Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [107]
Chapter 10
Chapter 11 T he ringing of the telephone jolted Jake awake. He didn’t move for a moment, and then sighing heavily he reached for the phone on the table next to the bed. Diamond shifted in sleep and moved closer into his arms. “Yeah?” “Jake? Sorry, man. My mistake. Thought I was calling the cabin and not the ranch house. Catch you later.” Jake was about to tell Sterling that he had not made a mistake when a click sounded in his ear. Knowing Sterling would be calling right back, he depressed the hook and continued to hold the phone in his hand. When it rang he answered immediately, not wanting the intrusive noise to wake Diamond. “Yeah, Sterling.” “Jake? How the devil did I get you again? I was trying to reach Diamond at the cabin. Are the lines crossed up or something?” “No, the lines aren’t crossed,” Jake responded as he rubbed his whiskered chin, thinking he definitely needed a shave, and hoping that his unshaven skin had not left any marks on Diamond’s body when he’d kissed it all ov
Chapter 11
Chapter 12 D iamond could not respond. Although she didn’t fully understand what was happening between them, she was intuitive enough to know Jake was asking for more than her to spend the night with him. The relationship they shared had escalated beyond a mere physical attraction. She had acknowledged that for herself in accepting she loved him, but now looking into his dark eyes she saw more than desire there, and what she saw took her breath away. She knew he was inwardly acknowledging some feelings for her, too, although it was obvious that he was fighting them. She had a gut feeling that spending the night with him would mean more than the two of them satisfying some basic urges. During all the times they had made love, it had always been more than that to her. Oh, there had been the satisfying of wants and needs, but she had always felt there had been more. There were those unspoken and unaffirmed feelings lurking deep down that neither of them had wanted to surface or explore. W
Chapter 12
BOOK TWO
Chapter 13 J ake Madaris rubbed the back of his neck and looked anxiously up at the dark sky. He had been at the airstrip for more than an hour and there was no sign of Sterling’s plane. He drew in a deep, ragged breath and let it out slowly as he tried to remain calm. Sterling claimed Diamond was all right, but he would breathe a whole lot easier once he saw her for himself; once he held her in his arms. Someone had tried to attack her! He nearly choked on his disbelief that some demented person had actually broken into Diamond’s home and tried to hurt her. Oh, she’d had to deal with overzealous fans in the past, but nothing of this magnitude had ever happened, and he intended that nothing like this would ever happen again. Damn it. They were only supposed to keep their secret for a year, but here it was nearly eighteen months later, and still very few people knew they were married. Jake searched his mind frantically to recall just how things had gotten so out of hand. Why had he allo
Chapter 13
Chapter 14 D iamond placed the vase filled with fresh-cut flowers on the only table in the room that wasn’t already adorned with a flower arrangement. She turned a full circle around, admiring her handiwork. “You don’t think there are too many flowers in here, do you?” she asked Jake as he entered the room. He came to stand beside her and automatically placed his arms around her waist. “No, this room looks just like you, beautiful.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Nervous?” “Petrified is more like it.