The Summer of Jake by Rachel Bailey Read Free Book Online Page A

loved.”
    “Don’t be silly, dear,” my mother answered, laying down her cutlery. “Stability, security, respect, and affection are what you want in a marriage.”
    I looked from my mother to my father and back again. They did appear happy in their practical marriage. I blew out a breath and looked down at my plate.
    Was she right? Maybe I was still stuck in teenage fantasies of what love and marriage should be. Maybe the adult reality of relationships was something more like my parents’ marriage.
    I felt a hollow emptiness in my stomach. Maybe I should have married Thomas. What if I’d been reaching toward a fairytale-type dream all these years and missed my real chance at happiness?

Chapter Four
    Annalise
    I checked my watch again as I looked out my front window. This time it said five to eleven. Jake’s visit was a guilty pleasure, like sneaking chocolate on a diet. I knew I shouldn’t, knew that all this effort was for another woman, but I indulged myself anyway.
    Lying in bed the night before, I’d come to a decision. Since I’d agreed to help Jake with his makeover, I may as well enjoy the experience. And I was enjoying his company, even if he’d annoyed me yesterday over Scarlett. I couldn’t let my parents’ opinions influence me into turning every attractive man into a future groom. The best thing to do was relax and appreciate the time I had with him.
    “ Rrrreht .” Rover sat beside me on her special table, her paws on the window ledge—her favorite position to bark at passing cars.
    Pushing the curtain aside, I saw him pull up in his Jeep and felt a flutter of adrenaline as he stepped out onto the street. Whether I was sixteen or not, he still looked like a love god. At six feet tall, with his body sculpted from a lifetime of surfing, bronzed skin, and striking dark eyes, he radiated healthy masculinity. I wasn’t at all surprised when I saw a woman walking down the street check him out while he paused to set the keyless lock.
    But it was more than his looks. It was in the confident way he walked, it was in his slow smile, and it was definitely in his flirtatious eyes. Except that he wasn’t looking at the woman in the street. He was looking straight up at me in the window. My heart hiccupped to a stop, but I somehow managed to smile and casually wave.
    He was wearing another pair of old blue jeans with a black T-shirt. With each step he took, the shirt moved, smoothing over his shoulders, tightening with the swing of his arms. Having watched him so many times on the beach without a shirt, I knew by heart how the play of muscles under his shirt would look as he walked.
    And the memory was making it hard to get my lungs working properly.
    As I opened my door, I tried to hide the flustered effect he had on me. “Hi Jake.”
    “Hey, Annalise.” He kissed my cheek. “You want to know something strange? I’m looking forward to this. A shopping trip, of all things.”
    I swallowed hard, trying to get my voice to work after feeling his warm lips. “That’s good,” I said, my voice only a little shaky. “Just try to hang on to that enthusiasm after we’ve been shopping for a few solid hours.”
    The corner of his mouth quirked. “Hmm, I’ll try.”
    As I reached for the doorknob, Rover bounded over and put a paw on her leash hanging on the coat-rack.
    Jake frowned. “Your cat has a leash?”
    I knelt down to Rover and scratched behind her ear. “How else would we go for walks? Sorry, girl, you can’t come this time, but I’ll take you for a walk this afternoon.”
    A muffled laugh came from behind me, but I ignored it as I locked up.
    After we climbed in his Jeep, I gave directions to Barbara’s Fancy Pants on Bondi Road. I knew Barb from my internship at a fashion magazine, and we’d become friends.
    Jake started the engine and pulled out into traffic. “I think I’ve seen that shop.”
    Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his thighs work as he changed gears. The muscles below