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Authors: Rachel Bailey
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choose the birthday music.
We went through our usual routine of offering up options until we’d chosen enough to last through the meal. As we finally pressed the play button, we heard the front door open.
Looking up, we saw two scraggly, windswept boys making faces at each other and laughing.
“Come on, Kel,” Jake said, “do we have to hear that song again ?”
“Shut up, Jake. It’s Annalise’s birthday so she gets to choose the music. Mum said so.”
“Birthday, huh?” Jake peered through the archway and noticed the decorations. He sauntered into the room and looked me up and down. “How old?”
I had barely taken a breath since I’d heard Jake’s voice, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. I was well aware that Jake was out of my league—he was gorgeous, popular, and older. And he barely looked at me. I’d often cried myself to sleep wondering why I had such a huge crush on someone so unattainable.
Swallowing, I lifted my chin slightly and spoke in what I hoped was a steady voice. “Sixteen.”
Jake cast a look back at Adam, and they grinned at each other. “Sixteen?” He walked over and stood in front of me, barely a foot away. I couldn’t move; I just stared up at him. It was the most attention Jake had ever paid me.
He reached out and ran a finger down my cheek, coming to a rest under my chin. “Sweet sixteen and never been kissed?” He spoke quietly and raised an eyebrow. For a long second I thought he was going to kiss me there in the living room, but then he grinned and turned back to Adam. “Come on. We’d better shower if we’re going to make it to meet the girls.”
Chapter Five
Annalise
Jake arrived at my place on the dot of seven o’clock, looking devastating in the new burgundy shirt, but the change in his hair was far more extreme than the change in his clothes.
“You’ve cut your hair!”
“Good evening to you, too, Annalise. Yeah, I cut my hair. What do you think?” He ran a hand through the layers and grinned.
“Well, I like it, but…” The sun-bleached tresses were gone. He’d cut it so short that his natural dark brown now framed his face. He looked a little less familiar but, strangely, even sexier. My libido perked up.
Great. Just what I needed.
Remember Scarlett. Remember blond Scarlett.
“It’s nice, Jake, it’s just I’ve never seen you with short hair before.”
“I thought I should put some effort in and not leave everything for you to do.” He tugged at the collar of his new shirt, drawing my attention not to his shirt, but to his throat. His smooth, tanned throat. His smooth, tanned, highly kissable throat, with a prominent Adam’s apple that moved as he swallowed or spoke.
Reach out and feel if it’s as smooth as it looks, my libido whispered.
Slamming the door behind me, I forced a tight smile. “That was very considerate of you.”
I gave him the name of the restaurant at Watson’s Bay and walked to the passenger door of his Jeep, only to be beaten to it by Jake. Well, that was new. He hadn’t done it at the shops and I’d never seen him do it as a nineteen-year-old. “Fancy move, Maxwell.”
“I do know some of this stuff—I just don’t use it very often,” he answered dryly.
I stepped into the car and watched him through the windshield as he walked around to the driver’s side.
The clothes and haircut had made him much more dangerous. Before, I’d seen him as an older version of the nineteen-year-old whose only passion in life was surfing. Now I could see him as the man he’d become, the man who’d taken his passion and transformed it into a business empire. See him the way other people must see him, a man to be respected.
A man to fall in love with—not just the object of a crush.
As he climbed in and started the car, he caught my eye. “I know, it takes some getting used to, doesn’t it?”
“What?” Had I spoken out aloud?
“The haircut. I’ll have to visit Mum and Kelly over the weekend,
We went through our usual routine of offering up options until we’d chosen enough to last through the meal. As we finally pressed the play button, we heard the front door open.
Looking up, we saw two scraggly, windswept boys making faces at each other and laughing.
“Come on, Kel,” Jake said, “do we have to hear that song again ?”
“Shut up, Jake. It’s Annalise’s birthday so she gets to choose the music. Mum said so.”
“Birthday, huh?” Jake peered through the archway and noticed the decorations. He sauntered into the room and looked me up and down. “How old?”
I had barely taken a breath since I’d heard Jake’s voice, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. I was well aware that Jake was out of my league—he was gorgeous, popular, and older. And he barely looked at me. I’d often cried myself to sleep wondering why I had such a huge crush on someone so unattainable.
Swallowing, I lifted my chin slightly and spoke in what I hoped was a steady voice. “Sixteen.”
Jake cast a look back at Adam, and they grinned at each other. “Sixteen?” He walked over and stood in front of me, barely a foot away. I couldn’t move; I just stared up at him. It was the most attention Jake had ever paid me.
He reached out and ran a finger down my cheek, coming to a rest under my chin. “Sweet sixteen and never been kissed?” He spoke quietly and raised an eyebrow. For a long second I thought he was going to kiss me there in the living room, but then he grinned and turned back to Adam. “Come on. We’d better shower if we’re going to make it to meet the girls.”
Chapter Five
Annalise
Jake arrived at my place on the dot of seven o’clock, looking devastating in the new burgundy shirt, but the change in his hair was far more extreme than the change in his clothes.
“You’ve cut your hair!”
“Good evening to you, too, Annalise. Yeah, I cut my hair. What do you think?” He ran a hand through the layers and grinned.
“Well, I like it, but…” The sun-bleached tresses were gone. He’d cut it so short that his natural dark brown now framed his face. He looked a little less familiar but, strangely, even sexier. My libido perked up.
Great. Just what I needed.
Remember Scarlett. Remember blond Scarlett.
“It’s nice, Jake, it’s just I’ve never seen you with short hair before.”
“I thought I should put some effort in and not leave everything for you to do.” He tugged at the collar of his new shirt, drawing my attention not to his shirt, but to his throat. His smooth, tanned throat. His smooth, tanned, highly kissable throat, with a prominent Adam’s apple that moved as he swallowed or spoke.
Reach out and feel if it’s as smooth as it looks, my libido whispered.
Slamming the door behind me, I forced a tight smile. “That was very considerate of you.”
I gave him the name of the restaurant at Watson’s Bay and walked to the passenger door of his Jeep, only to be beaten to it by Jake. Well, that was new. He hadn’t done it at the shops and I’d never seen him do it as a nineteen-year-old. “Fancy move, Maxwell.”
“I do know some of this stuff—I just don’t use it very often,” he answered dryly.
I stepped into the car and watched him through the windshield as he walked around to the driver’s side.
The clothes and haircut had made him much more dangerous. Before, I’d seen him as an older version of the nineteen-year-old whose only passion in life was surfing. Now I could see him as the man he’d become, the man who’d taken his passion and transformed it into a business empire. See him the way other people must see him, a man to be respected.
A man to fall in love with—not just the object of a crush.
As he climbed in and started the car, he caught my eye. “I know, it takes some getting used to, doesn’t it?”
“What?” Had I spoken out aloud?
“The haircut. I’ll have to visit Mum and Kelly over the weekend,
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