Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [86]
The phone rang loudly—repeatedly.
“Aren’t you going to answer that, Jacob?” she asked quietly.
Thinking it was probably just one of his family members, he said, “No. I prefer sitting here and getting turned on looking at you. Whoever it is can call back if it’s important. Tonight is your last night here with me, and I don’t want to be disturbed unnecessarily. Even Blaylock had the good sense to take a hike.”
The phone stopped ringing.
Jake and Diamond stared at each other across the table, saying nothing. A taut, sensuous silence stretched between them, and neither wanted to break it.
The phone began ringing again.
Diamond cleared her throat. “I guess you better answer it this time.”
Thinking it could possibly be Alex with some news for him already, Jake said, “I guess I’d better.”
Standing up, he walked across the room to answer the phone. “Hello?”
Diamond stood and began clearing up the remnants of their meal. As always whenever she was spending her last night at Whispering Pines for a while, she felt sad. Although she felt good this time in knowing that at least when she returned to the ranch within the next couple of weeks, she wouldn’t have to leave again on any extended trips.
She had no regrets with the decision she had made to walk away from her life as a movie actress. The man she had chosen to live the rest of her life with was a man who had demanded little but deserved much. He was a man who lived by a special code of honor. During her thirty-two years she had dedicated her life to pleasing her father and never fully reaching that goal. In the one and a half years she had been with Jacob, first as his lover then his wife, he had taught her all about pleasing herself. During those secret and private rendezvous they had shared, they would meet and love the night away. Afterward he would hold her in his arms while she told him of her insecurities and her fear of failing the people she cared about. He had lovingly told her how much she meant to him and that she didn’t have anything to prove to him or anyone. Somehow Jacob Madaris had convinced her that she was special. And she believed him because he always made her feel that way. She knew in her heart that she would love him forever, and by his side on Whispering Pines was where she wanted to be. She couldn’t wait to see his face when she told him what she’d been dying to tell him since morning.
Jake watched Diamond move around the kitchen. He tried to keep his mind on what the caller was saying, but was having a hard time doing so. His mind preferred concentrating on the way Diamond’s hips swayed beneath her outfit when she moved around the table collecting their plates, and the way her breasts tilted upward when she leaned over and straightened the placemats on the table. The room smelled of her enticing scent, light, feminine and alluring. His body began throbbing with the want of her. His body hardened with the need of her.
“I’m sorry, Cole, come again,” Jake said to the caller, Cole Wells, as he tried to get control of his thoughts and body. Cole was a fellow rancher whose land bordered Whispering Pines. He was also a member of the Texas Cattlemen Association and was calling to remind Jake of their annual banquet in two weeks and to make sure he planned on attending.
Jake shook his head. Cole had never felt the need to phone him with a reminder before. Jake knew Cole was really calling to make sure he brought Diamond with him to the black-tie affair. This was the third call he had received that day making him regret giving a few of his close neighbors his