Disclaimer: A scene in this chapter ventures briefly into the "M" rating category.

Chapter 29

"Relax." Jake reached over and grabbed my hand, giving it a quick, reassuring squeeze. "You'll do fine."

His parents' large beige and white stucco house loomed before me, tall and intimidating. The newer ranch-style house sat on an acre lot, with the home itself taking up at least half of it. The rest of it consisted of a sprawling yard, with rows of towering Lombardy poplar trees lining the edges of the property on three sides and a white pergola nestled to the right of the house. Inside, almost all the windows inside were lit, giving off a warm and inviting presence against the dark night sky.

I certainly hoped that was the case.

Withdrawing my hand from Jake's grasp, I nervously rubbed my palms against my thighs. Judging by the stateliness of this house, I wasn't so sure that my decision to wear jeans had been the right one. My appearance wasn't slovenly by any means. I'd chosen a pretty maroon flannel that paired really well with my dark blue skinny jeans and camel-colored calf-high boots, but I was starting to get a sinking feeling that my choice of outfit was going to be a little too casual for this type of setting.

Jake shut off the ignition and climbed out, and much sooner than I liked my door opened and he was offering to help me up. I reluctantly reached for his hand, letting him pull me out. He waited for me to adjust my coat and grab the package of rolls, and then took my hand and led me up the driveway to the wraparound porch.

The inside of the house was even prettier than the outside. Recessed canned lighting lit the entryway, bathing everything in a warm, soft white. Travertine tiles covered the entryway and went down the hall, where I assumed they joined into the kitchen. There was a gigantic great room off to the left of the entryway that had beige shag carpeting, huge fluffy white couches, a fire roaring in the gas fireplace, and a white baby grand piano in the corner right next to three huge picture windows with built-in white shutters.

The smells coming from the kitchen were heavenly. I didn't need directions on how to get there; I just needed to follow my nose. The aromas of turkey and potatoes and gravy hung decadently in the air all around us, mixed with the warmer scents of vanilla, cinnamon, and baked apple that was just so quintessentially fall. My mouth was already watering, and I hadn't even gotten my coat off yet.

Jake collected our coats and hung them up in the coat closet, then extended his hand to me again. Shuffling the rolls to my other hand, I held onto him tightly and followed him down the hallway to the kitchen.

To say that it was the kitchen of my dreams was the understatement of a lifetime. It nearly doubled the size of the great room with its vaulted ceilings, open dining room, and a second, more casual family room that butted up against the dining area. Blonde wooden cupboards with crown molding that I would have killed to have lined the walls, making the shiny black appliances and granite countertops stand out. In a day and age where white cabinets and stainless-steel appliances where all the rage, the design in this kitchen made things feel homey yet impossibly sophisticated at the same time. I was instantly envious of this house and how bright and cheery it was. My own house felt very dark by comparison, not only because of the dark mahogany wood trim everywhere, but because I had fewer windows, and they weren't nearly as big and wide open as theirs were. Of course, there was nearly a hundred-year difference between our houses. Back when my house was built, wooden paneling and crown molding was considered the epitome of class and elegance.

Jake's mom was hovering over a professional looking gas range, a white linen dish towel thrown over her shoulder as she tended to the gravy, while his father was quietly working the cork out of a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. He was an inch or two taller than Jake, with distinguished gray hair and kind blue eyes. Jake's eyes. His mom was about my height with brown eyes and medium length blonde hair that was the same sandy color as Jake's.

Mr. Stevenson glanced up when he heard us walk in, and a broad smile spread across his face.

"Jacob!"

"Jacob?" His mom turned away from what she was doing and rushed over to us, pulling Jake down into a hug. "Jacob!"

He let go of my hand so he could wrap both of his arms around her. "Hi, Mom. Dinner smells delicious."

"Thank you." She released him and turned to me expectantly.

"Mom, dad. This is Christine Davies. Christine, this is my mom, Kathleen and my dad, Kenneth."

"Hi," I said, waving my hand weakly. "It's nice to meet you."

"We're delighted to have you over for Thanksgiving dinner," his mom said, dragging me toward her so she could give me a hug similar to the one she gave Jake. I quickly moved the bag of rolls to avoid crushing them.

Mr. Stevenson stepped around the sizable center island and came over to us, extending his hand to shake mine firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Christine."

"You as well. Thank you for inviting me into your home on such short notice."

"Of course!" Kathleen cried with a flippant wave of her hand. "Don't even think twice about it. We couldn't let you be alone on Thanksgiving!"

"Thank you," I repeated. Holding up the bag of rolls, I asked, "Where would you like me to put these?"

She glanced down at the bag and then over at Jake. "Jacob, honey, could you please get that big crystal bowl down for Christine? You know the one that Cynthia gave me for Christmas that one year?"

