Pieces of Me (7 page)

Daniel picks us up a little while later and I roll my eyes slightly when I realise that he is so overdressed for a barbeque, in his black slacks and light blue dress shirt. At least his shirt matches my dress though, I suppose.

Cameron looks fantastic in a red halter dress with a deep v that cuts down between her breasts reaching her waist and black stilettos. Wow, talk about overdressed.

We navigate our way through the eastern suburbs of Sydney and locate Nathan’s place. I double check the address on my phone when I realise that Nathan’s place could only be described as a mansion. Even Daniel is impressed as he takes in the large modern house overlooking the beach.

“Wow, who is this guy?”

Neither Cameron nor I answer him as we make our way to the front door. Cameron presses the door bell and a few seconds later Nathan pulls the door open, looking very handsome in blue jeans and a white polo shirt with an emblem of the local fire service.

“Hey, Abbi.” He leans forward and kisses my cheek as I feel Daniel stiffen beside me. As Nathan greets Cameron and then turns to Daniel, I notice Daniel stand up straighter and puff out his chest a little. Nathan politely introduces himself to Daniel and then invites us inside telling us we are the last to arrive and to make ourselves comfortable. He then leads us through the gorgeous house and out the back to a large entertaining area with an outdoor kitchen, couches, table and chairs, swimming pool and a large Jacuzzi, while pointing out where we can find ourselves a drink.

Scanning the faces I recognise the guys from the beach this morning and a few girls, who I am guessing are their dates. While I’m wondering if any of them came with Jake, I spot him standing alone at the far end of the balcony looking out at the view. As if he can sense me watching him, he turns around. Our eyes meet and his lips curve into a lopsided grin, the dimples appearing in his cheeks. Daniel goes to get us a drink and I realise Cameron has located Levi and forgotten all about us. I walk slowly toward Jake and notice his eyes sweeping the length of my body before coming back to rest on my face.

“Hi, Shorty.”

“Hey, Jake. I stand beside him and look out over the water, the breeze providing me with a small taste of his delicious scent. He looks gorgeous in dark blue jeans and one of his signature black Metallica t-shirts. Glancing at his arms I can see one of his colourful tattoos peeking out from under his sleeve and I want to trace it with my finger.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Daniel standing there with 2 glasses of red wine in his hands.

Taking one of the glasses from him, I say “Daniel, you remember Jake?”

Daniel takes a sip of his wine “Mm, how are you Jake?”

While Jake and Daniel make conversation about their careers, I find myself watching Jake through my lowered lashes. Every now and then he glances at me and I turn to look out over the water. I feel like a complete idiot, but I just can’t stop my eyes from going back to his face. Hearing Daniel’s phone ringing I turn to him as he excuses himself to answer it. He walks back in the direction of the front door and disappears. I turn back to look at Jake and find him watching me with a smile. The dimples I love are just calling out for me to run my finger over them so I lean on the rail and stare out at the water.

“Nathan is so lucky to be able to wake up to this view every morning.”

“Hmm, this is a view that I’d love to wake up to every morning.” Breathing in the sea air, my breath catches when I realise he is still staring at me, the intensity in his gaze making me feel like his brown eyes are looking straight into my soul.

“You look beautiful tonight, Shorty.” I try to tear my eyes away from his but I can’t.

“Thanks, Jake.” It comes out as a whisper and I’m not sure he heard it but he’s still grinning down at me when Daniel appears again.

“Babe, I’m really sorry. There’s an issue with the prints I supplied to the magazine and I need to head into my studio and sort it out. You stay and have fun and if I can make it back tonight I will.”

“But, Daniel. You drove us here, how will we get home if you don’t come back?”

Jake’s voice cuts in. “I can drive them home Daniel.”

Daniel frowns for a slight second as he’s thinking it through. “Thanks, buddy. That would be great.” Looking back down at me he kisses my cheek and says “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

As Daniel rushes out, Cameron appears by my side and asks where the old man is going.

“He had to go into his studio; there was a problem with his prints or something.”

Cameron frowns “Mmhmm, or something? Right.”

Ignoring her dig at Daniel, I excuse myself to go and get a refill. When I make my way back out to the balcony, I notice Cameron and Jake deep in conversation. I stand still and watch them briefly as Jake shrugs and Cameron places a hand on his shoulder. What on earth is that about?

Cameron turns and notices me watching them. She smiles before making her way back to Levi who is sitting on one of the couches watching her. Just as I take another step toward where Jake is standing, Nathan appears at my side.

“Hey, Abbi, are you having fun?”

Nodding I smile up at Nathan, “I am, you have such a beautiful place. The view is amazing.” Glancing toward Jake again I notice Nathan follow my line of sight and nod his head.

“So what’s up with Daniel? Why did he have to rush off?”

“Oh, it was some work thing, I guess.”

Nathan nods understandingly and places a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sure the guy standing over on the balcony would be more than happy to take Daniel’s place for the night.”

I feel the blush warming my cheeks. Geez, what is wrong with me? I can’t stop blushing.

“What makes you say that?”

Nathan is smiling down at me, looking very sexy, a slight breeze ruffling his dark blond hair.

“Abbi, it’s obvious the guy is madly in love with you. He’s hardly taken his eyes off you since you got here.”

***

After a tasty dinner of chicken, beef and salad, everyone slips into the pool for a swim. Levi, Cameron, Jake and I are the only ones left sitting at the table and Levi suggests we all hop in the Jacuzzi. Cameron strips down to her bikini and hops in with Levi following closely behind her. Just as I turn back to Jake to see if he wants to hop in I see him stand up and kick off his shoes, before lifting his shirt over his head. My eyes travel down over his chest and stop when they reach the v that disappears into his jeans. Forcing my eyes away from the sight of him stripping I look over at Cameron to see her watching me with a smile and her eyebrows raised. I feel the heat spreading through my body and I feel like I need to go and jump in the pool to cool down. Jake has stripped down to a pair of black boxer briefs and is climbing into the Jacuzzi.

