Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [77]
Jake nodded as he eased out of bed. Every muscle in his body ached. Because of his height, he and hotel beds did not always get along. He stretched his body to work some kinks out of it. “What time do you think you’ll be ready to fly out of here today?”
Diamond heard Jake’s words, but her mind and her gaze were focused on his body, which was clad only in a pair of briefs. No man, she thought, should be that well put together and that built. Nice chest, muscular shoulders, tight buns, flat tummy.
Interesting. Sexy.
Her gaze left his flat tummy and moved up to his face. She saw his pupils darken and his nostrils flare when he sensed her interest. The air surrounding them began to sizzle with stimulating awareness. She wondered if this sudden heat, this spontaneous attraction, would always be there between them.
She ran her tongue lightly over her lips. Now was not a convenient time for her and Jacob to go rolling about between the sheets. Robin was probably downstairs, waiting for her at this very minute, and Diamond knew if she didn’t leave the room in the next five minutes, she never would for the balance of the day.
She took a step back when Jake took a step forward. “Jacob, what did you ask me about leaving today?” she asked quickly, taking another step back.
He flashed her a smooth smile as he gave her one of his long, heated looks. “I forgot. My mind is on other things right now.”
Diamond nodded slowly. “All right, Jacob, you will behave yourself, won’t you?”
Jake shrugged. “I suppose,” he said without much conviction in his voice.
“Okay, then, what were you asking me?”
With a smile that was oozing with not-so-hidden promises, he said, “I asked what time do you think we’ll be ready to leave for Texas?”
Diamond swallowed past the lump in her throat and replied, “Anytime after lunch. Do you want me to order up breakfast for you?”
“Not really. As far as I’m concerned, I have a pretty tasty morsel within arm’s reach if she’ll just give me the chance to—”
“Jacob, stop it,” Diamond said, shaking her head, grinning.
“If you insist.”
“I do.”
“In that case, no, you don’t have to order me anything. I’ll order it myself after I take a shower and get dressed. I need to call Gary to let him know the time we’ll be leaving so he’ll have the plane fueled and ready to go.”
At that moment, someone banged loudly on the door. “Wake up you two lovebirds and let me in before I get thrown out of this place.”
“Kyle!”
Diamond raced to the door and opened it for their friend. She threw her arms around him for a huge hug. “What are you doing here? Where’s Kimara and the kids?”
Kyle Garwood entered the hotel room, closing the door behind him. Like Jake he was a tall man, and his imposing stature nearly filled the room. “After we left Whispering Pines, we followed Sterling and Colby to their place in the mountains. I left Kimara and the kids there since I knew I had a business trip out here,” Kyle said. “What I didn’t know was that you two were here until I read it in this morning’s paper. Then I ran into Robin downstairs in the lobby and she gave me your room number.” Kyle smiled. “Oh, by the way, the two of you made the front page.”
Jake shook his head. “Figures.” He looked over at the man whom he had known for a number of years. First as a business associate and then as a friend. Like Sterling, he considered Kyle as one of his most trusted and loyal friends. Kyle was also very objective when it came to making sound decisions, business or otherwise. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to discuss with Kyle those two phone calls he had received to get another opinion on them.
“Have you had breakfast yet?” Jake asked Kyle.
“No.”
“Good. Diamond is meeting Robin downstairs, and I was going to be eating breakfast alone. Now you can join me.”
Kyle smiled and gave Jake