Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [54]
He had again told her about Justin, Dex and Clayton, the three nephews with whom he had a very close relationship, and that they were like brothers because of the closeness of their ages. She looked forward to meeting all of his family and some of his close friends she had never met. Invitations had been sent, and the responses they received indicated most of everyone invited would be coming.
“Your presence will definitely be a big surprise, and when they find out that you’re in the family I may have to call 9-1-1 for those who won’t be able to handle the excitement and shock.”
Diamond shook her head, smiling. “Things won’t be that bad.”
“You never know. You’re pretty popular with certain members of my family. Slade, one of my younger nephews even has a huge poster of you in his bedroom.” Jake’s eyes gleamed with amusement when he added, “Just wait until he discovers that his uncle Jake has had the real thing, not only in his bedroom but also in his bed.”
He brought her closer to him and let his hand caress the warmth of her backside. “The real live passionate one.” Memories of her legs wrapped tight around him, holding his body within hers as he made love to her flowed through his mind. The heated thoughts of what they had shared that morning were still fresh and ingrained on his mind.
A shiver passed through Diamond’s body with Jake’s touch. She looked up at him, recalling their intimate moments of that morning as well. She had memories of crying out from the sheer pleasure of having him embedded deep inside her body while they made love. Then later when he had left the bed to begin his day on the ranch, memories of how she had snuggled under the bedcovers so she could smell his scent before falling back to sleep increased her pulse rate.
When he leaned intimately closer to her and she felt his arousal pressing hard against her, she pulled back out of his arms while she had the mind to do so.
“I need to go get dressed, Jacob. Everyone will start arriving soon.”
Jake nodded as he reluctantly released her. If he didn’t let her go now, he would be tempted to make love to her right here in this room. It would be just his luck for a few of his family members to arrive early and walk in on him making love to her on the living room floor. No use giving any of them heart failure anytime too soon. They would go into cardiac arrest soon enough when he announced his marriage.
The plan was for Diamond to stay upstairs until everyone had arrived and until after he had made his announcement. She would then descend the stairs on his brother Jonathan’s arm. He smiled. He couldn’t wait to see everyone’s faces when they realized the real purpose of the gathering.
Most of his family believed that he would never marry again. He knew that one particular person would be extremely overjoyed—his mother. At the age of eighty-one, his mother believed all the men in the Madaris family should be married by the time they reached their thirtieth birthday, to guarantee the longevity of the Madaris family. For a long while, she thought he was setting a bad example for his single nephews. The fact that he had been married once before didn’t count.
“Jacob?”
“Mmm.”
“There’s another idea I have that I’d like to run by you.”
He smiled down at her. “Not another party, I hope.”
She returned his smile. “No, helping you plan this one was enough. It’s about my name.” Jake lifted a brow. “What about your name?”
Diamond’s stomach twisted. Most actresses didn’t use their married name, but she wanted to begin using hers, and wasn’t quite sure how he would feel about it.
“Diamond?” he prompted when