One Night: A BWWM Interracial Romance (15 page)

Jake thought about that.
 
That was a pretty good idea....

NATALIE

Natalie wasn’t sure where to go from the bookstore so she sat in her car, rehashing what had just happened. She could feel that her face was still red from embarrassment.
 

Why in the world had she come?
 

If the world had no idea who she was, they certainly would now, if all those camera phones were any indication. She could have just left it alone, or reached out to him via email or through his publisher or something. But no, she just
had
to show up in person.
 

Why??

She
had
wanted answers. What in the world inspired him to use her of all people as inspiration for a new character?
 
He had literally known her all of 12 hours.
 
The night had been great but not that great.
 

Okay, the night had been pretty great. But still??

And why make Naomi so,
so
much like her? At least physically. Naomi was definitely more sophisticated. She wore leather jackets and high heels not stretch pants and UGGs. She knew exactly what to do and say, and she certainly didn’t wake up with hangovers that made her nauseous. More importantly she was cool under pressure. Naomi would have never stormed into a bookstore to confront her nemesis.
 

If Jake had any illusions that Natalie was anything like Naomi, today had certainly taken care of that.
 

But it wasn’t just answers she had wanted. Part of her couldn’t deny that it was because she wanted to see him again. She had even made her appearance slightly nicer than her usual Saturday fare: A black knee-length dress with sheer paneling along the sleeves and hem; black espadrilles laced up her ankles. A far cry from the baggy sweatshirt and stretch pants she had made her first impression with. Her hair was neatly pressed with the ends curled and she had thrown in blush and lipstick instead of her usual lip gloss.
 

Now that he wasn’t Jake Cavanaugh, the stranger across the fire, but Jake Steele, internationally best selling author, she wanted to see if he was any different than she remembered.
 

The days-old stubble was gone. So was the whiskey tinged gleam in his eyes. He was in much nicer clothes than the t-shirt and pajama bottoms he’d worn up in Tahoe. These differences only made him that much more attractive. Damn him!
 

Now she just felt remorse for the absurd show she’d put on. She had actually slapped him! Right across the face. Right in front of everyone.

Natalie brought her forehead to the steering wheel.

“No, no, no,” she said, shaking her head as if it could erase the past 20 minutes of her life.
 

Just then she heard a loud rapping on her driver’s side window. She jumped in alarm, raising her head to see who it was. She was startled to see it was Jake, bending down and making motions for her to roll down her window.
 

Natalie gave him a sour frown and shook her head, no.
 

“Come on,” he said pleadingly, “Just let me talk for a second. I think you owe me at least
 
that?”

Natalie looked at him, thinking back to the slap. She wasn’t sure if she owed him a talk but she did owe him an apology. Finally, she sighed and started the engine to roll down the window. She kept the engine running as a hint that he probably shouldn’t get any ideas of her sticking around too long.
 

“Maybe we can start this from square one,” he said. “Let’s have dinner and I’ll tell you everything you want to know. It’s good to see you again by the way.” He smiled at the last part.
 

Natalie’s heart gave another flutter as it had each time he smiled down at her in the store. Ugh, why did he have to be even better than she remembered?
 

“Coffee,” she said, giving him an inch.
 

He smirked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Coffee it is,” he said. “Should I drop by your place?”
 

Natalie’s eyes flew open at that. She had no intention of luring him anywhere near where her bed was. That would be a recipe for disaster. Coffee might turn into...something else.

“No!” she said quickly. “We can just meet at the Starbucks down the street when you are done here.”
 

“This should be over in about an hour...maybe longer because of the show.” He winked as he said that, giving her an even broader smile.
 

She scowled in response. “Are you actively trying to get me not to show up?” she said with a hint of snark.
 

He laughed. “Sorry, that was mean,” he said. “Promise me you’ll be there?” he looked at his watch, “2 o’clock should do it.”
 

“I’ll be there,” she sighed.
 

He stared at her for a moment longer, making her self conscious.
 
Then he tapped the window ledge twice in satisfaction and stood up.
 

“2 o’clock then,” he said, standing up and jogging back into the bookstore. “Be there!” he shouted behind him.
 

Natalie watched his tall, lean form jog away. He was wearing the same jeans and boots as he wore on the back cover of his book. Instead of the t-shirt, he had on a button up shirt. It was a nice look.
 

What in the world had she just agreed to?

One hour later, Natalie arrived at Starbucks. Jake was already there, waiting by the door.
 
She had come early, in order to grab
some
control of the situation. She was going to buy her
own
coffee and pick out exactly where they sat.
 
It seemed Jake had preempted her.

His face brightened as soon as she walked in the door. She couldn’t avoid the small thrill of pleasure it gave her. What lucky girl wouldn’t want to be greeted that way by such a handsome face? She thought back to how it had looked down at her when she was underneath his warm body that night in Tahoe.

Stop it, Natalie!

She put her poker face on and walked over to him with more confidence than she felt.
 

“What would you like?” he asked as soon as she neared him.

“I’ll buy my own—”

“No,” he said sternly.
 

She looked up at him with surprise.

“This one is on me,” he said, a smile coming to his face. “It’s the least I can do.
 
Now what would you like, Natalie?”

She sighed. The last thing she wanted was another stupid argument in a public location. “Soy, flat white, grande.”

“I’ll get our drinks while you pick a seat,” he said, as though he had read her mind.
 

Natalie looked around the Starbucks. On a Saturday afternoon it was predictably crowded. She saw two stools next to one another at a bar facing out the window. That would be appropriately casual. Better that they didn’t have a table to themselves, facing one another like lovers. She squeezed through the crowd to nab the two stools and placed her purse on the second as she sat down on hers.

