Free Follow the Queen: A Menage, Sexy and Short Romance) by Lola Wilder Page B

suit accented his muscles, and how his blue shirt only made his eyes that much more dazzling. She couldn't stomach the thought of him being with another woman, but the way things were going, that might become a reality much sooner than the two of them working out their problems.
     
    Kate nursed her drink a while before taking out her wallet, prepared to pay for the drinks she had ordered. She supposed that this lunch date was just wishful thinking.  The reality was that sitting down to share something as frivolous as lunch had become too much of an inconvenience. That was the sad thing. If they couldn't manage lunch, how did they expect to save their marriage?
     
    The door swung open and the cool air tickled the backs of her legs and neck. She felt a cool hand on her upper arm as a gruff voice spoke behind her, "Why don't you let me take care of that?"
     
    Kate's heart fluttered at the voice. She didn't need to turn to know who it was but she did so anyway. Standing over and grinning down at her was Jake Stone, a guy she’d dated seriously in college until she realized that she needed a guy with more than just great abs and a killer smile.  Jake was a decent enough guy, it was just that she wanted to get married and odds are he’d be a confirmed bachelor for life.  She’d met David shortly after she realized that her relationship with Jake wasn’t ever going to go to the next level.  David was everything Jake wasn’t: where Jake was a take charge kind of guy, David allowed her to share in the balance of power.  David was dark and handsome, his features rugged and masculine whereas Jake was more all American with blonde hair, blue eyes and a very endearing boyish charm about him. It was hard for Kate to end things with Jake.  The sex was amazing and they’d always had a lot of fun together—she had just wanted more.  And this was the “more” that you wanted? she asked herself, thinking of her marriage that was now on life support.  Maybe Jake was onto something by staying single.  She found herself envious of his situation as well as sad for her own.
     
    She tried to hide the mixture of emotions from him - the sadness and regret of how things had gotten with David; the surprise and relief at seeing Jake just when she needed someone. She could tell by the cocky smirk plastered across his face that he could still read her every thought.
     
    "You don't have to do that, Jake," Kate said, taking a quick look over to the street to see David standing on the curb waving his arm furiously in the air simultaneously clutching his briefcase and trying to hail a cab.
     
    "Oh, it's my pleasure, as long as you agree to sit and have a drink with me in return."
     
    Without waiting for her response, Jake slid into the seat next to her, his leg intentionally brushing against hers, the friction of it pushing her skirt up her thigh slightly.
     
    "You haven't changed a bit,” he said.
     
    Kate looked up to find him eying her legs as she reached to smooth the fabric down. She felt her cheeks flush at the attention. She was sure everyone in the restaurant could tell that she was now sitting with another man, one she probably shouldn't be sitting with-- one that wasn't her husband and one who, much to her chagrin still had a way of making her pulse race.
     
    Oh please, no one knows anything; Kate told herself, trying to calm her heartbeat with slow, easy breaths, which was so much easier said than done.
     
    Jake didn't simply look at her or even watch her. It was like his gaze enveloped her, hungrily taking her in and wrapping her in his warm embrace with just a glance. Kate hadn't been looked at in that way for what felt like an eternity, and she knew if she wasn't careful, she would get lost in that gaze all over again.
     
    As if sensing exactly what she was thinking, Jake's smirk spread into a grin before he looked away and motioned for the waiter. Always the one to take charge, he ordered another round of drinks