"Sure, mom."

Jake wandered over to the cabinet above the fridge and rummaged through its contents until he found the crystal bowl his mom was talking about. Then he brought it over to me and together we emptied the bag of rolls and arranged them so they looked presentable.

"You can put it on the table, dear," his mom said to me once we done.

Nodding, I did as I was told.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked when that was done. I felt awkward just standing there and I didn't want to seem rude or unhelpful.

"Umm, yeah." She motioned to counter to my left. "Could you hand me that corn starch? I think the gravy needs to be thickened just a little more."

Leaning over, I grabbed the container off the counter with my left hand and gave it to her.

"Thank you, dear," she said, taking it from me.

I thought that was that and was about to make my way back over to Jake when she froze and suddenly seized my hand, turning it over to stare pointedly at the gold band on my finger.

"You're engaged?" she cried. "Jacob Stevenson! You didn't tell us you were getting engaged!"

"Who's engaged?"

Panicked, I tried to yank my hand away and looked up just in time to see a young, very pregnant woman with pretty platinum-blond curls and a taller dark-haired man with chiseled chin and a short, well-trimmed bread enter the kitchen.

"Jake is!" Kathleen cried to the young woman.

"No!" both Jake and I exclaimed in unison.

I successfully extricated my hand from his mom's ironclad grip and wrapped the fingers of my right hand around Erik's ring to shield it from view. "This ring belongs to my grandma," I hurriedly explained. "I tried it one day and it got stuck and now I can't get it off. That's why it's on my left hand."

"Oh. I guess that makes more sense."

Was it me, or did his mom look slightly disappointed?

It didn't last long once she realized that more people now stood in her kitchen.

"Paige!" she said, clasping the woman's shoulder and planting a kiss on her cheek. "How're you feeling?"

"Hi mom," Paige replied warmly. "I'm ready to get off my feet."

Jake appeared behind me, his voice coming from over my shoulder. "Christine, this is my sister Paige and my brother-in-law Sean. Guys, this is my girlfriend, Christine."

Girlfriend?

"Hello," I greeted.

"And that shy little boy trying to hide behind his mom is Tanner," Jake went on.

A mop of dark hair peeked out from behind Paige's black skirt followed by a cherub face with dark eyelashes and even darker brown eyes. I smiled and gave him a small wave. As soon as he realized that all the attention was on him, he turned away and pressed his face against the back of his mom's legs again.

"Tanner," Kathleen said sweetly, crouching down and placing her hands on her thighs for balance, "would you like to help grandma?"

He nodded.

"Okay." She held out her hand and he took it gingerly. "I have just the job for you. You can help me put the marshmallows on the yams. Can you get the bag from your dad while I get the pan?"

Tanner nodded again, more enthusiastically this time, and let go of her hand so he could run and take the large reusable grocery bag filled with ingredients to make the yams from his dad. Sean chuckled and tousled his hair. Once their son was occupied, Sean guided his wife to the table and helped her sit down. Jake and I followed suit, taking the seats across the table from them.

While Jake, Paige, and Sean made small-talk, I took the chance to study everyone a bit more closely. I had been right, I thought with a frown. I was grossly underdressed for the occasion. The three men all wore dress shirts, slacks, and ties. Kathleen wore beige dress slacks with a pretty brown, tan, and red patterned sweater, and Paige had on a black ankle-length skirt and a vibrant teal and black maternity blouse. Even Tanner looked smart and dapper with his crisp black jeans and gray and red plaid short-sleeve shirt.

My train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of the turkey.

"Smells delicious," Sean said as Jake's father set the platter down in the middle of the table.

Kenneth hummed in agreement and went back to help ferry the potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. Kathleen told Tanner to go sit down at the table and then carried the yams over and set them down.

"I helped!" Tanner announced proudly.

"Yes, you did," Paige smiled. "You're such a big boy."

"I'm four," he declared, holding up four of his fingers to show me.

"You are?" I made a face to show him how impressed I was.

Jake chuckled softly beside me.

Once Jake's parents had taken their places at each end of the table, we bowed our heads as Kenneth said grace and then eagerly dug into our meal.

"Christine," Kathleen began conversationally, "how did you and Jacob meet?"

Even though I knew I'd eventually be asked something like that, her question caught me off guard, and the piece of turkey I'd been chewing got stuck in my throat. Frantically, I cast a flustered glance in Jake's direction and silently pleaded for help.

"We met through work," he told her, keeping his explanation short and sweet, conveniently leaving out the fact that he was my boss.

"That's nice," his mom replied.

His dad grew quiet, his brows dipping slightly in what almost looked like disapproval.

I swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable by the intensity of his gaze.

"So, umm, what does everybody else do for work?" I asked, hoping to shift the conversation away from me.

