A knock sounded on her door. “Maria, you up?” Jamie said.
“Be right there.” As the sound of his footsteps faded, she inhaled a deep breath and left the sanctuary of her room. As she walked down the hall, her heartbeat picked up speed at seeing Jake. She’d tossed and turned all night thinking about him. God, the things he’d made her feel. He’d certainly proven she wasn’t immune to sex, at least when it was with him.
She wanted Jamie gone so she and Jake could pick up where they’d left off. There was so much more he had to teach her, and she couldn’t wait to start. To think she’d gone twenty-four years believing there was no pleasure in sex. But sex was what Lovey Dovey had, and Maria had seen no pleasure on her mother’s face when she brought her men home or after they left.
It wasn’t just sex with Jake, and she finally understood what making love meant. She wanted more. Lots more. Maria walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face, a smile intended for Jake.
The only man in the room was Jamie. Her smile wavered. “Jake’s not up yet?” Even as she asked the question, she knew he was gone, could feel his absence.
Pity flashed in Jamie’s eyes. “Ah, he left early this morning for Pensacola. The boss’s orders.”
“So he couldn’t even say good-bye?”
“It was the crack of dawn, Maria. He didn’t want to wake you.”
“Rat bastard.”
“Jake said—”
“Him, too, but I was referring to my brother. I’m twenty-four years old. I don’t need Logan interfering in my life.”
“Sit down.”
She eyed the door, wanting nothing more than to lock herself in her room and have a good cry.
“Come on, sit. I’m a good listener, and you can burn my ears off while calling the two of them the nastiest names you can think of.”
“You don’t cuss. It seems wrong to speak the words in my mind right now to you.” She slid into the chair, and he put a cup of coffee in front of her. “Why don’t you cuss? I’ve always wondered about that. I mean, you’re around guys all day long whose every other word starts with an F.”
His gaze shifted to the window over the sink. “That’s a story for another day.”
“The coffee’s perfect,” she said after taking a sip, changing the subject as it was obvious he wasn’t going to share.
“Half coffee, half vanilla-flavored cream, and three spoons of sugar.”
She lifted a brow, surprised he knew how she took her coffee.
“Jake told me how to make it for you.”
His smile was sweet. Why couldn’t she have fallen for him instead of bad-boy Jake? Jamie was a gorgeous man, blond and blue-eyed, and a friend to everyone. He wouldn’t have left without saying good-bye. No, she had to go and want a man who would probably forget about her within an hour of heading back to Pensacola, and would probably have another woman in his bed by nightfall.
Jamie tilted his head and studied her as if debating what to say. Probably wanted to warn her about Jake. “I know what you’re thinking, the same thing my brother would say if he were here. Stay away from Jake, he’ll only hurt you.”
“Actually, you’re wrong. I probably shouldn’t say this, and if the boss heard me he’d kick my butt halfway to China, but I’m going to say it anyway. Jake’s halfway in love with you, but the fool just doesn’t know it.”
She jerked her gaze to his. What? “Would you repeat that, please? I don’t think I heard you right.”
“You heard me. He’s brushing it off to lust, but he’s never looked at another woman the way he does you. There’s not another woman he’s been with—and you know as well as me there’s been many—who he would fret over whether or not I had their coffee preference memorized. He doesn’t know I saw him, but he stood in front of your bedroom door and glared at it for five minutes this morning before he left.”
Well then. The day just turned brighter. “Why are you telling me this? I mean, I expected you to warn me off, but it sounds like you’re doing just the opposite. And what should I do about it?”
“I’ll answer your questions, but first tell me this. Are you in love with him?”
Before she spoke, she took a moment to examine her feelings toward Jake. There had been something between them from the very beginning, but he’d put up a wall and a “Do Not Enter” sign on the door. Partly, she suspected, because of her age but mostly because Logan had threatened Jake with death if he came near her.