Be Mine Read online

  Jacqueline took the brochure from him. The picture on the front showed a beautiful home with the name Willow Creek underneath. She knew this place. She and Claire discovered the website for it and instantly fell in love. Claire must have mentioned the place to Caleb, hoping he would take the hint. Obviously, he had. Only now, Claire wouldn’t be the one going, Jacqueline would. If she agreed.

  “I’d like to think about it, okay?” She finally looked up to find him watching her.

  “Call me on my cell.” He stood and took his cup into the kitchen. “I’d better go. I told Jason I’d meet him to go over a bid we’re working on for an office building.”

  Jack walked him to the door and opened it to the still falling snow. “Be careful. The weather guy says the snow’s going to stop, but he missed the ten inches at Christmas too.”

  “I will.” He leaned over to brush his lips against her cheek. “Call me.”

  Jacqueline closed and locked the door behind him. She sagged against it in disbelief. Oh my gosh, Caleb had asked her to go away with him for the weekend. Shivers ran up her spine before she could clamp down on her emotions. As friends, she told herself. They were going because he had the reservations and didn’t want to waste them. Why not give them to someone else, a little voice whispered.

  “Because everyone probably already had plans,” she spoke aloud. She walked over to the couch and picked up the brochure. Sitting, she began to look through it. The cottage, where he had the reservations, looked to be a house in miniature. It had a living room, bedroom, large bath and tiny kitchen. More than enough room for the two of them to stay there comfortably. The brochure even made mention of the couch rolling out to a bed. Each of them would have someplace to sleep without bothering the other.

  Bothering? The tiny voice was back. You’d love if he bothered you. Bothered you right out of your clothes and right into bed. Jacqueline shoved those thoughts aside and began to reason as she always did.

  “Caleb is a handsome man, at least I think he is. He’s got an amazing body and even better personality. Of course, you would be attracted to him. You’d have to be dead not to. But he’s a friend.”

  But why, the voice asked. He’s not engaged to Claire anymore. Why does he have to be only a friend? Why can’t he be the kind of friend you take your clothes off with? The kind of friend who licks your —

  “No!” She stood up and hurried to the kitchen, pretending to clean up. “Besides what would he want with me? I mean, hells bells, I’m not tiny, cute and blonde. That’s what he goes for. If you need any better example look at Claire. Look at the girls he’s dated since breaking up with Claire. All of them have been petite, blond and cute as hell.”

  She looked at herself in the mirror to find tall, dark and wouldn’t be petite if you paid someone. She laughed out loud. Now that the Friday night tequila insanity was over, she would sit and grade. It did no good to create fantasies around Caleb Sinclair. He was a friend. Tucking the thoughts away, Jack went back into the living room and pulled out her grade book. Way less fun, but definitely safer.

  Caleb sat in his car staring at the dimly lit house. Fuck, his life was a mess. First, his engagement to Claire had been broken, which he didn’t feel as bad about as he felt he should. Now he was inviting a friend to spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast. If he were smart, he would invite Stephie or whatever the hell her name was. But no, he had to go and ask Jacqueline. What the fuck had he been thinking? There was only one answer. He hadn’t been. Or at least not with his mind. His cock twitched in his jeans. He wanted her. The breakup with Claire had only made it more obvious. Did she want him? He shook his head; he knew he was going to try to find out. No matter what he told himself, he would. He wanted Jacqueline spread out before him. Naked and submissive, open to his every whim. He shook the thought away. He had to get a hold of himself. What if she didn’t agree? He clenched his teeth. She would, she had too. If she didn’t, he knew he could convince her. Or die trying. Either way she would be going with him to the fucking bed and breakfast one way or the other.

  Be Mine

  Chapter Three

  “He did what?” Lisa demanded on the phone the next day.

  “He asked me to go to a bed and breakfast with him next weekend.” Jack’s voice came out sounding calm, but inside she was far from it. The whole idea of spending three nights alone with Caleb had brought dreams hot enough to scorch the sheets. She had awakened multiple times during the night, sweating, with the sheets wrapped around her as if she had been thrashing about. Yeah, if her sleep was anything like the dreams she was surprised she hadn’t fallen right out of bed. “He said it would give us time to talk. Build a relationship of our own.”

