The resentment he felt toward his parents whenever he thought about this crept through him. He loved them both and knew they loved him but their disappointment in the decisions he made cut him deep.
“They had it all figured out. My parents sent me to boarding school when I was fourteen. They wanted me to go to either Yale like my grandfather or Harvard like my father for undergrad and then Harvard for my MBA. After that I would join Sherbrooke Enterprises. And then eventually I'd transition into politics. That's been the basic life map for every Sherbrooke male for the past hundred years.” Jake found the truth just spilled out as he spoke to Charlie. Unlike so many people he spent time with, he didn't feel as though he needed to omit details to protect himself.
The corners of her pale pink lips turned downward in a frown. “You went to boarding school at fourteen?”
“Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. My father and grandfather went there too. My mom wanted me to go to Eton in England like Dylan but my father refused. I still remember the arguments they had over it.”
“So which did you choose, Yale or Harvard?” Charlie reached across the table and took his hand.
“Neither. Went to Cal Tech. About as far away from an East Coast Ivy League school as I could get. Got my undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering. Worked for an engineering firm out in LA for a few years before moving to Virginia.”
Compassion and understanding spread across her face. Even though she hadn't said it, he knew that she understood why he'd made the decisions he had. Most people assumed he'd been rebelling against his parents, and to some extent he had. Yet there had been much more to his decisions than that. He'd been trying to prove to himself that he had some control over his future. That just because his last name was Sherbrooke he didn't have to follow the path so many in his family had.
“I left the engineering firm a few years ago to start the foundation.” It was one of the only decisions he'd made as an adult that he was proud of.
“Do you ever regret not becoming a SEAL?” Sometime during his explanation she came to stand next to him and now she placed a reassuring hand on his face.
Jake averted his gaze and focused instead on the city skyline, “Every damn day.”
Leaning closer she spoke in a tone filled with respect. “If you had, who knows what all those people your foundation helped would've done.” Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. “And we might not have met.”
Jake was floored by the feelings her words and gentle touch evoked in him. They were so unfamiliar. Sure he'd desired plenty of women and enjoyed their company but he'd never felt such an emotional connection to one before. Of all the women he dated never had he confessed this regret. None of them had ever shown any interest. Most were more interested in what he could give them or what being seen with him meant. It didn't appear as if Charlie cared about either.
Pushing back his chair Jake pulled Charlie onto his lap. “I'm glad we did,” he said before lightly kissing her. Like it had earlier, desire hot and heavy swept through his body the second his lips touched hers. When she wrapped her arms around his neck and wiggled her sexy bottom in order to get closer, he instantly became hard. Thoughts of tossing her over his shoulder and finding the closest bed ran through is mind. How would she react if he did?
Raising his mouth from hers, he kissed a path down her neck. “Do you want to see the rest of the yacht now? We didn't check out the bedrooms, or would you rather have dessert?” he asked his voice low and purposefully seductive.
“Depends, what is the chef planning?” Charlie asked with a trace of laughter in her voice. She didn't wait for an answer. Instead she slid off his lap giving Jake the only answer he needed.
Anticipation surged through him as Jake led her to the largest of the bedrooms below. Just as he expected, the room was prepared for them. The lights were dimmed and the sheets on the bed were neatly turned down.
“Where were we?” Charlie moved close to him and began to caress the back of his neck.
Rather than give her a verbal answer, he walked her backward and then eased her down onto the queen-sized bed. “Does right about here seem right?” He brushed his lips against hers as he spoke.
A soft moan escaped Charlie and she slipped a hand under his shirt searing a path up his back to his shoulders. Not needing any further encouragement, Jake stood and pulled his shirt up over his head. Then he reached for Charlie’s, intent on doing the same thing to hers. The sound of the beeping intercom on the wall halted his progress.#p#分页标题#e#
For half a heartbeat he stared at the offending box on the wall. “What the hell?” Slowly his brain registered what the sound was and stood.