She watched him from across the crowd as he ordered. The adorable and quite young barrista taking his order looked up at him with an obvious crush.
 
Her eyes followed him as he moved out of the way to the end of the bar to wait on his order.
 
The man seemed to have a visceral effect on the opposite sex. It wasn’t just his height or his build or his handsome face. It was the casually confident way he went about his business.

Natalie, smoothed her hair back on her head and ran her hands across the skirt of her dress, feeling a bit inadequate all of a sudden. What in the world did she have that inspired an entire character for him—a “sexy” character?
 
She was swinging her legs, crossed at the ankles, back and forth nervously.
 
She looked up to see him grinning down at them and immediately stopped, planting them on the foot ledge of the stool she sat on.
 

The coffees came and he carried both through the crowd over to where she sat. He placed them on the counter before them. Natalie realized what a mistake the stools were as soon as he sat down next to her. His body was too long to give him much leg room and his knees pressed into hers. She tried to move the stool back but was met with the person behind her who have a grunt of complaint. There was no room for him to move back either. He watched with a grin on his face, obviously enjoying her discomfort.
 

“Am I that imposing?” he teased.

He was so close to her!
 
She could still feel the undeniable tingle she had felt run through her body as he had grabbed her in the bookstore and brought her into an embrace.
 
It was so strong and warm. She shivered, hoping he wouldn’t notice.
 

“You look nice today,” he said, his eyes roaming down the front of her dress to her knees.
 

“Thanks,” she mumbled, instinctively pulling the hem further down her thighs. This was getting ridiculous. She twisted in her stool so she faced out the window and had to turn her head to view him.
 

He sighed and did the same, the long legs instantly hitting the window with a dull thud. He grimaced and she smiled at the slight hilarity of it. It disappeared as he decided to stay in his original position facing her. Now he was looking straight at her in profile and his knees were pressed against the sides of her thighs. This was worse than before!

She grabbed her coffee and took a sip, not sure what else to do.
 

He leaned on the counter on one elbow, looking at her as he sipped his drink.
 

She tried to think of something to break the awkward silence.
 

“So what did you get to drink?”

“So what did you want to know?”

They both asked their questions at the same time. It was enough to ease the tension between them and they both smiled.
 

“Coffee,” he said, in response to her question. “Black.”

She grimaced in response, imagining the bitter taste of it. Natalie always ordered what people referred to as “frou frou” drinks. The flat white had been tame compared to what she usually got.
 

“Now you, what did you want to know about me?” he asked

All of a sudden she was at a loss for words. Here he was offering to bare his soul to her and she couldn’t think of one thing to ask.
 

“I don’t know,” she sighed, looking out the window at the pedestrians walking by.
 

“Well this was easy,” he laughed.
 

She smiled in agreement and took a sip.
 
All of a sudden she thought of a question.
 
She turned her head to look a him. “Why me?” she asked. “What was it about me that made you think—
Naomi
?”

He looked over his shoulder out the window to ponder it. “You came at the right time. The book felt…done, but not
really
done.”

He turned to look at her with a slightly amused expression. “Then I saw you sleeping in my bed that morning,” he smiled. “It was so perfect.”
 

Natalie squirmed in her stool, turning her head quickly to the window to avoid his seeing her blush. Her breathing became heavier and she sipped her coffee to calm her self down.
 

“I guess my gut instinct paid off,” he said shrugging.
 

“So much for your superstitious ritual,” she teased, remembering their conversation from the morning after.
 

He chuckled. “Well, now I have a new one, don’t I?” he hinted. “Kinda makes me anxious to get started on my next book.”
 

She looked at him with a smirk. “You really are bold aren’t you?” she sassed.
 

“I figured it couldn’t hurt to bring it up,” he confessed.

She laughed and took another sip of her drink. “If you think I’m driving up to Tahoe just to ‘bless’ your next novel, you’re in for some disappointment. Sorry, Jake, you’ll just have to use your imagination for the next sex scene.”
 

“Now what fun is that?” he complained.
 

She only laughed some more and looked out the window. She forgot how skilled he was at disarming her and making her laugh. “I barely know you,” she said. “It’s one thing as one-night stand; that’s what makes it fun. Planned sex is for couples.”
 

She cringed slightly after she said that. She certainly didn’t hope he thought that they should be a couple, especially after her little fit in the bookstore. Now he probably thought she wanted to date and…god, who knew what else?
 

He wasn’t saying anything so she took a chance at turning her head slightly and found him smiling down at her thoughtfully.
 
What in the world was he thinking?

“I have an idea,” he said. “Why don’t you come out to New York? In a few weeks there’s this writer’s dinner and I’m getting some award. It would be nice to have a date.”
 

Natalie looked at him with disbelief. “You want me to pick up and fly out to New York to stay with you just like that?
 
Please tell me you aren’t that hard up for sex,” she laughed.
 

A momentary bit of embarrassment flashed passed his eyes, and then it was gone. “Not me,” he admitted, shaking his head, “It’ll be on Wright Publishing’s dime. They’re all thrilled to get to know the woman behind Naomi.
 
It’s some publicity thing.
 
You’ll be in a hotel. The Ritz, if that makes it more tempting for you.”
 

That took her by surprise.
 
His publisher was going to fly her out to New York and put her up in a fancy hotel just to go to some dinner for publicity?
 
She had obviously chosen the wrong profession.
 
All of a sudden those unfinished romance novels on her computer seemed like something she should get back into.