  “Yeah, I bet he wants to build a relationship. The kind where you both strip and fuck like rabbits.”

  Jack laughed. “Lisa, that is not what he wants.”

  “Dude, who are you kidding? Why else would he ask you to go away for the weekend? To a bed and breakfast? To the honeymoon cottage?”

  “He made the reservations ages ago and, I’m sure, doesn’t want to lose the money. It wasn’t cheap from what I remember of the prices.”

  “Jacqueline, I’ve been to Willow Creek. The cottage in the back is referred to as the honeymoon cottage since it’s private. The bed in it is enormous. Don’t tell me he isn’t planning on putting it to use and you aren’t willing.”

  Jack slumped low in a chair and stared out the window at the small flakes still falling from the sky. Leave it to Lisa to put everything right on out there. Could she deny she wanted him? Hell no. But did he want her? She highly doubted it. “Okay, I’ll admit I’d jump his bones in a heartbeat, but there is no reciprocal jumping from him. He isn’t interested. And even if he were, I’m sure it would be because he hasn’t had sex in a while. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to be fucked just because I’m convenient.”

  “Why not?” Lisa demanded, her voice loud through the phone. “If he’s willing, take him up on it. Damn, girl, you need to get laid. And from what you’ve said, he is hot.”

  “He is,” she agreed. “But I don’t want to mess up a friendship for sex. And if that’s all he’s interested in, I guess I wouldn’t want him for a friend anyway.”

  “Have you ever thought he might be attracted to you? Since you have such a good relationship he wants to turn up the heat?”

  Jack laughed softly. “Lisa, I am so not his type. I’ve already told you.”

  “I know, petite, blonde and cute. But it’s obviously not working for him, maybe he thinks tall, leggy and brunette would be much better. Look, don’t say anything. Think about it and call him to say you’ll go. If nothing else you’ll get a nice long weekend getaway without having to pay. And you know we teachers need all the fun we can get, especially with as long as it is ‘til spring break.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Yeah, and once you do, call him and accept. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t.”

  Jacqueline busied around her house the rest of the day. She did the much dreaded bathroom cleaning, changed the sheets on her bed and got laundry started. Since she was feeling in an industrious mood, she vacuumed her bedroom carpet and swept the hardwood floors. She polished and rearranged her kitchen cabinets, and finally cleaned out the refrigerator. Slumping exhausted in a chair, she had to admit she was putting the phone call off. A huge part of her wanted to call and accept, but the smaller and more rational part knew she shouldn’t. She just didn’t want to take the chance of getting hurt.

  But, she argued to herself, if I don’t take chances, how will I get anywhere? Teaching was a huge chance. At the age of thirty-one, she had come to the realization she wanted to teach so she had begun to take classes toward her master’s degree in teaching. After the long struggle of school, unemployment due to student teaching and the general stress of everyday life, she had finally fulfilled her dream. At thirty-three, she was teaching fifth grade in a school she loved. She couldn’t imagine her l
ife any other way.

  Was this time any different? She looked around her small living room without seeing it. She knew whatever she decided to do she had to talk to Claire first. She had been engaged to the man for over a year, so if Jack was even briefly thinking about doing things with Caleb involving nakidity, she needed to talk to her best friend. Did she want Claire to talk her out of it? Or even more demand she not see him? Jack burst out laughing. This was not a soap opera and they weren’t school kids. She knew neither one of those choices would happen. But she still knew she needed to talk to Claire.

  “Jacqueline,” Claire hugged her enthusiastically. “Come in. Does this weather suck or what?”

  Jack laughed, following her best friend into her comfortable two-bedroom condo. Claire had declared early in her house search that she would be damned if she did yard work. Once she had set eyes on the condo, it had become home instantly. Jack didn’t know how she stood having people live all around her in such close quarters, but Claire had told her they were old and couldn’t hear much anyway.