"Well, dad's a cardiologist," Jake supplied, his chest puffing up with pride.

"Wow. Two 'doctors' in the family." I looked at Kathleen. "You must be very proud."

"Yes, I am. I'm proud of all my family members," Kathleen beamed, reaching over to squeeze Paige's hand.

"Thanks, mom," Paige chuckled affectionately. Then she explained to me, "I'm at stay-at-home mom. I'm fortunate enough that my husband's job allows me to stay home and care for our children."

"What do you do?" I asked Sean.

"I'm an attorney. I practice Family Law now, but Paige and I have been discussing making the move to Corporate Law," he said. "There's less drama in the corporate world."

I nodded, thoroughly impressed by the status of everyone's careers and more than a little self-conscious of my own. What would they think if they knew I dropped out of college and now worked as a lowly receptionist at their son's practice?

The rest of dinner passed by quickly as the conversation switched to more mundane topics like the weather and everyone's opinions of the commercialization of the holidays and department stores' predatory Black Friday practices. As soon we finished eating, I offered to help Kathleen clear the table and do the dishes while Sean, Jake, and his dad gravitated to the family room right off the kitchen and turned on the football game. Paige was starting to feel the effects of the hectic evening and large meal, so she excused herself and took Tanner into the family room with the intent to keep him occupied with several dinosaur coloring books she'd brought with them.

"Jacob sure is smitten with you," Kathleen commented as she handed me a plate to dry. "He stared at you all during dinner. I kept waiting for him to spill or drop something because he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing."

I blushed.

"I'm so happy he found someone he can settle down with," she continued. "He's a good man. He'll make an excellent husband and father."

"Oh, umm…I think we're still a ways away from that," I said with a forced, nervous laugh. "We just barely started dating."

"Never too early to start thinking about it and planning for your future. That biological clock of yours is ticking, my dear. You don't want to be one of those mothers who are pushing sixty when your children graduate, do you?" She glanced over to where Tanner was talking to himself while coloring and winked at me. "That's when you're supposed to be enjoying your grandchildren."

Was this woman for real? It was one thing for her to assume that I even wanted children, let alone with someone I'd only been on like three dates with. If you could even call them dates. It made me wonder if Jake had received similar pressure to settle down and get married and have kids.

I gave her a sort of non-committal shrug and wandered over to wipe the table off. As I rounded the side of the table closest to the family room, I overheard Jacob's dad quietly say my name.

"Christine. She, uhhh…she's not a patient of yours, is she?"

"Oh, no sir. I would never get involved with a patient. You know that. No. No. She works with me."

I slowed down in an attempt to hear more without drawing attention to myself.

"With you or for you?"

Jake's next words were a little strained. "She's one of my receptionists."

Dr. Stevenson let out a heavy sigh. "I would advise you to tread carefully, son. You are in a position of authority. You can't see it yet because you're still in that fluttery, infatuated stage, but eventually you will start to question whether she's with you because she wants to be or if she's going out with you because she afraid to defy her boss. If you truly want to be together, I suggest she find another job, or you end the relationship now before it progresses any further. It's not worth risking your professional career, losing your license, and damaging your reputation."

"He's right," Sean chimed in. "I've seen plenty of sexual harassment claims come through after an office romance ended badly. You open yourself up to a whole host of legal problems if things go south and you break up."

I turned away then and rushed back to the sink before I could hear Jake's reply. His mom was wiping up the excess water on the counter with a dish towel and glanced up expectantly when she saw me.

"What do you think, my dear? Should we dish up the pie?"

It wasn't until I was back in the passenger seat of Jake's BMW that I finally felt I could breathe again. I'm sure both of his parents had meant well, but acting as though what they'd each said hadn't bothered me was exhausting and I was grateful the night was over.

A tight frown pulled at the corners Jake's mouth as he backed out of their driveway. I could tell he was trying his best to not let what his dad had said get to him, but his father's words had left their mark. He didn't know that I knew, and quite frankly, I didn't really know if I wanted to tell him. I'd struggled with the idea of getting involved with Jake from the get-go, and this seemed like one more sign from the universe telling me to back off and end it now before things got too out of hand. Maybe it was better for me to break things off and spare him the embarrassment of having to explain to me that it was no longer appropriate that we see each other.

So then, why did my stomach do a flip-flop when he turned those dazzling blue eyes on me? And why did I hear myself saying 'yes' when he asked me if I wanted to go to his place? And why, oh why did I willingly get out of his car and let him lead me up the stairs to his apartment?

Was I really that desperate for love and attention?

"I thought I'd never get you alone," he growled hungrily as he cupped my cheeks and kissed me the minute the door to his apartment slammed shut.

