Jake rubbed his hands over his face. His body was hardening, his pulse starting to do the samba, because he wanted to make love to Emily again. And what did Emily want?
She wanted to lock herself inside the powder room and cry.
Had he failed her that badly?
“Emily,” he said, trying to sound stern, “I want you out of there this second.”
Silence greeted his demand. He frowned, eyed the door narrowly.
“Em? Come out. I’ll bust the door down, if I have to.”
Emily gave a ladylike snort. “Oh, that’s the ticket, Jake. You don’t get what you want, just start barking!”
“Dammit, Emily...” A nerve ticked in Jake’s temple. He laid his palms flat against the door, touched his forehead to the wood. “Let’s not turn this into a battle. Just open the lock, okay?”
“No.”
“You have to, sooner or later.”
“I don’t.”
“Of course you do. You’ll get hungry, or tired or thirsty...”
“I’m not hungry. There’s plenty of water and I can always curl up on the floor.”
Jake looked at the door, considered beating his head against it, and decided Emily would simply stand by and let him do it.
“Em?”
“Yes?”
He hesitated. “Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?”
“Positive.” She spoke softly, so softly that he could hardly hear her. “You didn’t hurt me at all.”
Jake cleared his throat. “Yeah, but I disappointed you.”
“You didn’t disappoint me, either.”
“Sure, I did. I was—I was way too fast. I didn’t mean it to be like that but when you said—”
“Don’t repeat it!” Emily closed her eyes in misery. “I know what I said. If I could take it back—”
“Take back that you wanted me inside you?”
“Please,” she whispered, “don’t talk about it. I’m so embarrassed...”
“Embarrassed? That you let me know you wanted me? Em, don’t you know what that did to me? Hearing you say those things?”
Emily slid down to the floor and leaned her head against the door. “You don’t have to be polite, Jake.”
Jake gave a choked laugh as he slid to the floor on the opposite side of the door. “Hell, Sparrow, good manners have nothing to do with this. I’m just sorry I made it all so quick. I wanted it to be perfect.”
“It was perfect. It’s just that I... What did you call me?”
“Sparrow. My sweet, hot little sparrow.”
Emily cringed. “‘Hot’ isn’t a word a lady appreciates, Jake.”
“A woman’s not supposed to be a lady when a man makes love to her, Em.”
“No?”
“No. Is that what this is all about? That you weren’t a lady?”
Another long silence. “Maybe.”
“Baby, listen to me. A lady’s the last thing a man wants in his bed.”
He waited. She didn’t reply.
“Emily? Sweetheart, please open the door. I promise, next time will be better.”
“There won’t be a next time.” She paused. “And—and even if there were, how could it be better?” She thought back to that hot explosion of light. “How could it?” she said again, but very softly.
Jake rose slowly to his feet. “Open the door,” he said huskily, “and I’ll show you.”
He waited. After a few seconds, he heard a sound, a soft rustle of clothing. The door opened a crack. Emily peered out.
“I think it would be best if I went home now.”
Jake’s smile tilted. “How’re you going to manage that, Sparrow? Do you have a toboggan parked outside?”
She opened the door wider and stepped into the hall. Jake’s heart did that funny upside down thing in his chest again. Her new hairdo was a mess, her lip gloss was all kissed off and the artfully applied mascara had dried into raccoon-like smudges under her teary eyes.
She was beautiful.
“Just look at you,” he said gruffly. He took a step for ward, gently dried her tears with his thumbs. “You’ve ruined all that goo that woman spent hours putting on your face.”
“It wasn’t goo,” she said, sniffling a little but managing to sound defiant anyway, “and she spent two minutes.”
Jake took her hand. “Come sit by the fire with me.”
“I’d really like to go home.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t.”
He led her into the living room. What he really wanted was to pull her into his arms, kiss her until she trembled and begged him to make love to her again, but he wouldn’t do it. This was the time for seduction. Yeah, he’d seduce her. Slowly. Tenderly. Until she was on fire for him, the way he was on fire for her.