“Yeah. She wanted to be a dancer.” He snorted. “Beth is so clumsy she trips over her own feet, but she was always trying to dance.”
“Dreams are a good thing,” Cass said quietly, trying not to shatter the moment.
“Yeah,” he said, frowning as he looked at pieces of his past for another long moment before shifting his gaze to her again. She saw emotion crowd his eyes before he shuttered them and asked, “Where’s Luke?”
Disappointment curled in the pit of her stomach. The chance for a deeper connection was lost as he stepped back behind the wall he kept between them. Even loving him wouldn’t be enough to keep her here, Cass told herself. Not if he couldn’t give. Bend. Not if he insisted on maintaining emotional distance from her.
“Sleeping,” she said, letting go of the hurt wrapping itself around her heart. “Boston’s lying under the crib. I swear that dog’s better than a baby monitor. He lets me know instantly when Luke wakes up.”
“Good. That’s...good.” He stared down at the ornaments in his hands and she could tell he was mentally miles away from this room. And her. He didn’t want to open up with her, she knew that. But maybe if she pushed a little, at just the right time...
“Why’d you get him? Boston?”
He lifted his eyes to meet hers. A second ticked past. Then two. Then a few more, before he finally answered on a gusty sigh. “Because the house was too damn quiet after you left.”
Warmth stole through her like a whispered breath. “You missed me.”
Scowling, he set the ornaments back into the box with a gentleness that told her he still treasured those reminders of his past, whether he wanted to admit it or not. “Yeah. Didn’t expect to. Wasn’t happy about it. But yeah.”
“I hoped you might call me, but you didn’t.”
He sighed. “Thought about it. A lot. I did miss you, though.”
“I missed you, too.” God, she had missed him. The sound of his taciturn voice. The heat of his body coiled around hers in the middle of the night. She’d missed hearing his boots on the hardwood floors. Missed seeing his hat hanging on a peg by the door. She’d missed the rare, treasured smiles he gave her and the way he fought against the tenderness that was a part of him. She’d missed everything about him.
His smile faded until his features were still and if she hadn’t seen the suddenly churning emotions in his eyes, Cass might have thought he hadn’t even heard her. “You should have called me, Cassie. About Luke. You should have called.”
“I should have,” she agreed and leaned closer, drawn to this man as she had never been drawn to another. But was that enough to build a lifetime on? Shared passion? Could she take that risk not only for herself, but for her son?
Jake leaned in, too, and then they were kissing and Cass’s body lit up like the flickering lights ringing the room. She felt a blast of awareness sizzle through her system, trailing sparks through her bloodstream. She reached for him, linking her arms around his neck and holding on, as if afraid he would pull away, pull back.
She didn’t have to worry about that, though. Jake drew her onto his lap, taking her mouth in deep, hungry gulps, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Their tongues tangled together, breath mingling, heartbeats racing in time as they each explored the other. Hands touched, caressed, pushed past the fabric denying them the feel of hot skin and found what they needed.
Strangling on the heavy beat of her own heart, Cass broke the kiss and gasped for breath as Jake’s mouth closed on first one nipple, then the other. She didn’t know where her shirt was. Didn’t remember taking it off. Didn’t care.
In seconds they were both naked and stretched out on the rug before the fire. Shadows danced and leaped on the walls. Outside, it was cold; inside, heat raged, claiming them, enveloping them both in a frantic sea of need and desire that was greater than anything else.
Touching, tasting, stroking, they moved together, skin sliding across skin, their tangled bodies creating more shadows on the walls. Jake swept one hand down to the blond curls at the center of her and when he stroked her hot, damp core, she arched off the floor, pushing into his hand.
“Jake, please,” she whispered and heard her voice break unsteadily as she fought for air. It had been a nearly year and a half since he’d touched her, and she was ready to shatter already. Her body was eager to rocket off into the satiated oblivion she remembered so well.
“We’ve been apart too long,” he whispered, dipping his head to kiss her, to run his tongue across her bottom lip. To nibble at her mouth while she whimpered and rocked her hips against him.