Take a Breath (Take #1) - Jaimie Roberts Page 0,82

bum, making me jerk up. “Hey, what was that for?”

He smirks. “I can’t resist that perfectly rounded, little ass of yours.” He pulls me down to him for a cuddle, and we lie there a few minutes enjoying each other.

When the time unfortunately turns twelve-thirty, we have to admit defeat and get up. “What time is Matthew due back?”

Jake walks towards the shower and turns on the water. “Two-thirty, I think he said.”

We both get under the spray together and have heaps of fun washing and lathering each other up. Jake leaves me when he’s done, and I finish off washing my hair.

When I eventually surface from the bathroom, Jake’s already drying himself off and getting his clothes on. I place a towel around me and head for my room. The moment I do, I shudder again. I’m going to have to get over this. I’m being really silly.

“You’re finding this more difficult than you’re letting on.” I jump out of my skin and turn to find Jake in the hallway staring at me. “Ana, you can’t keep things bottled up. If you want to talk, tell me. That’s what I’m here for. You find that your room has been violated, so of course you’re going to find it strange and unnerving.” He walks over, giving me a bear hug, which I accept willingly. He kisses the top of my head as we walk into my room together. “Maybe we should move a few things over to my room. Things you’ll need, essentials.”

I walk over to my closet and pull out another summer dress. It’s something light and easy to wear in this heat. “I’m fine, honestly. Don’t fuss. I’m okay.” He waits for me as I walk into my bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair. I grab a bra and knickers then proceed with getting dressed.

“Are you enjoying the view?” I smirk.

“Always enjoying the view whenever you’re concerned.” He makes a point of trailing his eyes up and down me. “And what a fucking view it is.” I giggle as I run into the bathroom to put a bit of makeup on and dry my hair.

By the time I’m done it’s well after one o’clock, and Jake is still patiently waiting for me on my bed. We make our way downstairs to the kitchen where Jake starts washing all the dishes from breakfast. I decide to make myself useful by grabbing two apples, two oranges and two bananas so I can make a fruit salad for us both. I’m still hungry from earlier and keen to get some of my five a day down me.

Once all done, we sit in silence holding hands for a while—enjoying the tender moment—when we hear the sound of the door being opened and a voice crying out.

“Dad! Ana! Anyone home?”

Jake shouts that we’re in the kitchen as he reluctantly frees his hand from mine. He looks at me guiltily, but he has nothing to feel guilty about. My expression tells him as much.

Matthew’s soon marching in, looking very pleased with himself. He places his bags on the floor and plonks himself on the chair next to me.

“What’s with the squad car out front? Have you been very naughty, Ana?” He laughs, but when Jake turns to Matthew, the smile on his face quickly drops. “What’s wrong? Is someone hurt? What happened?”

I can see the panic in his face, so I place my hand on his. “Everything is fine. We’re all okay. We just had an incident on Saturday morning, but we’re dealing with it.”

Jake proceeds to tell him little bits he needs to know about what went down. Matthew’s face is shocked as he looks at me and then to his dad. We both try our hardest to let him know all is okay, but he still looks at me with sad eyes.

“Matthew, I’m fine. Honestly. I have the best of the best looking after me.”

Jake walks over in my direction and places an arm around me. “Well, isn’t that the truth,” he says, smiling.

Matthew—seeing how intimate this looks—raises his eyebrow. “Dad, is there something else you want to tell me?” He looks at Jake’s arm around my shoulder, and Jake stiffens. He whips his arm away a little bit too quickly, causing Matthew to raise an eyebrow at me, smirking questioningly. I look back at him and smile, also giving myself away. He beams before shouting, “I knew it!” He shoots up out of his chair and starts waving