Kate Hoffmann - The Right Bed? - Your Bed or Mine?

“That’s better,” he murmured. His hand slipped beneath her jacket and slowly searched for bare skin. When he found it, he splayed his hand across the small of her back. “You’re so warm.”

Caley shivered, her teeth chattering. “Not for long. My car is parked over there. Let’s get out of the cold.” She handed Jake the keys and they hurried over to the spot where she’d left the rental. Jake let her in the passenger side and then hopped behind the wheel. He started the engine and turned on the heater. “It’ll take a while to warm up.”

“I’m starting to think this whole thing was a really bad idea,” Caley said, rubbing her hands together.

Jake took her fingers between his and blew on them. “Me, too.”

“What ever made us think this was the right thing to do?”

“Maybe we’re transferring our own fears about commitment to Sam and Emma. I mean, they seem to know what they’re doing and we haven’t had much success in that department.”

“Well, a little success,” Caley murmured, staring at her fingers as he kissed each one. “Just since we came home.”

Jake smiled and pressed her hands to his chest. “Yeah. A little. More than a little, I’d say.” He reached out and slipped his hand around her waist, pulled her closer. He’d spent the evening looking at naked women and he hadn’t been the slightest bit affected. But the moment he touched Caley, his desire warmed and his pulse raced.

“Do you think if we crawled in the back seat and took all our clothes off anyone would notice?” Jake murmured. “People make love in roadhouse parking lots all the time.”

Caley laughed. “Don’t you think it would be easier if we just went back to the inn?”

“Only if you do that lap dance you promised me,” he said.

“All right,” Caley replied. “I think I can do that.”

“We’ll go inside, get Emma, then dump them both in Emma’s room at the inn and let them figure this out for themselves.”

“Good plan.”

They both jumped out of the car and hurried back to the front door, but a small crowd had gathered outside. “What’s going on?” Jake asked.

“There’s a fight,” one of the girls said. “Some guy and his fiancée and a stripper.”

Jake groaned. “Oh, hell.” He turned to Caley. “You stay here. I’ll be right back.” An instant later, the sounds of a siren could be heard in the distance.

“Get Emma,” Caley cried. “Before she gets hurt.”

Jake pressed through the crush of people leaving the bar and when he finally got inside, the place was lit up and emptied of half the patrons. The band was lounging around the stage and a small group was gathered in the middle of the dance floor. Emma and Sam were sitting on the floor, Tiffany was holding her nose and arguing with Jeff Winslow and a guy that Jake recognized as Emma’s dance partner was laid out flat in front of them all, his hands clutching his crotch.

Jake strode up to group. “What’s going on here?”

“Just step back,” Winslow warned. “Everything is under control.”

“This is my brother and my future sister-in-law. I want to take them home.”

Winslow glanced over his shoulder at Jake and shook his head. “I’m going to have to take your brother and his fiancée in. They started this brawl. Assault, public intoxication—”

“They’re in a bar,” Jake said. “Everyone is intoxicated.”

“You can meet them down at the station. We’ll get things sorted out there.”

“Come on,” Jake said. “Don’t be a hard-ass, Winslow. No one was seriously hurt here.”

“She hit me in the nose!” Tiffany cried.

“She ran into my elbow,” Emma countered. “I was trying to help Robert up after Sam kicked him in the crotch. And she got in the way.”

“I didn’t kick him,” Sam said.

“Yeah, you did, man,” Robert groaned from the floor.

Sam shrugged. “It was a knee to the crotch, not a kick.”

“Isn’t there just a fine I can pay right away and we can take care of this mess without wasting any more time?” Jake asked.

“What’s going on here?” They all turned to look at Caley as she joined the group, a worried expression furrowing her brow.

“I’m breaking up with Sam,” Emma announced. “We’re not getting married.”

“You can’t break up with me,” Sam countered, “because I already broke up with you.”

Emma sent him a withering glare. “You have no reason to break up with me. I was just dancing with Robert. I wasn’t dancing on him like that stripper was doing to you.”

“I’m not a stripper,” Tiffany said. “I prefer exotic dancer.”

“You invited her to our wedding!” Emma cried. “Sometimes, I wonder if you even have a brain in your head.”

“And sometimes I wonder if you have a heart,” Sam shot back.

“Enough!” Winslow shouted. “There will be no more talking. Or I’ll throw all of you behind bars.”

“Can I go now?” Robert asked. “I’ve got to start packing up the van. I’m with the band.” He slowly got to his feet, wincing slightly as he straightened. “I’m not going to press charges.”

“Neither am I,” Tiffany said. She wandered over to Robert and smiled coyly. “So you’re with the band? I love musicians.”

The pair wandered off toward the stage and Officer Winslow started after them. Then he turned and pointed to Emma and Sam. “Don’t move,” he ordered.

Jake glanced over at Caley and shrugged. “Maybe you can talk to him. He seems to like you more than he likes me.” He watched as Caley tried to plead their case. Though he hated sending her back to Winslow, he was certain there’d be no chance she’d be leaving with him.

A few seconds later, Caley returned, a satisfied smile on her face. “We can take them home,” she murmured. “He’s letting them off, but only if they agree to stay out of trouble for the rest of their time here.”

“What did you have to promise him in return?” Jake asked.

“Nothing. He’s doing it as a favor to me.”

Jake cursed softly and looked down at Sam and Emma. “It would probably do them some good to spend a night in jail.”

Caley shook her head and held out her hand to her sister. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I’ll take Emma back to the inn and you bring Sam.”

Sam also stumbled to his feet and brushed his jeans off. “This is all your fault,” he muttered to Jake. “We should have just stayed at the strip club. I was having fun there.”

They walked out to the parking lot together, Sam and Emma silent and sullen with Jake and Caley standing between them. As Caley started toward her car, Jake grabbed her hand. “I’ll see you later?” he asked.

Caley nodded then walked away, slipping her arm around Emma’s shoulders as they walked off. Sam stared after them, an enigmatic expression on his face.

“You’re not really going to call off the wedding, are you?” Jake asked.

“I think we are,” he murmured, before he turned in the opposite direction.

They didn’t speak during the ride home, Sam lost in his thoughts and Jake unwilling to meddle even further. Though he and Caley had achieved their goal, now that the wedding was off, Jake wondered whether they’d gone too far.

While his feelings for Caley ran deep, he knew that they were also very fragile; would they suffer at the first test or would they endure? He knew how he felt, but he still couldn’t be sure of Caley’s feelings. Now that he’d fallen, Jake was wondering if the risk was worth the reward. Losing Caley would be much more difficult the second time around.

WHEN CALEY FINALLY RETURNED to her room at the inn, Jake was asleep in her bed, his naked body twisted in the sheets, his hair falling in waves across his forehead. Caley stripped off her clothes and tossed them against the wall, crinkling her nose at the scent of stale beer and cigarette smoke.