“Come on Abs. Hop in.” Cameron grins at me again and waves me over.

Standing up I have one last sip of my wine. I feel like I need a little bit of liquid courage as I realise I am now going to have to strip in front of Jake. I reach up and slowly lower the straps of my dress, letting it slowly fall down around my breasts which are only covered by my light blue bikini. Glancing up I see Jake staring at me and again, and I’m sure it’s desire I see in his brown eyes. His eyes slowly drop lower as I pull my dress down. Cameron and Levi are deep in conversation and aren’t taking any notice of the show I’m putting on for Jake.

As I lower my dress over my hips I notice Jake’s tongue dart out and skim across his bottom lip, which makes the winged creatures stir in my stomach once again. I step out of my dress and lay it over the back of a chair before lifting my locket over my head and placing it in my handbag. Jakes eyes lift back to mine as I climb into the Jacuzzi and sit down beside him.

Leaning back I close my eyes and a soft moan escapes my lips as I feel the jets spraying warm water over my body. Feeling something touch my knee I look down to see Jakes strong, muscular leg resting against mine. My body shivers at the contact and I’m sure he notices as he sucks in a deep breath. If I react like that from the touch of his leg, imagine how my body would react to his hands running all over it.

I’m grateful as Cameron’s voice distracts me from my dangerous, dirty thoughts.

“Let’s play Truth or Dare.”

Rolling my eyes, I can’t believe she is suggesting such a juvenile game. But as I hear the men agree I find myself wanting to play as well. The five or so glasses of wine probably helped me reach that decision. As I nod my head, I’m pretty sure I’m going to regret this decision when I sober up a little.

Cameron starts the game off. “Levi. Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Okay, do you like me?” Once again I roll my eyes; I can’t believe she just asked him that.

Levi just stares into her eyes “I sure do.”

The game continues with silly childish questions, until it’s Cameron’s turn again.

“Jake, truth or dare?” Jake selects truth and Cameron looks thoughtful for a few seconds “Jake, have you ever been in love?”

My heart starts racing in anticipation for his answer. I really don’t want to hear about his love life.

“Yes, once.” My eyes snap to his as I wait for more details. Who was she?

Cameron is also eager to know more “Details please.”

“She was a girl I met a while ago. She was beautiful, kind, compassionate, sexy and a whole lot more. I knew the day I met her that I was going to fall in love with her.”

I can’t sit here and listen to this anymore. I quickly climb out of the Jacuzzi and head inside to the bathroom which Nathan had pointed out to me earlier in the night. As I go to push the door closed behind me, Jake appears and closes the door behind him.

“What are you doing, Jake?”

“Why did you run off like that?”

Sighing I look down at the white tiled floor. “I didn’t run off. I need to use the bathroom.”

I feel his finger under my chin as he lifts my face up toward his. When I finally allow my eyes to seek out his, he asks me the same question again.

“I wasn’t running off. I didn’t feel like sitting there listening to you talk about some girl that you were in love with.”

“Why?” I go to turn away again, but he places an arm around my waist and pulls me back to him. The touch of his hand on the bare skin of my back causes me to suck in a breath and he tips my face toward his again. “Why?”

Sighing, I decide to be honest with him “Because I can’t handle hearing you talk about some other girl like that.”

Jakes eyes study mine before dropping to my lips. “Shorty, I was talking about you.”

I gasp as I process his words. He was talking about me? No, he must be lying. He didn’t love me. He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have treated me the way he did if he had actually loved me. He wouldn’t have left me.

Just as I plan on voicing my thoughts he leans forward and rests his forehead against mine.

“You’re the only girl I’ve ever loved, Abbi.” Feeling his breath fan across my face, I close my eyes. I have waited six years to feel his arms around me and his lips on mine. Six long years I have waited to hear those words, and now I have finally heard them it is bittersweet.

He places his hands on the sides of my face, tilting my face up to his and just before his lips reach mine, I push him away.

“Why are you doing this to me, Jake? I’m with Daniel now. You can’t just waltz in and tell me that you loved me.” He drops his hands back to his sides and steps back from me. “These are the words I needed to hear from you six years ago.” I can feel the tears pooling in my eyes and I need to get away from him. Pulling the door open, I rush out to the back area and quickly pull on my dress as Cameron asks me what I’m doing.

“I’m going to call a Taxi. You stay here, but I…I have to go. Levi, can you please tell Nathan I said thank you and that I’m sorry I couldn’t hang around longer. I just…I need to get out of here.”

Making my way to the front door, I feel Cameron reach my side and grab my hand.

“Abs, what happened?”

“Cam, I can’t talk about it here. I just need to go.”

“Levi’s grabbing his car keys and he’s going to give us a ride.” She puts an arm around my shoulder and we walk out into the driveway.

We stand there for a couple of minutes wondering if Levi is still coming, then suddenly the front door opens and he jogs down the driveway.

Half an hour later, Cameron and I are sitting on the couch, eating chocolate cake. She hasn’t asked me to talk about it yet, she’s waiting for me to be ready to share.

“He said he was talking about me.”

Cameron glances down at her cake and then looks back at me.

“I know.”

“What? How did you know he was talking about me? I didn’t even know until he followed me into the bathroom and told me.”

“Not long after we arrived and you went inside to get a drink, he had asked me how serious your relationship with Daniel is. When I asked what it was to him, he said he cared about you and just wanted to know if you are happy. I knew right then and there that this boy is so in love with you.”