Without breaking contact, I shrugged off my coat, letting it fall to the floor behind me. Then, my arms threaded around his neck, pulling him closer as I eagerly deepened our kiss. With one quick, effortless motion he scooped me into his arms and carried me down the hall to his bedroom. He set me down on his bed gently, pausing only long enough to divest himself of his own coat and shirt, before he returned to my outstretched arms and crawled onto the mattress, positioning himself above me.

As his mouth blazed a fiery trail from my lips to my jaw and down my neck, deft fingers worked their way under my shirt, slowly pushing up the material as they went. When they found my breasts, I let out a gasp and clenched a handful of his hair.

"Christine," he groaned, pushing his hardness against my leg. Only, instead of Jake, it was Erik's voice I heard.

I closed my eyes, losing myself in sensations that I hadn't experienced in over a year. In my mind, I imagined what the cool leather of his mask would feel like against my bare skin and what it would be like to weave my fingers through his thick, dark hair. I imagined how his amber-colored eyes—by far his most expressive feature—would smolder in the dark, filled with unrestrained passion as we gave into our deepest, darkest desires and finally become one.

There was a quick pinch as the clasp on my bra came undone and then I felt the rush of cool air against my exposed chest. He dipped his head and immediately placed his mouth over one of my breasts, flicking my pebbled nipple with his tongue. Moaning, I tightened the grip I had on his hair and bucked against him. He let out as soft chuckle, his breath making my wet nipple even harder before he claimed it once again and suckled the sensitive skin.

My breath hitched as his mouth moved to trace a delicious path over my sternum and up the column of my throat, his palms ghosting along the sides of my waist until the settled over my hips. One hand slid around to my backside and pulled me toward him so he could grind his excitement against my pelvis.

Yes! Erik! Oh, God, yes!

"Do you feel this? Do you feel how much I need you?"

No. Not Erik. Jake.

Jake yanked the button on my jeans open, bringing me back to reality.

My eyes popped open.

What the fuck was I doing? Fantasizing about Erik when I should be enjoying the moment with Jake. What the hell was wrong with me?

But it was more than just fantasizing about Erik, wasn't it?

I placed my hand over my zipper, halting his progress. "Wait. S-stop."

"Christine?"

My body ached in protest at the unexpected interruption, pulsating with frustrated longing. What's so wrong with a little casual sex? it screamed, pleading with me to get out of my head and back in the game. People do it all the time! Now shut up and let him rip your pants off!

"What's wrong?"

Deep down, I knew my heart wasn't in this. And Jake's was. This wasn't just causal sex to him. And it wasn't fair of me to lead him on while I used him as a substitute for the man I really wanted.

"I'm sorry." Propping myself up on my elbows, I tried to scoot out from underneath him. "I-I can't do this."

Jake sat up with a look of concern. "Okay. It's okay. We can slow down."

I wrapped my arms around my chest, covering my bare breasts. "It's not…. Can…can you just take me home?"

"Of course," he nodded. Standing up, he reached inside his pants and readjusted himself, grunting as he did so.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be," he said.

His eyes were kind and full of understanding. He gave me a reassuring smile and then turned around to give me enough privacy to put my bra and shirt back on. Once we were both dressed, he led me out to the front room, helped me into my coat, and ushered me back outside to his car.

We rode back to my house in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. This time, when we pulled into my driveway, there was no expectation of a goodnight kiss.

"Thank you for inviting me to your family's dinner." I glanced down at my hands in my lap, unsure of what else to say.

"I hope you had a good time. I did."

"I did too." Opening the door, I got out, turning to peer back at him through the opening. "Ummm…I guess I'll see you on Monday."

Jake dipped his head and gave me a sad, wistful smile. "See you on Monday."

I pivoted on my heel and all but ran up the steps to my house. Once inside, I fell against the door and let out a shaky sigh.

Erik glanced up from his book, immediately picking up on my distress.

"Christine…?"

He started to rise out of his chair, but I waved him off. "It's okay. I'm all right. It's just been a…a long day."

He looked unconvinced but sat back down anyway.

"Would you like to join me?" he asked instead.

I smiled, both relieved and grateful that he hadn't pressed me for details. "I'd love to."

I threw my keys, purse, and coat down on their usual place on the end table and then curled up on my side on the couch next to him.

"Erik?" I said after a few minutes had gone by. "Would you read to me?"

His eyes shifted to me, blinking in confusion. "I'm afraid you would be quite lost, my dear."

I grinned. "It doesn't matter. You could read the back of a shampoo bottle for all I care. I just want to hear your voice."

He leaned back and passed his hand over his mouth and chin in amusement. "Very well, then."

Snuggling deeper into the couch, I closed my eyes, letting his smooth, strong voice envelop me. Was I crazy for wanting this? Absolutely. Did I give a damn? Not in the least.