‘So, how do you feel about the way things are going?’
Taking her by surprise, Jake turned his head to examine her as they walked. It took a few seconds for her to get her thoughts together.
‘You mean the rehearsals? I think they’re going well. I mean, I know I’ve still got a lot to learn, but as well as learning the songs when I’m with the band I’m working on them at home whenever I get the time.’
She tucked her flying hair behind her ear and tried to relax, but it was hard when her companion’s enigmatic expression hardly revealed what he might be feeling.
He sighed. ‘You’re doing just fine, Caitlin. I have no doubt that you’re the perfect singer for Blue Sky. You’re got a great voice, you’re beautiful and sexy…you’re the whole package. But even great talent can’t make it work on its own. Blue Sky isn’t some five-minute wonder, like some of these manufactured bands that litter the charts. A lot of those bands are the product of slick marketing, purely designed to make money. They’re not about real, dedicated musicians who get together because they’re passionate about music. I told you it wasn’t going to be easy. If anything, it’s going to get harder. There’s still a lot of work ahead before we start touring, and then the pressure really will be on. I suppose I just want to know whether your commitment is total, or whether you wouldn’t prefer staying here in the village, working in your little book store? Don’t get me wrong—I can see how that must have its appeal for a girl like you.’
‘What do you mean, a girl like me?’ Already bristling at what she perceived as Jake’s patronising tone, Caitlin glared at him in the lamplight. ‘You don’t even know me.’
Raising a dark eyebrow, he smiled. ‘I know you like to pretend you’re tougher than you look, that you can handle anything I throw at you, but—’
‘Stop right there!’ Her hackles were really up now. ‘Pretend I’m tough? Do you think I’m such a wilting flower I’ll break at the first sign of pressure? For your information, I survived two years of hell with a man who was a drug addict and alcoholic who took me for every penny I had. I even had to sell my piano, and it was my dearest possession. As well as that I lost my home, my car and my dignity. I lost it all just to pay for his drug habit. Yes, I was a fool—but one day I woke up and found the strength to tell him enough was enough. Then I picked up the broken pieces of what was left of my life and started over. I’ve survived hardship and pain and I’m all the stronger for it—so don’t you dare tell me I pretend I’m tough!’
She paused to take a breath.
‘As for wanting to be in the band—singing is and always was my greatest passion and I’ll do whatever I can to make it my career. I sing because I’m compelled to—not because I want to be famous or have my picture in the papers. All I want to do…all I’ve ever wanted to do…is sing. So when you ask me if my commitment is total, my answer is categorically yes!’
By the time she’d finished her impassioned speech Caitlin found herself on the brink of tears. She’d blurted out all the things she’d never meant to reveal—things about her past that she really would have preferred to have kept hidden…especially from a man like Jake Sorenson, who probably thought she was an idiot for falling for a loser like Sean Gates.
But Sean hadn’t always been a loser. Once upon a time he had been the sweetest man in the world, and Caitlin had believed that she loved him…
‘Hey…’ Reaching out his hand, Jake gently stroked the tips of his fingers down her cheek. ‘I wasn’t casting aspersions on your character. I’m sorry if it came out that way.’
The surprisingly feather-light touch made something clench deep inside her. Recognising it as a hungry need to be held, she immediately stiffened.
‘I’m sorry, too.’
Shaking her head, she automatically moved away in a bid to resurrect her defences. But as she started walking again Jake caught up to her, grabbing her arm to make her stop. This time his hold was deliberately firm…possessive, almost.
‘Don’t run away from me. I only want to help you.’
As his intense gaze shot arrows of living blue flame into hers she caught her breath.
‘Help me…how?’
Bending his head, Jake delivered his answer with a hard, hot kiss that was nothing less than volcanic.
As his lips moved rapaciously over hers, even though she was shocked to her core, Caitlin found herself kissing him back as if her very life depended on it. She even drove her hands through his hair to anchor him to her.
Instinct was like a wild river that had burst its banks and it was near impossible to think about anything above the untamed ferocious beat of her heart…except perhaps to realise that the man kisses were as good as he looked and even better than the most erotic fantasy she could imagine…
The delicious sensation of his velvet-textured lips against hers and the warm glide of his tongue in her mouth stirred feelings inside her that she’d never before experienced so wantonly or intensely. It was during those explosive few moments that Caitlin knew the barriers of safety she’d erected so painstakingly round her heart had come under serious threat…
Even as she had the realisation Jake brought the kiss to a reluctant end, examining her with a gaze that was more than a little stunned but still very much aroused.
In a low voice he murmured, ‘Don’t be ashamed because you told me your story. The music business is littered with casualties like your ex-boyfriend. I don’t believe that they’re bad people. Serious addiction is an illness, not a weakness. Don’t shut me out because you’ve revealed something you wished you hadn’t, Caitlin.’
She inhaled sharply and withdrew her hands from his hair. It had started to rain again, and droplets of moisture were settling in quick succession on the silken dark strands that she’d so hungrily slid her fingers into, sparkling there like morning dew.
He sounded so kind and concerned—as if he intimately understood every lash of hurt she had ever suffered and sincerely empathised. Everything about him was almost unbearably seductive, and it made Caitlin ache to lean into him, to perhaps invite another kiss and even ask him to come in for a cup of coffee… But she quickly came to her senses when it hit her just what she was contemplating—and the likely consequences of such a reckless act. Hadn’t she endured enough pain without inviting more?
She shook her arm free.
‘To shut you out I’d first have to let you in, Jake, and I’m not going to do that. Not even if you promised me the earth.’
* * *
‘Now that it’s come to it I don’t want to let you go’ Lia asserted.
Finishing stirring the mug of coffee she’d made, she brought it over to the small wrought-iron table where the girls sat for lunch. There wasn’t a lot of room in the basement, where all the stock was kept, but Lia had had a worktop and sink put in, as well as installing a fridge and a microwave oven, so that the girls could have some hot food from time to time.
Lost in thought, Caitlin was jolted back to the present as the petite blonde pulled out the chair opposite and sat down.
‘Sorry, what did you say?’
‘I said I don’t want to let you go.’ Lia breathed out a heavy sigh as she curled her hands round the steaming mug of coffee, her pretty brown eyes not bothering to try and hide her emotion.
Caitlin was genuinely touched. The girls had been friends for a long time now, seeing each other through good times and bad, and it was going to be as much a wrench for Caitlin to relinquish her job as it was for Lia to