  Claire Fielding was a petite five-four, though she claimed five-five since she was sure her hair gave her the extra height. Her blonde shoulder-length mane flowed into soft natural waves, which Jack knew she didn’t do a thing to in the morning. Claire’s green eyes were fringed with lashes of softest gold, and even in February’s cold, her skin was smooth and nearly flawless. All in all, if she weren’t her best friend Jacqueline was sure she could very easily hate Claire. Or probably not, since Claire was oblivious to her looks, kind and giving to a fault. Sometimes she wanted to make Jack toss her cookies.

  “What brings you out today?” Claire led the way to her small kitchen and pulled out a kettle to begin heating water for tea. “I thought you were going to grade all weekend?”

  “I was, but something kind of came up.” Jack opened a cabinet and found cups and saucers. She looked over Claire’s small loose-leaf tea collection and chose the China Rose Petal. “Man, I am going to have to get you more tea.”

  Claire laughed. “You say the same thing every time you see my tiny stash. Actually, I ordered some from the online place you told me about. Now that I’ve had loose leaf, I can’t go back. Does it mean I’m a tea snob too?”

  “Well, you know you’ve reached the snob level when you go to a tea place and make a face if it’s bag. Once you make the face, you create your own tea kit and carry it everywhere you go.”

  “Like you do.”

  “Exactly.” She pulled a teapot from the cabinet. “I can’t stand bag tea now. It’s nasty and bitter.” Jacqueline pulled an exaggerated face. “Oh my, I’m letting my snobbishness out.”

  Both women laughed as they moved through the ritual of making tea. Soon they were seated at the cozy kitchen table silently sipping the smooth lightly flavored beverage. Jacqueline could feel her worries slide away as she and her best friend sat, as they had dozens of times, and enjoyed the silence. The only sounds she could hear were the ticking of the clock and the rush of wind against the windows.

  “What’s going on?” Claire broke the silence. “You said something came up.”

  “Caleb came to see me last night.”

  “How’s he doing?”

  Jack watched her best friend closely, but could see nothing that screamed out Claire still loved him. Even though she was the one to break the engagement, Jack often wondered if she regretted it now. But Claire was as open as she had always been, and they’d known each other far too long to lie to each other.

  “He’s busy. The security company’s taking off and he works all the time.”

  “That’s great. But it’s not the reason you came over here, is it?”

  “Claire, Caleb asked me to go away with him next weekend. As friends,” she rushed to explain. “He made some reservations and instead of losing them he thought he and I could go and spend some time together. You know, as friends.”

  Claire smiled. “Jack, even if you and Cal weren’t going as friends, it’s okay with me. Our engagement is over. I’m seeing Dan now and our relationship is good. Really good, in fact.”

  Jack sipped her tea. “I needed you to know about this from me, since I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else. But I still don’t think it’s any big deal. He said we could use the time to reconnect. Our relationship has been odd since the two of you broke it off. I’m sure there’s nothing more to it.”

  “Don’t be too sure.” Claire shook her head. “Caleb always did think you were very attractive. He always wanted to know why a beautiful woman like you wasn’t seeing anyone serious.”

  “He said that?” Jacqueline was stunned. “Whatever, it still doesn’t mean he’s attracted to me. And it doesn’t mean I’m attracted to him.”

  “I don’t want you to get hurt.” Claire’s face took on a serious cast. “You know I didn’t talk much about the private stuff between me and Caleb.”

  “Yeah, since you and I both get totally grossed out when people talk about their sex lives. Absolute TMI to the extreme.”

  “Well for once I’m going to break the rule since I want you to know what you’re getting into. First, Cal is a big guy. All over.” Claire rolled her eyes as Jack laughed. “Yeah, you get the picture. Believe me, the first time I saw him nude my jaw dropped and all I could think was there is no way, he is never gonna fit. Anyway, he was patient and tender, but the sex was never good for me. It felt more like he was going through the motions than making love to me. I mean I had orgasms, don’t get me wrong, he made sure of it. But it wasn’t all I thought it should be.

