Lara

Chapter 15

But I refused the red rose bush

And gained the willow tree

That all the world may plainly see

How my love slighted me

How my love slighted me

The haunting song from the night before plays in my head as I lay quietly watching the morning sun filter slowly into the room. Mornings here are my favorite, they're so peaceful and quiet, with nothing but the sound of the ocean in the background.

Jake stirs beside me, sleepily opening one eye. "Morning," he mumbles as he reaches his arm out to pull me into him, kissing me softly on the lips.

"I was letting you sleep." I smile at him, gently moving his hair out of his eyes as he groggily kisses me again.

"Well I'm awake now," he whispers against my ear, leaving deliberate kisses along my jaw and then lower to my neck.

He certainly is. I can feel how awake he is against my leg. My body is awake too and already buzzing with need.

"I'm planning on keeping you captive in this bed all day. But first things first we need to get rid of these." He tugs on the edge of my panties. "And this." His hand pushes my t-shirt up as he moves down to kiss the exposed skin, his mouth moving dangerously south.

I can't help the moan that escapes as he brushes his lips over the soft fabric between my thighs. With a sharp intake of breath, I lift his face to meet my eyes. "Jake I want nothing more, believe me." My body is angrily shouting at me to shut up. "But there are things I need to do today. I'm hosting a dinner-" I stop mid-sentence, my eyes going wide at the realization.

"You're hosting a dinner?" He answers distractedly, teasing my underwear to the side with one finger.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit! "Ummm I'll be right back!"

Wiggling out from under him I grab my phone and quickly stow away to the safety of the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. My brain is blank as I stare at my phone – how did I miss the glaring problem about dinner tonight? Do I cancel with Colin? Do I make some excuse to get rid of Jake? Whatever scenario I come up with, someone is going to get hurt.

"Hey, is everything ok?" Jake says from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, everything's fine! Just one sec!" I respond.

You really got yourself in a pickle this time, didn't you Lara? I stare back at myself in the mirror silently admonishing myself. You just couldn't keep your hands off him and now look what's happened!

My phone lights up with a text from Juliette about tonight. It's then I see in my notifications the missed call from Colin. With everything that's happened in the last 24 hours, I had completely forgotten about his voicemail. Holding my phone up to my ear I click play.

"Hi, Lara. Sorry I missed you. My cell reception has been spotty here so I'm just going to say everything on this message. I'm sorry to say I can't make dinner Saturday night due to our filming schedule changing. I'm disappointed as I was looking forward to spending more time together. But to make it up to you I have a proposition. I'll be heading to Monaco post-filming for some early promos and I wanted to know if you would come with me. You could come for the whole week or just a couple of days, it doesn't have to be for the whole trip but let me know what you think. And if you need time to decide no problem....and if the answer is no that's fine too – I only hope I can see you again. Have a good night and talk to you soon."