I Only Have Eyes for You (The Sullivans #4)(16)

Jake could feel Smith’s gaze on him, hard and threatening, but in that moment Jake simply didn’t care if he was going to pay for his transgressions with Sophie. She was too warm. Too soft.

And too damn sweet for him to figure out how to let go of her, yet.

“Oh, Jake,” she whispered in his ear as they moved to the music, “this is so perfect.”

He was so attuned to the soft press of her br**sts against his chest, to the feel of her breath over his earlobe, he didn't hear the warning bell in his head until several beats had passed. He knew what he needed to do. He needed to pull away, needed to make it clear that perfect was never going to be in the cards for the two of them.

But, Lord, all he wanted was to steal a few more short moments with the first—and only—girl who’d ever looked at him with love in her eyes. He was amazed to realize that her feelings hadn’t gone away with the years. Instead, they’d grown so big that he’d felt it in her kiss, in the way she held onto him like he really was a hero, instead of typecast for the villain.

He knew better, though, and even though his gut twisted at what he was about to do, he made himself say, “You threw a great party. Got everyone wrapped up in the fantasy of happy ever after.” He put his hands on her waist and tried not to think about how good, how right, she felt against him. “But that’s all it is. Just a fantasy.”

She stiffened in his arms. Only she didn’t bite as quickly as he wished she would. “Jake, please, you don’t have to do this. I know you’re concerned about how my family would take our relationship, but—”

“We don’t have a relationship, princess. And we’re not going to.”

She blinked at his low words, her body going even stiffer against his. Still, she didn’t walk out of his arms. “I know why you’re trying to push me away, but you’re wrong. I could have never fallen for you if you weren’t worth it.”

Too late, he realized what he’d done. He’d let Sophie tell herself one lie after another about him over the years. He should have made sure she knew the truth a long time ago.

“I’ve done things that would make you physically ill,” he told her. Not just all the back-alley fights he’d been in as a teenager, but the fact that he’d had to hold a knife up against his father during a drunk beating that couldn’t have ended any other way. And then there was the secret he’d kept from everyone but her brother Zach, who would take it with him to his grave. He could never make the mistake of allowing her close enough to uncover it.

“Jake, you don’t have to be afraid to share your past with me. I lo—”

“Never.” He had to cut her off before she said the fatal word. “That’s never going to happen.”

He wrapped his hand around her wrist and dragged her back to Smith, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the two of them since they’d started dancing together.

“What about how you were going to help me make my ex jealous?”

“We both know there is no ex.”

He waited for her to insist there was, almost wishing she would keep up the charade. But that wasn’t the girl he’d known nearly all his life.

“You’re right,” she said softly. “I did date someone here, but he isn't at all important to me. I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t know any other way to try and get your attention.”

Why couldn’t she be cold and calculating like other women? What was he supposed to do with that honesty? Other than crush it flat...along with the spark he hated to see extinguished in her eyes.

Smith’s face was carved in granite by the time Jake and Sophie made it off the dance floor. “Sorry to interrupt your dance, Smith. I’ve got to man the bar the rest of the night. She’s all yours.”

Jake turned on his heel and forced himself to walk away from Sophie, straight through the throng of dancers, not caring who he knocked into as he made his way over to the bar. But her scent was still on him, and he couldn’t shake the phantom feel of her curves pressing into him as they’d danced.

He didn’t need to look back to know that Sophie was staring after him with those big, beautiful eyes. Eventually, she’d realize he’d done the right thing—for once—by walking away from her. One day soon, she’d find some perfect guy and they’d all be standing around toasting true love while she beamed back at them in a white wedding dress.

Smith had looked like he wanted to kill Jake.

Jake wished he would give it his best shot...and put him out of his misery, already.

* * *

Hours later, Sophie was exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time. The wedding had been absolute perfection and Chase and Chloe were spending the night at the guest house before heading to the coast of Thailand in the morning. The catering crew had cleaned nearly everything up and she, Jake, and Smith were the only ones left on site.

She knew what her brother was doing. He was babysitting her, making sure she didn’t do something stupid with Jake, and upset what Smith thought the balance of relationships should be in their family. If her brothers had their way, she would still be an untouched virgin.

Jake shoved the final keg into the back of his black van. “That’s it for me. Unless you guys need anything else?”

She wasn’t fooled by the way he referred to her as one of the “guys” and she didn’t think Smith was, either. The only one with the wool pulled over his eyes right now was Jake, and that was only because he was so desperate to “do the right thing.”