and slid her hand up his back. Some of the stiffness in his shoulders eased at her touch. “What did he want?”

Jake shrugged, scooped the tomato up, threw it in a bowl beside the lettuce, and then picked up another. “I don’t know. I didn’t answer.”

Caitlyn banded her arms around his waist and rested her damp curls against his back. The gesture relaxed him. “Did you two have a fight?” she asked as her hands stroked his abs.

A stronger jolt of arousal coursed through him and Jake used more focus than necessary to chop the vegetables in front of him. “Not yet. Though I’m sure there will be plenty of fighting when I return to London.” The feel of her soft body pressed against him was making it hard to concentrate.

“Why?” Caitlyn slid around so she was standing at his side.

He turned to see her forehead creased with worry. Hell, he should tell her the truth, as far as his brothers wanting him to come back anyway. “They want me to go back to London and become one of the directors of the company again. The recession hit Campbell Engineers hard. Tom and Sam can’t seem to pull the company back into the black with the bank. I want them to sell.”

Caitlyn’s frown grew more pronounced. “Do they need your help?”

Jake paused for a beat too long as the wave of guilt almost pulled him under. “Yes.” He forced a shrug. “I can’t go back, Caitlyn. I’ve only just got my freedom back. I’ve only just started living.”