  “I had a feeling he was holding himself back from me. I don’t know for sure, since he didn’t want to talk about bedroom issues, but it’s the impression I got.”

  Jacqueline leaned back in her chair watching her best friend. The only thought floating through her mind was just how big was big? She brought herself back to the conversation with a shake. “What about Dan?”

  Claire laughed. “Totally different. Dan is a more manageable size and he’s very enthusiastic. Man, he can push my buttons. He reminds me of the guy you dated…Tom?”

  “Tim,” she supplied.

  “Right him. Dan reminds me of him. You know, gentle and loving. He touches me, wow, like I’m precious. And we always have a good time, even during sex. Sometimes we laugh so hard we can hardly do anything.”

  “You sound like you love him.”

  “I think I do.” Claire poured more tea in her cup. “He’s open with me, talks to me. Sometimes with Caleb, I didn’t know where I stood. He’s serious, too serious for me. And like I said, the sex wasn’t too enjoyable. The first time we were together it was intense, scary even.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He, umm, gosh…he’s so big, I felt crushed and he talked to me the whole time. Really, dirty talk that didn’t turn me on at all. I finally asked him to stop, which he did right away. The silence, though, was even worse.” Claire put her cup down and stared at Jacqueline. “Jack, he’s not like anyone either one of us has dated before. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but I listened to some of his friends talk and I think his sexual practices were a little extreme before me.”

  “Extreme? I don’t get it. Does he like to dress in women’s clothes?”

  Both girls burst out laughing at the thought of Caleb—all six-foot-two of him—stuffed in a dress. Claire wiped her eyes, shaking her head. “No, you goof. I think he was maybe into more domination games. I don’t know for sure. I mean I’m drawing a conclusion from stuff they said. Hell, they could have been making shit up to scare me too. All I want for you to do is be careful. I don’t want you hurt.”

  Jacqueline drove home with all the things Claire had said spinning through her mind. She clenched her thighs together at the sensation of moisture pooling between her legs. The good girl teacher part of her thought the things Claire told her should send her running and screaming. The other half, the much bigger half, wanted to scream too, but running from him wasn’t part
of the equation. She again wondered how big, big was. Claire was nearly a foot shorter than Caleb, so the difference between them was pretty extreme. Jack, at five-nine, was only five inches shorter and she certainly was not petite.

  Fuck, why was she even thinking about this? For all she knew they were going to spend time together as friends. She would hate to build herself up for something great and have nothing happen. But still she couldn’t keep her thoughts from moving back to what Claire had said. Tim, the man who Claire brought up, had been a short-lived relationship Jack was more than glad to see gone. Since she and Claire never talked about their sex lives, her friend didn’t know the particulars about the relationship. When she thought of Tim the word association she had was “boring”, with a huge capital B. The sex had been even worse. At least Caleb had made sure Claire had an orgasm. Tim couldn’t find one with a road map and a compass.

  Jacqueline had really tried too, but the longer the relationship went on the more dissatisfied she had become. Pretty soon, she began to truly hate when Tim called. When those feelings surfaced, she broke the relationship off. Better to spend Friday evenings alone then to have to sneak into the bathroom and masturbate after sex. The saddest part was Tim never even realized she hadn’t had an orgasm. Or, most probably, he didn’t care one way or the other. As for oral sex, he loved it when she went down on him. But the one time he had reciprocated, he was tentative and truly grossed out by the act. She had finally made him stop after only a minute. Damn, men were such dicks.

  She turned into her driveway and shut the car off. She sat watching small snowflakes gently touch the window and melt quickly away. Her house sat before her dark and empty, while the others in the neighborhood had actually put up Valentine’s Day lights and decorations. Valentine’s Day. Did she want to spend another one alone? Jacqueline realized she had already made up her mind. In fact, it had been made up before she and Claire had finished talking. She would go away with Caleb for the weekend. And, if he made moves acting as if he wanted her, she would move right back. Hell, what did she have to lose?